Clerics blast 'death fatwa'

CAIRO, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Egyptian scholars scorned a fatwa issued by Saudi cleric Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak, who called for death for those promoting the mingling of sexes.

Barrak, in a recent fatwa, said the mixing of men and women at the workplace or educational arenas was forbidden, noting violations should be punishable by death.

Barrak is viewed as one of the most influential scholars on the ultra-conservative Wahhabi sect of Islam. The 75-year-old cleric faced criticism for past religious rulings, which were seen as intolerant.

Abdul Hamid al-Atrash, the former leading authority at Cairo's Al-Azhar University, the leading Sunni Islamic learning center, told al-Arabiya the Barrak fatwa was an extremist's interpretation of Islam.

"A woman can go out to work as long as she is modestly dressed and will not deal with men in a way that arouses them," he said. "Indecent mixing is what should be prohibited."

Ahmed al-Ghamdi, the head of the Saudi branch of the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, told Arabiya the fatwa deserved to be ignored.

"This will just lead to endless arguments that will eventually boil down to nothing," he said.