Saudi Arabia has appointed Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan bin Abdullah Al-Fawzan as grand mufti, state media said.
Al-Fawzan was named the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia by royal decree, the official SPA news agency reported. The newly appointed grand mufti replaced Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, who passed away on September 23.
Al-Fawzan has been a member of Ifta and the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research since 1992, as well as the Council of Senior Scholars, the Saudi Gazette reported.
In addition, he was a member of the Supervisory Committee for Preachers during the Hajj, the Islamic Fiqh Council, and the Muslim World League.
Al-Fawzan was born in Al-Qassim in 1935 and attended school in Buraidah. He graduated from the College of Shariah in Riyadh with a master’s and a doctorate in fiqh. He later became the Higher Institute of Judiciary’s director.
The newly appointed grand mufti is also a multi-book author and has conducted several radio shows, including the well-known Nur Ala Al-Darb programme.
Al-Fawzan succeeds Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, who died in September after more than 20 years in the role.
He was appointed on the recommendation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi ruler who has ushered in sweeping reforms in a bid to diversify the economy of the world’s biggest oil exporter.
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ublished on: 23 Sep 2025
Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh has passed away, the Saudi News Agency reported on Tuesday.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered their condolences to his family, the Saudi people, and the Islamic world.
According to Saudi media, the funeral prayer of Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh will be held after Asr prayer at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh.
“With the passing of Al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world have lost a distinguished scholar who made significant contributions to the service of Islam and Muslims,” the Royal Court stated.
Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh was appointed as Saudi Grand Mufti by King Fahd in 1999 as the successor of Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz.
Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh was also the president of the Council of Senior Scholars and had also performed the duties of delivering the Hajj sermons.
Furthermore, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has ordered that his funeral prayers in absentia also be performed at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, and in all mosques across the Kingdom.
