During the 80-90s amid the rise of "awakening movement " in ME specifically in GCC, a young at that time ,Salman alOuda was a prominent leading figure who gave sizzling speeches around the region with celebrity like statue where his positions nearly identical to Bin laden the highest of clashes between him/followers and the Saudi government took place during the 1st Gulf War , where he opposed the secular government stands and foreigners troops presence. occasionally he spent time in jail and given a chance to peruse his studies , eventually he received his PH.D in Islamic studies . since then he has changed from being a far right , to the opposite on almost all current affairs ...,he became an inspiring TV personality and given access to media in which he gave mild rational opinions and less emotional , recently he expressed his opinion on gays..and it came on the news like this : "newnownext.com Prominent Saudi Cleric Says Homosexuality Shouldn't Be Punished by Dan Avery 5/3/2016 Saudi Arabia has strict prohibitions against homosexuality, with penalties ranging from public whippings to the death penalty. But a prominent Muslim scholar in the country says such punishments are wrong. “Even though homosexuality is considered a sin in all the Semitic holy books, it does not require any punishment in this world,” Dr. Salman al-Ouda told the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan. “Homosexuals are not deviating from Islam,” Ouda explained. “Homosexuality is a grave sin, but those who say that homosexuals deviate from Islam are the real deviators.” He explained that a main tenant of Islam is “man’s freedom to act as he wants… but one must also take the consequences.” Those who engage in homosexuality, he says, will pay the price “after death.” Saudi Arabia - Rainbow flag pattern Getty Though Ouda is one of the most prominent religious speakers in Saudi Arabia, he was incarcerated for five years for “inciting opposition” to the government. Released in 1999, he now operates under the government’s protection, hosting a TV show and running the website Islam Today. In the interview, he also condemned groups that are hijacking the Muslim belief in Sharia law. “Sharia is a very broad and wide concept and it is a concept that has been kidnapped.” Editor in Chief of NewNowNext. Comic book enthusiast. Bounder and cad. "I can't promise I'll try, but I'll try to try." @ItsDanAvery ------------------------------------------------------- worthy notes his critics sited the following : some thinks he is still guilty of misguiding generation of radicals , his early speech and book still used by some radicals even if he had shifted his stands. some thinks he became a government so called "puppet's cleric" ,expressing their view. some thinks people grow wiser and its just a part of human nature. whatever the case , i think its a positive sign
