Wahbi Sulayman Ghawji | |
|---|---|
Vehbi Sulejman Gavoçi | |
 Wahbi Sulayman Ghawji | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | (1923-05-17)17 May 1923 |
| Died | 19 July 2013(2013-07-19) (aged 90) |
| Alma mater | Al-Azhar University |
| Occupation | |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Creed | Maturidi |
| Muslim leader | |
Hajji Vehbi Sulejman Gavoçi (Arabic:وهبي سليمان غاوجي, May 17, 1923 – July 19, 2013) was anAlbanianMuslim scholar fromShkodër.
He was born on May 17, 1923, in the Garuc neighborhood of Shkodër.[2][3] In June 1937, he emigrated toDamascus,Syria, with his namesake father and his brother Sheikh Muhamed. At the age of thirteen, Vehbi Sulejman Gavoçi enrolled atAl-Azhar University inCairo,Egypt. After ten years in Egypt, where he graduated from the Al-Azhar Faculty ofSharia and two years of secular law school, he returned to Syria in 1947.[4] Gavoçi taught from 1949 to 1951 at a girls’ school inAleppo. He moved on to Damascus, teaching from 1951 to 1965 in various schools while lecturing at the Teacher College andDamascus University.[3]
After the death of his father in 1958, Vehbi replaced him asimam at the Arnaut (Albanian) Mosque built by his father in Damascus. Preaching for three years there, he also sermonized at Esh-Shemsije, Randa, and Lala Basha Mosques. In 1966, he left Syria for a post as lecturer at theKing Saud University inRiyadh,Saudi Arabia and a professorship at theIslamic University of Madinah inMedina. In 1971, he returned to Syria, continuing to teach there until 1980. From 1980 to 1983, he served once more in Medina, then spent three years inJordan contributing to various scholarly publications. In 1986, he was appointed a lecturer at the Faculty of Religion and Linguistics inDubai,United Arab Emirates.[3] He died there on July 19, 2013.
He has published over 20 works inArabic as well as over 30 inAlbanian.[4]
On March 10, 2012, the Shkodër City Council declared him an “honorary citizen.”[3][5]
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