Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti and Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, passed away in Riyadh on Tuesday morning at the age of 82, the Royal Court announced.
His funeral prayer will be held after Asr at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh. King Salman has also directed that funeral prayers in absentia be performed at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, and across all mosques in the Kingdom.
Both the King and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman extended their condolences to the late scholar’s family, the Saudi people, and the wider Muslim world.
“With Sheikh Al-Sheikh’s passing, Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world have lost a prominent scholar who dedicated his life to serving Islam and Muslims,” the Royal Court said.
Sheikh Al-Sheikh previously led the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta and the Supreme Council of the Muslim World League. A highly respected religious authority, he was appointed Grand Mufti in June 1999 by King Fahd, succeeding Sheikh Abdulaziz Ibn Baz.
Born on November 30, 1943, in Makkah, Sheikh Al-Sheikh memorised the Qur’an at a young age.
He lost his eyesight at 17 and later enrolled at Imam Mohammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, graduating in 1965 with a specialisation in Arabic and Islamic Shariah.
That same year, he began teaching at the Imam al-Dawa Scholarly Institute in Riyadh, serving for eight years before joining the College of Shariah at Imam Mohammad bin Saud Islamic University as a faculty member.
He also taught at the Higher Institute of Judiciary and served on several academic councils in Saudi universities.
He led prayers at multiple mosques in Riyadh, including Sheikh Muhammad bin Ibrahim Mosque, Sheikh Abdullah bin Abdullatif Mosque, and Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque. In 1982, he was appointed Imam and preacher at Namirah Mosque in Arafat, where he delivered the Arafat sermon for 34 consecutive years until 2014.
Al-Sheikh became a member of the Council of Senior Scholars in 1987 and joined the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta as a senior member in 1991. He was appointed Deputy Grand Mufti in 1995.
Following the death of Sheikh Ibn Baz in 1999, he was named Grand Mufti, chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, and head of the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, with ministerial rank.
