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In the middle of the Hajj season, Morocco’s Islamic jurist criticized, in an interview conducted by Qatari channel Al Jazeera, Saudi Arabia’s management of the pilgrimage.
Since Riyadh cut diplomatic relations with Qatar in May 2017, Qatari nationals are prohibited from performing the fifth pillar of Islam. The decision is still being enforced as Muslim countries are about to celebrate another Hajj season.
Raissouni, who headed Morocco’s second largest Islamic gathering, the Movement for Unity and Reform (MUR) from 1996 to 2003, accepted Al Jazeera’s invitation and was happy to stand by the Qatari platform that employed him in the past. In fact, Raissouni used to host a show called «Shariah and Life», broadcast by Al Jazeera.
Let the Organization of Islamic Cooperation manage the Hajj
Being straightforward, Ahmed Raissouni openly accused the Wahhabi kingdom of «politicizing the Hajj». He also urged Muslim countries to ban Saudi Arabia from managing the holy sites and allow the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to assist pilgrims instead.
In January, Malaysia proposed a similar idea, suggesting the creation of an «international body that would monitor Saudi Arabia’s management of the Hajj». In July, Tunisia urged its pilgrims to boycott the Hajj and grant the money used to travel to Saudi Arabia to the poor.
Raissouni’s attempts
Raissouni who is also a member of the Union of Muslim Ulema (Sunni), has recently tackled Saudi Arabia in an article, criticizing Saudi clerics who blessed all the actions of the Saudi royal family and asked their people to obey their authority.
He referred to the famous fatwa issued earlier this month, August, by Sheikh Salafist Abdelaziz Al Raies. The latter has urged Saudis not to challenge the emir's authority, even if they «watch him on television drinking wine or committing an act of adultery for thirty minutes».
