Salih bin Abd al-Aziz Al Uthaymin
- Died
- 1410 AH
- Born in
- Buraydah
Salih bin Abd al-Aziz Al Uthaymin (1320–1410 AH / 1902–1990 CE) was a Saudi Hanbali jurist, historian, and scholar of hadith, best known for his biographical dictionary of Hanbali scholars, Tashil al-Sabila li Murid Ma'rifat al-Hanabila (Facilitating the Path for the Seeker of Knowledge of the Hanbalis).
Early life and education
Salih bin Abd al-Aziz bin Ali bin Abd al-Rahman Al Uthaymin was born in Buraydah, the capital of al-Qasim in Najd, in 1320 AH (though another report places his birth in 1326 AH). His family is distinct from the Al Uthaymin lineages residing in Unaizah and Shaqra. He began his education in local traditional elementary schools (kuttabs), memorizing the Quran and studying primary religious disciplines, penmanship, and arithmetic. In Buraydah, he attended mosque study circles and studied under scholars such as the brothers Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Salim and Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Salim, Abd al-Aziz ibn Ibrahim al-Abbadi, Abdullah ibn Husayn Aba al-Khayl, and Sulayman al-Mush'ali.
Al Uthaymin demonstrated early academic promise and began teaching before reaching the age of twenty. He traveled through nomadic settlements (hijar) and rural villages to preach and instruct the populace in Islamic monotheism (tawhid) and substantive legal rulings (fiqh). Seeking further learning, he traveled to Kuwait, where he studied under Abdullah ibn Khalaf al-Dihyan, Abd al-Aziz ibn Hamad Al Rashid, and Yusuf ibn Isa al-Qana'i.
Scholarly pursuits and career
Al Uthaymin later relocated to Mecca, taking up permanent residence near the Sacred Mosque. There he studied with scholars including Muhammad Abd al-Razzaq Hamza, Abdullah ibn Hasan Al al-Shaykh, and Muhammad Bahjat al-Baytar, receiving scholarly licenses (ijazat) with connected chains of transmission. He was widely recognized for his mastery in hadith nomenclature, biographical evaluation of narrators (al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil), historical events and conflicts in Najd, astronomy, and Arabic poetry. He also served as a member of the Islamic Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League.
He authored regular columns on creed, jurisprudence, and contemporary legal questions in the newspaper al-Bilad starting in 1378 AH, which were later collected and published posthumously under the title Maqasid al-Islam (The Objectives of Islam). His biographical reference work, Tashil al-Sabila li Murid Ma'rifat al-Hanabila, compiled 3,183 biographical entries of Hanbali authorities extending from Ahmad ibn Hanbal down to 1380 AH. Due to failing eyesight in his later years, he was unable to finalize or print the work himself, and it was published posthumously after being edited by Bakr Abu Zayd.
Death
Al Uthaymin died in Mecca on 21 Dhu al-Hijjah 1410 AH at around ninety years of age and was buried there (a biographical source alternatively gives his death year as 1412 AH / 1992 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
Tashil al-Sabila li Murid Ma‘rifat al-Hanabila (Facilitating the Path for the Seeker of Knowledge of the Hanbalis) is an expansive biographical dictionary of scholars and jurists belonging to the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence.