Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Khunayn
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Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Khunayn is a contemporary Saudi jurist, judge, and member of the Council of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia, known for his specialized scholarship in Islamic judicial procedure and the legal qualification of cases.
Background and Career
His full name is Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'd Al Khunayn. He belongs to the Al Khunayn family of al-Dilam in the al-Kharj region, who trace their lineage to the 'A'idh branch of 'Ubayda from Qahtan.
Al-Khunayn pursued a career in the Saudi judiciary and academia. He served as a judge at the Grand Court in Riyadh (al-Mahkama al-Kubra) and taught as a professor at the Higher Judicial Institute (al-Ma'had al-'Ali li-l-Qada'). He was subsequently appointed to the Council of Senior Scholars (Hay'at Kibar al-'Ulama') and the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta (al-Lajna al-Da'ima li-l-Ifta'). He also served on the supervisory board of Majallat al-Buhuth al-Islamiyya, the refereed scholarly journal issued by the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta.
Scholarly Contribution
Al-Khunayn’s scholarly focus centers on judicial jurisprudence (fiqh al-qada'), procedural rulings, and the methodology of applying overarching legal maxims and universal rulings (al-ahkam al-kulliyya) to concrete judicial disputes and requests for advisory opinions (al-waqa'i' al-qada'iyya wa-al-fatwiyya). He articulated the discipline of tanzil al-ahkam 'ala al-waqa'i' (the application of rulings to facts) as an essential practical counterpart to legal theory (usul al-fiqh), guiding judges and muftis in correctly characterizing cases, establishing relevant evidence, and avoiding judicial error.
His primary treatise in this field is Tawsif al-Aqdiya fi al-Shari'a al-Islamiyya (Legal Qualification of Judicial Cases in Islamic Law), a comprehensive study examining the substantive principles and applied cases of judicial categorization drawn from early Islamic jurisprudence and modern Saudi court precedents. He also published Tanzil al-Ahkam 'ala al-Waqa'i' al-Qada'iyya wa-al-Fatwiyya fi al-Fiqh al-Islami (Applying Rulings to Judicial and Fatwa Facts in Islamic Jurisprudence), analyzing the theoretical foundations of adjudicative reasoning.
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List of Works
Tawsif al-Aqdiya fi al-Sharia al-Islamiyya (Legal Qualification of Judicial Cases in Islamic Law) is a specialized contemporary legal treatise on Islamic judicial procedure and adjudication. The work investigates the principles and branches governing the application of universal legal rulings (al-ahkam al-kulliyya) to particular judicial facts and requests for legal opinions (al-waqai al-qadaiyya wa-al-fatwiyya), integrating theoretical frameworks with applied cases from early Islamic history and modern Saudi courts.