Salman al-Ouda… Exposing Sorour's heir in Saudi Arabia

The trial of Saudi preacher Salman al-Ouda has stirred controversy on the social media, as some people attacked him while others defended him. The Muslim Brotherhood backed by Qatar and Turkey launched a media war on Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi prosecution has pressed 37 charges against al-Ouda, who is connected to the Brotherhood and Qatar.

Al-Ouda introduces himself like this "Do not follow me as I may slip, but share with me" on Twitter, where he has more than 14 million followers. His tweets totaled 50,000 between 2009 and 2017.

The young people form the majority of his audience. The preacher, who is influenced by the Sorourist Salafi trend, banked on the cyberspace using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to broadcast his sermons and lectures.

Mohamed Sorour Zein al-Abedeen, who was born in Syria, lived in Saudi Arabia and died in Qatar, established the Sorourist Salafi trend.

Sorour started promoting his Salafi trend, which has been influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood., in the 1960s. Al-Ouda was one of his faithful disciples.

Sorour inspired his disciples and flavored the Salafi trend some political taste. He approved criticizing rulers, injecting some revolutionary flavor into the Salafi trend.

Sheikh Abdel Aziz al-Yehia told Al-Arabiya TV channel that Sorour had come to Saudi Arabia at a time when the Brotherhood's members started to migrate to Saudi Arabia. However, he was kicked out from the Kingdom more than 7 years later.

Al-Yehia said Salman al-Ouda was greatly influenced by Sorour. Al-Ouda changed his first name from Soleiman to Salman after "Salman", one of the Prophet Mohamed's companions.

Al-Ouda was a faithful disciple of Sorour, who asked him to keep away from official jobs and government posts.

Al-Ouda led renaissance group calling for reforms in the 1980s. He signed a petition for legal, administrative, media and social reforms in Saudi Arabia in May1991.

Al-Ouda banned from giving any public lectures in September 1993 and was detained in August 1994.

After he was released, he temporarily wanted to stay away from politics. However, his disciples, who embraced dogmas of Sayyid Qutb and Sorour, advised him not to change his discourse and attitude.

The 37 charges against al-Ouda include communications with former emir of Qatar, the toppled Libyan regime, joining the Muslim Brotherhood and interfering in Egypt's internal affairs.

He also joined some banned associations such as the International Union of Muslim Scholars, chaired by Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Al-Ouda served as the assistant secretary-general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

Al-Ouda supervised Multaqa Al-Nahda, or Renaissance Forum. Saudi sources say Qatar-funded Mutlaqa Al-Nahda was established in 2010. The forum was held annually under the supervision of al-Ouda.

In its third edition in 2012 in Kuwait, the forum triggered controversy after Kuwait MP said the forum, which is funded by Qatar, targets Saudi Arabia. Unofficially, Azmi Bishara, former Israeli Knesset member, also supervised the forum.

Al-Ouda has become an iconic Brotherhood figure, attracting millions of young people via the social media since he was detained in September 2017. His trail began on September 5, 2018.

 A war of hashtags erupted on Twitter. "Salman al-Ouda is not a terrorist" is one the hashtags.

Sheikh Abdalla Maarouf wondered how al-Ouda could have been detained and charged with so many accusations. "Are they mad to press 37 charges against him and even want to hang him. Al-Ouda is not a terrorist".

However, social media users launched another hashtag titled "Al-Ouda is a terrorist". Fawaz al-Khaledy called for punishing terrorists.

Pro-Brotherhood media outlets such as Al-Jazeera, Al-Sharq and Arabi 21 have launched a campaign against Saudi Arabia, calling for releasing him.