Saudi Arabia has named 90-year-old ultraconservative scholar Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan al-Fawzan as its new grand mufti, the kingdom's highest religious authority. The announcement, made late Wednesday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, was approved by King Salman on the recommendation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, signaling a potential tension between the monarchy's modernization push and its deep-rooted religious conservatism.

Born on September 28, 1935, in the arid al-Qassim province, Sheikh Saleh's early life was marked by tragedy and piety. Orphaned young after his father's death, he immersed himself in Quranic studies under a local imam, laying the foundation for a career that would make him one of the most influential—and polarizing—voices in Sunni Islam. Rising through the ranks, he became a household name via his long-running radio program "Noor ala al-Darb" ("Light on the Path"), where he dispensed religious guidance to millions. His prolific output includes numerous books, television appearances, and fatwas that ripple across social media, shaping debates on everything from daily devotion to global politics.

But it's Sheikh Saleh's more incendiary rulings that have drawn international fire. In 2017, Human Rights Watch spotlighted his vitriolic stance on Shiite Muslims, whom he dismissed as "brothers of Satan" when asked if Sunnis should see them as kin. "They lie about God, his prophet, and the consensus of Muslims… There is no doubt about the unbelief of these people," he reportedly thundered on another occasion. Such rhetoric, while echoing longstanding sectarian divides—especially amid Saudi-Iranian rivalries—isn't isolated. Sheikh Saleh has lambasted Yemen's Houthi rebels, backed by Tehran, for launching missiles at Saudi holy sites, framing their actions as assaults on Islam itself.

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His views extend to even more controversial territory. Back in 2003, he infamously declared, "Slavery is a part of Islam. Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long as there is Islam," a statement that resurfaced amid global scrutiny of the kingdom's human rights record. Fast-forward to 2016, and Sheikh Saleh issued a fatwa banning the wildly popular mobile game "Pokémon Go," decrying it as a gateway to gambling and moral decay. The irony? Saudi Arabia, under the crown prince's Vision 2030 reforms, now holds significant stakes in Nintendo and Niantic, the game's developer—highlighting the kingdom's awkward dance between tradition and tech-driven progress.

This appointment follows the September passing of Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, who helmed the grand mufti's office for 25 years and hailed from the storied al-Sheikh family. Descendants of 18th-century firebrand Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Abdul-Wahhab—the architect of Wahhabism, the puritanical strain of Islam that fused with the Saudi royal house—the family has long dominated the role. Wahhabism's rigid doctrines surged in influence after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, fortifying Saudi Arabia's role as Sunni Islam's ideological vanguard.

As grand mufti, Sheikh Saleh steps into a position of immense sway among the world's 1.8 billion Sunni Muslims. From the hallowed halls of Mecca and Medina—home to the annual Hajj pilgrimage, a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for able-bodied believers—his edicts carry weight far beyond the Arabian Peninsula. They influence fatwas on everything from women's rights to international alliances, often clashing with Saudi Arabia's bold social overhauls under King Salman and the crown prince.

Those reforms have transformed the once-insular kingdom: Women can now drive, cinemas buzz with Hollywood blockbusters, and mega-projects like NEOM aim to diversify an oil-dependent economy into a tourism and tech hub. Yet appointing an arch-conservative like Sheikh Saleh raises eyebrows. Critics fear it could stall momentum on liberalization, while supporters see it as a nod to religious authenticity amid rapid change. "This is Wahhabism's last stand," one anonymous Riyadh analyst whispered to foreign media, "or perhaps its clever reinvention."

As the kingdom navigates this high-wire act, the world watches: Will Sheikh Saleh's voice temper reforms, or will the crown prince's vision prevail? In a nation where faith and fortune intertwine, the answer could redefine Saudi Arabia's place in the modern Muslim world.

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