Abdallah bin Bayyah

Abdallah bin Mahfudh ibn Bayyah (born 1935[1]) is a Mauritanian politician and professor of Islamic studies at the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.[4][5]

Abdullah bin Bayyah
TitleShaykh
Personal
Born1935 (age 85–86)[1]
Timbédra, Mauritania (then French West Africa)
ReligionIslam
EraModern era
RegionSaudi Arabia
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceMaliki[2]
CreedAsh'ari
MovementSufi[3]
Muslim leader
Websitehttp://binbayyah.net/english/
EmployerKing Abdul Aziz University

He is a specialist in all four traditional Sunni schools, with an emphasis on the Maliki Madh'hab. Currently he is the President of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies.[6] Bin Bayyah is involved in a number of scholarly councils including The Islamic Fiqh Council, a Saudi-based Institute, he was also the Vice-President of International Union of Muslim Scholars.[7] from which he resigned in 2014.[8][9] He was also a member of the Dublin-based European Council for Fatwa and Research, a council of Muslim clerics that aims at explaining Islamic law in a way that is sensitive to the realities of European Muslims.[10] For over two decades, in relation to the latter two institutions, he worked closely with the Egyptian scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi.[5]

Early career

Bin Bayyah was born in Timbédra in a household with an Islamic environment in which he studied all of the Islamic sciences. He began his formal studies with his father, Mahfoudh; meanwhile, he studied Arabic with Mohammed Salem bin al-Sheen, Quran with Bayyah bin al-Salik al-Misumi.[11]

In his youth, he was appointed to study legal judgments in Tunis. On returning to Mauritania, he became Minister of Education and later Minister of Justice. He was also appointed a Vice President of the first president of Mauritania.[4] He resides in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and teaches Islamic Legal Methodology, Qur'an and Arabic at the King Abdulaziz University. He is fluent in Arabic and French.[12] Hamza Yusuf serves as his translator.[12]

Views

Bin Bayyah is a scholar of uṣūl al-fiqh (Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence) and has competency in all four Sunni juridical schools; he is widely seen as an eminently learned voice of moderation and peace.

Bin Bayyah views democracy and limiting the power of the executive with hostility. He argues that calling for democracy in the Middle East would result in terrorism, and would constitute "a declaration of war."[13][5]

Sufism

Bin Bayyah is a promoter of Tasawwuf (Sufism).[14] He believes that Tasawwuf (which he defines as the seeking of perfection through the love for and longing towards meeting Allah) needs to be revived in the Islamic Ummah and restored as an Islamic science.[14] He also asserts that various Sufi practices - including the use of dhikr beads, Tawassul (using the righteous as a means to gain Allah’s blessings), Tabarruk (deriving blessings from the relics of the deceased), and visiting the graves of the Awliya - all have a "solid basis in Islam."[14] Bin Bayyah asserts that although Sufis strive to attain Ihsan, the highest level of faith in Islam, it is only attainable once one has mastered the first two levels of faith, Islam (the focus of jurists) and Iman (the focus of theologians).[15]

Bin Bayyah states: "That space of overflowing love, light, passion, insight, transparency, transcendence, and spirituality must have some container and some action to exist within and by. Actually, it is the inseparability and interdependence of the body and the soul. There must be a discipline with its own rules and terminology to represent such perfection aspired to by the highly-determined. That discipline took various names such as “sermons”, as used by Al-Bukhari, and “asceticism”, as in early Sunnah. Eventually, it was agreed to be named “Sufism”, just as the discipline of Shar`i rulings was called Fiqh."[15]

On extremism

Bin Bayyah is one of the signatories of the Amman Message, which gives a broad foundation for defining Muslim orthodoxy.[16] He is also a signatory to the Letter to Baghdadi, an open letter to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The Letter to Baghdadi is a theological refutation of the practices of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.[17] In 2014, he issued a fatwa against the extremist terrorist group ISIS[18] and was famously quoted in a later interview on CNN for saying, "I call to life, not to death."[19] In subsequent years, Bin Bayyah has addressed think tanks and similar audiences such as The Council on Foreign Relations.[20]

Prominence

Bin Bayyah was quoted by President Barack Obama during his speech before U.N security council 2014.[21] Since 2009, he has been ranked as The 500 Most Influential Muslims by Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre and currently holds the number 15 spot for 2020.[22]

