Saudi Arabia creates global body of religious scholars to fight extremism

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.
(Image credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images)

King Salman of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, announced Wednesday the formation of a religious authority of Islamic scholars from around the world that would vet the use of "hadiths" — the accounts of the life, doings, and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.

Hadiths are used by preachers, scholars, and Islamic jurists to teach different interpretations of Islam. Terrorist groups like the Islamic State, al Qaeda, and the Taliban have all used different hadiths to justify their own ideologies and actions, as there are thousands of versions. Saudi Arabia's Culture and Information Ministry said Wednesday that the establishment of this religious authority would "eliminate fake and extremist texts and any texts that contradict the teachings of Islam and justify the committing of crimes, murders, and terrorist acts."

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Kelly O'Meara Morales

Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.