Sheikh Ali al-Khudair (Arabic: شيخ علي الخُضير, Sheikh ’Ali al-Khuḍayr), also known as Sheikh Ali bin al-Khudair, or Ali bin al-Khudayr is a well-known and influential Saudi Arabian cleric and scholar. He was arrested in 2003.
Sheikh Ali al-Khudair had issued fatwas against several Saudi-Arabian thinkers, among them Turki al-Hamad, Mansour al-Naqeedan and Abdullah Abusamh declaring them as infidel. [1]
His taped sermons and religious decrees are reported to have influenced many young people in Saudi-Arabia. [2]
He was arrested in 2003 in Madinah, Saudi-Arabia for supporting terrorist attacks.
Days after his arrest, an Islamist Web site posted a message from Osama bin Laden warning the Saudi government not to harm the cleric. Bin Laden described al-Khudair as "our most prominent supporter" and cautioned that if he was hurt, Al-Qaeda's response would be "as great as the sheik's high standing with us", this according to Mohamad Bazzi [3]
In an interview with Saudi television Sheikh al-Khudair withdrew the fatwas he had issued declaring Turki al-Hamad, Mansour al-Naqeedan and Abdullah Abusamh as infidel, this according to Ain-al-Yaqeen in 2003,