Biography of Sheikh Mohammed Sedky El-Borno

Muhammad Sidqi al-Burnu (1931–2025) was a Muslim jurist, a scholar of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, a Palestinian fighter from Gaza of Hashim, a researcher and critical editor, an Islamic preacher and educator, and a university professor. He studied at al-Azhar University and the Faculty of Sharia at the University of Damascus, and taught at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia for nearly twenty years. He was the first to teach Islamic legal maxims at Saudi universities. He became known for his thirteen-volume Encyclopedia of Islamic Legal Maxims and Al-Wajīz: A Concise Explanation of Universal Legal Maxims, which was prescribed as a textbook at universities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and elsewhere.

Birth and Education

Dr. Abū al-Ḥārith al-Ghazzī, Muhammad Sidqi ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad Āl Burnu, was born in al-Zaytun, the largest neighborhood of Gaza City, on 1 November 1931. His family originated from the town of Burnu in Amid, in the Diyarbakir region.

He completed his primary education in Gaza and received his certificate in 1945. He then worked in various independent occupations until the Palestine War broke out in 1948. At the age of seventeen, he joined the Arab Liberation Army as a volunteer fighter. In February, he was wounded in the Battle of al-Zarraʿa near Baysan and captured by the British army. He remained in custody at the security hospital in Haifa until 15 May, when he was released as the British withdrew. He was transferred to al-Amin Hospital and then to the hospital of the Arab Women’s Union in Nablus, before the city’s occupation. He spent three months there recovering from his wounds. He then went to Ramallah and stayed at the home of its district commissioner and administrative governor, ʿArif al-ʿArif, whose wife was related to him by kinship and marriage. His father subsequently brought him back to Gaza, where he again took up independent work.

In 1954, he traveled to Egypt in pursuit of knowledge. Although he was already twenty-three, he began his studies from the beginning. He enrolled in the general section of al-Azhar in Cairo, completed its primary and secondary education, and graduated with distinction, ranking first. When Syria and Egypt united in 1958, he enrolled at both the Faculty of Arabic Language at al-Azhar University and the Faculty of Sharia at the University of Damascus. He graduated from both in 1962, earning a degree in Arabic language and another in Islamic law in the same year, and ranked first in his class at the University of Damascus.

In the early 1970s, while working in education, he earned a master’s degree from the Faculty of Sharia and Law at al-Azhar University. He later returned to Egypt and received a doctorate in Islamic law from the same faculty in 1398 AH / 1979 CE, specializing in governance according to Islamic law. His dissertation was entitled “The Reform Policies of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, May Allah Have Mercy on Him.”

Career and Appointments

After graduating in 1962, he moved to Morocco, where he taught Arabic to students at the preparatory and secondary levels in Safi and Casablanca for three years, until 1965. He then contracted with the scholarly colleges and institutes in Saudi Arabia, teaching in their institutes in several cities and regions: two years in Jizan, three in al-Zulfi, one in Bisha and one in Baljurashi, continuing until 1973. He then moved to Libya, where he taught for four years at the Teachers’ Institute in al-Khums, until 1977.

After obtaining his doctorate in 1399 AH / 1979 CE, he returned to Saudi Arabia as an assistant professor at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh. At its Faculty of Sharia, he taught jurisprudence, hadith and the principles of jurisprudence. The Department of the Principles of Jurisprudence subsequently proposed a course on Islamic legal maxims, a subject that had not previously been taught. Sheikh Sidqi al-Burnu was tasked with developing its syllabus and textbook and teaching the course. For it, he wrote Al-Wajīz: A Concise Explanation of Universal Legal Maxims, becoming the first to teach the subject at Saudi universities in 1403 AH / 1983 CE. In 1406 AH / 1986 CE, he was promoted to associate professor of jurisprudence and its principles.

In 1407 AH / 1987 CE, he transferred from Riyadh to the university’s branch in Buraydah, in the Qassim region. He continued there until about 1418 AH / 1997 CE, when he resigned after nearly twenty years of teaching at Imam University. During that period, he supervised or examined approximately twenty master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.

The Sheikh became particularly well known for two of his most important works: the thirteen-volume Encyclopedia of Islamic Legal Maxims and Al-Wajīz: A Concise Explanation of Universal Legal Maxims. In the latter, he brought together and refined material from the works of al-Suyūṭī, Ibn Nujaym and other scholars on legal maxims. Al-Wajīz was taught at Saudi universities for approximately fifty years and was a prescribed textbook at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University, the Faculty of Sharia at Kuwait University, and many other Islamic universities. Sheikh Dr. Ḥākim al-Muṭayrī rendered it in verse under the title Al-Ibrīz: A Versification of Al-Wajīz and published it in his collection Rawāʾiʿ al-Mutūn wa-Badāʾiʿ al-Funūn. Several scholars and sheikhs wrote commentaries on that versification.

