Abdul Karim Zidan ... Put His Pen Down And Left

Al-Jazeera News Channel

After seven decades of teaching, writing, and dozens of books, research and studies in the field of jurisprudence, the former General Observer of the Muslim Brotherhood in Iraq, the scholar Dr. Abdul Karim Zaidan Beg Al-Ani, the most prominent theoretician of Islamic jurisprudence in the modern era, passed away yesterday, at the age of ninety-seven.

Zaidan, who was born in the city of Baghdad in 1917 AD, memorized the Noble Qur’an in the Katibas of the capital, then joined schools at the University of Baghdad, where he graduated from the Faculty of Law, then moved to Cairo University and obtained a doctorate in Islamic jurisprudence with first class honors in 1962, then returned to Iraq He worked in a number of his universities in different academic positions, the most important of which was the Deanship of the College of Islamic Sharia at the University of Baghdad, then he moved to Yemen in the early 1990s and worked there as a lecturer at Sana'a and Al-Iman Universities, and during that he supervised many master's and doctoral theses.

Zidan is the author of nearly thirty books on jurisprudence studies, the most famous of which is: Al-Mufassal fi Ahkam Al-Nisa wa Al-Muslim (11 volumes).

In partisan work, Zaidan early belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood in Iraq, which was founded by Sheikh Muhammad Mahmoud Al-Sawaf, and it practiced its activities in a semi-open manner until 1970. After Sheikh Al-Sawaf left Iraq permanently, Zaidan succeeded him in his position as the leader of the group, where he was subjected to several harassment, and remained in his home under semi-house arrest for more than ten years, then he moved to Yemen to settle there.

Zaidan has authored nearly thirty books in jurisprudence studies, the most famous of which are: The Mawfisel in Rulings of Women and the Muslim House (11 volumes), The Rulings of the Dhimmis and the Trustees in the House of Islam, the Introduction to the Study of Islamic Law, the Fundamentals of Da`wah, The Brief on the Fundamentals of Jurisprudence, the Difference in Islamic Law, the Doctrine of Judgment and Destiny And its impact on the behavior of the individual, the rights of individuals in the abode of Islam, the restrictions contained on individual ownership of the public interest in Islamic law, the judicial system in Islamic law, and the position of Islamic law on slavery.

He has many other studies and research, with which he participated in a number of jurisprudence forums and conferences in a number of Arab and Islamic countries. He also participated in editing the articles of the Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence, which was issued in Kuwait in the mid-sixties of the last century.

Zaidan has received several awards and certificates of appreciation, most notably the King Faisal Prize in 1997 AD for his encyclopedia "The Detail of Rulings on Women and the Muslim Home", and he was a member of a number of jurisprudence councils.

Zidan issued a statement confirming the legitimacy of the sit-ins in Iraq and the necessity of advocating for them, calling on those in charge of them to join the ranks and reject the dispute.

Iraq And Its Conditions

Zaidan continued to follow what is happening in Iraq, and on December 31, 2012 he issued a statement - closer to the legal fatwa - in which he clarified his view of the sit-ins in Iraq, confirming their legitimacy and the need to support them, calling on those in charge of them to unite the ranks and reject differences.

He also announced that he stood by the protesters in their demand for the release of detainees and detainees and the removal of "Article IV terrorism" from the Iraqi constitution, which the darkness took - according to him - to restrict and abuse all those resisting injustice, recommending the protesters at the end of this statement with patience and persistence until what he called legitimate demands are fulfilled.

He also issued a similar statement on January 3, 2014 AD confirming the contents of the previous statement, renewing his call for the protesters to be patient and steadfast, and to reject division and difference.

Zidan has an active page on the social networking site "Facebook" run by some of his relatives, and publishes some of his fatwas and jurisprudence on an almost daily basis, as well as publishes his news and developments in his scientific and intellectual activities.

Al-Jazeera correspondent / Abdul-Mughni Al-Maqrami - Sanaa