Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh passes away at 82
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti and Head of the Council of Senior Scholars, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sheikh, passed away on Tuesday, September 23, at the age of 82.
The Royal Court confirmed his death in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), noting his leadership of the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta and the Supreme Council of the Muslim World League.
His funeral prayer will be held after Asr at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh. By royal directive, prayers in absentia will also be performed at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, and in mosques across the Kingdom.
Born in Makkah in 1943, Sheikh Abdulaziz memorised the Quran at an early age, overcame the loss of his sight in his twenties, and pursued advanced Sharia studies. Appointed Grand Mufti in 1999, he served as the Kingdom’s highest religious authority for more than two decades.
King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman extended condolences to his family, the Saudi people, and Muslims worldwide, praising his lifelong dedication to Islamic scholarship.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
