Ahmed Kuftaro
Ahmed Kuftaro | |
|---|---|
أحمد كفتارو | |
 | |
| Grand Mufti of Syria | |
| In office 4 November 1964 – 1 September 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Muhammad Abu al-Yusr |
| Succeeded by | Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1912 or 1915 |
| Died | 1 September 2004 Damascus, Syria |
| Spouse | Hawa Mili Sabah al-Jabri |
| Parent | Mohammed Amin Kuftaro |
| Relations | Asma Mahmoud Kuftaro (granddaughter) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni Islam |
| School | Shafi'i |
| Tariqa | Naqshbandi[1] |
| Creed | Ash'ari |
Ahmed Muhammad Amin Kuftaro[2] (Arabic: أحمد كفتارو; December 1915 – 1 September 2004) was the Grand Mufti of Syria, the highest officially appointed Sunni Muslim representative of the Fatwa-Administration in the Syrian Ministry of Auqaf in Syria. Kaftaro was a Sunni Muslim of the Naqshbandi Sufi order.[3]
Biography
[edit]The family of Kuftaro is Kurdish who have their origins in the village of Karma in Ömerli District of Mardin Province, Turkey.[4][5][6] In 1878, the Kuftaro family moved to Damascus and settled near the Abu al-Nur mosque in the Kurdish quarter. Kuftaro's father, Amin Kuftaro, received a traditional education and started working at the Sa'id Pasha mosque. His first wife was Najiya Sinjabi and he had four sons and two daughters with her: Musa, Taufiq, Ahmad, Ibrahim, Zaynab and Fatima. With his second wife, Is'af Badir, he had three children, Rabi', 'Abd al-Qadir and Rabi'a.[7]
Classic education in Damascus
[edit]Kuftaro's father insisted that he first receive a classical education in Quran, Tafsir, Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence, namely Shafi'i Madhhab with Muslim scholars in Damascus.[8]
Career in the Ifta' Administration
[edit]In 1948, Kuftaro worked as a mosque teacher in Quneitra before moving to Damascus in 1950.[citation needed] Two years later, he became Mufti of the Shafi'i Madhhab in Damascus and a member of the Higher Ifta Council under Colonel Adib al-Shishakli.[9] Kuftaro's political instinct aligned him with the Syrian Ba'ath Party in 1955. He reportedly supported the Baath Party candidate in the 1955 election for an open seat in parliament.[citation needed]
Advocacy of interreligious dialogue
[edit]Ahmad Kuftaro advocated interreligious dialogue. He visited many countries as a representative of Syrian state Islam, including a 1985 visit with the Pope in Rome.[citation needed] He signed the Amman Message, a statement calling for tolerance and unity in the Muslim world that was issued on 9 November 2004 (27 Ramadan 1425 AH) by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Annabelle Boettcher, Syria's Sunni Islam under Hafiz al-Asad. E-book, Amazon-Kindle, 2015
- ↑ "Le site officiel du Cheikh Ahmad Kaftaro - Biographie". www.kuftaro.org. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
- ↑ Annabelle Boettcher, Syria's Sunni Islam under Hafiz al-Asad. E-book, Amazon-Kindle, 2015
- ↑ Raphael Lefevre, Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, Oxford University Press (2013), p. 155
- ↑ Line Khatib, Islamic Revivalism in Syria: The Rise and Fall of Ba'thist Secularism, Routledge (2012), p. 187
- ↑ Leon T. Goldsmith, Cycle of Fear: Syria's Alawites in War and Peace, Oxford University (2015), p. 122
- ↑ Muhammad Bashir al-Bani, Al-Murshid al-Mujaddid, Damascus, private edition 1979, pp. 57–69.
- ↑ Muhammad Bashir al-Bani, Al-Murshid al-Mujaddid, Damascus, private edition 1979, pp. 95–97
- ↑ Muhammad al-Habash, al-Shaikh Ahmad Kaftaru wa-manhajuhu fi al-tajdid wa-l-islah. 2nd ed. Damascus: Dar al-Shaikh Amin Kaftaru, 1996, p. 77
- ↑ "Jordan's 9/11: Dealing With Jihadi Islamism", Crisis Group Middle East Report N°47, 23 November 2005
External links
[edit]- Kaftaru Homepage Archived 21 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- Obituary for Kuftaro in Islamica Magazine
- Homepage of Shaikh Ahmad Kaftaru Center, former Abu al-Nur Center
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| Other | |
- 1915 births
- 2004 deaths
- Asharis
- Shafi'is
- Syrian Kurdish people
- Syrian imams
- 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
- Syrian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
- 20th-century imams
- 21st-century imams
- Naqshbandi order
- Sunni Sufis
- Syrian Sufi religious leaders
- Grand muftis of Syria
- Religious leaders from Damascus
- Syrian Sufis