Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan bin Abdullah al-Fawzan, appointed grand mufti of Saudi Arabia on Oct. 22, 2025. (Credit: Archive photo Adyan Alhamidi/Wikimedia)
Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh passed away in September after serving for a quarter of a century as Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti. His successor is 90-year-old Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan bin Abdullah al-Fawzan, appointed to the position on Oct. 22 by royal decree, following a recommendation from Crown Prince and Saudi Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), according to the official SPA news agency. As grand mufti, Fawzan is now the head of the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia, meaning he holds the highest religious office in the kingdom and is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Mecca and Medina — which welcomed nearly 1.7 million Hajj pilgrims this year, according to the General Authority for Statistics.Fawzan is “one of the kingdom’s most respected religious scholars,” said James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S....
Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh passed away in September after serving for a quarter of a century as Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti. His successor is 90-year-old Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan bin Abdullah al-Fawzan, appointed to the position on Oct. 22 by royal decree, following a recommendation from Crown Prince and Saudi Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), according to the official SPA news agency. As grand mufti, Fawzan is now the head of the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia, meaning he holds the highest religious office in the kingdom and is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Mecca and Medina — which welcomed nearly 1.7 million Hajj pilgrims this year, according to the General Authority for Statistics.Fawzan is “one of the kingdom’s most respected religious scholars,” said James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow...
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