Abdullah Ibn Ali Basfar

Education

He memorised the Quran in the memorisation circles of the Al-Falah schools in Jeddah and studied with Sheikh Fadlullah Bukhari, Sheikh Adnan Sarmini and Sheikh Muhammad Shamsan. He was also strongly influenced by the recitation of Sheikh Ali Jaber. In 1407 AH he received an ijaza in the reading of Hafs 'an 'Asim, by way of the Shatibiyya, from Sheikh Ayman Swed.

After a BA in Islamic studies from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah (1406 AH), he continued at the College of Sharia of Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca. His master's in jurisprudence and its principles (1412 AH) edited the first part of the points of scholarly agreement recorded by Ibn Rushd in Bidayat al-Mujtahid; his doctorate in jurisprudence (1419 AH) was a critical edition of part of al-Rafi'i's al-'Aziz Sharh al-Wajiz, a major Shafi'i legal commentary.

Career

He taught in the Department of Sharia and Islamic Studies at King Abdulaziz University, where he became an associate professor, and served as imam and preacher of the Mansour al-Shuaibi Mosque in Jeddah. He was appointed secretary-general of the Muslim World League's International Organisation for the Memorisation of the Holy Quran, and was serving in that role in 2013. He also supervised the Quranic website Al-Basa'ir al-Qur'aniyya and sat on the Saudi Scientific Society for the Quran and its Sciences and on the board of the Commission on Scientific Miracles in the Quran and Sunnah.

He has led prayers abroad, notably the Tarawih of Ramadan 1433 AH (2012), the first Ramadan of the Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque in Doha, alongside Saad Al-Ghamdi and Muhammad Abdulkareem.

According to human-rights organisations, he was arrested in August 2020 and sentenced in October 2022 by the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh to twelve years in prison, in connection with a 2014 video of him leading prayers in the grounds of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Recordings and books

His recitations are broadcast by many radio and television stations and websites: a complete murattal, a mujawwad mushaf, a teaching mushaf (mu'allim) for learners, Tarawih prayers, and a complete recitation accompanied by an English translation of the meanings. He has written many books of religious guidance, including Ta'ammulat fi Surat al-Fatiha (reflections on Al-Fatiha), Lamahat min Sirat al-Siddiq on Abu Bakr, and a simplified tajweed handbook.