Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan bin Abdullah Al-Fawzan was named the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia by royal decree, the official SPA news agency reported late on Wednesday.
Fawzan, who has made controversial comments on child marriage and minority Shiite Muslims, succeeds the conservative Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, who died in September after more than 20 years in the role.
In 2011, Fawzan publicly opposed a minimum age for marriage, after the justice ministry moved to stamp out the practice of marrying off pre-pubescent girls.
In 2017, Human Rights Watch cited the Sunni cleric as calling Shiite Muslims “brothers of Satan” in a recorded question-and-answer session.
He was appointed on the recommendation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi ruler who has ushered in sweeping reforms in a bid to diversify the economy of the world’s biggest oil exporter.
Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and is home to its holiest sites, including the Kaaba at Mecca’s Grand Mosque.
However, the deeply conservative kingdom has sought to modernise since Prince Mohammed was appointed heir to the throne by his father King Salman, now 89, in 2017.
Under his direction, the power of Saudi Arabia’s influential clerics has diminished and the once-feared morality police have been muzzled.
Many women now forgo veils and head-coverings in urban centres, non-Muslim tourists are allowed, and since 2018, women can legally drive.
