| Saudi Arabian scholar Modern era |
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| Full name | Ibn Baaz |
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| Birth | November 21, 1910 [dubious ] |
| Death | May 13, 1999(died age 88) |
| School/tradition | Sunni |
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Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baaz (Arabic: عبد العزيز بن عبد الله بن باز ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Bāz), also known as Bin Baaz, was the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia from 1993 until his death in 1999.
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Ibn Baaz was born in the city of Riyadh during the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, 1909 to a family with a reputation for their interest in Islam. His father died when he was only three, placing a big responsibility on his mother to raise him. When asked about his childhood, the sheikh said: “my father died when I was three years old, and I only had my mother who took care of me and educated me encouraging me to learn more about Sharia; she also died when I was twenty six.” By the time he was thirteen he had began working, selling clothing with his brother in a market. Despite the fact that he helped a great deal in supporting his family, he still found time to study the Qur’an, Hadith, Fiqh, and Tafsir. In 1927, when he was sixteen, he started losing his eyesight after being afflicted with a serious infection in his eyes. By the time he was twenty, he had totally lost his sight and become blind. [1]
At that time, Saudi Arabia lacked the modern, sophisticated university system. However, Ibn Baaz managed to learn a great deal through his constant reading of Islamic literature as well as his accompaniment to different scholars whom he learned from. These include:[2] [3]
He had assumed a number of posts and responsibilities such as:[4]
Over the years, he held a large number of positions as president or member of various Islamic councils and committees, and chaired a number of conferences both within Saudi Arabia and overseas, in addition to writing a great number of books in different fields and issuing a large body of fatwa. In 1981 he was awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam. [5] [6]
On Thursday morning, May 13, 1999, Ibn Baaz died at the age of 90 whilst prostrating in prayer. The next day, following Friday prayer, King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, and hundreds of thousands of people performed the funeral prayer at the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.[7]
King Fahd issued a decree appointing Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Shaikh as the new Grand Mufti after Bin Baaz's death.[8]
Ibn Baaz had undertaken a number of charitable and other activities such as: [5]
Ibn Baaz was considered by many to be prolific speaker both in public and privately at his mosque. Like his books, his lectures and sermons were numerous and revolved frequently around the situation of the Muslim world. In addition, much of his time was devoted to the lessons he gave after Fajr prayer, teaching during the day, meeting delegates from Muslim countries and sitting with people after Maghrib prayer to provide counseling and advice on personal matters. He also used to invite people after Isha prayer to share a meal with him.[5]
Ibn Baz was among the Muslim scholars who opposed regime change using violence.[9] He called for obedience to the people in power unless they ordered something that went against God.[10] He condemned the terrorist bombings of Riyadh in the strongest terms.[11]
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During the Gulf War Ibn Baaz issued fatwa allowing the deployment of non-Muslim troops on Saudi Arabia soil to defend the Kingdom from the Iraqi army. Some noted that this was in contrast to his opinion in the 1940s, when he contradicted the government policy of Islamically allowing non-Muslims to be employed on Saudi soil.[12]
In his career as the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, he attempted to both legitimize the rule of the ruling family and to support calls for the reform of Islam in line with Salafi ideals. Many criticized him for supporting the Saudi government when, after the Gulf War, it muzzled or imprisoned some Qutbi scholars regarded as too critical of the government, such as Safar al-Hawali and Salman al-Ouda.
When Ibn Baaz died in 1999 the loss of "his erudition and reputation for intransigence" was so great the Saudi government was said to have "found itself staring into a vacuum" unable to find a figure able to "fill bin Baaz's shoes."[13] His influence on the Salafi movement was large, and most of the prominent judges and religious scholars of Saudi Arabia today are former students of his.
Ibn Baaz was the subject of Osama bin Laden's first public pronouncement intended for the general Muslim public. This open letter condescendingly criticized him for endorsing the Oslo peace accord between the PLO and Israeli government.[14] Ibn Baz defended his decision to endorse the Oslo Accords by citing the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, saying that a peace treaty with non-Muslims has historical precedent if it can avoid the loss of life.[15] [16] This criticism, coupled with bin Laden's making of Takfir of the rulers of Saudi Arabia, resulted in Ibn Baaz declaring bin Laden a Khariji.
Between 1993 and 1995, various newspapers and magazines published accounts that ibn Baaz, whose duties included the presidency of the administration for scientific research, had said that the Earth is flat.[17] Bin Baaz strongly denied that claim, describing the allegation as a "pure lie"; in addition, he had made statements and released multiple Fatwas affirming that the earth is round.[18] [19] Observers have alleged that continued accusations against ibn Baaz regarding the topic are attempts at character assassination.[19]
The number of books written by Ibn Baaz exceeds sixty and the subject matter covered many topics such as Hadith, Tafsir, Fara'ed’ed, Tawheed, Fiqh and also a great deal of books on Salat, Zakat, Dawah, Hajj and Umrah.[5]
| Religious titles | ||
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| Preceded by Muhammad ibn Ibraheem |
Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia 1992–1999 |
Succeeded by Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Shaikh |