Killing of mother in Saudi Arabia sparks debate about Islamic scholar

One of Saudi Islamist militant twins, who according to Saudi authorities murdered their mother and tried to kill their father and younger brother for trying to stop them from joining Islamic State in Syria, is seen in this undated handout photo, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS

DUBAI (Reuters) - Driven by radical beliefs, twin brothers allegedly killed their mother in Saudi Arabia after she tried to stop them from joining Islamic State in Syria in a case that outraged Saudi Arabians worried about rising Islamic militancy.

The June 24 killing, in a country where respect for elders is seen as a bedrock of society, whipped up a storm of debate over the possible influence of a mediaeval Islamic scholar revered as a forerunner of Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam.