Ali Jumaa
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Ali Jumaa (full name: Ali Jumaa Muhammad) is a contemporary Egyptian jurist, legal theorist, and scholar affiliated with the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence who served as the Grand Mufti of Egypt.
Public Career and Legal Thought
During his tenure as Grand Mufti through Egypt's official fatwa body (Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyya), Jumaa played an active role in national and international religious discourse. In legal theory and methodology, he emphasized the continuity of the classical legal tradition (turath) and adherence to the four Sunni legal schools (madhahib). In his handbook al-Madkhal ila Dirasat al-Madhahib al-Fiqhiyya (Introduction to the Study of Legal Schools), he outlined the developmental history, literature, and foundational principles governing the classical schools of Islamic jurisprudence.
Theologically and spiritually, Jumaa aligns with Ash'arism and traditional Sufism, characterizing authentic Sufism as an established Islamic science grounded in the Quran and the Prophetic Sunnah. He has consistently defended traditional devotional practices, including seeking intercession (tawassul) through the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, traveling to visit the tombs of prophets and righteous figures, and celebrating the Prophet's birthday (mawlid). In al-Bayan lima Yashghal al-Adhhan (Clarification of What Preoccupies Minds), he maintained that the implementation of Islamic law must be conceived broadly across multiple societal dimensions rather than being reduced solely to the execution of penal punishments.
Controversies and Reception
Jumaa has advocated for an intellectual framework he terms "Islamic centrism" (wasatiyya), promoting civilizational dialogue between the Muslim world and Western nations. In works such as al-Mutashaddidun (The Extremists), he mounted extensive critiques against contemporary Salafi movements, arguing that isolationist and rigid interpretations create societal friction and function as an obstacle to comprehensive societal development. He further contended that strict Salafi isolationism represents the conceptual counterpart to secularism.
These stances and several of his legal rulings generated substantial opposition from contemporary Salafi critics and traditionalist scholars. Opponents, such as Shehata Saqr and Talha al-Musayyar, dedicated treatises to refuting his positions, criticizing his evaluations of Salafism and accusing him of excessive legal leniency. Particular debate surrounded his edict prohibiting and criminalizing female genital mutilation—which he argued was a harmful cultural practice whose medical prohibition was warranted by specialist consensus—as well as his legal reasoning regarding modern banking transactions and social interactions.
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List of Works
al-Mustalah al-Usuli wa Mushkilat al-Mafahim (The Usuli Term and the Problem of Concepts) is a methodological study on Islamic legal terminology and epistemology, published in 1417 AH (1996 CE) by the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Cairo. Examined through the lens of legal theory (usul al-fiqh), the work addresses the distortion of concepts in contemporary thought, drawing on classical scholarly heritage to caution against unregulated calls for creating new terminologies under the guise of simplification or renewal.
al-Madkhal ila Dirasat al-Madhahib al-Fiqhiyya (Introduction to the Study of Legal Schools) is a single-volume contemporary methodological handbook on Islamic jurisprudence. The book serves as an orientation to classical Islamic legal heritage (turath) and provides a structured survey of the four Sunni schools of law (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali), detailing their historical development, foundational principles, literature, and prominent scholars.