Muhammad Ayyub

Muhammad Ayyub^[a] (October 1952 – 16 April 2016)^[b] was a Saudi Arabian Qari, imam, and Islamic scholar. He was best known for his Quran recitation and service as an imam of Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina between 1990 and 1997, and again in 2015.^[1] He also served as an imam of Masjid al-Quba in Medina. He also worked as a faculty member of the Department of Tafsir in the Faculty of the Holy Qur'an and Islamic Studies at the Islamic University of Madinah and a member of the Scholarly Committee of the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran. He died on 16 April 2016.^[2]

Muhammad Ayyub was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 1952 (1372 AH).^[3]

His family, of Rohingya origin from Arakan, Burma (present-day Rakhine State, Myanmar), migrated to Mecca, Saudi Arabia around 1949 (1368 AH) due to persecution faced by the Rohingya Muslim community. His father, who lived in poverty, was imprisoned in Burma. As the eldest child, Ayyub assumed responsibility for contributing to the family’s livelihood from an early age.^[4]

Ayyub was of Burmese descent and followed the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence.^[5]

Muhammad Ayyub completed the memorization of the Quran in 1965 (1385 AH) under the guidance of Khalil bin Abd al-Rahman al-Qari in Mecca.^[6][7] During this period he became acquainted with Ali Abdullah Jaber.^[8] After finishing his primary education in 1966 (1386 AH), he moved to Medina and continued his studies at an Islamic school, from which he graduated in 1972 (1392 AH).^[9]

He later enrolled in the Faculty of Sharia at the Islamic University of Madinah, and received a bachelor's degree in 1976 (1396 AH). He then specialized in Tafsir (Quranic exegesis) and `Ulum al-Qur'an (sciences of the Quran), earning a master's degree from the Faculty of the Holy Qur'an and Islamic Studies. He completed his doctorate at the same faculty in either 1987 or 1988 (1408 AH).^[9]

alongside his formal education, Ayyub studied with various Islamic scholars in Medina, where he received training in studying including tafsir, fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), hadith and hadith terminology, and usul al-fiqh (the Principles of Islamic jurisprudence).^[3]

In 1990 (1410 AH) he was appointed as an imam of Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, a position he held until 1997 (1417 AH).^[10] He subsequently served as an Imam at Masjid Quba and other mosques in Medina. In 2015 (1436 AH), he was reappointed as an Imam of Masjid an-Nabawi to lead the Tarawih prayers during Ramadan.^[4][11]

Muhammad Ayyub died on 16 April 2016.^[11] His Funeral Prayer was held in Masjid an-Nabawi after Zuhr (noon) prayer, and he was buried in Al-Baqi Cemetery in Medina.^[4][12]