Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti (born 1976), also known as Shaykh Afifi,
[fatwa.mell](_blank)
(PDF) . Retrieved on 21 August 2011. is the KFAS Fellow in Islamic Studies at the
Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) was founded in 1985. It is a centre for the advanced study of Islam and Muslim societies located in Oxford, England, and a registered educational charity. Its Patron is The Prince of Wales. In 2012 it ...
. He is also the Islamic Centre Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the
Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford, and is a Fellow of
Worcester College
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...
, Oxford. He is the first
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
to be appointed to such a position in this university. Elsewhere, he is a visiting professor of
Universiti Teknologi MARA
The MARA Technological University (Malay: ''Universiti Teknologi MARA''; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي تيكنولوڬي مارا; abbr. UiTM) is a public university based primarily in Shah Alam, Selangor. It was established to help rural Mal ...
in Malaysia. He has also received widespread media recognition across the globe.
In 2010, Afifi al-Akiti was appointed Privy Councillor to the
State of Perak, Malaysia, by the Crown Prince of Perak,
Raja Dr Nazrin Shah.
Afifi al-Akiti is listed in ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' since 2010. In 2009, along with
Professor Muhammad Abdel Haleem and the
IIIT, Afifi al-Akiti was shortlisted for the Annual UK Muslim Awards, in one of its 15 coveted Awards for Excellence, the ''
Allama Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...
Award for Creativity in Islamic Thought''.
[''The Muslim News'', no. 238 (27 February 2009)](_blank)
. Muslimnews.co.uk (27 February 2009). Retrieved on 21 August 2011. In 2011, Afifi al-Akiti was awarded the
Darjah Paduka Mahkota Perak (PMP), the Malaysian equivalent to the
British CBE. In 2012, he was the sole recipient of the
Darjah Dato' Paduka Cura Si-Manja Kini (DPCM) in that year's
Sultan of Perak
The Sultan of Perak (سلطان ڤيراق) is one of the oldest hereditary seats among the Malay states.
When the Sultanate of Malacca empire fell to Portugal in 1511, Sultan Mahmud Syah I retreated to Kampar, Sumatra, and died there in ...
Birthday Honours List, which carries the Malaysian title of Dato'.
Education
Afifi al-Akiti, who comes from
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, is trained as a theologian and philologist in both the Islamic and Western traditions: educated originally at the feet of the
ulema
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
of the Muslim world, he subsequently received a
First Class degree in
Scholastic philosophy
Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translate ...
and the
History of science
The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal.
Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...
from the
Queen's University Belfast
, mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back?
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, top_free1 =
, top_free_label2 =
, top_free2 =
, established =
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, type = Public research university
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, where he was awarded various scholarships to read for his Masters and Doctoral degrees at Oxford. His areas of expertise are Islamic theology, philosophy and science.
Afifi al-Akiti completed his
DPhil
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
in Medieval Arabic Philosophy from Oxford University as a Clarendon Scholar in 2008. His thesis identifies and systematically considers for the first time a group of philosophical writings, called the Madnun corpus, attributed to Islam's greatest theologian,
al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian polymat ...
(d. 505/1111). His discoveries are based on a survey of nearly 50 medieval Arabic manuscripts. Besides acquainting scholars with this remarkable new body of source material, his three-volume study also presents a critical edition of the most advanced and technical work of this corpus, the manual on metaphysics and natural philosophy called the ''Major Madnun''.
''Defending the Transgressed''
On 23 July 2005, just days after the
London bombings London attack may refer to any of the following attacks that have occurred within London, London metropolitan area, City of London, Lundenwic, Londinium, or County of London:
;Actuated attacks
* List of terrorist incidents in London
** 1973 Old Ba ...
, Afifi al-Akiti wrote ''Defending the Transgressed by Censuring the Reckless against the Killing of Civilians'' (Arabic: ''Mudafi' al-Mazlum bi-Radd al-Muhamil 'ala Qital Man La Yuqatil''), the foreword of which was described by
Gibril Haddad
Gibril Fouad Haddad (born 1960) ( ar-at, جبريل فؤاد حداد; ) is a Lebanese-born Islamic scholar, hadith expert (''muhaddith''), author, and translator of classical Islamic texts. He was featured in the inaugural list of ''The 500 Mo ...
as a "
fatwa
A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...
" or a "response by a qualified Muslim scholar against the killing of civilians".
[''Defending the Transgressed'' (Birmingham: Aqsa Press, 2005), 7.] Furthermore:
Upon reading Shaykh Afifi's fatwa do not be surprised to find that you have probably never before seen such clarity of thought and expression together with breadth of knowledge of Islamic Law applied (by a non-native speaker) to define key Islamic concepts pertaining to the conduct of war and its jurisprudence, its arena and boundaries, suicide bombing
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
, the reckless targeting of civilians, and more.
This work was first published freely available on the Internet.
