Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda
ʿAbd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah () (9 May 1917 – 16 February 1997) was a Syrian Muslim Brotherhood leader and Sunni Hanafi Muslim scholar. He was born in 1917 in Aleppo. He was the third Supreme Guide of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, taking over from Issam al-Attar in 1973. Early life and education. Abu Ghuddah was born and raised in Aleppo, studying at the Academy of Islamic Studies in Aleppo and later received advanced training in psychology and education at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. His father, Muhammad Ansari, was known to be a pious  man, and was a businessman in the textile industry. Muhammad's father, Bashir Ansari, was one of the biggest textile traders in Aleppo, and the family line could be traced back to Khalid ibn al-Walid, one of the companions of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. He manifested differences in views with Al-Dhahabi and Ibn Taymiyyah. Teachers. Some of his teachers whom he studied with were giants like: Muslim Brotherhood. Abu Ghuddah lived in Cairo between 1944 and 1950, during which time he met Hassan al-Banna, the Founder and First General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. Abu Ghuddah joined  the Muslim Brotherhood under the auspices of al-Banna, and became a member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood upon his return to Syria in 1950. He rose to prominence in Islamic circles in Aleppo, and became an instructor at his former school, Academy of Islamic Studies. In 1960 he became an instructor of theology at Damascus University along with the principles of Fiqh, Hanafi Fiqh, and Comparative Fiqh. Abu Ghuddah stood for election in the 1961 parliamentary election, and was later appointed as the Mufti of Aleppo by President Nazim al-Kudsi. Abu Ghuddah was critical of the often authoritarian  policies of Issam al-Attar, the Supreme Guide of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, who he claimed was unrestrained in his power and never consulted others on political affairs. al-Attar stepped down from the party leadership in 1962 and Abu Ghuddah replaced him as Supreme Guide of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. Abu Ghuddah was critical of the 1966 Syrian coup d'état which brought Salah Jadid to the Presidency. Abu Ghuddah used his position to rally scholars, whom he encouraged to boycott the state and voice opposition to Jadid's violent policies. Ghuddah also appeared at Friday sermons in Aleppo, and  encouraged Syrians to oppose Jadid's rule. Ghuddah opposed Jadid's rule extensively, and claimed Jadid did not represent the Syrian people. As a result of Ghuddah's activities in the opposition he was arrested and imprisoned in the remote Tadmor Prison, where he was kept for 11 months, before being released along with all other political prisoners in 1967 as part of an amnesty following the Six-Day War with Israel. Exile and death. Abu Ghuddah left Syria and went into exile in Saudi Arabia, where he taught and researched in a variety of Islamic research at the Faculty  of Islamic Sciences at Riyadh University, and guest lectured at the Omdurman Institute in Sudan. During the early years of his exile he continued to actively opposed the Syrian government during his exile, and served as the Inspector General of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood from 1976 to 1983, leading the Islamic uprising in Syria. Following the failure of the uprising Abu Ghuddah abandoned his political career and turned to academia. He taught at Jeddah University and published numerous works on theology. He had his personal library, which he greatly missed during his exile as he was a serious scholar who  loved reading, writing, researching, and collecting books. Abu Ghuddah later returned to Syria in December 1995 under an arrangement with the Syrian government whereby he could return to Aleppo as long as he refrained from politics and focus on academia and religion. During his stay in his native land, he suffered a heart attack and developed soreness of the eyes In mid 1996 he returned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. He began to bleed from the eyes and the condition got worse despite treatment until he lost consciousness and died in Riyadh on 16 February 1997 (9 Shawwal  1417 AH) at dawn. Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani was greatly saddened when he received the news of the demise of his beloved teacher and "Shaikh". Hafez al-Assad, the Syrian President, promptly sent condolences to the family. An official delegation, including the Minister of the Awqaf, the Governor of Aleppo, and the Chief of the Aleppo Police Department visited the family, and delivered condolences from Hafez al-Assad. Assad also offered the use of his personal plane for transporting Abu Ghuddah's body back to Syria, although he was ultimately buried in Medina near the grave of Muhammad. Travels. Abu  Ghuddah met Mufti Muhammad Shafi when he visited Damascus in 1956 at a conference arranged by the World Muslim Congress and later visited Karachi in 1962 to research some manuscripts in the libraries of Pakistan and India. Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani welcomed him at Darul 'Uloom Karachi with a speech in Arabic. Abu Ghuddah later gave Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani ijaazah (permission) to narrate Hadeeth from him. While teaching at Riyadh University, he visited Pakistan several times and obtained ijaazah (permission) to narrate Hadeeth from Mufti Muhammad Shafi. He also stayed in the company Mawlana Sayyid Muhammad Yoosuf Binnori when  he visited India. Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani admires him so much that he calls him his Shaikh. Works. The number of his works is over 75. A few of them are: As Editor/Contributor. Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani has written his orbituary after his demise.