Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah was born in 1935 in the East of Mauritania. He is a scholar who grew up in a house known for its scholarship; his father Shaykh Mahfoudh Ben Bayah, may God have mercy on him, was one of the region’s eminent scholars and the head of the Conference of Mauritanian Scholars established after the country’s independence.

He studied in the Mauritanian centers of learning known as Mahadhir especially the school of his father Shaykh Mahfoudh Ben Bayah in which all the sacred sciences were taught including: jurisprudence, legal theory, syntax, language, rhetoric, Quranic exegesis and its auxiliary sciences, and the science of Prophetic tradition.

He was able to progress rapidly in these sciences and was successful in the exam set by the Judiciary after independence.

He was sent to study law at the Faculty of Law in Tunisia and was trained in the Tunisian courts in 1961. Twelve judges were chosen and each of them presented a research paper in Juristic method and law and Abdullah Bin Bayyah was first in his group.

Positions

Judge at the High Court of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Head of Shariah Affairs at the Ministry of Justice
Deputy president of the Court of Appeal
Main negotiator on Religious Affairs in the Republic
First Minister for Islamic Affairs and Education
Minister of Justice and Official Holder of the Seals
Minister Of State for human Resources – with the position of Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of State for Directing state affairs, organizations and parties (which included overseeing the Ministry of Information and Culture, the Ministry of Youth & Sport, the Ministry of Islamic affairs, the Ministry of Postal Services and Communication
Permanent Trustee for the Ruling Mauritanian People’s Party
Member of the Cabinet and the Permanent Committee of the Ruling Mauritanian People’s Party from 1970-1978

He participated in many conferences among the most important was the First Summit Conference of Muslim States, which was held in Rabat, and the First conference which established the Organization of Islamic Conference In Jeddah, he attended a conference in Algeria, the African-Arab Summit Conference in Cairo, participated in the conference of French Speaking Lawyers in France during the 60s, and he oversaw the first African Conference for the Muslim League held in Nouakchott.

Writings

Terrorism: a Diagnosis and Solutions
The Discourse of Security in Islam and the Culture of Tolerance and Harmony
Fatwas and Reflections
The Art of Formulating Fatwas (Legal Opinions) and Minority Fiqh (the Jurisprudence Pertaining to Muslim Minorities)
A Dialogue from Afar: on human rights
A book on legal methodology
A clarification on the various legal opinions pertaining to financial transactions
The Benefits of Endowments
Evidence for those suffering from illnesses on the immense Divine award that awaits them
Aims and their Proof



Responsibilities and Positions



President, Forum for Peace in Muslim Societies, Abu Dhabi
Co-Moderator and Executive Committee Member of Religions for Peace, New York
Director of the Global Center for Renewal & Guidance, UK
Member of the Association of Indian Jurists, Delhi
Member of The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Jordan
Member of the Counsel of Jurists attached to the Organisation of Islamic Conference, Jeddah
member of the European Research & Fatwa Council, Irelandt
Member of the Specialist Panel presiding over the Prince Naif ben Abdul Aziz prize for Prophetic Traditions and Islamic Studies
Member of the Muslim League’s International High Council of Mosques, Mecca
Member of the International Aid Organisation of Kuwait
Member of the Lecturing Staff at the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah in which he is a lecturer
Member of the High Council in the Centre for Studyin