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Reformist cleric Hassan Farhan al-Maliki arrested and detained

Hassan Farhan al-Maliki, a moderate Muslim cleric who preached reform, was arrested and detained for years on charges including "calling into question the fundamentals of Islam."

Hassan Farhan al-Maliki
Date:
Sep 11, 2017
By:
State
Type:
Imprisoned
Accused of:
Blasphemy
Occupation:
Cleric
Citizen:
Saudi Arabia
Country:
Saudi Arabia
Known For:

espousing "moderate" and "tolerant" views on Islamic law and theology

Family Members:

Abbas (son)

Hassan Farhan al-Maliki is a Saudi Arabian scholar of Islam. He is known as a moderate and reformist voice who has been critical of sectarian attitudes and Wahhabism. Prior to 2017, he had long been a target of the Saudi regime for his political views as well.

In September 2017, Hassan was arrested. He was jailed for over a year before he received any formal charges. When he finally was charged in October 2018, it was for a slew of offenses, including “calling into question the fundamentals of Islam by casting doubt on prophetic Sunna and hadith” and “propagating deviant beliefs.” These two charges, according to Human Rights Watch, “relate to his peaceful expression of his religious opinions about the veracity of certain sayings of the prophet and his criticism of several seventh century Islamic figures.” He was also saddled with numerous, almost certainly trumped-up terrorism charges. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Saudi Arabia

Of Saudi Arabia's 34 million citizens, 85-90% are Sunni Muslim, which, despite nearly a million Christian foreign workers, is the only religion legally allowed to be practiced. It has no written criminal code. Islamic religious law is the law of the land, and blasphemy and apostasy are specifically prohibited and systematically prosecuted. The country is a theocratic monarchy, and under siyasa policy, any act taken by the king must conform to Islamic principles. Islamic scholars, ulema, are directly consulted in the development of legislation.

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