Lebanese Sunni Scholar Sheikh Maher Hamoud: Saudi Royals Have Always Been Illiterate; King Salman Does Not Know How To Read Or Write

Lebanese Sunni scholar Sheikh Maher Hamoud, Secretary-General of the Union of Resistance Ulama, said in a January 8, 2022 interview on Al-Manar TV (Hizbullah-Lebanon) that King Salman of Saudi Arabia is illiterate and no longer calls the shots in his kingdom. He also said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman must repent because he has brought corruption to Saudi Arabia, because he fights the Islamic resistance, and because he has brought cholera back to Yemen. For more about Sheikh Maher Hamoud, see MEMRI TV clips nos. 8731, 4836, 1970, and 1808.

Maher Hamoud: "King [Salman] can hardly read out texts. He was trying to say istirkha [to relax], but said [istikhra, to defecate]. It was really funny. That was very unfortunate. This king is not calling the shots. Everybody knows that."

Interviewer: "So you think it's all up to Prince Mohammed bin Salman?"

Hamoud: "Absolutely. It's not just me. The whole world is saying this. It's MBS."

Interviewer: "Who wrote the speech for the king?"

Hamoud: "Either Mohammed bin Salman or one of the advisors. I am sure of this. King Salman does not know how to write. He does not know how to read either. It is rare for the Saudi kings to be proficient in the Arabic language.

"Even the best among them, King Faisal... Back in the day, my father, who was an Arabic teacher... [King Faisal] said two words, and made three or four mistakes. My father said in anger: 'You call yourself a king? You cannot even read Arabic.' I do not know why, but their Arab culture is very weak. Sometimes you get someone like Prince Khaled, who is a poet, but this is rare."

[...]

Interviewer: "What is your advice to Prince Mohammed bin Salman?"

Hamoud: "To repent."

Interviewer: "To repent?"

Hamoud: "Of course."

Interviewer: "Has he gone astray?"

Hamoud: "Of course. He brings corruption upon Saudi Arabia. We used to take pride in Saudi Arabia being corruption-free. In addition, he fights the resistance, which represents the honor of our nation. He kills people. The world had made cholera extinct, but now it returned to Yemen, because of the siege and all the death."