Fatwa seeking death for gender mixing shocks society
Published: Feb 26, 2010 00:49 Updated: Feb 26, 2010 00:49
RIYADH: A Saudi cleric has shocked the international and Saudi communities after he issued a fatwa last Tuesday calling for those who promote co-educational environments to be put to death.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Barrak said the mixing of men and women in the workplace or educational institutions was religiously prohibited.
“Whoever allows this mixing allows forbidden things, and whoever allows them is an infidel and this means defection from Islam. Either he retracts or he must be killed because he disavows and does not observe the Shariah,” he said.
Al-Barrak’s claims his fatwa is based on grounds that ikhtilat, or the mixing of men and women, allows for the possibility of seeing what must not be seen and engaging in forbidden conversations.
Born in Qassim, 77-year-old Al-Barrak is known for issuing a number of controversial fatwas in the past.
In March 2008 he denounced two Saudi writers for articles that he claimed conflicted with Shariah teachings. He called for their prosecution on charges of apostasy — abandoning their religious beliefs — adding that if they did not retract their statements they should be put to death.
The subject of ikhtilat and its interpretation has become an issue of public controversy recently, especially as religious officials are considering allowing it.
Yet Sheikh Sa’ad Al-Shethri, a member of the Board of Senior Ulema, was removed from his post last year after criticizing the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) for promoting a co-education environment. Several senior scholars from the Kingdom and abroad spoke out in support of KAUST. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, head of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah and the Minister of Justice Muhammed Al-Eissa were among them.
Kuwaiti scholars claimed that such an edict could come only from a senile person or someone who wants to sow sedition in the nation by allowing the killing of innocent people.
Leading Kuwaiti scholar Sheikh Ahmad Hussain blasted the fatwa, saying that Islam was very strict about killing people intentionally.
“Officials need to step in promptly and make the authors of such edicts face legal measures to ensure no innocent people are killed or harmed by those who want to implement the fatwas,” said Dr. Ajeel Al-Nashmi, head of the GCC Religious Scholars League.
Dr. Abdul Moti Baiomi, a former deputy of the Religious Affairs Committee at the Egyptian Parliament who is also a member of the Islamic Research Center at Al-Azhar, criticized Al-Barrak.
“What Al-Barrak said is far from accurate, as it is a rigid opinion that deviates from Islam’s teachings,” Baiomi told Kol Al-Watan online, clarifying that ikhtilat is permitted as long as it is within the realms of decency and respect, especially in classrooms and workplaces.
Bloggers also expressed fears the fatwa that could lead to the deaths of innocent people.
Ahmad Al-Omranm, who blogs for Saudi Jeans, believes that failure to address Al-Barrak’s fatwa could have serious consequences.
“What if one of his enthusiastic fans decides to act upon this fatwa and kill somebody?”
Kuwaiti scholar Shaikh Ahmad Hussain said, “All the Qura’nic teachings and the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) Sayings stress that killing is not allowed. God said that if you kill a believer, it is like you have killed all people.”

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