“We apologize that we cannot receive any requests for fatwas until further notice,” the administrator said in a statement posted on the website.

The move came after the Telecommunications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) blocked some websites such as “Islam: Question and Answer” and Qadinet.

The ban is likely to extend to a long list of fatwa websites in response to a Royal Decree issued by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah restricting the issuance of fatwas (religious edicts) to members of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars (CSIS).

Fatwas on personal matters such as matters of worship, dealings, personal matters are exempt from the ruling, but they should be between the questioner and the scholar. “There should be a total ban on any topics involving strange or obsolete views,” the royal order said.

Al-Oudah, supervisor of the website, has said that his answers to questions of readers and the general public were just his opinion and could not be considered as a fatwa. However, he preferred to close the section that receive more than 4,000 questions daily.

Earlier, Royal Court adviser Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan has been stopped from presenting his daily morning radio show. Another live daily program from Sheikh Abdullah Al-Rukban, a former member of the CSIS, was also taken off air.

Al-Obaikan used to appear every day on the program “Fatwas on Air” to answer questions and issue rulings on a number of contemporary issues. Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawa and Guidance Saleh Al-Asheikh asked all imams, preachers and khateebs of mosques to follow the king’s order on fatwas.