Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz عبد العزيز بن باز

1910–1999 CE

Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia (1993–1999) and chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, Ibn Baz was the most authoritative Salafi scholar of the late 20th century. Blind from a young age, he became the kingdom's supreme religious authority, issuing fatwas on everything from the permissibility of stationing American troops on Saudi soil during the Gulf War to the prohibition of interest-based banking. He trained thousands of students from across the Muslim world at the Islamic University of Medina, where he served as vice-chancellor.

Why They Mattered

Ibn Baz defined the official Saudi religious establishment's positions for decades. His approval gave Islamic legitimacy to critical state decisions — most consequentially, his fatwa permitting the deployment of Western troops to defend Saudi Arabia during the 1990 Gulf crisis, which provoked Osama bin Laden's break with the Saudi state. His scholarly network, operating through the Islamic University of Medina and the kingdom's da'wah institutions, shaped Salafi thought across Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Intellectual Role

As an eminent scholar and the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia from 1993 until his death in 1999, Ibn Baz played a pivotal role in shaping Salafi jurisprudence and Islamic thought in the late 20th century. He was distinguished by his uncompromising adherence to the Hanbali tradition and his rejection of innovations (bid'ah) in religious practice. His methodologies combined classical jurisprudential principles with a keen understanding of contemporary challenges faced by the Muslim community. Ibn Baz's writings and public fatwas reflected a systematic approach to addressing modern issues, such as g…

Legacy

Institutionalized the Saudi scholarly establishment as a global force in Islamic jurisprudence. His students and fatwas continue to define mainstream Salafi positions on creed, worship, and social issues worldwide. The Ibn Baz Foundation preserves and distributes his extensive body of rulings and scholarly works. SCHOLARLY CONTROVERSY: His fatwa permitting U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia remains one of the most debated modern rulings, with critics viewing it as a breach of sacred territorial norms …