Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ al-Munajjid (; born 14 June 1961 (30

Dhu al-Hijjah Dhu al-Hijjah (also Dhu al-Hijja ) is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar. Being one of the four sacred months during which war is forbidden, it is the month in which the '' Ḥajj'' () takes place as well as Eid al-Adha (). T ...

1380 AH)) is a

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n-born

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

- Saudi Islamic scholar. He is the founder of the

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

website IslamQA, the most popular website for responses on the topic of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Early life and education

Al-Munajjid was born to Palestinian refugees in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

and raised in

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 ...

."Women in Islam: Behind the veil and in front of it"
''

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

'', 1 October 2016. He studied shariah (Islamic law) under 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Baaz, Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymin,

Abdullah ibn Jibreen Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Jibrin (; 193313 July 2009), known simply as Ibn Jibrin, was a Saudi Islamic scholar who was a member of the Council of Senior Scholars and Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas in Saudi Arab ...

and Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak, among others.

IslamQA.info

In 1996, al-Munajjid launched a question and answer Islamic website, IslamQA.info. The website states, "All questions and answers on this site have been prepared, approved, revised, edited, amended or annotated by Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-Munajjid, the supervisor of this site." IslamQA.info was banned in

for issuing independent

s. In Saudi Arabia the kingdom's Council of Senior Scholars has sole responsibility and authority for issuing fatwas under a royal edict issued in August 2010 (while restrictions had been in place since 2005, they were seldom enforced); this move was described by Christopher Boucek as "the latest example of how the state is working to assert its primacy over the country's religious establishment." Christopher Boucek,
"Saudi Fatwa Restrictions and the State-Clerical Relationship"
''

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., with operations in Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the United States. Foun ...

'', 27 October 2010. Accessed 18 November 2013.

Controversial Views

Al-Munajjid believes that the

Muʿtazila Mu'tazilism (, singular ) is an Islamic theological school that appeared in early Islamic history and flourished in Basra and Baghdad. Its adherents, the Mu'tazilites, were known for their neutrality in the dispute between Ali and his opponents ...

, the

Ashʿari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

, and

Maturidi Maturidism () is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. It is one of the three creeds of Sunni Islam alongside Ash'arism and Atharism, and prevails in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Al-Maturidi codified a ...

schools of Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding creed. The main schools of Islamic theology include the extant Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools; the extinct ones ...

are wrong in using

Ilm al-Kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology (''aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fait ...

(philosophy) to explain the Quran and are contradicting both the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

and the

Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

. Attributes that

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

ascribes to himself require neither explanation nor interpretation; instead, a Muslim should neither deny the divine attributes nor liken God to his creation but accept the statements of God in the Quran without questioning. Al-Munajjid quoted Ibn Ḥajar saying it is obligatory to destroy anything that may tempt or confuse the faithful, including buildings, people, animals, or inanimate objects. Al-Munajjid has stated that Muslim women are obliged to cover their entire body including the face (except eyes) and hands. He also stated that Women are required to stay within their city of residence, unless they are in the company of a

mahram In Islam, a () is a family member with whom marriage would be considered permanently unlawful (''haram''). A woman does not need to wear hijab around her mahram or spouse, and an adult male mahram or husband may escort a woman on a journey, a ...

and are forbidden to ride in a taxi/car driven by a non-

male, as "it may lead to evil consequences". However, this does not mean a woman is forbidden from driving a car. This view maybe no longer held however, since it is no longer on his website.

Slavery

Al-Munajjid does not denounce (war captive) slavery, and, in a January 2016 fatwa, stated that a man was allowed to have consensual intercourse with his concubine whether he is married or not, and that his wife "has no right to object to her husband owning female slaves or to his having intercourse with them ", he continues, "The

scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...

are unanimous in this assessment, and no one is permitted to view this act as forbidden, or to forbid it. Whoever does so, is a sinner, and is acting against the consensus of the scholars.” However, he did state that Islam does condemn ill treatment of slaves. Al-Munajjid has stated that slavery necessarily came about because of

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

against the kuffar (disbelievers) and the need to determine what to do with those who have been taken prisoner and thus become property, noting that "In principle, slavery is not something that is desirable" as Islam encourages the freeing of slaves for the expiation of sins. Slaves are to be treated in a "kind manner" including the provision of food and clothing from ones own. It's important to know that this is the Orthodox Islamic view.

Homosexuality

Al-Munajjid stated that "The crime of homosexuality is one of the greatest crimes, the worst of sins and the most abhorrent of deeds, and Allah punished those who did it in a way that he did not punish other nations." He has openly called for the death penalty for proven acts of

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

(homosexual intercourse) in Muslim lands, with works distributed in his name saying that "those guilty of this crime are to be killed by the sword".

Books

Al-Munajjid's books include: * ''Koonu ‘ala al-Khayr A‘waanan'' (Be Helpers in Doing Good) * ''Arba‘oona Naseehah li Islaah al-Buyoot'' (The Muslim Home: 40 Recommendations) * ''33 Sababan li’l-Khushoo‘'' (33 Ways of Developing Khushoo‘ in Salaah) * ''Al-Asaaleeb an-Nabawiyyah fi ‘Ilaaj al-Akhtaa’'' (The Prophet's Methods for Correcting People's Mistakes) * ''Saba‘oona Mas’alah fi’s-Siyaam'' (70 Matters related to Fasting) * ''‘Ilaaj al-Humoom'' (Dealing with Worries and Stress) * ''Al-Manhiyaat ash-Shar‘iyyah'' (Disallowed Matters) * ''Muharramaat istahaana biha Katheer min an-Naas'' (Prohibitions that are Taken Too Lightly) * ''Madha taf‘alu fi’l-Haalaat at-Taaliyah'' (What you should do in the following situations) * ''Zaahirat Da‘f al-Eemaan'' (Weakness of Faith) * ''Wasaa’il ath-Thibaat ‘ala Deen-Illah'' (Means of Steadfastness: Standing Firm in Islam) * ''Ureedu an Atooba Walaakin…'' (I Want to Repent, But…) * ''Shakaawa wa Hulool'' (Problems and Solutions) * ''Siraa‘ ma‘a ash-Shahawaat'' (Striving against Whims and Desires)Biography of the site's General Supervisor
islamqa.info ''About our site''

References

External sources

Official website (almunajjid.com)
* https://twitter.com/almonajjid * https://twitter.com/almonajjid_EN {{DEFAULTSORT:Munajjid, Muhammad Al- Living people Palestinian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Saudi Arabian Salafis Saudi Arabian imams Critics of Shia Islam People from Aleppo 20th-century imams 21st-century imams Muslim critics of atheism Saudi Arabian critics of Christianity Saudi Arabian people of Palestinian descent 1961 births