Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. who is one a mission to transform the oil-rich Kingdom into an ultra-modern nation under his ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 project. has made a statement on the Quran that provides clues of his future vision to swap Saudi Arabia’s widespread reputation from a hardline Islamist country to a modern, liberal nation that does not discriminate on the basis of religion.
In the interview, Mohammed Bin Salman asserts that “the Quran is always open to interpretation”, adding that there is “there is no fixed school of ideologies and no person is infallible.”
Commenting on Fatwas (diktats issued by Islamic scholars), the Crown Prince says that “all fatwas should be based on time, place and mentality.”
In a recent interview of the Crown Prince which is going viral, he states that the “Quran is always open interpretation”, a clear indication of his vision of a future Saudi Arabia.
Reacting to Salman’s comments, Indian Islamic scholar Zahack Tanvir agrees with the Saudi Prince, and adds that “Sharia is not a fixed entity, it evolves through interpretation by the ulema, fuqaha and imams according to the needs of time and place.”
Saudi Arabia follows Hanbali fiqh influenced by Salafi interpretations. Iran applies Ja’fari fiqh under theocratic Shia rule. The UAE has adopted Maliki fiqh blended with modern civil laws. Egypt primarily follows Shafi’i fiqh, integrated with the civil legal framework. While the Taliban enforces rigid Hanafi fiqh combined with tribal Pashtun customs.
According to Tanvir, the Islamic world needs scholar who can reinterpret laws and legal framework keeping in mind the current realities of the world. “In today’s world we need scholars, ulema and fuqaha who understand the modern challenges and develop a framework that is in line with contemporary realities while preserving Islamic principles!”.
Notably, under the Prince’s Vision 2030 project, Saudi Arabia’s public schools are teaching students about other religions to inculcate tolerance, however, MbS’s primary objective is to eradicate hardline Islamic fundamentalism and fanaticism from the country, according to experts.
In 2023, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who is also the country’s Prime Minister, had ordered the Hadith documentation project which is aimed to provide a uniform standard interpretation of Hadiths to prevent radical elements and terrorists to reinterpret these to suit their own agenda and nefarious designs.
According to the Prince, due to such a large number of Hadiths, these religious texts are often misinterpreted by terrorists and extremists to suit their own agenda. “Hadith has been limited to 100 Mutawatir,” the Crown Prince says in the interview.
In Islamic tradition, ‘Mutawatir’, meaning “successive” in Arabic, is use to refer to a hadith which is reported by so many narrators that it’s authenticity is considered unquestionable.
As per experts, Salman’s views about the reinterpretations of the Hadith, and even the Quran, is a bold step towards curbing religious extremism and to help Saudi Arabia transform shed its perceived image as a hardline Islamist country, and transform into a modern, liberal nation.
Experts believe that Prince Salman’s Hadith project will also have far reaching implications for the Muslim world, especially countries which follow Saudi Arabia’s version of Islam, at least in spirit, if not in letter. Notably, Islamic hardliners often perpetrate violence against those accused of blasphemy, especially in countries like Pakistan where these accused are killed by lynch mobs.
Islamic fundamentalists often use the Hadith to justify these “punishments” because the Quran does not condone such acts. “Allah has not built any wall between Himself and the people. He revealed the Quran and the Prophet followed it, it’s as simple as that,” the Prince says.
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