Saudi Arabia to launch official TV, radio for fatwa

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia is mulling the idea of setting up an official television channel and radio station for accredited Muslim scholars to issue fatwas, or religious edicts, reports said Saturday.

The television channel will “create a credible link between the inquirer from inside or outside the kingdom and the authorised clerics” through free hot lines for people from all over the world, the daily al-Youm reported.

Sources indicated that the channel would be based in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

The channel would be part of Saudi Arabia’s recent efforts to stop unauthorised clerics issuing unorthodox religious decrees.

Earlier this month, Saudi King Abdullah issued a decree that allows only officially-appointed scholars to issue public fatwas, in the kingdom’s first such large-scale reform of the religious rulings.