In a new wave of retracting religious figures who oppose the government in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s authorities arrested a prominent cleric named Sheikh Badr Al-Meshari on unknown grounds.
This Friday, the Saudi Arabian human rights organization Prisoners of Conscious announced that the government in Saudi Arabia arrested a well-known cleric named Sheikh Badr Al-Meshari for reasons that are not yet known, nor declared by the Kingdom’s authorities.
However, many human rights observers believe that the reason for Al-Meshari’s sudden arrest is simply because he is an outspoken critic of the Westernized activities. For the past few years, especially since Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Saalman declared a social reform and decided to open the Saudi society even against the principles of the Islamic teachings, Al-Meshari has been rebuking the kingdom’s Entertainment Authority for promoting anti-Islamic activities such as concerts and mixed music festivals which have drawn the ire of conservatives.
Bin Salman vowed upon taking power in 2017 to revolutionize the Saudi society by moving the kingdom to a more “moderate Islam,” and asked for global support to transform the hardline kingdom into an open society that empowers citizens and lures investors.
“What happened in the last 30 years is not Saudi Arabia. What happened in the region in the last 30 years is not the Middle East,” bin Salman said back then, adding also that “we are simply reverting to what we followed – a moderate Islam open to the world and all religions. 70% of the Saudis are younger than 30, honestly, we won’t waste 30 years of our life combating extremist thoughts, we will destroy them now and immediately.”
Al-Meshari’s arrest is only the tip of the iceberg!
Under bin Salman’s de-facto leadership, there has been an uptick in crackdowns against religious figures who have expressed opposition against such extreme reforms.
Al-Meshari’s arrest was preceded by the detainment of other prominent Saudi scholars such as sheikhs Salman Al-Ouda, Awad Al-Qarni and Ali Al-Omari, who all have been held by the Saudi authorities since September 2017 on “terrorism charges”. In the latest case of oppressing the voice of cleric critics, it was in March that Saudi government issued the order of the arrest of Emad Al-Moubayed, an anti-government preacher and former imam at the King Abdulaziz Mosque in Dammam.
A day later, he posted a video on his unverified Twitter account, in which he repeated his warnings against drastic social reforms in Saudi Arabia enacted over recent years.
Bin Salman is also targeting years-old religious rituals
But targeting opposition voices and sending them to jail is not the end of the story. In his open season against pure Islam, bin Salman has even decided to change Islamic rituals held for years in the Kingdom.
Targeting Ramadan ceremonies, for example, it was in early March that the Saudi government issued a statement on Twitter and announced a set of rules and restrictions on the practice of the holy the month in the country.
They included a number of controversial rules such as the reduction in mosque loudspeakers, the surveillance of worshippers wishing to seclude themselves during the month’s last ten days, limitations on donations and the banning of filming or broadcasting of prayers within mosques.
