Wahbah az-Zuhayli

Wahbah Mustafa az-Zuhayli (1932-2015 CE / 1351-1436 AH) was a leading Syrian Islamic jurist and professor of Islamic law at Damascus University who authored one of the most comprehensive works of comparative Islamic jurisprudence ever written. Born in Dair Atiyah near Damascus, he pursued Islamic studies and obtained his doctorate from al-Azhar. He combined deep traditional knowledge with modern academic methodology.

His al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh (Islamic Jurisprudence and its Proofs) is an encyclopedic work covering the positions and evidence of all four Sunni schools of law on every major topic of jurisprudence. Running to eight volumes, it became the standard comparative fiqh reference in Islamic law faculties worldwide. His at-Tafsir al-Munir is a modern tafsir in sixteen volumes that integrates linguistic analysis, legal derivations, and practical lessons from the Quranic text. He also authored Usul al-Fiqh al-Islami on juristic methodology and numerous specialized studies on Islamic finance, international relations, and family law.

Az-Zuhayli was a member of numerous international Islamic fiqh academies, including the International Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah. His ability to present the richness of the Islamic legal tradition in a structured, comparative format that is accessible to modern readers, jurists, and policymakers is his greatest legacy. He supervised hundreds of doctoral dissertations and his students occupy key academic and judicial positions across the Muslim world. He passed away in Damascus.