Sayyid Sabiq

Sayyid Sabiq (1915–2000 / 1335–1420 AH) was an Egyptian jurist of al-Azhar, a graduate of its Faculty of Sharia, and the author of the widely read Fiqh al-Sunna. ^{1 2}

He began writing short articles on the law of ritual purity for the Brotherhood's weekly, drawing on works of hadith-based law such as al-San'ani's 'Subul al-Salam' and al-Shawkani's 'Nayl al-Awtar', and on al-Subki's 'al-Din al-Khalis', Ibn Qudama's 'al-Mughni' and Ibn al-Qayyim's 'Zad al-Ma'ad'; these grew into Fiqh al-Sunna. The article says the book, tied to no school, appealed to educated readers not raised in one, and was reprinted many times without his permission. ¹

The article describes his method as setting aside partisanship for the schools without disparaging them, resting on the Qur'an, the Sunna and consensus, plain wording, a leaning to ease, and keeping disagreement to what was necessary while usually naming the stronger view. His other books include 'Masadir al-Quwwa fi al-Islam', 'al-Riba wa-l-Badil' and 'al-'Aqa'id al-Islamiyya'. ¹

He was tried in the case of the assassination of Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi al-Nuqrashi, accused of having given the killer a ruling permitting it, and some papers called him 'the mufti of blood'; the court acquitted and released him. He was then detained in 1949 with other members of the Brotherhood at the al-Tur camp, where he held classes in law after the dawn prayer. The museum reports the accusation and the verdict as the article gives them. ¹

He was made director of culture at the Ministry of Awqaf under Ahmad Hasan al-Baquri, was moved with Muhammad al-Ghazali to al-Azhar under Minister Muhammad al-Bahi, and in his last years moved to Umm al-Qura University in Mecca. ¹

He received the King Faisal Prize for Islamic Studies in 1994, shared with Yusuf al-Qaradawi, on the topic of Islamic law. ³ He died on Sunday 23 Dhu al-Qa'da 1420 / 27 February 2000, aged about 85, and was buried in his family's tomb at Istanha. ¹

Wikidata listed articles on him in four Wikipedia editions on 7 November 2026. ²

• Arabic Wikipedia article, revision of 7 October 2026. ¹

• Wikidata item Q12188692. ²

• King Faisal Prize laureate list, revision of 31 October 2026. ³