'Ubayd ibn 'Abdillah Al-Jabiri

Ubayd ibn Abdullah ibn Sulayman al-Hamdani al-Jabiri (Arabic: عبيد بن عبد الله الجابري; 1357 AH/1938 – 28 Rabi' al-Thani 1444 AH/22 November 2022) was a Saudi Islamic scholar associated with the Salafi movement. Blind from early childhood, he taught at the Islamic University of Madinah and became known for his teaching of hadith, Islamic jurisprudence, creed, and Islamic methodology, both during his university career and for more than two decades afterward.

Early life

Al-Jabiri was born in 1357 AH (1938) in the village of Faqir, near the Far' Valley in the Madinah Region, and belonged to the Jabir branch of the Harb tribe of the Hejaz. He lost his eyesight at around two or three years old, reportedly to illness, but memorised the Quran as a child and went on to travel and teach across several countries; his students would later point to his memory and his ability to recite lengthy texts as one of the more striking features of his career.

In 1365 AH (1946) he moved with his father to Ma'din al-Dhahab, where he began his early studies, before relocating to Madinah in 1374 AH; family circumstances interrupted his studies for a time before he resumed them.

Education

Al-Jabiri enrolled at Dar al-Hadith in Madinah in 1381 AH (1961), then moved to the Ma'had al-Ilmi before entering the College of Sharia at the Islamic University of Madinah, from which he graduated in 1392 AH (1972), reportedly first in his class.

At Dar al-Hadith his teachers included Sayf al-Rahman ibn Ahmad and Ammar ibn Abdillah. At the Ma'had al-Ilmi he studied under Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Khudayri, Awdah ibn Talq al-Ahmadi, Dakhilullah ibn Khalifah al-Kulayti, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdillah ibn Ajlan, and Muhammad ibn Abdillah al-Ajlan. At the Islamic University itself, his teachers included Hammad ibn Muhammad al-Ansari, Abdul-Muhsin al-Abbad, and Abu Bakr al-Jaza'iri.

Career

Al-Jabiri served as imam of Masjid Sabq in Madinah from 1387 to 1392 AH (1967–1972), then worked as an educator at an intermediate school in Jeddah until 1396 AH (1976), followed by work as a preacher and assistant director at a Centre for Da'wah and Guidance in Madinah under the Ministry of Islamic Affairs (1396–1404 AH / 1976–1984).

He joined the teaching staff of the Islamic University of Madinah at the end of 1404 AH (1984) and remained there until his retirement in Rajab 1417 AH (November 1996), completing a master's degree in tafsir during this period.

Retirement did not end his teaching. He continued lessons in mosques around Madinah, at his own home, and increasingly by telephone as students further afield sought him out, including at the Prophet's Mosque and in programmes aimed at Muslims from outside Saudi Arabia. Despite his blindness he kept a demanding schedule — receiving visitors and answering questions at home, holding regular telephone lessons, and travelling abroad, including to Indonesia, when his students needed him to.

Methodology and teaching

Al-Jabiri was firmly identified with the Salafi approach to creed and methodology. His lessons repeatedly stressed adherence to the Quran and Sunnah, the model of the early generations (Salaf), and the need to learn from recognised scholars. He was particularly insistent on separating criticism of an idea from criticism of the person holding it, pressing students, in his treatment of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil, to ground their judgements in evidence rather than reputation or rumour, and warning against blind loyalty to personalities.

As transmitted by his student Arafat al-Muhammadi, al-Jabiri also urged students of knowledge to treat ordinary Muslims with mercy, compassion, humility, and generosity, warning that harshness would only drive people away from religious knowledge.

Controversies

Al-Jabiri's later career involved a number of theological and methodological disputes. His recorded answers criticised the Muslim Brotherhood and currents associated with Sayyid Qutb and Muhammad Surur — commonly labelled Qutbism and Sururism in Salafi polemical writing — objecting to what he saw as political partisanship, organisational secrecy, and the prioritising of political activism over traditional religious teaching. He also warned against groups he associated with Kharijite methodology, opposing the use of violence in Islam's name and the excommunication of Muslims without legitimate grounds.

Because his most prominent disputes involved competing claims from all sides, they are presented here as attributed statements rather than settled fact.

Dispute with Yahya al-Hajuri

Al-Jabiri's falling-out with Yahya al-Hajuri became one of the defining controversies of Madinah-Yemen Salafi circles in the 2000s and early 2010s, surfacing after the death of Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i, founder of the Dar al-Hadith centre in Dammaj, Yemen. Al-Jabiri and other scholars accused al-Hajuri of excessive harshness toward fellow scholars and students.

