Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah’s influence is derived from his scholarship, piety and preaching. Uniquely, all of the different Muslim sects and schools 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 Sharia Affairs at the Ministry of Justice. He was appointed chair of the UAE Fatwa Council.
Education: Sheikh bin Bayyah was raised in a household famous for its scholars, and his father, 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-aqaliyyat.
Activist: In 2013, Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah visited the White House where he met with senior advisers and aides to the then-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 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”, which has now been established as an organization (based in the UAE). He has been criticised for accepting support from the UAE, which is currently involved in several regional conflicts.
Interfaith Initiatives: Sheikh Bin Bayyah has convened multifaith gatherings, including the Marrakesh Declaration (2016) (see p. xxx) on minority rights in Muslim-majority countries and the New Alliance of Virtue (Hilf Al-Fudul) (2019), which call for a shared human society honouring religious and cultural differences. This work promotes the shared values of the Abrahamic faiths, fostering peace and reconciliation. His efforts have inspired organizations like the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to support his vision, translating his declarations to share them with Jewish communities worldwide, particularly in Israel, to encourage interfaith harmony and cooperation.
