Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen

Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Saalih ibn Muhammad ibn Sulayman ibn Abd Al Rahman Al Uthaymeen Al Tamimi (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد بن صالح بن محمد بن سليمان بن عبد الرحمن العثيمين التميمي) (March 9, 1925 – January 10, 2001) was a Salafi scholar of Saudi Arabia who has been called "a giant within conservative Salafi Islam".

Studies and Teachers

After completing his memorization of the Qur'an and foundational studies, he began his full-time religious studies under Sheikh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Mutawwa' and Sheikh Ali al-Salihi in Unayzah. These were the two teachers that sheikh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di had appointed to instruct beginning students. After one year of studying under those two teachers, al-Uthaymin began studying under sheikh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di in 1945 and continued to be his student until al-Sa'di's death in 1956.

In the year 1952, al-Salihi advised al-Uthaymin to enroll in the newly-opened Ma'had al-'Ilmi in Riyadh, which he did after seeking permission from al-Sa'di. While there, he studied under Sheikh Muhammad al-Ameen al-Shinqiti, Sheikh 'Abd al-'Aziz bin Baz, and sheikh 'Abd al-Razzaq 'Afeefi, among others. He studied there for two years before returning to Unayzah, where began teaching and continued his studies under al-Sa'di.

Influence

Al-Uthaymin is still considered an influential cleric within the Salafist movement. Due to his eclectic approach of quoting from all various schools of law within Sunni Islam, readers are faced with a seemingly monolithic edifice of Islamist scholarship; while some of his views are without precedent, they are still considered definitive by many Salafists today, especially those in Egypt.

Al-Uthaymin was cited by Adel Al-Kalbani and Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz against suicide bombing.

Controversial fatwas

A fatwa he issued was posted on the fatwa website IslamQA.info stated that Muslim women should not use pain-relieving medication during labour and delivery as it may be a plot against Muslims "because the more births take place in this manner, the more the skin of the abdomen is weakened and pregnancy becomes more dangerous for the woman, and she becomes unable to get pregnant."

Uthaymeen also controversially supported the idea that the Green Dome of Madinah should be destroyed and the graves of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad as well as his companions, Abu Bakr and Umar, should be flattened.

In another Fatwa, Uthaymeen claimed that someone who abandons the prayer leaves Islam and that it is therefore forbidden to remain with a husband or a wife who no longer prays.

According to Uthaymeen women should be banned from driving as this "would lead the free-mixing of men and women at traffic lights, petrol stations, police checkpoints as well as other car-related encounters."