Atiyya Saqr

Atiyya Saqr (d. 1427 AH / 2006 CE) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar, jurist, and mufti who served as the head of the Fatwa Committee at al-Azhar and as a member of the Islamic Research Academy al-Shia hum al-Adu fa-Ihd…+1. He was widely recognized for his extensive legal rulings addressing contemporary and traditional jurisprudential questions, as well as his writings on Islamic dawah and social ethics al-Din al-Alami wa Manhaj…+1.

Offices and Career

Saqr was a prominent figure within the Azhari scholarly establishment in Egypt, serving as a member of the Islamic Research Academy (Majma' al-Buhuth al-Islamiyyah) and presiding over the Fatwa Committee at al-Azhar al-Shia hum al-Adu fa-Ihd…+1. In these roles, he issued official verdicts and participated in institutional declarations on doctrinal, ethical, and legal matters facing Muslim society Mawsuat al-Firaq al-Munta…+1. Through the Academy’s publication series, he authored al-Din al-Alami wa-Manhaj al-Dawah Ilayh (The Universal Religion and the Methodology of Calling to It), an exposition arguing for the universal scope and timeless applicability of Islam and detailing systematic principles for Islamic outreach al-Din al-Alami wa Manhaj….

Jurisprudential and Creedal Positions

Saqr's legal outputs covered a wide array of ritual, social, and modern issues, many of which were later compiled into official collections of Azhar and Dar al-Ifta fatwas al-Shia hum al-Adu fa-Ihd…+1. On matters of family and individual conduct, he authored the multi-part study al-Usrah tahta Ri'ayat al-Islam (The Family under the Care of Islam), which examined classical opinions on personal status and domestic issues Fatawa Dar al-Ifta al-Mis….

His fatwas also addressed emerging contemporary matters, including:

• Medical and bioethical issues: ruling that post-mortem organ donation is permissible when authorized by the deceased or the heirs to alleviate dire medical necessity, while deeming vital organ removal from living donors strictly forbidden Fatawa Dar al-Ifta al-Mis….
• Modern contracts: evaluating marriage contracts conducted remotely via modern communication technology, noting that while telephone contracts pose evidentiary difficulties, audiovisual transmission that establishes clear mutual consent and presence of witnesses fulfills the requirements of a valid assembly Fatawa Dar al-Ifta al-Mis….
• Theological critiques: ruling that attributing comprehensive and definitive knowledge of the unseen (ilm al-ghayb) to created beings contradicts explicit Quranic texts Juhud Ulama al-Azhar fi B…+1, joining consensus Azhari verdicts concerning the apostasy of the Baha'i movement Mawsuat al-Firaq al-Munta…, and rejecting polemical claims regarding the textual integrity of the Quran al-Shia hum al-Adu fa-Ihd…+1.