Abdallah Bin Bayyah

Abdullah bin Bayyah
Title Shaykh
Born 1935 (age 81–82)[1]
Timbédra, Mauritania (then French West Africa)
Era Modern era
Region Saudi Arabia
Religion Islam
Denomination Sunni
Jurisprudence Maliki[2]
Creed Ash'ari
Movement Sufi[3]
Website http://binbayyah.net/english/

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

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.[5] Bin Bayyah is involved in 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.[6] from which he resigned in 2014.[7][8] He is 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.[9]

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, the judge Shaykh Mahfoudh; meanwhile, he studied Arabic with Shaykh Mohammed Salem bin al-Sheen, Quran with Shaykh Bayyah bin al-Salik al-Misumi.[10]

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.[11] Hamza Yusuf serves as his translator.[11]

Views

Islamic Law

Bin Bayyah is said by some Sufis to be a scholar of uṣūl al-fiqh (Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence) today and have competency in all four Sunni juridical schools. Some Muslims look upon him as one of the symbols of moderation and centrism. The West, and especially Western government, has taken his views and fatawas as a source and reference for Muslim minorities living in those countries.

Sufism

Bin Bayyah is a promoter of Tasawwuf (Sufism).[12] 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.[12] 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."[12] 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).[13]

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."[13]

On extremism

Bin Bayyah is one of the signatories of the Amman Message, which gives a broad foundation for defining Muslim orthodoxy.[14] 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, a theological refutation of the practices of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.[15]

Other

Shaykh Bin Bayyah was quoted by President Barack Obama during his speech before U.N security council 2014.[16] He was ranked amongst the 500 most influential Muslims from 2009 - 2013.[17]

Publications

Responsibilities and positions

Medals and awards

See also

Prominent students

References

  1. 1 2 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. 1 2 John Gallagher, Eric D, Debating the War of Ideas, p 51. ISBN 0230101984
  5. ↑ "Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies".
  6. ↑ Members list (Arabic) Archived January 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ "404". elkhabar.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-21.
  8. ↑ "Middle East Online: Qaradawi's deputy resigns from Union of Islamic Scholars". Middle East Online. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
  9. ↑ List of Members of the European Council for Fatwa and Research Archived August 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ ar:عبد الله بن بيه
  11. 1 2 Imams Online: "Abdallah bin Bayyah" retrieved September 20, 2015
  12. 1 2 3 ISRA News: "Abdallah Bin Bayyah" retrieved September 19, 2015
  13. 1 2 The Official Website of His Eminence Abdallah Bin Bayyah: "Sufism in Islamic Shari`ah" retrieved September 20, 2015
  14. ↑ Bin Bayyah's official reply to Amman Message
  15. ↑ "Letter to Baghdadi". Letter to Baghdadi. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Prominent Muslim Sheik Issues Fatwa Against ISIS Violence". September 25, 2014.
  17. ↑ "500 Most Influential Muslims". December 8, 2013.
  18. ↑ Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, p 347. ISBN 0691134847
  19. ↑ "Bio". binbayyah.net.
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