Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah  named Among  world’s most influential Muslim

President of Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, SHAYKH ABDULLAH BIN BAYYAH, has been named the 9th most influential Muslim in the world, according to a new survey.

The 81-year-old Mauritanian scholar was noted for addressing the role moderate religious leaders can play in enlightening Muslim public opinion about contemporary issues in line with a temperate attitude that calls for establishing a culture of peace, love and respect of the otherThe honour was bestowed on him by the “Muslim 500,” an annual publication which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world.

The Muslim 500 is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Jordan in cooperation with Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in the United States.

…..

Country: Mauritania

Born: 1935 (age 81)

Source of Influence: Scholarly

Influence: Significant influence as

a leading contemporary scholar of

Islamic Jurisprudence.

School of Thought: Traditional Sunni

(Maliki)

2011 Rank: 31

2012 Rank: 29

2013 Rank: 23

2014/15 Rank: 20

2016 Rank: 23

….

His Eminence Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah

President of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies

Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah’s influence is derived from his scholarship, piety and preaching.

Uniquely, all of the different sects and schools of Muslims respect him as a scholar.

A testament to this is the notable fact that whilst he is not a Salafi, the Saudi government

promulgates his fatwas as authoritative. He is an instructor at King Abdulaziz University in

Jeddah and was the deputy head of the Union of Muslim Scholars having previously been

a Judge at the High Court of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and the Head of Shariah

Affairs at the Ministry of Justice.

Education: Sheikh bin Bayyah was raised in a household

famous for its scholars, and his Sheikh Mahfoudh

bin Bayyah, was the head of the Conference of

Mauritanian Scholars established after the country’s

independence. Sheikh bin Bayyah studied in the

Mauritanian centres of learning known as Mahadhir,

in which all the sacred sciences were taught including:

jurisprudence, legal theory, syntax, language, rhetoric,

Qur’anic exegesis and its auxiliary sciences, and the

science of Prophetic tradition.

Diplomat: As a member of the International Islamic

Fiqh Academy or Al Majma’ al Fiqhi of the

Organization of the Islamic Conference, Sheikh

bin Bayyah is at the forefront of the legal arm of a

dynamic organization with a permanent delegation

to the United Nations.

Author: Having written numerous texts, Sheikh

bin Bayyah’s scholarly explorations have gone global

through speaking engagements that draw crowds of

tens of thousands. He has spoken at length about

the endurance of the Islamic legal tradition and also

written extensively on rulings for Muslims living as

minorities in foreign lands, or fiqh al aqaliyaat.

Activist: In June 2013, Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah

visited the White House where he met with senior

advisers and aides to President Obama. He called for

the protection of the Syrian people and the Muslim

minority in Myanmar. Also, he met with Bill Gates

during the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi in

April 2013. He recently initiated the ‘Muslim Council

of Elders’ which embraces leading scholars (including

the Sheikh of Al-Azhar), and presided over a large

gathering of religious scholars at a forum entitled

‘Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies’.

The Marrakesh Declaration: Sheikh Abdallah bin

Bayyah led around 250 Muslim religious leaders, in

addition to approximately 50 non-Muslim religious

leaders, in a three day summit in Marrakesh entitled:

‘The Rights of Religious Minorities in Predominantly

Muslim Majority Communities: Legal Framework and

a Call to Action’. The summit used the original Charter

of Medina, drawn up by the Prophet Muhammad

(PBUH) himself, as a basis for addressing the current

crisis of religious minorities in parts of the Muslim

world. With extremists committing violence in the

name of Islam against other religions, as well as against

most Muslims, it was necessary to voice the position of

normative Islam vis-à-vis religious minorities through

a gathering of its leading scholars. The summit concluded

with the release of the 750 word Marrakesh Declaration