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Ahmad ibn Umar al-Hazimi | |
|---|---|
أحمد بن عمر الحازمي | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Umm al-Qura University(BA) |
| Known for | Tawheed, Al-Kufr Bit-Taghut, Takfir al-Mushrikeen, Third Nullifier |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanbali |
| Creed | Athari |
| Movement | Salafism |
| Muslim leader | |
Ahmad ibn Umar al-Hazimi (Arabic:أحمد بن عمر الحازمي,romanized: Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar al-Ḥāzimī) is a Saudi scholar whose interpretation oftakfir (excommunication) gave rise to the eponymousHazimi branch ofWahhabism. A relatively unknown figure until he publicised his teachings inTunisia after the2011 revolution, some followers of al-Hazimi's views briefly wielded considerable power within theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). He was arrested and imprisoned by Saudi authorities in 2015 under unknown circumstances. In 2022, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison, in a case that sent shockwaves through the Arab world, highlighting the severe lack of human rights afforded to him.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's "third nullifier of Islam" states that those who do not acknowledge the disbelief of a polytheist commit an act of apostasy. Al-Hazimi extends the nullifier to those who refrain from excommunicating those considered "ignorant", a doctrine known astakfir al-'adhir ("excommunication of the excuser").[2] Critics arguetakfir al-'adhir leads to an indefinite chain of excommunication, which the hazimis refuse.[3] Ahmed al-Hazimi has spoken positively about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Al-Hazimi's affinity withSalafi jihadism has been debated by its supporters.[4] Despite the adoption oftakfir al-'adhir by elements of the movement, al-Hazimi has been described as "not himself a jihadi" and an opponent against terrorism.[2]
Born inMecca, al-Hazimi completed hisbachelor's degree atUmm al-Qura University, majoring in theQuran andSunnah. He also studied under Muslim scholars in theGreat Mosque of Mecca, including inlogic andArabic grammar. He served as theimam of his local mosque in Mecca'sAl-Zahir neighbourhood.[1]
Over the course of four visits toTunisia between December 2011 and May 2012, al-Hazimi delivered a series of lectures promotingtakfir al-'adhir unknowingly in association with local Islamist organisations linked withAnsar al-Sharia. With their aid, al-Hazimi established theIbn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani Institute for Sharia Sciences in the country, a religious institute that instructed in his views.[5]
A minority of Tunisian adherents of al-Hazimi's positions later joined ISIS, disseminating the concept oftakfir al-'adhir and becoming a potent ideological force within the group. In 2013, al-Hazimi uploaded several online lectures regardingtakfir al-'adhir which were attacked byTurki al-Binali, a senior ISIS religious scholar who was the principal opponent of Hazimi influence on the organisation.[4] In the following years, several Hazimis excommunicated ISIS' leadership and revolted against the group, who in turn labelled them as "extremists" and initiated a crackdown on the movement.[2]
On 28 April 2015, al-Hazimi forcibly disappeared and was arrested in Saudi Arabia and later imprisoned while subjected to various forms of torture and mistreatment by prison administrations.[6]
In 24 February 2022, the Dhuwayna Foundation reported that the public prosecution charged al-Hazimi with several offenses, the most prominent of which is following a doctrine oftakfir (excommunication). He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. It was also reported al-Hazimi was not charged with any terrorism charge and there's a strong suspicion that the reason he was truly arrested was because months before his arrest in 2015 he started speaking out against the Saudi government publicly, as reported by the Dhuwayna Foundation, an agency that promotes human rights and files charges against the government of Saudi Arabia for their human-rights violations.[7]