Shaykh Dr Wahbah al-Zuhayli (1350-1436=1932-2015)
He was born in the area of Dayr Atiyah on the country–side of Damascus in 1932 (1350). He was born into a family who were traders and farmers. His father had memorised the Quran and would complete it once every two days. He studied under the renowned scholar, Shaykh Abd al– Qadir Qassab. His mother was a pious and virtuous woman.
Studies
He completed his primary schooling in his hometown. As a young boy he memorised the Quran and some of the famous didactic poems. He then joined the secondary school in Damascus where he graduated in 1952. He enrolled at the Faculty of Shariah at the prestigious al–Azhar University in Cairo where he graduated in 1956. Thereafter he completed a diploma in the Arabic language and also pursued some studies in Law which eventually resulted in him obtaining a certificate in this regard from the Ayn Shams University in Cairo in 1957.
He obtained his MA in Shariah in 1959 from the Faculty of Law at the Cairo University and then a doctorate in Shariah in 1963. His thesis was on the Effects and consequences of war in Islamic Jurisprudence. This was a comparative study between Islamic Fiqh and international law.
Shuyukh
Some of his shuyukh in Syria were:
• Shaykh Muhammad Hashim al–Khatib with whom he studied Fiqh
• Shaykh Hasan al–Shatti a Hanbali scholar with whom he studied inheritance and personal law
• Shaykh Hasan Habannaka al–Maydani with whom he studied Tafsir. Shaykh Hasan was the founder of many renowned institutions in Syria.
• Shaykh Muhammad Salih al–Farfur who taught him subjects related to the Arabic
language.
• Shaykh Lutfi al–Fayyumi who taught him Usul–Fiqh and the science of Hadith.
• Shaykh Kamal al–Qassar who taught him Hadith.
• Shaykh Mahmud Yasin who taught Hadith.
• Shaykh Ahmad al–Sammaq who taught Tajwid.
• Shaykh Hamdi Juwayjati
• Shaykh Nimr al–Khatib
• Shaykh Mufti ‘Abd al–Razzaq al–Himsi who taught Fiqh
• Shaykh Sadiq Habannaka al–Maydani who taught Fiqh.
• Shaykh Mahmud Rnkusi who taught Aqidah
Some of his shuyukh in Egypt:
• Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zahra
• Shaykh Mahmud Shaltut
• Shaykh Abd al–Rahman Taj
• Shaykh Esa Mannun
• Shaykh Muhammad Abd al–Dayim
• Shaykh Mustafa Mujahid who taught Fiqh of the Shafi madhhab.
• Shaykh Hasan Wahdan
• Shaykh Mustafa Abd al–Khaliq and his brother Shaykh Abd al–Ghani Abd al–Khaliq.
• Shaykh Ali al–Khafif
• Shaykh Muhammad Farajal–Sanhuri
• Shaykh Muhammad Zafzaf
• Shaykh Muhammad Salam Madkur
• Shaykh Muhammad Ali Zu’bi
Shaykh Wahbah summarised his studies in these two countries as follows: ‘I took knowledge and
the methodology of writing from the scholars of Egypt, and took the way to practise on
knowledge and piety from the scholars of Syria.’
Teaching
He was appointed as a teacher at the University of Damascus in 1963, then assistant professor in 1969 and then the general professor in 1975. He was involved in teaching, research, delivering lectures and writing. About seven of his books have been translated into other languages like English, French, Spanish, Russian, Urdu, Malay and Persian. He also served as a visiting lecturer at many universities in Libya, Sudan, Qatar, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
He held many administrative positions including the head of the Department of Fiqh and its Schools at the University of Damascus. He also served as its Dean. He served as the Head of the Shariah Supervisory Board of the Association of Arab Islamic Financial Institutions, the Head of the Council for Islamic Studies and a member of the Islamic Council for Islamic Financial Institutions. He was member of the Fiqh academies in Makkah, Jeddah, India and America. He was also a member of the Royal Ahl al–Bayt Foundation in Jordan.
Shaykh Wahbah supervised many post–graduate theses in Damascus, Beirut and Khartoum. He conducted programmes on radio and television in Damascus, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and some satellite stations. He was a member of the Fatwa Council of Syria.
He was awarded and chosen as the most prominent Muslim personality in a function that was held in his honour in Malaysia in 2008.
Books
Shaykh Wahbah is the author of over 500 books, articles and research papers. In fact some have estimated that he wrote a total of 50 000 pages. Some of his famous books are:
• Al–Fiqh al–Islami wa adillatuhu (11 volumes)
• Al–Tafsir al–Munir (16 volumes)
• Usul al–Fiqh al–Islamic (2 volumes)
• Nazhariyat al–Darurah al–Shariyah
• Al–Tafsir al–Wajiz
• Al–Fiqh al–Islami fi Uslubihi al–Jadid
• Al–Dharai’ fi al–Siyasat al–Shariyah
• Al–Alaqat al–Dawliyah
• Nazhariyat al–Daman
• Al–Uqubat al–Shariyah wa Asbabuha
• Juhud Taqnin al–Fiqh al–Islami
• Al–Dawabit al–Shariyah li al–akhdh bi aysar al–madhahib
• Al–Islam din al–jihad la al–Udwan
• Al–Islam din al–shura wa al–dimuqratiyah
• Sa’id ibn al–Musayyib
• Usamah ibn Zayd
He edited and annotated a few books. Some of these are:
• Jami’ al–Ulum wa al–Hikam by Ibn Rajab al–Hanbali
• Mukhtasar al–Anwar fi shamail al–Nabi al–Mukhtar by al–Baghawi
Personality
He possessed deep and profound insight and foresight into many contemporary issues. Despite all his scholarly commitments, he was truly dedicated to Da’wah among the non–Muslims. In addition many of his books deal with current topics that affect many people. He dealt with topics on: insurance, letter of guarantee, hire–purchase, inflation, shares, Islamic banks, international money markets, trading names and many others.
