Abd al-Aziz bin Hamad Al Muammar

Abd al-Aziz bin Hamad Al Muammar (1203–1244 AH / 1788–1828 CE) was a Najdi Hanbali scholar and judge from al-Dir'iyyah, best known for his theological polemic Minhat al-Qarib al-Mujib fi al-Radd ala Ubbad al-Salib Mashahir Ulama Najd wa Gh…+1.

Lineage and early life

He was Abd al-Aziz ibn Hamad ibn Nasir ibn Uthman ibn Muammar, belonging to the Anaqir branch of Banu Sa'd from Banu Tamim Mashahir Ulama Najd wa Gh…+1. He was born in al-Dir'iyyah in 1203 AH (1788 CE) during the height of the First Saudi State, where he grew up in a prominent family of learning under the care of his father, the judge and scholar Hamad ibn Nasir Al Muammar Mashahir Ulama Najd wa Gh…+1.

He pursued his religious education under several major scholars of al-Dir'iyyah, including his father, Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the historian Husayn ibn Ghannam, and Ahmad ibn Hasan ibn Rashid al-Afaliqi al-Hanbali Mashahir Ulama Najd wa Gh…+1.

Career, migration, and scholarship

Al Muammar advanced in Islamic jurisprudence and legal theory, leading the Saudi ruler Saud ibn Abd al-Aziz to appoint him to judicial duties in al-Dir'iyyah al-Durar al-Saniyya fi al…+1. Following the siege and destruction of al-Dir'iyyah by the forces of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt, he migrated to Bahrain, where he settled and taught Idafat lil-Nat al-Akmal l…+1. He composed poetry lamenting the devastation of al-Dir'iyyah and maintained written correspondence with the scholars of Al al-Shaykh who had been exiled to Cairo Idafat lil-Nat al-Akmal l…+1.

While residing in Bahrain, he authored his major work, Minhat al-Qarib al-Mujib fi al-Radd ala Ubbad al-Salib ("The Gift of the Near, Answering God in Refutation of the Worshippers of the Cross"), written at the request of the local ruler to refute a polemical treatise against Islam submitted by an English Christian clergyman Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl…+1. In Hanbali jurisprudence, he also produced an abridgment of Ibn Abd al-Qawi's poetic rendition of al-Muqni' Mashahir Ulama Najd wa Gh…+1.

Death

Al Muammar died in Bahrain in 1244 AH (1828 CE) Idafat lil-Nat al-Akmal l…+1. Following his death, the poet and scholar Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Musharraf composed an elegy eulogizing his knowledge and defense of Islam al-Durar al-Saniyya fi al….