The Sheikh assembled a large library of classical works across many disciplines and donated it to the library of the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

Books and Scholarly Works

• Remembrance of Allah and Its Effect on a Muslim’s Life in This World and the Hereafter, Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, in the “Illness and Healing” series, 1408 AH.
• Al-Ghunya on the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, by Imam Manṣūr ibn Isḥāq al-Sijistānī (d. 290 AH), critically edited by the Sheikh, 1410 AH / 1989 CE.
• ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz: A Model for Rulers and Reformers — May Allah Have Mercy on Him, his doctoral dissertation, Maktabat al-Maʿārif, Riyadh, 1413 AH.
• Al-Wajīz: A Concise Explanation of Universal Legal Maxims, published in several editions; fourth edition, Muʾassasat al-Risāla, Beirut, 1416 AH / 1996 CE.
• The Collected Biography of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, May Allah Have Mercy on Him, by Imam Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāʾ (d. 570 AH), critically edited in two volumes, Muʾassasat al-Risāla, Beirut, 1416 AH.
• Encyclopedia of Islamic Legal Maxims, an alphabetically arranged encyclopedia described as the first of its kind in Islamic history, in thirteen volumes, Muʾassasat al-Risāla, Beirut, 1424 AH / 2003 CE.
• The Gazan Hadith Collection on Jihad, Martyrdom and Intention, Muʾassasat al-Risāla, Beirut, 1424 AH / 2004 CE.
• Kashf al-Sātir: Explaining the Difficult Passages of Rawḍat al-Nāẓir, a commentary on Ibn Qudāma’s work, in two volumes, Muʾassasat al-Risāla, Beirut, 1434 AH / 2013 CE.
• Qabas al-Bayān: An Abridgment of Imam Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī’s Qurʾan Commentary, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān, being prepared for publication in the margins of the Qurʾan.
• A Decisive Rebuttal of Those Who Permit a Woman to Lead a Muslim Man in Prayer, being prepared for publication and translation.
• The Pillar of Jihad.

Character and Personal Qualities

His student Dr. ʿAlī al-ʿAqlā praised him, saying: “Sheikh Muhammad Sidqi al-Burnu taught us Islamic legal maxims and the principles of jurisprudence. He was one of the scholars from whom we benefited and who influenced our scholarly and professional lives. He was a role model in his knowledge, character, perseverance, seriousness and respect for students. He instilled in us a love of knowledge and reading, and an appreciation of time. I do not recall him arriving even a minute late for a lesson or missing a single lecture. Indeed, his concern for time led him to arrive shortly beforehand, yet he would begin only at the appointed time. When the lecture’s time was over, he would stop, out of respect for the teacher who would follow him. His teaching was rigorous, and even his examination questions were comprehensive and precise.”

His student Dr. Aḥmad Muḥammad Najīb described his worship, saying: “Sheikh Muhammad Sidqi was devoted to fasting: for fifty years, he fasted every day except Fridays and the days of Eid. He was also devoted to night prayer, prolonging his standing, bowing and prostration.”

Recognition

Sheikh Sidqi al-Burnu being honored in Gaziantep in 2023.

On 4 May 2023, a gathering of students of Islamic knowledge and scholars honored him at Aruslu Mosque in Gaziantep, in the presence of a group of scholars, religious associations and schools.

Death

Muhammad Sidqi al-Burnu died in Gaziantep, Türkiye, on Wednesday, 26 Ramadan 1446 AH / 26 March 2025 CE, at nearly ninety-six years of age. His funeral prayer was held at Nakıpoğlu Mosque. He was buried at Asri Cemetery in Şehitkamil the following day, Thursday, 27 Ramadan 1446 AH / 27 March 2025 CE, after the noon prayer.

Muhammad Sidqi al-Burnu (1931–2025) was a Muslim jurist, a scholar of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, a Palestinian fighter from Gaza, a researcher and critical editor, an Islamic preacher and educator, and a university professor. He studied at al-Azhar University and the Faculty of Sharia at the University of Damascus, and taught at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia for nearly twenty years. He became known for his thirteen-volume Encyclopedia of Islamic Legal Maxims and Al-Wajīz: A Concise Explanation of Universal Legal Maxims, which was prescribed as a textbook at universities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and elsewhere.