Abdul-Rahman Al-Sudais
Abdul Rahman ibn Abdul Aziz al-Sudais, better known as al-Sudais, is the Chief Imam of the Grand Mosque, Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and the President of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques. A renowned Qāriʾ; In 2005 he was chosen the Dubai International Holy Qur'an Award's "Islamic Personality Of the Year".
Al-Sudais comes from the Anazzah clan, and he had memorized the Quran by the age of 12. Growing up in Riyadh, al-Sudais studied at the Al Muthana Bin Harith Elementary School, and afterwards the Riyadh Scientific Institution from which he graduated in 1979 with a grade of excellent. He obtained a degree in Sharia from Riyadh University in 1983, his Master's in Islamic fundamentals from the Sharia College of Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in 1987 and received his Ph.D. in Islamic Sharia from Umm al-Qura University in 1995 while working there as an assistant professor after serving at Riyadh University. Sudais took up his imamate in 1984, at just 22-years of age, and conducted his first sermon at Masjid al-Haram in July 1984, other than this Sheikh Saud al-Shuraim - has been his partner in Taraweeh Prayers from 1994 till 2006, and again in 2014, 2019 and 2020. They were titled "Twins of the Haram". In 2005-2020, Sheikh Abdullah Awad al-Juhany and other imams of Masjid al-Haram such as Sheikh Yasser al-Dosari and Sheikh Bander Baleela took over al-Shuraim's position as imam of the first Rakat of the Khatm al-Quran (End of the Quran) Taraweeh prayer.
Conflict resolution among Muslims
In 2003, Sudais stated that he believes that youth need to be taught Islamic law, including the precepts of the prohibition on killing oneself and the prohibition against attacking non-Muslims living in Islamic countries. Sudais has also said that Islamic youth should not "indiscriminately hurl the label of atheism and not to confuse between legitimate jihad and...the terrorizing of peaceable people." Sudais has said that there is no room for extremism and sectarianism in Islam and that Islam teaches a moderate path. He said the solution to problems that Muslims face in Palestine, Somalia, Iraq, Kashmir, Yemen and Afghanistan lies in following the teachings of Islam in letter and spirit. He called for resolution of conflicts through dialogue and negotiations taking into consideration the social and economic benefits that can be achieved by resolving these disputes.
Sin and drought
In a sermon on 13 November 2006, al-Sudais preached that the ongoing drought was caused by the proliferation of sin in Saudi society and the behavior of women in the kingdom who allegedly were "unveiling, mingling with men, and being indifferent to the hijab".
Prayers for inter-faith peace
In June 2004, Sudais led a following of 10,000 in prayers for inter-faith peace and harmony in London. Racial Equality Minister Fiona Mactaggart attended Sudais' sermon at the East London Mosque. Prince Charles, who was in Washington, took part by a pre-recorded message Britain's chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, sent a message of support.
Remarks on Jews
In his sermon of April 19, 2002, broadcast on Saudi 1, al-Sudais referred to the story in the Quran 2:65 which the Jews turned into "monkeys and pigs". Read the history and you will know that yesterday's Jews were bad predecessors and today's Jews are worse successors. They are killers of prophets and the scum of the earth. God hurled his curses and indignation on them and made them monkeys and pigs and worshippers [sic] of tyrants. These are the Jews, a continuous lineage of meanness, cunning, obstinacy, tyranny, evil, and corruption....May God's curses follow them until the Day of Judgement....Thus, they deserve the curse of God, His angels, and all people.
Call for all-out war against Iran
On 31 March 2015, an audio recording of al-Sudais was circulated online, accompanied by a photo with a caption stating "Imam of the grand mosque in Mecca calls for all-out war against Shiites." In the recording al-Sudais called for an all-out war against the Shia: Our war with Iran, say that out loud, is a war between Sunnis and Shiites. Our war with Iran...is truly sectarian. If it was not sectarian, we will make it sectarian... The Jews and cross [referring to Christians] I swear by Allah that they will have their days... The prophet said Rome will be conquered... Our disagreement with Rafidha [a derogatory term referring to Shia Muslims] will not be removed nor our suicide to fight them...as long as they are on the face of the earth...
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Antisemitism
Following his 2002 speech, al-Sudais has been described as an antisemite for publicly praying to God to 'terminate' the Jews, whom he called "the scum of humanity ... the rats of the world ... prophet killers ... pigs and monkeys", and as a result has been barred from conferences in the United States and been refused entry to Canada. Al-Sudais has been listed as an example of theological antisemitism by the Anti-Defamation League, when he called curses down upon Jews and labeled them "scum of the earth" in his sermons. The International Broadcasting Bureau also has reported the antisemitism of Sudais's April 2002 sermon. In a May 2003 interview with NBC's Tim Russert, the foreign policy adviser to the Saudi crown prince, Adel al-Jubeir, confirmed Al-Sudais's statements, agreed that they were "clearly not right", and stated that he was reprimanded, but was still allowed to preach. He also said that "if he [Sudais] had a choice he would retract these words – he would not have said these words."
