JEDDAH: Several ministers and members of the Executive Council of the Conference of Ministers of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Muslim countries arrived in Saudi Arabia to take part in the meeting of the Executive Council of the Conference at the council’s 11th session in Makkah this Sunday.

The chairman of the council, the minister of Islamic affairs, Saleh bin Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, will lead the discussion on a number of issues facing Islamic countries. 

The council is also set to discuss ways of promoting intellectual Islamic moderation and anti-radical thought.

Saudi cleric Al-Asheikh was born in 1959 in Riyadh to a notable family of religious scholars. He completed a bachelor’s degree in the Science of Qur’an at Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh. After graduating he took up a post at the university teaching fundamentals of religion.

In 1995, he was appointed as deputy to the minister of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance, becoming the minister from 1996 until 2014, and taking up the post again shortly afterwards. Al-Asheikh is the general supervisor of the King Fahd Complex, which is responsible for printing the Holy Qur’an, as well as Al-Dawa Charity Foundation.

He has written several books on Islamic sciences. He used to be in charge of charities such as Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, and continues to oversee progress in institutes such as the International Islamic Relief Organization and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth. 

He is the president of Supreme Council of Charitable Associations for Holy Qur’an memorization.