Shaykh Wahbah was a man of pleasant character and personality and one who loved his students. He was respectful and loving to all his teachers including those who taught him in the law faculty. He was blessed with the ability to read very fast.
What the scholars said?
– Shaykh Muhammad al–Habib Khojah described him as a humble and eloquent scholar.
He is a scholar and product of two cities; Damascus and Cairo. He possessed a deep
understanding of Fiqh and Usul. His academic contribution is evident in his teaching,
studying and his writing. He also edited and annotated the book; Tuhfat al–Fuqaha by al–Samarqandi.
– Shaykh Muhammad Ali al–Sabuni described him as a person with a genuine desire to
serve the religion. He is a man of true sincerity and one who sacrificed for the religion.
He was even imprisoned for a few months. He was not a person who used the religion to acquire the world.
– Shaykh Badi’ al–Sayyid al–Lahham said the shaykh was able to obtain a great deal of
knowledge in Arabic, Law and of course the Shariah. He was extremely particular about
his time and regarded it as an obligation to look after it. He spent 16 hours daily reading and writing. He possessed an amazing ability as an author and researcher with over 120 published works. He regarded his writing as means of propagating Islam. He possessed a strong memory. When students presented their theses for examination, the supervisors were accustomed to carry notebooks with their comments on the dissertation. Many times, Shaykh Wahbah would question students on their research relying entirely on his memory by referring them to specific pages in their thesis. He was very organised mentally and if it was not academic, then he never criticised his teachers and would very often refer to aspects that he learnt from them. Lastly, he was truly blessed with tawfiq from Allah.
– Shaykh Sadiq Habannaka al–Maydani who was one of his teachers said that the distinguishing factor was his humility, his steadfastness and persistence in acquiring ‘ilm.
At the Ithnayniyah gathering in 2001 held in Jeddah in his honour he addressed the crowd during which he made some very important comments:
He stated that two verses of the Quran are very important in his life:
(And fear Allah and Allah will teach you) Surah al–Baqarah
(And whoever holds on to Allah, then he will be guided to the straight path)
He stated that sincerity and persistence in acquiring sacred knowledge require one to free himself totally for it. He encouraged people to acquire knowledge in every field because we work for this world and the Hereafter. That is why our civilization is permanent. It is a civilization that combined between matter and spirit, between working for the world and the Hereafter. A scholar needs to live in his time. He needs to present to people of this new society based upon the pure original sources contrary to what some people are doing by trying to get rid of every old thing under the banner of renewal.
Need for scholars and fiqh academy
He stressed on the need for scholars and Fiqh Academies to concentrate on seven important principles:
1. Formulate a methodology and system for an Islamic State and Islamic political activity.
2. To show the world the principles of Islamic Economics
3. Identify the features of Islamic social Sciences in order to build a strong individual and in turn a strong society
4. Present a precise understanding of a theory of Islamic education
5. Stipulate the areas and scope for international relations.
6. Stipulate the position of women in Islam.
7. Lay down the principles related to the Islamic media.
In another interview, he stressed on the importance of fatwa being pronounced by competent people. In this regard he referred to the Fiqh Academy’s book on the Usul al–Fatwa (Principles of Fatwa). He maintained that a person ought to not issue any fatwa until he matured academically and this is likely after he is 40 years old. The mufti needs to know the methodology of the mujtahid scholars, stay close to a reliable scholar with whom he can check and verify his ruling before officially pronouncing the fatwa.
He spoke about the financial crisis and attributed it to the capitalist system that is based upon exploitation, interest, conventional insurance, credit cards linked to interest, individual greed and other reasons. The way out is to follow the principles of the Islamic economic system that is based on investment and exchange of commodities, mercy, co–operation, sacrifice, brotherhood and the prohibition of interest. This is evident from the stability enjoyed by Islamic Financial Institutions during these turbulent times. Many senior investors including someone like the Pope realised the importance of Islamic Economics and a number of countries have started using it.
Shaykh Wahbah discussed the maqasid (goals and objectives of the Shariah) and stated that it is not an independent proof or evidence but rather a guide to a correct ruling.
His position about the Syrian uprising: in an interview conducted with him in 2013 he expressed his sadness as to what has happened in Syria specifically the killing, displacement and destruction. He said the Syria people are divided into those who support the Syrian Government who continues killing thousands and the opposition who have to flee the brutality of the government. He reaffirmed his position that he would not leave Syria but will continue fulfilling his religious duty. He stressed on the need to support the ulama of the Ummah in their support of the Syrian people until they gain their freedom.
Some of his students:
– His brother, Dr Muhammad al–Zuhayli
– Shaykh Muhammad Faruq Hammadah
– Dr Muhammad Na’im Yasin
– Shaykh Abd al–Sattar Abu Ghuddah
– Shaykh Abd al–Latif Farfur
– Dr Muhammad Sharbaji
– Dr Badi al–Sayyid al–Lahham
Demise
Shaykh Wahbah passed away on Saturday, 8 August 2015 (Shawwal 1436)
1 Al–Ithnayniyah no 234 (2001/04/16), article by Nur Aziz, article by Ahmad ibn Mahmud al–Dahin, interview conducted by Sulayman ibn Muslim al–Harsh in 2011, article by Dr Adnan Zarzur and the book by Dr Badi al–Sayyid al–Lahham published in 2001
