Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Muhammad Al Sheikh, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti and Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, has died at the age of 81, local media reported on Tuesday.
The Saudi Royal Court confirmed his passing in a statement issued on September 23. It said funeral prayers for the late Grand Mufti would take place after the afternoon prayer at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh.
King Salman bin Abdulaziz also ordered that funeral prayers be held simultaneously at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, and mosques across the Kingdom.
Sheikh Abdulaziz, who had served as Grand Mufti since 1999, was regarded as one of the most influential religious figures in Saudi Arabia. As head of the Council of Senior Scholars, he played a central role in shaping the Kingdom’s religious guidance and issuing fatwas on major social and legal issues.
