Ibn Uthaymin

Muhammad ibn Salih ibn Uthaymin al-Wuhaybi al-Tamimi (1347–1421 AH / 1929–2001 CE) was one of the most prominent Islamic scholars of the 20th century, a Saudi jurist and hadith scholar whose fatawa (legal rulings) and educational works reached an audience of hundreds of millions through print, audio, and later digital media. He was born in Unayzah in the Qasim region of central Arabia and studied under Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di and then briefly under Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz.

He taught in Unayzah for decades and later at the College of Sharia at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University. His teaching style was notable for clarity, accessibility, and a willingness to engage with new questions. He produced an enormous body of recorded lectures, written commentaries, and fatawa covering virtually every area of Islamic practice.

His major works include: al-Sharh al-Mumti on Zad al-Mustaqni (a comprehensive fiqh commentary in multiple volumes); commentary on Riyadh al-Salihin; commentary on the three principles (Usul al-Thalatha); numerous fatawa collections; and explanations of individual hadith. His audio lectures were collected by students and distributed widely.

He was known for positions that combined adherence to the Hanbali tradition with careful analysis of hadith evidence, sometimes differing from official Saudi positions on specific questions. He was a member of the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia. He died in Jeddah in 1421 AH and is buried in Mecca. His death, like that of Ibn Baz two years earlier, was mourned throughout the Sunni Muslim world as the passing of one of the last great traditional scholars.