| Muslim scholar Ibrahim Mukhtar ابراهيم مختار |
|
|---|---|
| Title | Mufti |
| Born | 1909 |
| Died | 1969 |
| Region | Horn of Africa |
| Main interests | Islamic philosophy, Islamic jurisprudence |
Ibrahim Mukhtar (Arabic: ابراهيم مختار) (b.1909–d.1969) was the first mufti of Eritrea.
Mukhtar was born in 1909. He was a student of Asmara Al-Azhar University and received a degree Islamic Jurisprudence. He was also the author of "The Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence", which remains a reading requirement at Al-Azhar University.
In 1939, Mukhtar was appointed the position of Mufti of Eritrea by the Italian Colonial administrators (at the behest of Muslim leaders in Eritrea). He also served as Chairman of the Islamic Eritrean Endowment Council and of the Council of Eritrean Scholars.
In addition, Mukhtar "...reformed the Sharia courts and established a formal and modern court system with formal rules and proper procedures."[1] He also argued that the Arabic and Tigrinya languages should be the official languages of Eritrea,[1] though this never came to pass. During the Eritrean War for Independence, he called for negotiation to address the root causes of the conflict.
Mukhtar established the largest Islamic library in the country, donating more than 3,000 books from his own personal collection.[2]