Saleh Al-Fawzan
Sheikh Ṣāliḥ Al-Fawzān | |
|---|---|
شيخ صالح الفوزان | |
| Title | Imāmu Ahlis-Sunnati wal-Jamāʿah |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1354 AH Hijri 1935 CE Gregorian |
| Nationality |  Saudi Arabian |
| Era | Modern |
| Region | Arabian Peninsula |
| Main interest(s) | ʿAqīdah, Fiqh |
| Alma mater | Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University |
| Other names | Saleh Ibn Fawzan Ibn Abdullah Saleh Ibn Fawzan Al-Fawzan |
| Occupation | Muslim Scholar Jurist |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Creed | Athari |
| Movement | Salafi |
| Website | https://alfawzan.af.org.sa/ |
Ṣāliḥ bin Fawzān bin ʻAbd Allāh Al-Fawzān (Arabic: صالح بن فوزان بن عبد الله الفوزان; born 1 Rajab 1354 AH / 28 September 1935 CE)[1] is an Islamic scholar, Faqīh (jurist), university professor, a member of the council of senior scholars, a member of the Fiqh council in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, affiliated with the Muslim World League, a member of the Supervisory Committee for Preachers during Hajj and a member of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In addition to this, he is also an imam, khatib and teacher at the Prince Mutaib bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Mosque in the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. He participates in answering questions on the radio program Nūr ʿAlā ad-Darb and regularly contributes to scholarly journals in the form of research, studies, letters, and fatwas.[2][3][4] He is widely considered to be the most senior scholar of Islam alive today.[5]
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]Sheikh Al-Fawzān was born in the year 1354 AH (1935 CE) from the Al-Wadāʿīn branch of the Al-Shammās clan of the Ad-Dawāsir tribe, in the town of Ash-Shamasiyyah in the Al-Qassim Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, near the city of Buraydah.[1] His father passed away while he was still young, so he was raised within his family. He learned the Qur’ān, and studied the basics of reading and writing at the hands of the local masjid’s imām, Sheikh Ḥamūd ibn Sulaymān At-Tilāl, who later assumed the position of Qāḍī (judge) in the town of Dariyah in the Al-Qassim Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Education
[edit]Sheikh Al-Fawzān enrolled in the public school when it opened in Ash-Shamasiyyah in 1369 AH (1950 CE). He completed his education at Al-Faysaliyyah School in Buraydah in 1371 AH (1952 CE), and was appointed as a primary school teacher. He then enrolled at the Maʿhad Al-ʿIlmī - (The Institute of Knowledge) in Buraydah when it opened in 1373 AH (1954 CE), and graduated from it in 1377 AH (1958 CE). He joined the Kullīyat Ash-Sharīʿah (The College of Sharīʿah) in Riyadh and graduated in 1381 AH (1962 CE).[2] After that, he obtained a Master’s degree in fiqh in the field of inheritance law, and his thesis was titled: "Al-Taḥqīqāt Al-Marḍiyyah fī Al-Mabāḥith Al-Farḍiyyah" (A Satisfactory investigation into the issues of obligatory Shares in Inheritance). Then he obtained a doctorate in fiqh, and his dissertation was titled: "Aḥkām Al-Aṭʿimah fī Al-Sharīʿah Al-Islāmiyyah" (The Rulings of Foods in the Islamic Sharīʿah), from the same college.[6]
Career
[edit]After the completion of his doctorate, he was appointed as a teacher at the Maʿhad Al-ʿIlmī (The Institute of Knowledge) at the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh. He was then transferred to teach at Kullīyat Ash-Sharīʿah (The College of Sharīʿah), then transferred to teach in the postgraduate program at Kullīyat Uṣūl Ad-Dīn (the college of fundamentals of the religion), then at the Maʿhad Al-ʿĀlī lil-Qaḍāʾ (The Higher Institute of Judiciary). He was later appointed as director of the Maʿhad Al-ʿĀlī lil-Qaḍāʾ (The Higher Institute of Judiciary). He was later the head of Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court of Justice. He then returned to teaching after his period of headship came to an end.[2]
As of 2013, he was a appointed as a member of the Council of Senior Scholars,[3] the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's highest religious body, which directly advises the King of Saudi Arabia.[7] He is also currently a member of the Fiqh council in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, affiliated with the Muslim World Leauge as well as a member of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas,[8] a committee of the Council of Senior Scholars. The Council issues rulings (fatawa) in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and prepares research papers for the Council of Senior Scholars.[9] He is a member of the Supervisory Committee for Preachers during Hajj. He is an imam, khatib and teacher at the Prince Mutaib bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Mosque in the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. He is one of the major scholars on the Nūr ʿAlā ad-Darb radio program, which has been described as "one of the oldest and most famous programs broadcast on the Qur’ān radio channel, where a number of major scholars answer questions and give fatawa." and regularly contributes to scholarly journals in the form of research, studies, letters, and fatwas. He also supervises many scientific theses at the master’s and doctoral levels, and many students of knowledge who attend his sessions and ongoing lessons have studied under him in these programmes.[5]
Relationship with Ibn Baz
[edit]Sheikh ʿAbd Al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz, the former Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was one of the scholars from whom Sheikh Ṣāliḥ Al-Fawzān studied and by whom he was influenced by. Sheikh Al-Fawzān studied ʿIlm al-Mawārīth (The Knowledge of Islamic Inheritance) under him at Kullīyat Ash-Sharīʿah (The College of Sharīʿah) in Riyadh, in addition to regularly attending his lessons, lectures, and all of his scholarly gatherings (halaqat). He would also listen to his radio programs on knowledge and fatwas.
Since Sheikh Al-Fawzān began working at Dār Al-Iftāʾ (The Fatwa Office), Sheikh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz was his supervisor and head. From him, Sheikh Al-Fawzān benefited in many areas of Islamic knowledge - such as precision and caution in issuing fatwas, striving for accuracy and correctness, as well as patience and endurance in bearing the difficulties of scholarly work. He also learned to ground answers upon evidence from the Qur’ān and Sunnah, while upholding a deep sense of responsibility and fear of Allah - avoiding negligence, over-leniency, or falling short in what is conveyed to the people in matters of fatwa.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "صالح بن فوزان الفوزان - طريق الإسلام". web.archive.org. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
- ^ a b c "Scholars Biographies. Shaykh Dr. Saalih Ibn Fowzaan Ibn 'Abdullaah Ibn Fowzaan". Fatwa-online.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ^ a b "Council of Senior Ulema reconstituted". Saudi Gazette. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ^ "Author of Saudi Curriculums Advocates Slavery". SIA News. Archived from the original on April 18, 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ^ a b The Muslim 500: The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims, 2020. The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre. 2019. p. 117. ISBN 9789957635442.
- ^ "عن الشيخ | موقع معالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان". web.archive.org. 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia: The Coming Storm" By Peter W. Wilson p. 26-27
- ^ The Permanent Committee for Islaamic Research and Fataawa Archived 2014-02-14 at the Wayback Machine Fatwa online.com
- ^ Carnegie Endowment: "Saudi Fatwa Restrictions and the State-Clerical Relationship" by Christopher Boucek October 27, 2010
