Saudi Arabia arrests preacher criticizes mosques closure

ADEN, March 23 (YPA) –  Saudi authorities have arrested a prominent preacher Abdullah al-Saad for criticizing the decision of closing mosques because of the spread of the corona virus, according to the “Prisoners of Conscience” account.

Activists on social media circulated his speech about the decision of closing the mosques , as part of the measures taken by the authorities to combat the spread of Corona virus.

.Al-Saad said in his speech that those who die due to Corona are not compared to the children and diseases that spread in the past, pointing out that the decision is not successful.

He added that those who die from strokes and other diseases are far more likely than the victims of Corona, and that Syria, for example, despite the deaths of hundreds of thousands, has not closed mosques.

He continued: “I say: it is not permissible to suspend prayer in mosques from Friday or praying in a group, but performing Friday’s prayer is a duty. It is a necessary imperative, and a duty, as well as praying in a group.”

Although Al-Saad’s fatwa drew many criticisms, activists denounced the authorities’ arrest simply for expressing an opinion contrary to what the government had approved.

Sheikh Al-Saad’s official account deleted the fatwa days before his arrest, but this did not help him from the authorities’ grasp, according whistleblowers.

E.M