Mohamad al-Arefe
| Mohamad al-Arefe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | (Arabic: محمد العريفي) |
| Born |
July 15, 1970 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Nationality |
 Saudi Arabia |
| Movement | Salafi Movement |
| Religion | Muslim |
| Denomination | Sunni Islam (Salafi) |
| Website |
arefe |
Mohamad bin AbdelRahman al-Arefe (Arabic: محمد العريفي) (born 15 July 1970), is an Islamic theologian from Saudi Arabia. He is a professor at King Saud University,[1] and Imam of the Mosque of the King Fahd academy of the Saudi Navy. He was a student of Ibn Baz.
Social Media Popularity
As of December 9, 2015, Al-Arefe had over 16 million likes on Facebook and 13.4 million followers on Twitter, which places his account in the top 100 worldwide, and #1 for the Middle East.[2]
Al-Arefe and the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état
In July 2013, Al-Arefe was detained by the Saudi authorities for using YouTube to criticize the military coup d'état in Egypt, an ally of Saudi Arabia.[3] It was speculated that the arrest was in response to a complaint filed by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to its Saudi counterpart. The complaint claimed that Al-Arefe was intervening in Egyptian domestic affairs. Before his release, he signed a pledge not to interfere in Egyptian affairs and was released afterwards but placed under house arrest. He was also banned from traveling to Doha, where he was scheduled to deliver a religious lecture there. The Saudi authorities never announced the reason behind Al-Arefe's arrest.
Views
In June 2013, an article in the British newspaper The Independent said "He has in the past accused Shias of being responsible for kidnapping, cooking and skinning children before placing their remains outside the family home for their parents to find."[1]
His official web site said he rejects "right-wing media allegations that he may have contributed to the radicalization of three British born Muslims seen in a recently released video by ISIS." It quotes him as saying "I have a positive working relationship with many government institutions around the world including Saudi Arabia where I am a member of an academic body specializing in discrediting terrorist ideology. My position vis-à-vis ISIS is very clear as I am vehemently opposed to the brutal methods employed by many of their fighters and categorically condemn their extremism. I have personally published a number of academic works highlighting the numerous fallacies in their pernicious and divisive ideology."[4]
Anti-Semitism
In July 2015, Al-Arafe wrote a critique [5] on Facebook of the Egyptian Ramadan TV series Jewish Quarter, complaining that it showed Jews in a positive light, when in reality Jews were terrible people. It was picked up by Arabic media.
Al-Arafe brought up six points from the series that he found problematic, and provided his own view on them:
- The Jew is portrayed as generous - The Jews are known by all nations to worship money, they came up with usury.
- The Jew is portrayed as forgiving - They are known for treachery and they never keep their promises and covenants.
- Jews are portrayed as kind and affectionate - The Jews who defy God and hate Muslims are portrayed as kind.
- Jews are depicted as making every effort to ward of strife and fighting - (Every time they kindled the fire of war [against you], Allah extinguished it.) Surat Al-Mā’idah 5:64
- Jews are shown as brave - Jews are known for cowardice in fighting face-to-face … “they do not fight you except from fortified villages or from behind walls.”
- Jews are portrayed as righteous - It is known that Jews use their wives for any secular purpose and not so long ago Tzipi Livni, the Israeli minister, admitted that she was having sex with Arab personalities with permission from rabbis.
According to al-Arefe, all the bad qualities of the Jews are mentioned in the Koran and this series tried to refute these facts.
The Middle East Media Research Institute has translated a sermon by al-Arefe broadcast by Hamas-controlled Al-Aqsa TV on September 12, 2008.[6]
Al-Arefe claimed that “studies conducted in Tel Aviv and in the Palestinian lands occupied by the Jews showed that they plant Gharqad trees around their homes, because the Prophet Muhammad said that when the Muslims fight the Jews, each and every stone and tree will say: ‘Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”
Views on Wife Beating
In an interview on Lebanese TV in 2007,[7] al-Arefe explained the three ways a man should discipline his wife:
- He should first admonish her
- If admonishing doesn’t work he should give her the silent treatment to show his anger
- In the event that those two options fail the third option is to strike her, specifying that the beatings should not be outwardly visible, and should not be in the face.
“If he beats her,” Al-Arefe said in the video, “the beatings must be light and must not make her face ugly. He should beat her in some places where it will not cause any damage.”
More Controversies
Al-Arefe was banned from entering Switzerland for holding extreme views.[1]
A June 2013 article in The Independent said that the Al Khoei Foundation, "a leading mainstream Muslim group" of Shiites in the UK, expressed concern about "divisive and sectarian personalities" after his arrival there, noting the prior ban from entering Switzerland and saying he has frequently preached against "evil Shiites".[1] In March 2014, he was banned by the Home Office from returning to Britain after a series of sermons in Cardiff, Birmingham and London. A Home Office spokesperson said: "We can confirm Mohammad Al-Arefe has been excluded from the United Kingdom. The Government makes no apologies for refusing people access to the UK if we believe they represent a threat to our society. Coming here is a privilege that we refuse to extend to those who seek to subvert our shared values."[8][9]
In October 2014, he was jailed for 40 days for stating that the train linking Mecca and other holy sites was “one of the worst in the world.”[3]
Works
- (Arabic) al-Mufid fi Taqrib Ahkaam al-adhan: 124 fatwa tahummu mu'adhdhin wa-al-Sami `al-adhan Dar al-Hijrah, al-Riyadh, 1995 (the prayer and the fatwas)
- (Arabic) al-Durar Bahiyah fi al-al-al-alghaz fiqhiyah: akthar min 300 min lughz Fiqhi muntakhabah kutub al-fiqh, mudhayyalah bi-wa-lata'if Fawa `id Maktabat al -lil-Ma `arif wa al-Nashr Tawzi` al-Riyadh, 2000 (the Islamic law and the Hanbalis)
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 Milmo, Cahal (24 June 2013). "Sunni vs Shia... in Gerrard's Cross: New mosque highlights growing tensions among British Muslims". The Independent. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ↑ Top Twitter User Rankings retrieved 3 June 2014
- 1 2 Christian Science Monitor: "Saudi Arabia presses 'YouTube imams' to toe the line on Yemen - Popular Muslim clerics are using social media to stir dissent beyond the purview of government-controlled mosques and satellite TV stations. Saudi Arabia is sensitive to criticism of its war in Yemen" By Taylor Luck June 2, 2015
- ↑ "Dr. Mohammad al-Arefe Responds to Allegations of Radicalization". Official website of Dr. Mohammad al-Arefe. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
- ↑ "🚫 الآباء والأبناء والمربين ووقفات مع... - الصفحة الرسمية للشيخ د. محمد العريفي . - Facebook". facebook.com (in Arabic).
- ↑ Saudischer Imam: Juden pflanzen Gharqad Bäume um sich vor Moslems zu verstecken. YouTube. 6 October 2008.
- ↑ Does Islam allow men to beat there wives Explained by Muhammad al arifi. YouTube. 14 May 2009.
- ↑ "Banned preacher under scrutiny over links to young Cardiff men fighting with Isis in Iraq and Syria". ITV. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ↑ Morris, Steven (23 June 2014). "Father of Cardiff jihadists says his sons were radicalised in 'pop-up' schools". Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2014.