A gathering of Shia and Sunni scholars entitled “Al Habib Muhammad” is to be held today in Al Hofuf city, the major urban centre in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahsa Province, Rased news agency reported.
Organized by the Minorities Guidance Office, the gathering is to be held at Al Saraya Hall in Al Hofuf city.
In a meeting with Al-Ahsa’s General Governor, Badr Ibn Jalawi, members of the organizing committee have expressed their objection to Muhammad Al-Arifi’s attendance at the gathering. Muhammad Al Arifi is an extremist Wahhabi Mufti who has recently made statements offending grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.
Badr Ibn Jalawi has considered Muhammad Al-Arifi’s attendance at the meeting “unlikely” because most of the Al Ahsa’a people are against his attendance at the conference as well.
Muhammad Al-Arifi’s statements against grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani have sparked a wave of condemnations from Shia Muslims within Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, but the Saudi government has yet to show any reactions to the issue.
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