LEadership

Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah is President, Forum for Peace in Muslim Societies, Abu Dhabi, and Co-Moderator of Religions for Peace. He serves on the Executive Committee of Religions for Peace. As a life-long advocate for peace, Shaykh Bin Bayyah is the President of the Forum of Peace in Muslim Societies and one of today’s most well respected Islamic scholars.

He was born on 1935 in eastern Mauritania. He studied sacred sciences in the Mauritanian centers of learning known as Mahadhir. He then studied law at the Faculty of Law in Tunisia and was trained in Tunisian courts in 1961. Bin Bayyah has served in many distinguished positions over the years, including but not limited to Judge at the High Court of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the first Minister for Islamic Affairs and Education, Minister of Justice and Official Holder of the Seals. He is currently the Chairman of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, Member of the European Research & Fatwa Council, Member of the Muslim League’s International High Council of Mosques and lecturer at the King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia. Shaykh Bin Bayyah has published numerous writings and has been distinguished in a variety of ways for his work in Islam, interreligious dialogue and peace building. He was named one of the most Influential Muslims from 2009-2013. Shaykh Bin Bayyah has received numerous awards for his work as an Islamic scholar and advocate for peace.