Nine Years of Silence and Injustice: Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Tarifi Still Arbitrarily Detained in Saudi Arabia
As of April 2025, prominent Saudi Islamic scholar Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Marzouq Al-Tarifi has spent nine full years in arbitrary detention without being formally charged, tried, or granted basic legal rights. His family continues to be denied regular contact with him, and Saudi authorities persist in concealing the reasons behind his prolonged imprisonment.
Born in 1976, Sheikh Al-Tarifi is one of the most widely respected and followed religious figures in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. Known for his moderate and eloquent approach to Islamic scholarship, he earned a substantial following for his clarity, depth, and accessibility. After completing his studies at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, he worked as a researcher at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
His ordeal began on April 23, 2016, when security forces arrested him after ten days of house arrest. No official charges were announced, and he has not been brought before any court since. Before his arrest, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs had already issued an order banning the distribution of his books without legal justification.
Sheikh Al-Tarifi’s sermons and public statements were largely religious in nature, focusing on faith and da‘wah (Islamic preaching). However, he also expressed firm opposition to arbitrary detention and human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. In a 2013 tweet, he described unjust imprisonment without legal basis as “one of the greatest forms of oppression.”
He also voiced criticism of some of the Saudi regime’s modern policies associated with Vision 2030, which authorities interpreted as defiance of state directives. These public stances are believed to have contributed to his arrest and continued imprisonment.
Together for Justice strongly condemns the Saudi regime’s ongoing detention of Sheikh Al-Tarifi and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. We demand an independent investigation into all violations he has faced since his arrest, including the absence of due process and his complete exclusion from legal proceedings.
The continued imprisonment of Sheikh Al-Tarifi constitutes a grave human rights violation and an alarming example of how dissent is punished in Saudi Arabia. We call on the international community to pressure Saudi authorities to uphold their obligations under international law, ensure transparency in the handling of political and religious detainees, and put an end to arbitrary detention.
