In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “former mufti of osama bin laden”. Today it says “saudi arabian islamic scholar”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “former mufti of osama bin laden”. Today it says “saudi arabian islamic scholar”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2010 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2010
Musa al-Qarni is a former mufti of Osama bin Laden . al-Qarni is from Saudi Arabia . ] .1Al-Qarni: ["The uproar and the chaos that we see today in the human race – the killing, the acts of aggression, the rape, the robbery, and the disgrace of honor – what causes this is that the banners which are hoisted high are those of the Jews, the Christians, and other religions and faiths, and not the banner of 'There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Messenger.' "Let's have a look at what is written in the Koran. What position must we adopt towards Allah's enemies? Is it the position we have adopted? First of all, we must be aware of the fact that at present we see that [the West] doesn't want us even to say the words 'Allah's enemies.' They don't want us to say that the Jews and the Christians are Allah's enemies. They don't want us to say that the Jews and the Christians are the enemies of the Muslims and the enemies of Islam." Memri MEMRI: Special Dispatch Series - No. 8592
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 347735124.
The opening as it stood in 2015 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
' Musa al-Qarni is a former mufti of Osama bin Laden . Qarni is from Saudi Arabia .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 599501363.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Saudi cleric (1954–2021) ' Musa al-Qarni (1954 – 12 October 2021) was a Saudi Arabian mufti , who once advised Osama bin Laden .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177464941.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Saudi cleric (died 2021) Musa Al-Qarni ( موسى بن محمد بن يحيى القرني ; 1954 – 12 October 2021) was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar, academic, and lawyer.He was known for his conservative views on jihad and Western intervention in the Middle East, and was associated with the Islamist reformist current in Saudi Arabia.Al-Qarni was arrested in 2007 as part of a group of activists known as the "Jeddah Reformers" and sentenced to 20 years in prison.He died in custody in 2021 under circumstances described by human rights organizations as suspicious and violent.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1290630113. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “former mufti of osama bin laden”. Today it says “saudi arabian islamic scholar”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
islamist
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jihad
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2010 and 2025.
Then
former mufti of osama bin laden
Now
saudi arabian islamic scholar
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
