The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and the head of the Council of Senior Scholars, Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh, has died, the Royal Court said.
He was 82 and had served in the role since 1999.
Funeral prayers were to be held at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Grand Mosque in Riyadh after the Asr (afternoon) prayer on Tuesday, the court said.
"The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques – may God protect him – has directed that funeral prayers in absentia be performed for him at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah and all mosques across the kingdom after the Asr prayer today," it said.
The Grand Mufti also served as head of the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, and of the Supreme Council of the Muslim World League.
He sometimes offered religious opinion on developments in the Middle East. In 2014 he denounced ISIS as "enemy number one of Islam" and not part of the faith.
The Royal Court said that with his passing, the kingdom and the Islamic world have lost a distinguished scholar who made significant contributions to the service of Muslims.
King Salman, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered their condolences to his family, the Saudi people and the Islamic world.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
