Wikipedia

Adil al-Kalbani

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

Adil bin Salim bin Sa'eed al-Kalbani
عادل بن سعيد الكلباني
TitleSheikh[1]
Personal
Born (1959-04-03) April 3, 1959 (age 65)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
ReligionIslam
NationalitySaudi Arabian
DenominationSunni
Muslim leader
Influenced by

Biography

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Early years and studies

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Adil al-Kalbani was born in Riyadh on April 4, 1958 to poor emigrants 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

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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

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He has two wives and twelve children.[2]

Views

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Church bells

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

Mecca crane collapse

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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]

Segregation of men and women

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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".[11]

Shias

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In an interview with the BBC, al-Kalbani declared Twelver Shias as apostates,[12] which triggered a backlash from followers of the sect in Saudi Arabia.[13] 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".[14]

Stance on musical instruments

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In a fatwa, al-Kalbani considered singing to be permissible under Islamic law, but retracted it in 2010.[15][16][17][18] In 2019, he backtracked on his retraction and again considered it permissible.[19] A religious singing event was attended by al-Kalbani.[20] A flute was purportedly used.[21][22][23]

Filmography

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In November 2021 he appeared in a promotional video for Combat Field - Riyadh Season 2021.[24][25][26]

References

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  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. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c d e "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 (September 16, 2015). "Tone-deaf 'praying' crane poem creates Saudi Twitterstorm". alaraby. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  11. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Saudi cleric Sheikh Adil Al Kalabani on segregation of men and women. YouTube.
  12. ^ ""عادل الکلبانی" کیست؟ +تصاویر". رسمان دانشجويي - وهابيت.
  13. ^ Trabelsi, Habib (May 12, 2009). "Saudi Shiites call for Sheikh Kalbani dismissal". Middle East Online. PARIS. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017.
  14. ^ Arab, The New (March 25, 2019). "Saudi ex-Imam of Mecca 'no longer considers Shia Muslims as heretics'". alaraby. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  15. ^ "الشيخ الكلباني يجيز الموسيقى بعيدا عن النساء والكلام الفاحش". FARFESH. May 25, 2010.
  16. ^ Lakhani, Shakir (July 2, 2010). "Fatwa on music results in hacking of website". Chowrangi. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017.
  17. ^ "الشيخ عادل الكلباني..مفجر الجبهات". صحيفة ضوء. December 19, 2015. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017.
  18. ^ "الشيخ الكلباني يتراجع عن فتواه بإباحة الغناء ويعتبر المتشغلين به فسقة". دنيا الوطن. غزة. July 29, 2010.
  19. ^ Arab, The New (November 19, 2019). "Saudi cleric claims music, singing allowed by Prophet Muhammad just as MbS presses 'entertainment' drive". alaraby. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  20. ^ "الشيخ الكلباني يحضر جلسة إنشاد .. وردود فعل متباينة من النشطاء". صحيفة أنحاء الإلكترونية. December 9, 2016. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ البدوي, حمزة (December 17, 2015). "بالفيديو- إمام الحرم المكي السابق يظهر في جلسة مزمار.. وسعوديون: الله يهديه يهديه". اخبارك نت.
  23. ^ البدوي, حمزة (December 17, 2015). "بالفيديو- إمام الحرم المكي السابق يظهر في جلسة مزمار.. وسعوديون: الله يهديه". دارالاخبار كوم.
  24. ^ "Former Imam of Kaaba appears in Saudi TV ad". Daily Pakistan Global. December 12, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  25. ^ "لماذا أثار إمام سابق للحرم المكي جدلا في السعودية؟ وما علاقته بموسم الرياض؟". BBC News عربي.
  26. ^ "إمام الحرم المكي السابق يشارك بفيديو ترويجي وتركي آل الشيخ يعلق". November 19, 2021.
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