Another Saudi cleric wants death for TV astrologers

AT RISK: Zeina Kabbani (pictured) is an astrologer who has appeared on Arab TV stations. (Getty Images)

A senior Saudi cleric has said purveyors of horoscopes on Arab television should face the death penalty, a paper said on Sunday, days after another cleric urged the same fate for channel owners who broadcast "indecent" shows.

"Sorcerers who appear on satellite channels who are proven to be sorcerers have committed a great crime... and the Muslim consensus is that the apostate's punishment is death by the sword," Sheikh Saleh Al-Fozan told Al-Madina daily.

"Those who call in to these shows should not be accorded Muslim rites when they die," the prominent cleric added.

Many of the hundreds of Arab satellite channels that have sprung up in recent years specialise in horoscopes and other advice to callers on solving problems that is seen by some religious authorities as "sorcery". In their capacity as judges, clerics of Saudi Arabia's austere form of Islam often sentence "sorcerers" to death.

Al-Fozan, a member of the Higher Council of Clerics, was responding to a controversy ignited by a Council colleague, Sheikh Saleh Al-Lohaidan, who said last week that owners of Arab TV shows should be tried and face death over some shows.

Al-Lohaidan, who is the head of Saudi Arabia's Islamic sharia courts, told Saudi radio: "I want to advise the owners of these channels that broadcast programmes with indecency and vulgarity and warn them of the consequences... They can be put to death through the judicial process."

He was referring to comedy shows and soap operas airing in Ramadan, a month of fasting when Muslims are supposed to focus on God. Critics say Ramadan has become an orgy of food and television consumption once the fast ends at sunset.

Al-Lohaidan appeared on Saudi state television on Saturday night to clarify his statement, saying he did not suggest satellite owners should be killed without a trial.

"No one should expect that I would rush to judgement, as has been falsely suggested, and say I had ruled that satellite owners be killed," he said in the remarks, which were published on an Islamist website on Sunday. He added that courts could impose a death penalty.

Fozan said entertainment channel owners should be "banished" but stopped short of advocating the death penalty for them.

Turkish soap operas that became hugely popular in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries this year provoked a storm of anger among Saudi conservatives who fear the spread of secular culture in the key US ally.

The government's official adviser on religious affairs, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Al-Sheikh, said in July it was not Islamically permissible to watch the Turkish serials.

The owners of Arab entertainment channels, including MBC, ART, Orbit, Rotana and LBC, are mostly Saudi royals and businessmen closely allied to them.
Concerned about the country's international image, some key members of the Saudi royal family have promoted liberal reforms. The clerics fear plans to limit their extensive influence in what is the world's largest oil exporter. (Reuters)

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READERS' COMMENTS

huh?
Posted by langyaw, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 23 September 2008 at 12:31 UAE time

last time I checked, my TV set had a channel selector and a power button.

Fatwa against TV stations
Posted by Peter Peter, dubai, UAE on Tuesday 16 September 2008 at 15:39 UAE time


We keep being told that Islam is for peace and then we read about such fatwas urging the faithful to kill. No wonder the West has such a negative perception of Islam.

It is time every one of us, what ever faith we belong to, accept the right of others to live as they please without unnecessary judgement and anger. It is only important that we do not harm others by the way we live.

Thanks KI
Posted by Raj, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 16 September 2008 at 11:16 UAE time


Thank you KI for making us (non-muslims), atleast me, understand what Islam teaches and how the followers should perceive the teachings of the religion.

Because actions speak, most of the non-muslim are not aware of most of the Islam teachings, hence cannot understand the real good gist and generally go with the statements of such high-profile clerics and tend to have a false image about the religion itself.

Long Live the Thinkers
Posted by Rainigade, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 16 September 2008 at 10:01 UAE time


People like Uzair give Muslims a bad name! Thankfully there seem to be many wise and understanding people like KI to balance them out.

Any religion and I'm sure Islam in particular is about promoting peace, love and harmony.

You have NO RIGHT to take anyone's life unless you were responsible for giving it to him in the first place. If you're not God - just lay off and live your life and leave others alone!

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