Shaykh Rabi al-Madkhali publicly accused al-Hajuri and his followers of ghuluw (excessiveness) and Haddadi tendencies, saying he had advised al-Hajuri repeatedly without success and describing the resulting split as a fitnah spreading among Salafis in multiple countries. Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan similarly warned against studying with anyone repeating statements attributed to al-Hajuri concerning the Prophet Muhammad, the Companions, and matters of religious evidence.

One particular flashpoint was al-Hajuri's treatment of the additional Friday prayer call instituted by the caliph Uthman ibn Affan. His book Ahkam al-Jumu'ah wa Bida'uha called the added call an innovation, a position critics argued broke with mainstream Sunni understanding and with the views of Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin, Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, and al-Fawzan, all cited as holding that Uthman's addition was a legitimate Sunnah. Material documenting Ibn al-Uthaymin's position records him describing anyone who called Uthman's practice misguidance as an innovator.

Al-Hajuri's writings also touched on the Prophet's own methodology in terms critics regarded as gravely mistaken; asked about claims that the Prophet had erred in his methods of da'wah, al-Fawzan's response was widely circulated among those warning against al-Hajuri.

Dispute with Muhammad ibn Hadi al-Madkhali

Al-Jabiri was also involved in the dispute known as Fitnat al-Sa'afiqaah, which centred on Muhammad ibn Hadi al-Madkhali's accusations of partisanship and deviation against several Salafi students and scholars, including Arafat al-Muhammadi, and came to a head in 2017–2018. Critics argued that some of Ibn Hadi's accusations lacked sufficient evidence and that the resulting fallout split Salafis internationally.

One especially serious episode involved an accusation of qadhf (a slanderous charge of fornication): according to one account, Ibn Hadi accused a student from the Netherlands of fornication after that student denied a separate allegation concerning al-Muhammadi. The same account records Ibn Hadi using derogatory terms, including "sa'fuq," "sa'afiqah," and "bacteria" against several students and scholars.

Students

Al-Jabiri taught numerous students in Madinah and through remote lessons. Prominent among them was Arafat ibn Hasan al-Muhammadi, a close associate who accompanied him, transmitted his statements, and delivered a biographical tribute after his death. Abdullah ibn Abd al-Rahim al-Bukhari, a Madinah-based scholar, moved in al-Jabiri's later scholarly circles and was publicly recommended by him alongside al-Muhammadi. Abdullah ibn Sulfiq adh-Dhufayri also studied under him and later helped disseminate recordings and written material from his lessons.

Al-Jabiri's reach extended well beyond Saudi Arabia. His lessons were translated and circulated among students in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia, and he maintained a particular connection with Maktabah as-Salafiyyah (Salafi Publications) in Birmingham, United Kingdom, publicly describing Abdul-Wahid Alam (Abu Khadeejah), Taqweem Aslam (Abu Mua'dh), and Bilal Davis (Abu Hakim) as among his "sons and students." His lessons were translated and distributed by organisations including TROID, Salafi Publications, and Muwahhideen Publications.

Works

Works attributed to al-Jabiri include:

• Imdad al-Qari bi-Sharh Kitab al-Tafsir min Sahih al-Bukhari
• Sharh Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim — a multi-volume commentary on al-Mundhiri's abridgement of Sahih Muslim, reportedly running to around twenty volumes and regarded as one of the largest projects of his teaching career
• Taysir al-Ilah bi-Sharh Adillat Shurut La Ilaha Illa Allah
• Ithaf al-Uqul bi-Sharh al-Thalathah al-Usul
• Tanbih Dhawi al-Uqul al-Salimah — a commentary on al-Usul al-Sittah
• Tanwir al-Mubtadi bi-Sharh Manzumat al-Qawa'id al-Fiqhiyyah
• Fath al-Aziz al-A'la bi-Sharh al-Qawa'id al-Muthla
• Sharh Muntaqa Ibn al-Jarud
• Collections of fatwas, answers, and recorded lessons

Legacy

Al-Jabiri is remembered chiefly for his teaching in Madinah, his recorded lessons, his commentaries on classical texts, and his part in the methodological disputes that marked Salafi scholarship in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Students who knew him consistently describe him as accessible and attentive despite his blindness, with a strong memory and a personal warmth toward children and family that ran alongside his stricter positions on methodology. His influence spread well past the university itself, through mosque lessons, private teaching, telephone sessions, and students who went on to teach in their own right.

Death

Al-Jabiri died in Madinah on 28 Rabi' al-Thani 1444 AH, corresponding to 22 November 2022, at the age of 84. The funeral prayer was performed at the Prophet's Mosque, after which he was buried in Jannat al-Baqi. Students and scholars published numerous recollections of him afterward, including a substantial tribute from Arafat al-Muhammadi.