Sheikh Ali al-Khudair

Sheikh Ali al-Khudair ( _ar. شيخ علي الخُضير, ArTranslit|Sheikh ’Ali al-Khuḍayr), also known as Sheikh Ali bin al-Khudair, or Ali bin al-Khudayr is a well-known and influential Saudi Arabian cleric and scholar. He was arrested in 2003.

Before his 2003 arrest

According to Michael Scott Doran in Foreign Affairs [http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040101faessay83105-p20/michael-scott-doran/the-saudi-paradox.html] Sheikh Ali al-Khudair "is known as a leader of the takfiri-jihadi stream of Islamic radicalism -- that is, as someone quick to engage in takfir, the practice of proclaiming fellow Muslims guilty of apostasy (a crime punishable by death)."

Sheikh Ali al-Khudair had issued fatwas against several Saudi-Arabian thinkers, among them Turki al-Hamad, Mansour al-Naqeedan and Abdullah Abusamh declaring them as infidel. [http://www.ain-al-yaqeen.com/issues/20031128/feat6en.htm]

His taped sermons and religious decrees are reported to have influenced many young people in Saudi-Arabia. [http://www.tharwaproject.com/English/index.php?option=com_keywords&task=view&id=1233&Itemid=0]

Arrest, 2003, and afterwards

He was arrested in 2003 in Madinah, Saudi-Arabia for supporting terrorist attacks.

Days after his arrest, an Islamist Web site posted a message from Osama bin Laden warning the Saudi government not to harm the cleric. Bin Laden described al-Khudair as "our most prominent supporter" and cautioned that if he was hurt, Al-Qaeda's response would be "as great as the sheik's high standing with us", this according to "Mohamad Bazzi" [http://www.tharwaproject.com/English/index.php?option=com_keywords&task=view&id=1233&Itemid=0]

In an interview with Saudi television Sheikh al-Khudair withdrew the fatwas he had issued declaring Turki al-Hamad, Mansour al-Naqeedan and Abdullah Abusamh as infidel, this according to Ain-al-Yaqeen in 2003,

References

* [http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040101faessay83105-p20/michael-scott-doran/the-saudi-paradox.html ] Michael Scott Doran in Foreign Affairs
* [http://www.ain-al-yaqeen.com/issues/20031128/feat6en.htm "Sheikh Nasser Ibn Hamad al-Fahd withdraws several fatwas ..."] , "Ain al-Yaqeen", November 28, 2003
* [http://www.tharwaproject.com/English/index.php?option=com_keywords&task=view&id=1233&Itemid=0 "Mohamad Bazzi"]