Sheikh Al-Yaqoubi is a widely respected reli­gious scholar who also has a significant spiritual following worldwide. He was appointed as a member of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Is­lamic Thought in 2016.

Background: Sheikh Al-Yaqoubi was born in Damascus and was trained in Islamic studies by his father, who was an imam and instructor at the Grand Umayyad Mosque. Sheikh Al-Yaqoubi followed in his father’s footsteps teaching in the same mosque and becoming a world-renowned Islamic scholar of theology, jurisprudence, and hadith. He is wide­ly recognized as one of the reliable authorities for the issuing of fatwas in Islam.

Against Extremism: He was one of the first schol­ars to speak against DA’ISH, denouncing its atrocities and showing that its actions are un-Islamic. His book Refuting ISIS (now in eight languages) has become essential reading, providing theological arguments against extremists and calling on mainstream, traditional followers to combat them. His criticism of the Syrian government’s response to protests made his stay in Syria untenable, so he had to flee the country in 2011, eventually seeking refuge in Morocco where he is still based.

Educator: He has trained hundreds of imams and teachers who work in the Arab World, the West, the Far East and South Africa. As a spiritual guide, he focuses on the spiritual well-be­ing of his students, of which he has a significant fol­lowing in Europe and the USA. He is a charismatic public speaker in both Arabic and English (he also speaks Swedish) and one of the most powerful voices of Islam, making a huge positive impact via his pub­lic talks, writings and numerous media appearances worldwide. His public teaching includes readings of the entire collection of hadith in Sahih Bukhari and the renowned Qasida Al-Burda (‘The Poem of the Mantle’) of Imam Busiri.