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JEDDAH: Sheikh Saleh Al-Laheedan, chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council, has triggered an international controversy by stating that owners of satellite TV channels broadcasting obscene programs could face execution as per the law. “Those calling for fitna (sedition and immorality) and those who are able to prevent it but don’t, it is permissible to kill them,” Al-Watan Arabic daily quoted Al-Laheedan as saying when asked about owners of satellite channels telecasting immoral programs during Ramadan. “It is legitimate to kill those who encourage corruption in faith and action if their evil cannot be stopped by other penalties,” he said. The head of the Kingdom’s judiciary also explained that a person could be killed not only for murdering another person but also for corrupting faith and morality. He urged the owners of Arab channels not to use their media to broadcast immoral and un-Islamic programs, including those promoting black magic. They should rather work to protect Islam. “I want to advise the owners of these channels, who broadcast programs containing indecency and vulgarity... and I warn them of the serious consequences,” he said. “What does the owner of these networks think, when he provides seduction, obscenity and vulgarity?” Al-Laheedan’s statement, which he made while talking to “Noorun Aladdarb” program of Radio Qur’an, created a big row after it was aired on Arab TV channels and published in newspapers. Owners of Arab channels have also expressed their concern over the statement. Meanwhile, Al-Watan said it tried to contact Al-Laheedan several times to know the circumstances that led him to give the controversial statement but the paper claimed that it could not contact him. During the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims must fast from dawn to dusk, Arab satellite televisions broadcast lavish productions, including soap operas and mini-series, some with historical and religious themes. A popular soap called “Noor” that was broadcast by MBC for several weeks preceding Ramadan had also invited wrath of grand mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh who branded the program “subversive” and “anti-Islamic.” Al-Asheikh, who is the Kingdom’s highest religious authority, earlier this year, issued a fatwa against “Noor” and decreed that any channel broadcasting the series is “an enemy of God and his Prophet.” “Noor” was a Turkish soap opera dubbed into Arabic with the story of a handsome man called Mohannad and his equally stunning wife “Noor” who wrestled to reconcile the conflicting pressures of traditional and modern worlds. However, given his position as the country’s most senior judge, Sheikh Al-Laheedan’s views cannot be easily dismissed, said BBC Arab affairs analyst, Magdi Abdelhadi. “Fighting hardline approach can be difficult when the country’s top judge calls for the beheading of those he views as immoral broadcasters,” the BBC said in a commentary. |
