Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh (; born 1948) is the chairman of the

Majlis ash-Shura In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura (; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, the other way being by no ...

(Consultative Assembly) of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

since February 2009.The Shura Council of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - A Brief History
/ref> He was the minister of Justice from February 1992 to February 2009.

Background and education

Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh is a member of a noted family of Saudi religious scholars, the Al ash-Sheikh. He was born in

Diriyah Diriyah (; formerly romanization of Arabic, romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya) is a towns in Saudi Arabia, town and governorate in Saudi Arabia. Located on the northwestern outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Diriyah was the original home of t ...

in 1948 and was educated by his father,

Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh Muḥammad ibn ʾIbrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Abd al-Wahhāb Al Shaykh Al-Tamīmī (1890– 3 December 1969), was a Saudis, Saudi Arabian religious scholar who served as the first Grand Muf ...

former and the first

Grand Mufti A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Faqīh, Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Gra ...

of Saudi Arabia. He also studied the interpretation of the Quran and jurisprudence principles with the late Sheikh Abdulrazaq Afifi. He attended the Shariah College in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

(later renamed

Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU) (), commonly known as Al-Imam University (IMAMU) (Arabic: إمامو), is a public university in the sub-municipality of Shemal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1950 as an Islamic semin ...

) and graduated with a bachelor's degree in

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

in 1975. He then studied Sharia at

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and returned to Saudi Arabia to obtain a doctorate degree in 1987. He earned his PhD degree in

Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

from Imam Mohammed bin Saudi University in 1987.

Career

After obtaining his doctorate, Al ash-Sheikh became a lecturer and professor in the Sharia College of Imam Muhammed bin Saud Islamic University until his appointment as minister of justice. in November 1992. He replaced Mohammed bin Jubair as minister. On the instructions of the King, he drew up the judiciary law of 2007. These reforms envisaged the creation of specialized courts to operate in parallel with the traditional sharia courts, particularly in areas of commercial litigation. In effect, the reform may allow certain cases to be judged without reference to

. Another important aspect of the reform was the creation of a Supreme Court. The laws covering the judicial reforms were passed in October 2007, but implementation was slow. Al ash-Sheikh announced in July 2008 that he had submitted a plan of action for the judiciary reforms to the King, but little was heard further until it was announced in 2009 that he would cease to be minister of justice in a major cabinet reshuffle. He was replaced by Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa as justice minister on 14 February 2009. It was reported that King Abdullah's objective in the reshuffle was to replace conservative incumbents with younger, more progressive candidates. It was also stated that he was one of the conservatives in the cabinet replaced. Later, he was appointed chairman of the Majlis ash Shura in 2009.

Other appointments

He is a member of Council of Senior Ulema and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheikh, Abdullah Muhammad 20th-century Saudi Arabian politicians 21st-century Saudi Arabian politicians 1948 births Al-Azhar University alumni Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University alumni Academic staff of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University Justice ministers of Saudi Arabia Living people Members of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia Speakers of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian expatriates in Egypt