Islamic scholar Al Qaradawi passes away

Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi

International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) announced Monday the passing away of its founding chairman Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi at the age of 96. In a statement, IUMS said that its founding chairman, who devoted his life to explain the provisions of Islam, passed away. The statement added that the Islamic Ummah (nation) lost one of its dedicated and great scholars, praying for the Almighty God to bestow mercy and forgiveness upon the late scholar. Born in 1926 in Saft Turab village in the Arab Republic of Egypt's Al Gharbia Governorate, Al Qaradawi read and memorized the entire Quran by the time he was 10. After he finished the Institute of Religious Studies, he joined Al Azhar University's Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion and Da'wah in Cairo, where he graduated in 1952-53. In 1954, he earned a diploma in teaching from Al Azhar University's Faculty of Arabic Language. He enrolled in the graduate program in the Department of Quran and Sunnah Sciences of the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion and Da'wah where he graduated with a master's degree in 1960. He was awarded his PhD degree with first merit in 1973 from the same college with a thesis titled 'Zakat and its impact on solving social problems'.