Shaykh ‘Abdullah Sirajuddin (rahimahullah) was the foremost teacher of my esteemed teacher, Shaykh Muhammad ‘Awwamah (hafizahullah) and was a senior ‘Alim of Syria. In June of the year 2000 (Rabi’ul Awwal 1421 A.H.) I travelled with my beloved father (rahimahullah) from Damascus to Aleppo specifically to meet Shaykh ‘Abdullah (rahimahullah). We reached his house door, but unfortunately due to his poor health, we were unable to meet him. This regret lived with me for 26/27 years, until Allah blessed me with the opportunity to visit Shaykh ‘Abdullah’s (rahimahullah) grave in Aleppo last week (20 Rabi’ul Awwal 1448 A.H. = 2 September 2026).
Lineage and Birth
Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad Najib Sirajuddin Husayniy (rahimahullah) was born in Aleppo in 1342 AH / 1924 CE, into a family that was widely known and deeply respected in the world of Islamic scholarship. His lineage ascends through Sayyiduna Imam Husayn ibn ‘Aliy (radiyallahu anhuma) to Sayyiduna Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). His father, Shaykh Muhammad Najib Sirajuddin (rahimahullah) (d. 1373 AH), was among the leading scholars and spiritual guides of his time. He was a master Hadith scholar and a man deeply aware of and close to Allah (‘Arif Billah). The senior scholars of Aleppo would turn to him on even the most difficult questions of religious knowledge, asking one another: ‘What has Shaykh Muhammad Najib (rahimahullah) said about this?’ From his earliest years, the young Shaykh ‘Abdullah Sirajuddin (rahimahullah) was immersed in a world of knowledge and Barakah. His father would take him on visits to the pious and ask them to supplicate for the child. Shaykh ‘Abdullah Sirajuddin (rahimahullah) later remarked,
‘I attained, through the grace of Allah upon me and His favour, the effect of their supplications and their blessings.’
These blessings were further strengthened through his close companionship with his father. In around the year 1367 A.H., at the age of approximately twenty-two, he undertook the journey of Hajj in the company of his respected father, who had reached the age of ninety. This was the third and final Hajj of his father (rahimahullah). Shaykh ‘Abdullah (rahimahullah) would serve his father to the best of his ability throughout the journey. He would state that he benefited greatly from the tremendous Du‘as his father made for him during this Hajj.
His Pursuit of Knowledge
His father began directing him towards the Quran from the age of five, enrolling him in the recitation circles of the renowned Qari Shaykh ‘Uthman ibn Qandil Madi (rahimahullah) at the Sulaymanul ‘Ulyani Masjid adjacent to their home. He advanced through Darul Falahis Sultaniyyah, studying Nahw, Fiqh, mathematics, and Arabic poetry. Shaykh ‘Abdullah described how his father guided him through the Quran in a carefully sequenced method: five ajza from the end, five from the middle, five from the beginning, then the remaining portions, completing it in approximately two years at the age of twelve. He was then admitted to al-Madrasatul Khusrawiyyah, where he studied under scholars of the highest rank. Among his teachers were:
- Shaykh Muhammad Nashid Halabiy (rahimahullah) in Nahw and Balaghah
- Shaykh Muhammad Lababidiy (rahimahullah) in Hanafiy Fiqh
- The Hadith scholar and historian of Aleppo Shaykh Muhammad Raghib Tabbakh (rahimahullah)
- Shaykh Ibrahim Salqiniy (rahimahullah)
Among the accounts of his early brilliance is an episode from a competition at al-Khusrawiyyah in front of senior teachers and outstanding students. Shaykh Raghib Tabbakh (rahimahullah) encouraged the students to memorise the celebrated Hadith of Umm Zar’, a lengthy narration known for the rarity of its vocabulary. Shaykh ‘Abdullah (rahimahullah), then in his second year, delivered it with complete precision and without the slightest hesitation. Shaykh Raghib (rahimahullah), overcome with joy and approval, rose, removed his own turban, and placed it upon the young student’s head, a powerful gesture signalling his student’s readiness for mastery.
Scholarship and Works
He was authorised in Hadith by the leading scholars of his era, including Shaykh Raghib Tabbakh (rahimahullah) and the Muftiy of Aleppo Shaykh Ahmad Kurdiy (rahimahullah), and received Ijazat from numerous masters of the age.
He committed to memory not only the Quran but foundational texts across multiple disciplines, like: the Alfiyyah of Imam Ibn Malik (rahimahullah) in Nahw; the Alfiyyah of Imam Suyutiy (rahimahullah) in Hadith sciences, the Alfiyyah of Imam al-‘Iraqiy (rahimahullah); ‘Uqudul Juman in Balaghah; Majmu’ Ummahatil-Mutun, containing sixty-one foundational texts; and Taysirul Wusul, the abridgement of the nine major Hadith collections. He attained the rank of Hafiz of Hadith, carrying thousands of narrations with their chains and rulings in his memory. The full extent of his memorisation became the subject of a celebrated account. Two students from Hamah fell into a debate about how many Hadiths he knew. One said ten thousand, another twenty thousand, another thirty thousand. A fourth swore an oath of divorce that Shaykh ‘Abdullah Sirajuddin (rahimahullah) knew more than one hundred thousand. The following morning, they asked him directly. He paused in characteristic humility, then said:
‘You have not broken your oath, but do not do it again.’
