At the generous invitation of the Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sites of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, His Excellency Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy, delivered, on Friday, the 23rd Ramadan 1444 corresponding to 14th April 2023, a scientific lecture within the activities of the 111th Hashemite Lectures, entitled “Sheikh Al-Islam Al-Nawawi” in the Islamic Cultural Center of the Mosque of the Founding Martyr King Abdullah I in Amman, as part of the Hashemite Lectures held annually by the Ministry of Awqaf during the blessed month of Ramadan under the title “Awqaf of H.M. King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein for Academic Chairs.”

His Excellency began his lecture by extending his sincere thanks and appreciation to His Majesty the Hashemite King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein, and to his faithful Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Al-Hussein Bin Abdullah, and to the Hashemite royal family, to the Jordanian government, and the Jordanian people for these blessed scientific lectures, and for the prestige, care, respect and appreciation enjoyed by science and scholars. His Excellency then talked about the importance of knowing the biographies of the great scholars and its impact on the rise and progress of nations, and he said: “Watchful nations are proud of their great minds, glorify their heroes, cherish their heritage, preserve the achievements of fathers and grandfathers, and draw inspiration from the biographies of their heroes as clear lessons that they take as a beacon to guide them to face challenges. It draws from it useful lessons that become a platform to follow and keep abreast of developments, and a haven for it to turn to in order to direct the transformations and changes that invade its arena from time to time, shed light on their immortal walks and to spread the word about their distinguished contributions and great impact, in the hope that the ascending generations will follow their example in order to what their predecessors achieved in terms of a good mention, and a permanent presence.”

His Excellency stressed that if “it is impossible to fully encompass all the details of their biography, It was also impossible to present these biographies in just one lecture. Therefore, we will throw flashes on bright aspects in the life of this imam, mujtahid, and reformer, Muhyi al-Din, Abu Zakariya Yahya bin Sharaf bin Mari bin Hasan bin Hussein bin Muhammad bin Hizam al-Hurani al-Nawawi al-Shafi’i, born in 631 AH in the village of Nawa. Due to the time shortage, I will choose realistic examples from the life of Sheikh Al-Islam, the saint of the saints and the righteous, the prince of jurists and hadith scholars, and the Sheikh of the Shafi’is. His Excellency gave examples of his merit in these two titles, such as his stance towards King Baybars when they were about to lay his hand on the orchards of the Levant and consider them the property of the state, so Imam al-Nawawi directed him in his historical book not to listen to those who adorned him with falsehood and the seizure of the property of others, so King Baybars got angry when he read his book, and he ordered to cut off wage and all positions from him, and he was surprised when they told him that he had neither a salary nor a position, so he loved him and was close to him. His Excellency also spoke about his refusal when King Baybars requested the issuance of a fatwa permitting taking money from the subjects in order to obtain victory over the fighting of the Tatars, so he began to kill the dissenting scholars until he arrived at Imam al-Nawawi, who argued with him vigorously until King Baybars replied to him: Get out of my country (i.e., Damascus), so he went out to the area of Nawa, and the king was told why You did not kill him, so he said: “Every time I wanted to kill him, I would see seventy on his shoulders who wanted to prey on me, so I refrained from that.”

His Excellency also spoke about Umdat al-Fuqaha book in which he combined various sciences, especially the science of hadith, the science of jurisprudence, and the science of language. In the research methodology, he strictly adhered to it in all of his writings, and defined what is meant by that methodology as “the clear formulation of the research vocabulary with which the researcher paves the way for his studies, and one of the most important things is to shed light on the research problem and its causes, and the questions that seek to answer them, and liberate the saying In the most important objectives that the research aims to achieve, and the extension of the article in the scientific method that will be adopted by the study, and finally shed light on the most important previous studies on his research with an indication of the qualitative addition that the study would like to make. In the corridors of universities and modern scientific institutions, it is present in all of Imam al-Nawawi’s writings with force and action, which makes them systematic, solid, and solid scientific works that contain accuracy, objectivity, criticism, creativity, and innovation. Evidence of the clear presence of this rigorous scientific methodology in the Imam’s writings requires only that the viewer take a calm look at those wonderful introductions with which he initiated these writings, and they will find in them all the elements of scientific research in a smooth and interconnected manner. These necessary methodological elements that must be available in what is known today in the corridors of universities and modern scientific institutions, it is found in all of the writings of Imam al-Nawawi present with force and action, which makes them methodological and solid scientific works in which accuracy, objectivity, criticism, creativity, and innovation are available. God bless these books for immortality and perpetuity and may He increase of their treasures and conviction throughout the ages”

His Excellency concluded his lecture by saying “It is no wonder that Damascus and its surrounding villages and cities shuddered with weeping, grief and sorrow over the death of this pious imam in the last third of the night of Wednesday 25 Rajab 676 AH from this life after God blessed the Ummah with this scholar’s life which did not exceed forty-six years.”

The Hashemite Lectures were moderated by the Dean of the Faculty of Sharia at Mutah University, Professor Mahmoud Al-Maaytah, and was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Administration Tawfiq Krishan, His Eminence the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom Sheikh Abdul Karim Al-Khasawneh, Chief Justice Sheikh Abdul-Hafiz Al-Rabta, and the Imam of Al-Hadhra Al Hachemiya, Shaykh Dr. Ahmed Al-Khalaylah, as well as a number of senior personalities from different fields.