Publications
  • The Craft of the Fatwa and minority fiqh, 2005.[23]
  • A dialogue about human rights in Islam, 2003.
  • Ideological opinions (فتاوى فكرية)
  • Amaly al-Dalalat (Usul alfiqh), 2003.
  • Terrorism: a Diagnosis and Solutions
  • The Discourse of Security in Islam and the Culture of Tolerance and Harmony
  • Fatwas and Reflections
  • A clarification on the various legal opinions pertaining to financial transactions
  • The Benefits of Endowments
  • Evidence for those suffering from illnesses on the immense Divine award that awaits them
  • Aims and their Proof

Responsibilities and positions
  • Director of the Global Center for Renewal & Guidance, UK
  • Member of the European Research & Fatwa Council, Ireland
  • Deputy President of the International Association of Muslim Scholars, Beirut
  • Member of the Association of Indian Jurists, Delhi, India
  • Member of The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Jordan
  • Member of the Counsel of Jurists attached to the Organisation of Islamic Conference, Jeddah
  • Member of the Specialist Panel presiding over the Prince Naif ben Abdul Aziz prize for Prophetic Traditions and Islamic Studies
  • Member of the Muslim League’s International High Council of Mosques, Mecca
  • Member of the International Aid Organisation of Kuwait
  • Member of the Lecturing Staff at the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah
  • Member of the High Council in the Centre for Studying the Aims of Sharia, UK

Medals and awards
  • Awarded the King Abdul Aziz Medal with the Rank of Distinction
  • Awarded the Jordanian Medal First Degree
  • Awarded the King Abdullah II of Jordan Prize for Scholars and Callers to God, Jordan
  • The Degree of the Organisation of Islamic Conference with Distinction, and others
  • Awarded the Chinguetti Prize for the Category of Islamic Studies for his book “A Dialogue from Afar”[24]
  • The “Ma’al Hijrah[25]” award from King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah of Malaysia for his efforts in spreading science, values of peace, tolerance, coexistence and positive influence in the world.

See also

Prominent students

References
  1. John Gallagher, Eric D. Patterson, Debating the War of Ideas, p 51. ISBN 0230101984
  2. Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, p. 347. ISBN 0691134847
  3. Washington Institute: "Sufism: An Alternative to Extremism?" by Sarah Feuer March 11, 2015
  4. John Gallagher, Eric D, Debating the War of Ideas, p 51. ISBN 0230101984
  5. al‐Azami, Usaama (July 2019). "'Abdullāh bin Bayyah and the Arab Revolutions: Counter‐revolutionary Neo‐traditionalism's Ideological Struggle against Islamism". The Muslim World. 109 (3): 343–361. doi:10.1111/muwo.12297. ISSN 0027-4909.
  6. "Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies".
  7. Members list (Arabic) Archived January 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "404". elkhabar.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-21.
  9. "Middle East Online: Qaradawi's deputy resigns from Union of Islamic Scholars". Middle East Online. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
  10. List of Members of the European Council for Fatwa and Research Archived August 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ar:عبد الله بن بيه
  12. Imams Online: "Abdallah bin Bayyah" retrieved September 20, 2015
  13. "UAE's forum for 'promoting peace' is another cynical PR initiative". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  14. ISRA News: "Abdallah Bin Bayyah" Archived 2015-09-30 at the Wayback Machine retrieved September 19, 2015
  15. The Official Website of His Eminence Abdallah Bin Bayyah: "Sufism in Islamic Shari`ah" Archived 2015-09-30 at the Wayback Machine retrieved September 20, 2015
  16. Bin Bayyah's official reply to Amman Message
  17. "Letter to Baghdadi". Letter to Baghdadi. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  18. Bayyah, Sheikh Abdullah bin. "Prominent Muslim Sheikh Issues Fatwa Against ISIS Violence". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  19. Sheikh Bayyah: We're facing an existential challenge - CNN Video, retrieved 2020-02-26
  20. "A Conversation With Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  21. "Prominent Muslim Sheik Issues Fatwa Against ISIS Violence". September 25, 2014.
  22. "Abdullah bin Bayyah". The Muslim 500. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  23. Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, p 347. ISBN 0691134847
  24. "Bio". binbayyah.net.
  25. "King of Malaysia has Awarded Sheikh Abdullah BIM Bayyaj". BinBayya Network. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
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