[News Statesman, 5 November 2009](_blank)
Newstatesman.com. Retrieved on 21 August 2011. It was written in response to a statement issued by the radical group
al-Muhajiroun
Al-Muhajiroun ( ar, المهاجرون, "The Emigrants") is a Proscription, proscribed militant network based in Saudi Arabia. The founder of the group was Omar Bakri Muhammad, a Syrian who previously belonged to ''Hizb ut-Tahrir''; he was not p ...
, which refers to the
9/11
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
hijackers as the "Magnificent 19", and claims that while Muslims who live in the West are not allowed to wage war against the government, Muslims who live elsewhere do not face the same prohibition. In fact, the leader of al-Muhajiroun,
Omar Bakri Muhammad
Omar Bakri Muhammad ( ar, عمر بکری محمد; born Omar Bakri Fostock; 1958) is a Syrian Islamist militant leader born in Aleppo. He was instrumental in developing Hizb ut-Tahrir in the United Kingdom before leaving the group and heading t ...
, even argues that the British government had broken a supposed "covenant of security" with its Muslim citizens when it embarked on its anti-terror crackdown by introducing anti-terror legislation and indefinite detention of terror suspects. British Muslims therefore had every right to consider themselves at war with the government, he claims. Countering this argument, Afifi al-Akiti says that Omar Bakri has no authority to issue such a war directive as only a Muslim government could issue one. If a Muslim were to carry out such an attack, he would be a murderer and not a martyr or hero.
As a result of its huge online popularity,
''Defending the Transgressed'' was subsequently published as a book by Aqsa Press (Birmingham) and Warda Publications (Hellenthal, Germany) in September 2005. A year later the ''Defending the Transgressed'' appeared (as second edition) in ''The State We Are In'' – a collection containing contributions on the same topic by other notable Muslim scholars, including the likes of
Hamza Yusuf
Hamza Yusuf (born: Mark Hanson; 1958) is an American Islamic neo-traditionalist, Islamic scholar, and co-founder of Zaytuna College. He is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching metho ...
and
Abdallah Bin Bayyah. Its third edition is published in 2009 as part of the Oxford
Amnesty
Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
Lecture
(OAL)2006 series, ''War Against Terror''.
So far, ''Defending the Transgressed'' has been translated into a number of languages including German, Spanish, Albanian and Swedish.
Honours
*
**
![MY-PERA_Order_of_the_Perak_State_Crown_-_lower_classes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/MY-PERA_Order_of_the_Perak_State_Crown_-_lower_classes.svg)
Commander of the
Order of the Perak State Crown
The Most Illustrious Order of the Perak State Crown (Malay language, Malay:''Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Negeri Perak Yang Amat Mulia'') is knighthood order of the Sultanate of Perak.
Background
It was founded by Sultan Yusuf Izzuddin Shah on 12 D ...
(PMP) (2011)
**
![MY-PERA_Order_of_Cura_Si_Manja_Kini_-_lower_classes_(new)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/MY-PERA_Order_of_Cura_Si_Manja_Kini_-_lower_classes_%28new%29.svg)
Knight of the
Order of Cura Si Manja Kini
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
(DPCM) – Dato’ (2012)
*
**
![MY-SEL_Order_of_the_Crown_of_Selangor_-_Knight_Commander_-_DPMS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/MY-SEL_Order_of_the_Crown_of_Selangor_-_Knight_Commander_-_DPMS.svg)
Knight Commander of the
Order of the Crown of Selangor
The Most Illustrious Order of the Crown of Selangor (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Selangor Yang Amat Mulia'') is an order awarded by Sultan of Selangor as a reward for general services to the sultan and state of Selangor. It was fou ...
(DPMS) – Dato’ (2015)
References
External links
Texts by Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-AkitiDr Afifi al-Akiti Academia.edu Page
Video links
* Anak Melayu Pertama Menjadi Pensyarah di Universiti Oxford
Dr. Afifi al-Akiti @ Sudut Pandang Astro AwaniThe Hidden Treasure of Imam al-GhazaliScholars and activists offer some wise words to the YMAGBuletin Utama TV3 – Bersama Dr. Afifi Al-AkitiNew Statesman – Suicide Bombers
Press links
Scholar Urges Ulama To Be Equipped With Other KnowledgeUlama Perlu Lengkapi Diri Dengan Pengetahun Lain, Kata Cendekiawan OxfordPenseur malaisien: Oulémas musulmans doivent apprendre les nouvelles sciences*
ttp://www.emel.com/article?id=65&a_id=1737 Watch This Face: Dr Afifi al-Akiti (Emel, issue no. 62, Nov 2009)New Statesman – Suicide attacks are un-Islamic* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101117114149/http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/king-wan-azizah-join-top-muslim-influence-list King, Wan Azizah join top Muslim influence list (Malaysian Insider)]
Muslim berpengaruh: Senarai Malaysia naik, Nik Aziz bukan lagi 50 teratas (Utusan Malaysia, 14 November 2010)Understand each other to prevent conflict (Brunei Times)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akiti, Afifi
21st-century Muslim theologians
Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
Alumni of the University of Oxford
Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford
Malaysian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Living people
Universiti Teknologi MARA faculty
Malaysian writers
1976 births
Academics of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
Knights Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor