Saudi Gazette runs an absolutely fascinating piece on Sheikh Ahmed bin Adbul Aziz bin Baz, son of the famous/notorious former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. The article is based on a lengthy discussion Sheikh Ahmed held with Al-Arabiya TV. In it, he cedes no ground on his Islamic orthodoxy, but points out that Islam is indeed a flexible religion, that it is not stuck in the 7th C., and that fatwas must be understood to speak to specific times, places, and conditions. Do read the entire article.
Change and reform don’t come without a price – Bin Baz’s son
Sheikh Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz Bin Baz is the son of the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baz, one of the most notable muftis in the Kingdom’s history.
Sheikh Ahmad has been accused of many things since airing his views on a wide range of topics in articles in the Saudi press over the past eight years, with his detractors labeling him a “lackey of the liberals” and a “fame seeker,” particularly for his opinions on thorny topics made public in newspaper articles over the last few years.
In a lengthy interview with the Al-Arabiya news network published on its website recently, Sheikh Ahmad spoke candidly on subjects ranging from his father’s fatwas, women driving, the role of religious authorities in the Kingdom, and the nature of the relation of the Islamic state to the rest of the world.
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February:06:2010 - 09:40
Wow! I am going to reread that like ten more times. That was breath taking…
February:06:2010 - 09:40
Bin Baz Jr has been slowly but steadily gaining my admiration these recent months. I’m just waiting for him to say something really ground breaking, and watch if the conservative elements in this country will take their own medicine and refrain from criticizing scholars like they keep harping on to liberals.
February:06:2010 - 09:40
doesn’t matter. they both follow al-Saud.
February:06:2010 - 09:40
Me and M you make me wanna eat an M & M
February:06:2010 - 09:40
“can we say that the world receives information of the true Islam or of a distorted version?”
Finally! A Muslim who is secure enough in his own identity to actually question its basis. From this question everything else in the article follows.
Are any important writings of Bin Baz available in English translation?
February:06:2010 - 09:40
“Me and M you make me wanna eat an M & M”
I’m curious: do you get the pink-white-red Valentine’s Day M&M’s in Saudi Arabia, or is that yet another thing that is verboten?