There were complaints about the sheikh’s lack of objectivity following the program, which was broadcast last Thursday.

“Sheikh Al-Nijaimi is a specialist and a renowned jurisprudent and my two guests supported him,” Abdullah Al-Harithy told Arab News.

Al-Nijaimi is a firm opponent of gender mixing and has stated on many occasions that it is haram (against Islam).

Immediately after it was broadcast last Thursday, the episode caused heated debate among the media and public over the controversial issue of gender mixing.

Al-Nijaimi supports the fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdul Rahman Nasser Al-Barak forbidding men and women to mix together in schools or the workplace.

This did not deter Al-Harithy from choosing him to appear as arbitrator on the program, which also featured scholar Sheikh Ahmad Hamdan and the head of the Makkah region of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, who is not against the mixing of genders.

Al-Harithy said he was convinced that Al-Nijaimi acted impartially in the episode, called “Wives of the Believers and the Battle of Gender Mixing”.

He said his program was highly rated because it is “an intellectual program featuring contemporary opinions of hot issues.” Asked why he appeared to be supporting the opinion against gender mixing, Al-Harithy responded by saying “this is the art of media”.

“I know why I did this and will reveal the reasons in the next episode,” he added.

He said his role as a presenter was not limited to just conducting dialogue between participants.

“I have to state my position. I am the presenter and the idea of the program is mine. The viewer has to know where I stand,” he said.

However, Al-Harithy added that his role also demanded that he presented both sides of the argument fairly, regardless of his own personal stance.

“I think some people believe that the mixing of genders is permissible in Islam while a larger number of people do not agree with them,” he said. Al-Harithy said he had to put the issue up for discussion in order for viewers to benefit from the debate.

“Islam is replete with differences. Here comes its richness as a religion,” he said.

He added that the next episode would be purely scientific. “It will move from media dialogue to scholarly discussions,” he explained.

He expected one of his three guests not to show up but did not identify him.

He also said he had asked each of them to come up with five reasons either for or against gender mixing.

“The viewers are free to make their own mind up. Personally, I am against gender mixing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti political activist and media personality Aisha Al-Rasheed has threatened to sue Al-Nijaimi for defamation after he allegedly described her to be “a bad woman who does not respect others.”

It follows his participation in a recent seminar in Kuwait on International Women’s Day.

Al-Nijaimi, who is also a member of the Academy of Shariah Scholars in the US, was asked to talk in a session on the role religious scholars play in correcting stereotypes about women working in the Gulf media.

When local Saudi newspapers published photos showing him sitting with 20 Kuwaiti women, he claimed the pictures had been doctored.

When the women showed more pictures and voice recordings, he said they were all old and desperate to get married, as according to him, Islam does not prevent men mixing with old women who are spinsters.

However, when it turned out that the women were young and beautiful, he retracted his statements and said he had committed a “small” mistake by sitting with them.