Yusuf Qardhawi

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi is the head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), and the president of the International Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS).

Sheikh Al-Qaradawi was born in Egypt in 1926. He learned the Qur’an by heart when he was less than 10 years. He joined Al-Azhar Institutes for his primary and secondary stages. Then he joined the Faculty of Theology and got the `Aliyya certificate (equivalent to BA degree at present) in 1952-53. He got also the 'Ijaza of teaching from the Faculty of Arabic Language in 1954.
In 1960 he obtained the High Preliminary Study which is equivalent to MA degree from the department of the Sciences of Qur’an and Hadith at the Faculty of Theology. In 1973 he got the PhD. degree with his dissertation about Az-Zakah wa-Atharuha fi Hall al-Mushkilat al-Ijtima`iyya (Zakah and its Influence in the Solution of Social Problems.)
He worked as a khatib, teacher, and writer at Al-Awqaf and Al-Azhar. He has published over 100 books dealing with various aspects of Islamic life, literature and poetry. His best known books include: The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam, Priorities of the Islamic Movement in the Coming Phase.
Many scholars consider him to be a mujtahid of the Modern Age. He has been active in the field of da`wah and the Islamic Movement for more than half a century.

[islamonline]