Mahdi al-Sumayda'i
Mahdi al-Sumayda'i | |
|---|---|
مهدي الصميدعي | |
Al-Sumayda'i on Iraqi television | |
| Assumed office February 2014 | |
| Personal life | |
| Nationality | Iraqi Arab |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Institute | Mustansiriya University |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi'i or Hanbali |
| Muslim leader | |
| Post | Grand Mufti of Iraq |
Mahdi ibn Ahmad al-Sumayda'i (Arabic: مهدي بن أحمد الصميدعي, romanized: Mahdī ibn ʾAḥmad al-Ṣumaydaʿī; born 1 July 1955) is an Iraqi Islamic scholar and politician who is currently serving as the grand mufti of Sunnis in Iraq since 2014.
Al-Sumayda'i runs the Sunni Fatwa Council in Baghdad, at the Umm-al-Tubul mosque. Since 2014 he has been recognized by the government of Nuri al-Maliki as Grand Mufti of the Sunnis of Iraq, the highest Iraqi Sunni religious authority.
He played an important political role in the events of Iraq, in an attempt to involve part of Salafi Islam in the fight against the Islamic State, alongside the Shia forces. Despite this, he has close ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran.