Shaykh Dr. Gibril Fouad Haddad

Shaykh Dr. Gibril Fouad Haddad visited Ebrahim College on Saturday 8th October 2016 to launch his recent first critical edition and translation of Abd Allah b. ʿUmar b. Muhammad b. ʿAli al-Baydawi’s first juz of Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Taʾwil (The Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation). The first book-length study in English on the first Ḥizb of Tafsir al-Baydawi, a 900-page work to be published jointly by UBD Press and Beacon Books (UK).

Imam al-Baydawi RH, was a respected and prolific expert on Qurʼanic exegesis and Islamic law, jurisprudence, and theology in 13th-14th century. His major work is the commentary on the Qur’an
entitled The Secrets of Revelation and The Secrets of Interpretation (Asrar ut-tanzil wa Asrar ut-ta’wil). As a revised and improved version of al-Zamakhshari’s landmark Tafsir al-Kashshaf, Anwar al-Tanzil contains one of the most concise analysis of the Quranic use of Arabic grammar and style to date and was viewed early on as a foremost demonstration of the Qurʾan’s essential and structural inimitability (iʿjaz maʿnawi wa-lughawi) in Sunni literature. Anwar al-Tanzil is important and significant, because of its fame and influence and in Dr. Haddad’s own estimation, this work “became and remained for seven centuries the most studied of all Tafsirs,” and it is to be regarded as one “the most important commentaries on the Quran” and especially in the madrasas (Islamic Seminaries) of Mamluk Egypt and Ottoman Turkey.

This work is ideal for study and research in particular for aspiring Islamic scholars and Quran researchers.

Biography

Shaykh Dr. Gibril Fouad Haddad is a well-known scholar and religious leader. He is respected for his tireless effort and scholarship in defending and promoting the mainstream way of traditional Sunni Islam; for his erudite, meticulously-researched writings and translations; and his commitment to spread authentic Prophetic teachings, as understood by the great scholars of the Islamic tradition.

In 1960 in Beirut, Lebanon, Shaykh Haddad was born to a Lebanese Catholic Family. He later travelled to the UK and America to continue his education. In 1991, while attending grad school at Columbia University in New York, Allah Most High opened his heart to accept Islam.

He went on to study for about a decade in Damascus, under many esteemed scholars such as Shaykh Nur Al Din Itr, Shaykh Adib Kallas, Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqubi, Shaykh Abd Al-Hadi Kharsa, Dr Samer Al-Nass and Dr. Muhammad Muti Al-Hafiz.

He is now an accomplished scholar, religious leader, author and Arabic translator and was listed amongst the 500 Most Influential Muslims In The World. He holds ijazas from over 150 scholars across the Muslim world.

Shaykh Haddad has written dozens of books and hundreds of articles. His most recent is “The Muhammadan Light In the Qur’an, Sunnah and Companion reports.” A comprehensive list of his books is available at www.livingislam.org.

Formerly, he taught at the online institute Qibla. Shaykh Haddad currently resides with his family in Brunei, Darussalaam and is a Senior Assistant Professor at the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Center for Islamic Studies, University Brunei Darussalam.Since 1997 he has translated and published the following texts:At Al-Qur’an wal-Sunna Association (AQSA), Birmingham, UK:Albani and His Friends: A Concise Guide to the “Salafi” Movement. 2nd edition.Mawlid: Celebrating the Birth of the Holy Prophet, upon him blessings and peace.

Al-Jifri, Ḥabib Ali. Jesus Christ the Son of Mary & His Most Blessed Mother, upon them peace.

Al-Maliki, Muḥammad ibn `Alawi. The Prophet’s Night Journey and Heavenly Ascent.

Ibn Jahbal. Refutation of Ibn Taymiyya Who Attributes Direction to Allah.

Al-Maliki. The Life of the Prophets in Their Graves, upon them peace. Bilingual. (Forthcoming)

At Warda Publications, Hellenthal, Germany:

Introduction and glossary for Shaykh Muhammad Afifi’s Defending the Transgressed, a fatwa on the prohibition of the military targeting of civilians.

At AQSA and Warda Publications:

Sunna Notes I:Hadith History and Principles. With Ibn Hajar’s Nukhbat al-Fikar.

Sunna Notes II: The Excellent Innovation in the Qur’an and Ḥadith. Foreword by Shaykh Wahbi Sulayman Ghawji. With Ibn Rajab’s The Sunna of the Caliphs.

Sunna Notes III: The Binding Proof of the Sunna. Foreword by Dr. Muhammad Sa‘id al-Buti. With Ibn Hajar’s The Hadith of Gibril. (Forthcoming)

At Maktabat al-Aḥbab, Damascus (in English and Arabic):

Afdalu al-Khalqi Sayyiduna Muhammad (On the Prophetic Attribute “Best of Creation”).

The Excellence of Syro-Palestine – al-Shaam – and Its People: Forty Hadiths. Forewords by Shaykh Adib Kallas, Shaykh Mustafa al-Turkmani, and Shaykh Salah Fakhri.

Mawlana’s Open Door in Johore and Singapore.

Qubrus al-Tarab fi Suhbati Rajab (“The Joy of Cyprus in the Association of Rajab”): Discourses of Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani.

Al-Rifa‘i,Yusuf Hashim. Advice to Our Brethren the Scholars of Najd (Nasiha li-Ikhwanina ‘Ulama’ Najd). Introduction by Muhammad Sa‘id al-Buti. With the full introduction of ‘Alawi al-Haddad’s 1802 Misbah al-Anam fi Radd Shubuhat al-Najdi al-Lati Adalla biha al-‘Awamm.

Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq radya Allahu ‘anh.

At Dar Taybat al-Gharra’, Damascus (in Arabic):

Tuhfat al-Labib bi-Nusrat al-Habib ‘Ali al-Jufri wa-Munaqashat al-Mukhalifin fil-Masa’il al-Sufiyya. Foreword by Sayyid Yusuf al-Rifa‘i.

Al-Arba‘una fi Faddli al-Shami wa-Ahlih wal-Hijrati ila Allahi wa-Rasulih Salla Allahu wa-Sallama ‘alayhi wa-Alih. Foreword by Shaykh Mustafa al-Turkmani.

At Amal Press, Bristol:

From the Two Holy Sanctuaries: A Hajj Journal. With illustrations.
Revision, introduction, notes, and appendices for Miryam Poswal’s translation of al-Suyuti’s Sibahat al-Fikr fil-Jahri bil-Dhikr.

At Muslim Academic Trust (MAT), Oxford:

The Four Imams and Their Schools: Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafi‘i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Foreword by Sayyid Yusuf Hashim al-Rifa‘i.

At Dar al-`Atab, Indonesia:

Fayd as-Salam bi-Suhbah Shaykh Hisham.

At As-Sunna Foundation of America (ASFA):

Ibn ‘Abd al-Salam’s Doctrine of the People of Truth (al-Mulha fi I‘tiqad Ahl al-Haqq).

Al-Bayhaqi’s Divine Names and Attributes (al-Asma’ wal-Sifat). Excerpts.

Ibn Khafif’s Correct Islamic Doctrine. With Ibn ‘Arabi’s Doctrine of the Muslims.