Adil al-Kalbani

Adil al-Kalbani (Arabic: عادل الكلباني‎) is a Muslim cleric who served as the first black Saudi Imam of the Great Mosque of Mecca.[2][3][4]

Adil bin Salim bin Sa'eed al-Kalbani
عادل بن سالم بن سعيد الكلباني
TitleSheikh[1]
Personal
Born (1959-04-03) April 3, 1959
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
ReligionIslam
NationalitySaudi Arabian
DenominationSunni
MovementSalafi
Muslim leader

Biography

Early years and studies

Born in Riyadh in 1378 AH on the 25th of Ramadan, al-Kalbani is the son of a poor immigrant from Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates who came to Saudi Arabia in the 1950s.[2][5] His father used to work as a government clerk. Due to his family's financial situation, al-Kalbani took a job with Saudi Arabian Airlines after finishing high school, whilst attending evening classes at King Saud University.[2]

Al-Kalbani's first teacher in his further Islamic studies was Hasan ibn Gaanim al-Gaanim.[5] He studied Sahih al-Bukhari, Jami` at-Tirmidhi and the tafsir of Ibn Kathir with him.[5] He also studied with Mustafa Muslim who taught the tafsir of al-Baydawi at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University.[5] He also studied Akhir Tadmariyah with Abdullah Ibn Jibreen and the Quran with Ahmad Mustafa.[5] In 1994, he passed the government exam to become an Imam.[2]

Career as Imam

After a brief stint working at the mosque in Riyadh Airport, he moved on to working as an Imam at the more prominent King Khalid Mosque.[2] He once dreamed that he had become the imam at the Great Mosque of Mecca;[2] two years later, in 2008, he was selected by King Abdullah to lead the tarawih prayers at the mosque.[2]

In Japan's city of Bandu, a center of Minhaj-ul-Quran was visited by Al-Kalbani on June 30, 2013.[6]

Al-Kalbani has said he is not a Shaykh (an authority in religious matters) but a Qari.[7]

Personal life

He has two wives and twelve children.[2]

Views

Church bells

In a tweet, al-Kalbani stated that the non-existence of church bells in Saudi Arabia pleased him.[8][9]

Mecca crane collapse

Al-Kalbani criticised a tweet from a Saudi poet that said that the cranes that collapsed in Mecca "fell to the ground in prayer". Al-Kalbani said that this was the "stupidest kind of nonsense". He sarcastically suggested that the other cranes did not collapse because they were "liberal".[10]

Salafism

Al-Kalbani stated that Salafism is a source of ISIL ideology.[11][12][13]

Segregation of men and women

He criticised the current situation of gender segregation in mosques, where women are "completely isolated" from men and only connected via a microphone. He called this a "phobia of women".[14]

Shias

In an interview with the BBC, al-Kalbani declared Twelver Shia clerics as apostates,[15] which triggered a backlash from followers of the sect in Saudi Arabia.[16] In 2019, however, he retracted his position after reading a book by fellow scholar Hatim al-Awni, stating that he no longer considers as apostates those who "believe in one God, eat our [halal] meat and prostrate toward our Qibla [direction of Mecca]".[17]

Stance on musical instruments

In a fatwa, al-Kalbani considered singing to be permissible under Islamic law, but retracted it in 2010.[18][19][20][21] In 2019, he backtracked on his retraction and again considered it permissible.[22] A religious singing event was attended by al-Kalbani.[23] A flute was purportedly used.[24][25][26]

References
  1. "Saudi Education Ministry Project To 'Inoculate' Schoolchildren Against Liberalism And Secularism Causes Furor In The Country". MEMRI. Inquiry & Analysis Series. December 13, 2016.
  2. Worth, Robert F. (April 10, 2009). "A Black Imam Breaks Ground in Mecca". The New York Times. Riyadh.
  3. "Former Mecca Grand Mosque's Imam: Clerics can make mistakes like politicians". Al Arabiya English. February 12, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  4. Sheriff, Othman. "The First Black Saudi Imam Heads for Sierra Leone: a Rejoinder". Critique Echo. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  5. "Adil Kalbani Biography". Quran Central. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  6. "Imam e Ka'ba visits MQI Centre in Japan". Minhaj-ul-Quran. June 30, 2013.
  7. "الكلباني : أنا قارئ ولست شيخ وبعض الأئمة المشهورين لا يعرفون وش الطبخة". صحيفة أنحاء الإلكترونية. April 20, 2013. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017.
  8. "وطني الحبيب : يكفيني من مناقبك أني لا أسمع أجراس الكنائس فيك تدق !". Twitter. May 3, 2015.
  9. الكلباني, عادل (May 4, 2015). "الشيخ السعودي عادل الكلباني: يكفيني اني اعيش في وطني حيث لا اسمع إجراس الكنائس تدق". موقع مسيحي شامل - اخبار مسيحية - Linga.
  10. Wright, Alex. "Tone-deaf 'praying' crane poem creates Saudi Twitterstorm". alaraby. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  11. Shane, Scott (August 25, 2016). "Saudis and Extremism: 'Both the Arsonists and the Firefighters'". The New York Times. Washington.
  12. http://www.middleeasteye.net (January 28, 2016). "Leading Saudi Cleric Says IS and Saudi Arabia 'Follow the Same Thought'". Assyrian International News Agency.
  13. MEE staff (January 28, 2016). "Leading Saudi cleric says IS and Saudi Arabia 'follow the same thought'". Middle East Eye.
  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9hdatamKnY
  15. ""عادل الکلبانی" کیست؟ +تصاویر". رسمان دانشجويي - وهابيت.
  16. Trabelsi, Habib (May 12, 2009). "Saudi Shiites call for Sheikh Kalbani dismissal". Middle East Online. PARIS. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017.
  17. Arab, The New. "Saudi ex-Imam of Mecca 'no longer considers Shia Muslims as heretics'". alaraby. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  18. "الشيخ الكلباني يجيز الموسيقى بعيدا عن النساء والكلام الفاحش". FARFESH. May 25, 2010.
  19. Lakhani, Shakir (July 2, 2010). "Fatwa on music results in hacking of website". Chowrangi. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017.
  20. "الشيخ عادل الكلباني..مفجر الجبهات". صحيفة ضوء. December 19, 2015. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017.
  21. "الشيخ الكلباني يتراجع عن فتواه بإباحة الغناء ويعتبر المتشغلين به فسقة". دنيا الوطن. غزة. July 29, 2010.
  22. Arab, The New. "Saudi cleric claims music, singing allowed by Prophet Muhammad just as MbS presses 'entertainment' drive". alaraby. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  23. "الشيخ الكلباني يحضر جلسة إنشاد .. وردود فعل متباينة من النشطاء". صحيفة أنحاء الإلكترونية. December 9, 2016. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017.
  24. البدوي, حمزة (December 17, 2015). "بالفيديو- إمام الحرم المكي السابق يظهر في جلسة مزمار.. وسعوديون: الله يهديه". Masrawy-First Egyptian Portal - مصراوي - أول وأكبر بوابة مصرية.
  25. البدوي, حمزة (December 17, 2015). "بالفيديو- إمام الحرم المكي السابق يظهر في جلسة مزمار.. وسعوديون: الله يهديه يهديه". اخبارك نت.
  26. البدوي, حمزة (December 17, 2015). "بالفيديو- إمام الحرم المكي السابق يظهر في جلسة مزمار.. وسعوديون: الله يهديه". دارالاخبار كوم.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.