He authored approximately forty works in Tafsir, Hadith, ‘Aqidah, and Tasawwuf. Among his most celebrated works are:
- Sayyiduna Muhammad Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam)
- al-Iman bi ‘Awalimil Akhirah (Belief in the Realms of the Afterlife)
- al-Iman bil Malaikah (Belief in the Angels)
- Sharhul Manzumatil Bayquniyyah
Scholars of his time recognised him as a leading Imam in Islamic creed (Tawhid). He was equally recognised as a leading Imam in Quranic interpretation (Tafsir), covering all its dimensions. He was the principal of al-Madrasatush Shabaniyyah, known as the “Azhar of Aleppo”, through its most fruitful decades. He also taught in Masjid Banqusa and the Umayyad Masjid (in Aleppo) entirely from memory, without notes. Throughout his life, he opened every lesson by declaring his connected chain of transmission to Imam Bukhariy (rahimahullah) and reciting the opening Hadith with its full Isnad.
His Stay in Madinah Munawwarah(1400–1403 AH)
From Rabi’ul Awwal 1400 A.H. until Dhul Qa’dah 1403 A.H., Shaykh ‘Abdullah (rahimahullah) resided in Madinah Munawwarah, describing those days of proximity to Sayyiduna Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) as the most cherished of his life. He held twice-weekly lessons of Sahih Bukhariy at his residence. He opened each session, as was his lifelong practice, by declaring: “I transmit with a connected chain to Imam Bukhariy,” then reciting the opening Hadith with full Isnad. He returned to Aleppo upon a spiritual indication from Sayyiduna Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), immediately opening his teaching in Masjid Banqusa with the Tafsir of Suratul Fatihah, which he taught alone for more than six months before moving to the concluding passages of Suratul Baqarah and Surah Al ‘Imran.
Character, Scrupulousness, and Appearance
Shaykh ‘Abdullah (rahimahullah) was known for his extreme love for Rasulullah (sallallahu’alayhi wasallam). His student, Shaykh Muhammad ‘Aliy -Al-Idlibiy (hafizahullah) mentioned to me last week (2 September 2026) that when Shaykh ‘Abdullah was compiling his book on the features and attributes of Nabiy (sallallahu ‘alayhi walllam), he would be in tears whilst writing.
Shaykh ‘Awwamah (hafizahullah) mentions that, whilst teaching any lesson, Shaykh ‘Abdullah always kept a volume of the famous book on Sirah, Sharhuz Zurqaniy ‘alal Mawahibil Ladunniyyah, next to him.
Among his du’as were the following:
اللّٰهُمَّ ارْزُقْنا مُجاوَرَة الحَبيبِ الأعْظَمِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَلْبًا وقالِبًا
Shaykh ‘Awwamah (hafizahullah) often recalls that throughout his extended period of companionship with Shaykh ‘Abdullah, including while travelling with him, he never saw any violation of the Sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam).
His son described him by saying: “He was one in whom Allah Ta’ala placed forbearance (Hilm) and calm deliberateness (Anah). He would not move forward with any matter without first thinking carefully about what it would lead to. He was generous, known for his wit, and consistently described himself, out of profound humility, as:
‘a teacher of the Noble Quran and the honoured Hadith’.
His diet in the last two decades of his life was a model of simple sufficiency: Kusa (courgette stuffed with rice and tender lamb), yogurt with powdered mint, and bread. His living embodied the Prophetic guidance on moderation, and the Divine command of Allah: ‘Eat and drink, but do not be excessive,’ (Surah A’raf, Ayah: 31).
A portion of his wealth had been invested with a butcher who supplied the family’s meat. When it later reached him that the man might be dealing with interest-based banks, though unconfirmed, he immediately refrained from consuming that meat and instructing that it be purchased only from wealth he was certain was pure. This was out of scrupulous caution, abandoning even the doubtful. He later withdrew his capital entirely, saying:
‘The most important cause for du’as being answered is consuming halal, meaning earnings that are free of any doubt.’
Those who met him described a luminous presence: a face of radiant whiteness, a wide forehead, striking blue eyes, and a thick beard of silvery metallic sheen. He attributed this to a dream in which he rubbed his face against the blessed feet of Sayyiduna Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), a private matter he shared with characteristic humility. He most resembled his father in appearance, as attested by those who had known them both.”
His appearance was so captivating that Shaykh ‘Awwamah says: “If you saw him on the street you would say this is an Angel.”
His Passing and Legacy
In his final years, he gradually withdrew from public teaching, devoting himself to worship and the completion of his writings. He passed from this world on the 20th of Dhul Hijjah 1422 A.H. (2002). The Salatul Janazah was performed in absentia in Makkah and Madinah, and he was buried in the precincts of al-Madrasatush Shabaniyyah.
Shaykh Muhammad Fawzi Faydullah (rahimahullah), himself a senior scholar, remarked:
‘We have attained the highest degrees and titles, yet we find ourselves walking in the wake of a man who does not even hold a primary school certificate, yet he carries the trust of the entire Ummah.’
(This highlighted how the traditional system of sacred knowledge bypassed modern secular academics to produce true giants of scholarship).
The legacy of Shaykh ‘Abdullah Sirajuddin (rahimahullah) is not merely a collection of books and texts. It is the living example of a scholar who understood that knowledge cannot be separated from a pure and careful way of life, one that purifies the heart it flows through.
Shaykh Muhammad ‘Awwamah (hafizahullah) is considered his most senior student and one who continues to carry Shaykh ‘Abdullah’s legacy.
May Allah Most High have mercy upon him, raise his rank, and perpetuate through his children and students the radiance that he drew from the light of Prophethood.
References
Safahatun min Hayatil Imam Shaykhil Islam Ash-Shaykh ‘Abdillah Sirajiddin
Kalimatu Wafain anil Imam ‘Abdillah Sirajiddin (rahimahullah)
Itihaful Muhibbin bi Dhikr Manaqibil Imam ‘Abdillah Sirajiddin
See an interesting article about Shaykh ‘Abdullah Sirajuddin (rahimahullah) here.