“Anyone who claims this has refuted Islam and should be tried in order to take it back. If not, he should be killed as an apostate from the religion of Islam," said the fatwa, or religious opinion, dated March 14 and published on Barrak’s website (albarrak.islamlight.net).
"It is disgraceful that articles containing this kind of apostasy should be published in some papers of Saudi Arabia, the land of the two holy shrines," he said, referring to Muslim holy places in Makkah and Medina.
"The rulers should hold these papers to account … and all those who took part in the publication should know they were involved in the sin of heretical articles." Barrak, who is thought to be around 75, is the leading authority of Saudi Arabia’s hardline version of Sunni Islam, often termed Wahhabism.
He said the articles suggested Muslims were free to follow other religions. Rights groups have accused Wahhabism of a xenophobic attitude which demonises other religions.
The two writers, Abdullah bin Bejad Al Otaibi and Yousef Aba Al Khail, were not immediately available for comment. Saudi Arabia regularly executes drug traffickers, rapists and murderers, but calls for people to be put to death for opinions expressed in public are rare.
Liberal reformers are engaged in a battle with religious hardliners over the direction of the country, a key US ally and the world’s biggest oil
exporter. Diplomats say powerful clerics allied to some key members of the Saudi royal family have prevented the government from moving forward with social and political reforms.
