H.E. Professor Abdulwahab Abou Sulaiman

Abdulwahab Abou Sulaiman received his basic education in Makkah, where he completed primary school education in an Orphan’s home in 1949, then joined the Saudi Religious Institute graduating in 1952. He continued his studies at the College of Sharia, from which he graduated in 1957, then pursued further learning at the hands of prominent religious scholars in the Holy Mosque in Makkah. He studied for seven years under the tutelage of the revered Shaikh Hassan Mohammed Al-Mashshat, who taught him the fundamentals of Maliki jurisprudence, Hadith (Prophet Mohammed’s sayings and deeds), and Arabic language rhetoric, logic, and grammar. In 1962, he obtained the Teachers’ Diploma of Education from the American University in Beirut. Thereafter, he went on a scholarship to the United Kingdom to study at London University, from which he obtained his Ph.D. in 1970. Meanwhile, he also obtained a Diploma in British Law and Legal Studies from London City College.

Professor Abou Sulaiman’s career in education spans several decades. In 1958, he taught Islamic jurisprudence and interpretation in Zahir intermediate school in Makkah, then moved, in 1969, to teach religious studies and Islamic jurisprudence in Aziziya Secondary School. In 1964, he was appointed as an instructor of fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence and comparative jurisprudence at the Sharia College in King Abdulaziz University (Makkah Branch). After obtaining his Ph.D. from London University, he was appointed an Assistant Professor at the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies in 1970, and was promoted to the rank of an Associate Professor in the Department of the Department of Post-graduate Sharia Studies in 1978. He was appointed a Dean of the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies between 1971-1972 and was awarded the University’s Medal of Appreciation (First Class) in recognition of his services during his deanship. In 1983, he became a full professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Religion at the College of Sharia, Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, where he served until his retirement in 1993. The following year, he was appointed a Member of the Saudi Commission of Senior Religious Scholars.

Professor Abou Sulaiman is a prolific writer and researcher. He authored and edited dozens of books, research papers, and general articles dealing with diverse issues in his field of specialization, such as Islamic fundamental studies, jurisprudence, research methodologies, modern religious sects, and history of Makkah Al-Mukarramah.

In addition to his copious academic publications, Professor Abou Sulaiman has also contributed significantly to the advancement of educational curricula of Islamic Sharia in Saudi Universities. He has also presided over, and or participated in several scholastic and advisory committees at both the academic and national levels. He was invited as a visiting professor and a lecturer at a number of international universities, including Harvard and Dukes universities in the United States of America, the International Islamic University in Malaysia, Shaikh Zayed University, Al-Ain University in the United Arab Emirates, Mofid University in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Al-fatwa Home (Islamic legal opinion) in the Sultanate of Oman. He has also participated in many national, regional and international conferences, symposia, and seminars.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.