Dr. Ahmed Al-Waeli (الدكتور الشيخ أحمد الوائلي ) (1928 – 2003 )
Dr. Ahmed Al-Waeli is one of the most well-known Shiite Islamic prominent clerks in the twentieth century. He preached the Islamic thoughts through books and lectures. He was also a poet. His poems represent his personality, spirituality and belief.
Biography:
Dr. Ahmed Al-Waeli was born in September, 1928 in Najaf, Iraq. He came from a very well cultured family. His father (Sheikh Hassoun Al-Waeli) was a prominent clerk. Dr. Ahmed Al-Waeli was smart and ambitious. He studied and memorized the holy Quran when he was only seven years old. He graduated with an honor degree in 1962 in Arabic language and Islamic Jurisprudence. Then, he pursued his education in the institute of higher education –one of the institutes of university of Baghdad- and finished his master degree in the same subject. His thesis was about custody rules. He then left Iraq and went to Egypt to pursue his doctorate education. He received his PhD in economics in 1978 and his dissertation discusses the Islamic view of exploitation of labor.
As Najaf is famous with Shiite Islamic religious schools and Arabic literature, Dr. Al-Waeli studied under prominent religious figures. He learned lecturing through a group of Islamic lecturers including Sayyid Baqir Slaimoun. He gained admiration from his teachers through his intelligence and his presentation style. Ayatollah Imam Khomeini called him “the mobile library” as he was spreading his rich knowledge and lecturing the philosophy of Islamic jurisprudences in different places.
Dr. Al-Waeli died on July 14, 2003 in his homeland after 24 years in exile. Thousands of people gathered in his funeral in the holy city of Karbala to express their sorrow and sympathy.
Presentation Style:
Dr. Al-Waeli has become famous with his presentation and lecturing style. In fact, his lecturing style (or school) is now known as “Al-Waeli’s School of Lecturing.” The most important characteristic of his lecturing school is the topic focus. Unlike other Islamic lecturers, Dr. Al-Waeli concentrates only on one subject in each lecture and does not branch out to different subjects. The purpose of this style is to avoid confusing and losing the audience’s attention, and to provide enough details to cover the subject. This is not an easy task and requires big effort from the lecturer to study the subject thoroughly before lecturing.
Books:
Dr. Al-Waeli wrote several books including:
- The Essence of Shiism
- Custody Rules in Sharia and Law
- Sex Fiqh in the Islamic Schools of Thought
- Islamic view of Exploitation of Labor
- The Defense of Truth
- My Experience with Husayni Pulpit
- Toward a Scientific Interpretation of Quran