Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh
- Died
- 1389 AH
- Born in
- Riyadh
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh (1311–1389 AH / 1893–1969 CE) was a Saudi Hanbali jurist, legal scholar, and theologian who served as the Grand Mufti and Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia .
Lineage and Early Life
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was born in the Dukhna neighborhood of Riyadh on 17 Muharram 1311 AH; another account records his birth on the tenth of Muharram (the day of Ashura) of that year . He belonged to the Al al-Shaykh family of Banu Tamim, while his mother, al-Jawhara bint Abd al-Aziz al-Hilali, was from Irqah and traced her descent to the Mazari' branch of Banu Amr of Tamim .
Raised in a prominent scholarly household, his father, Ibrahim ibn Abd al-Latif, served as the judge of Riyadh . At the age of eight, he entered the Quranic school of Abd al-Rahman ibn Mufayrij, completing the reading of the Quran by sight at age eleven . He was afflicted with an eye disease that resulted in the loss of his eyesight around the age of fourteen, though other accounts place this at sixteen or seventeen; he subsequently committed the entire Quran to memory by heart and studied recitation (tajwid) .
Education and Teachers
He began his formal religious education under his father, studying foundational treatises of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Arabic grammar, and the law of inheritance (fara'id) . Following his father's death, he studied extensively under his uncle Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Latif Al al-Shaykh, covering theological treatises such as Kitab al-Tawhid, al-Aqida al-Wasitiyya, and al-Fatwa al-Hamawiyya, alongside Quranic exegesis (tafsir) and hadith . He also studied jurisprudence (fiqh) and hadith terminology under Sa'd ibn Hamad ibn Atiq, and Arabic grammar under Hamad ibn Faris .
Public Career and Offices
Following the death of his uncle Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Latif in 1339 AH, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim succeeded him as the imam of the Dukhna mosque, the preacher (khatib) of the Grand Mosque in Riyadh (the Mosque of Imam Turki ibn Abd Allah), and the primary teacher in the capital .
As the Saudi state reorganized its judicial and educational systems, he assumed several high-level offices. He recommended the establishment of secondary religious institutes (al-ma'ahid al-ilmiyya) across the kingdom, supervising them academically while delegating executive administration to his brother Abd al-Latif ibn Ibrahim . When the Department of Legal Responsa (Dar al-Ifta) was established in 1373 AH (or 1374 AH), he was appointed its head and designated the Grand Mufti of the realm . Upon the restructuring and unification of the kingdom's courts in 1376 AH, he was appointed President of the Judiciary (Chief Justice) and presided over the Supreme Judicial Council . He also served as the inaugural president of the Islamic University of Madinah upon its establishment in 1381 AH and chaired the Constituent Council of the Muslim World League .
Teaching and Students
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim held instructional circles at his mosque following the dawn prayer and in his home during the late morning, insisting that students strictly memorize foundational primers before proceeding to advanced texts . His legal responsa, correspondence, and pedagogical commentaries were subsequently compiled into a thirteen-volume compendium titled Fatawa wa-Rasa'il Samahat al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh .
A generation of Saudi judges and scholars studied under him, including Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, Abd Allah ibn Humayd, Sulayman ibn Ubayd, Salih ibn Ghusun, and Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Jibreen .
Illness and Death
In Sha'ban 1389 AH, he fell ill and was admitted to the Central Hospital in Riyadh, before being transferred to London by royal decree for medical evaluation . After his condition was determined to be incurable, he lapsed into a coma and was flown back to Riyadh, where he died at around 4:00 AM on Wednesday, 24 Ramadan 1389 AH (3 December 1969 CE), at the age of seventy-eight . His funeral prayer was conducted after the noon prayer at the Grand Mosque of Riyadh, led by Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, and he was buried in al-Oud cemetery .
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List of Works
Sharh Kashf al-Shubuhat is a theological commentary on Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's treatise Kashf al-Shubuhat ("The Clarification of Doubts"). Composed from lecture notes and recorded lessons delivered between 1366 AH and 1372 AH, the work elucidates the context, core themes, and arguments of the base treatise, addressing topics such as the definition of monotheism (tawhid), pre-Islamic polytheism, and refutations of various polemical doubts.
Sharh Kitab Adab al-Mashy ila al-Salat aw al-Ibadat (al-Salat, al-Zakat, al-Siyam) is a legal commentary on Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's Hanbali primer on acts of worship. Based on oral lessons and dictations delivered to students, the text provides a concise pedagogical analysis of essential religious practices, covering the rulings of ritual prayer, funerals, the alms-tax, and fasting, along with related manners.
Fatawa wa Rasail Samahat al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Abd al-Latif Al al-Shaykh is a thirteen-volume compendium containing 4,575 legal rulings, scholastic treatises, classroom commentaries, and official responsa. Drawn from official archives, classroom notes, and private collections, the material is organized across three primary divisions: creed (al-Aqaid), jurisprudence (al-Fiqh), and general knowledge (Ma'arif Ammah).
al-Ikhtiyarat al-Fiqhiyya li al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim fi Masa'il al-Ibadat is a compilation of legal preferences, deductions, and rulings concerning acts of worship, extracted from the larger multi-volume compendium Fatawa wa-Rasa'il. The work covers foundational principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) followed by specific rulings across traditional branches of worship, including purification, prayer, zakah, fasting, and pilgrimage.