Abdullah Ibn Jibreen

Ibn Ǧibrīn or Abdullah ibn Abdulrahman ibn Jibreen (Arabic: عبد الله بن عبد الرحمن بن جبرين‎) (1933-13 July 2009) was a Salafi Saudi-based cleric[1] and a member of the powerful Senior Clerics Association[2] and Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas in Saudi Arabia.

Career

Ibn Jibreen was born in 1933 in a village near the town of Al-Quway'iyah in the Nejd region in Saudi Arabia.

He received his secondary school certificate in 1958, a bachelor's degree in Shariah in 1961, master's degree in 1970 from the Higher Institute for the Judiciary, and a doctorate in 1987. "Several judges, teachers and religious callers were taught by him".[3]

Views

He has been described as a member of the "hard-line Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam who have deemed Shiites as infidels.[2] Commenting on Shias in 2007 (during height of Shia Sunni sectarian violence in Iraq[4]), ibn Jibreen said: "Some people say that the rejectionists (Rafidha) are Muslims because they believe in God and his prophet, pray and fast. But I say they are heretics. They are the most vicious enemy of Muslims, who should be wary of their plots. They should be boycotted and expelled so that Muslims spared of their evil."[5] He has been criticized by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the political leader of Iraqi Shias.[6] Ali al-Sistani, the religious leader of Iraqi Shias, has also criticized ibn Jibreen, accusing him of exacerbating tensions between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq.[7]

After the 2001 9/11 attacks Ibn Jibreen, issued a fatwa against hijackings. In regard to Muslims having contact with non-Muslims he states that "being a companion to them and showing love for them" may be forgiven if the goal of these acts is to convert them to Islam:

"It is allowed to mix with the disbelievers, sit with them and be polite with them as means of calling them to Allah, explaining to them the teachings of Islam, encouraging them to enter this religion and to make it clear to them the good result of accepting the religion and the evil result of punishment for those who turn away. For this purpose, being a companion to them and showing love for them is overlooked in order to reach that good final goal."[8]

While he was softer on Jews and Christians due to Saudi Arabia's strong relations with the West and Israel, he believed Shias were apostates from Islam who deserved to be executed. He also believed eating meat from Jews was permissible in some circumstances.

References
  1. Laura Sjoberg, Women, Gender, and Terrorism, p 45. ISBN 0820335835
  2. A top Saudi cleric declares Shiites to be infidels, calls on Sunnis to drive them out International Herald Tribune
  3. Al-Harthi, Abdul Mohsin (n.d.). "Sheikh Abdullah Bin Jibreen passes away". Saudi Gazette. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  4. "Iraq Body Count". iraqbodycount.org. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  5. A top Saudi cleric declares Shiites to be infidels, calls on Sunnis to drive them out Dietmar Muehlboeck | 22 January 2007 | (originally in iht.com)
  6. Shiite leader offers Iraq security plan SFGate (dead link)
  7. Clerics seeks end to sectarian violence WTOP (dead link)
  8. Schwartz, Stephen (19 July 2004). "The Good Ayatollah". The Weekly Standard.
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