IUMS mourns the death of Sheikh Zuhair Al-Shawish
Praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon God’s messenger Muhammad, upon his family, companions and followers;
With heartfelt grief and sorrow, the International Union of Muslim Scholars received the news of the departure of Sheikh Zuhair Al-Shawish, may Allah bless his soul, one of the major scholars of the Levant, a preacher and struggler, who has a history of defending the truth, calling for good, and standing up against falsehood. Yet this is God’s ordainment on his creatures who said that {All that is on earth will perish} [Quran 55:26], that {Every soul shall have a taste of death in the end to Us shall you be brought back.} [Quran 29:57] and that {Everything (that exists) will perish except His own Face. To Him belongs the Command, and to Him will you (all) be brought back.} [Quran 28:88].
The departed sheikh was born in Syria, where he grew, joined the call of the Muslim Brotherhood, worked alongside its major figures, and major figures of Islam like: Al-Siba`i, Al-Zarqa, Al-Mubarak and Dawalibi in addition to the grand Da`iyah Essam Al-Attar.
He worked in education for a period of time in Qatar, where he met a number of scholars and callers to Islam as well as his highness Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani, and published numerous valuable books.
Afterwards, he found home in Lebanon where he settles and established a library as his home was a meeting point for scholars from all over the world. How many times have we met at his house with Sheikh Al-Albani – may Allah bless his soul – before they disagreed, Sheikh Abdul Fattah Abi Ghudda, poet and ambassador Omar Al-Amiri, Sheikh Mohamed Naseef, Dr. Mohamed Seleem Al-Awwa and scholars from across the globe in addition to Lebanese scholars including Mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled, Sheikh Mohamed Rasheed Qabbani, Sheikh Sobhi Saleh and other scholars, not to mention his sincere life companions Sheikh Fathi Yakan, Sheikh Faisal Mawlawi, Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Masri among others.
The deceased sheikh is the owner of the renowned Al-Maktab Al-Islami or Islamic Office which was known for the publication and distribution of valuable Islamic books concerned with the call to Islam, to cultural education and refinement, and religious studies books written by renowned authors. The publishing house also offered heritage books of exegesis, hadith, fiqh, arts, history and other fields with verifications, indexes which were well served. The departed sheikh – may Allah bless his soul – was a pioneer and specialist in verifying many Islamic manuscripts and publishing many important books.
And despite his vast knowledge and preoccupation with the verification of books, the sheikh was a man of letters, of good humor and knowledge of literature that one would not be bored with his company or his enjoyable talk and anecdotes, which is a trait rarely found in scholars in addition to his care for reformation and the issues of the Muslim nation.
Scholars in Levant, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and others have bore witness to his works that relinquished a thirst and filled a void and that he had the greatest share on the Islamic scene of action, calling to Allah, scholarly and cultural knowledge.
The union as it offers its condolences to the family of the deceased Zuhair Al-Shawish, to his brothers the people of the Levant, in Lebanon and Syria, and to the Arab and Muslim nation, it beseeches Allah to enthrall him with His mercy, to make Paradise his abode for all his service to his religion and nation, to Islamic knowledge and heritage, and pray that Allah will forgive him, accept him among the goodly people, and resurrect him with those whom He has blessed of prophets, truthful believers, martyrs and good people, and what a blessed company they are!
The union prays that Allah will grant his children and family patience, acceptance, and vast reward for what Allah gives and what He takes all belong to Him and everything has an ordained time in God’s knowledge but we only say what pleases Allah, that to Allah we belong and to Him is our return.
Doha on: 22 Rajab, 1434 H
Dated: 2 June, 2013
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
IUMS President