| Habib Ali al-Jifri | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 16, 1971 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Residence | Hadhramaut, Yemen |
| Ethnicity | Arab |
| Occupation | Islamic scholar, academic and author |
| Religion | Sunni Islam (Shafi'i) |
| Parents | Abdul Rahman bin Ali Al-Jifri (father) Marumah bint Hassan Al-Jifri (mother) |
| Website | |
| www.alhabibali.com/en/ | |
Habib Ali Zain al-`Abideen al-Jifri (Arabic: الحبيب علي زين العابدين الجفري; born April 16, 1971) is an Islamic scholar from Hadhramaut, Yemen of the Shafi'i school of fiqh, and the Ashari school of aqida.
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Habib Ali al-Jifri was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, tracing back his lineage to the family of 'Ali, the fourth Caliph of Islam and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad.
He follows the Ba'Alawi sufi order, a tradition that has been based in Yemen for approximately 800 years and traces back to the Prophet Muhammad.
Al-Jifri grew up in an educated environment, and became interested in Islamic sciences, studying under a number of scholars in the Hijaz and Hadhramaut, Egypt, Syria and other countries, and receiving their sole discretion. He is the holder of degrees in Islamic sciences.
Al-Jifri is the founder and director-general of the nonprofit privately-funded Tabah Foundation for Islamic Studies in Abu Dhabi.
He is a member of the board of Dar al-Mustafa Seminary in Yemen, a member of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan, and is also affiliated with various other international Islamic organizations.
He has strong connections with many centers and academies involved with international dialogue in religions and civilizations, including the Center for Faith and Culture at Yale University in the United States. He is also a contributor to A Common Word Between Us and You, an Islamic-Christian dialogue. He received the annual award of the Augen Biser Foundation in Germany for the year 2008 for his contribution to Islamic-Christian dialogue.
A noted critic of Wahhabism, he has made his reputation on conference and television appearances. He wrote the book Jesus Christ the Son of Mary and His Most Blessed Mother.
He was interviewed by Dalia Mogahed from the Gallup Centre for Muslim Studies.[1]
In 2009, Al-Jifri was listed 37th in the world's 500 most influential Muslims by Georgetown University's The Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talaal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.