Muhammad al-Yaqoubi

His paternal grandfather Ismail Al-Yaqoubi (d. 1960) was a scholar and Sufi master.

Muhammad Abul Huda al-Yaqoubi (محمد أبو الهدى اليعقوبي; born 7 May 1963) is a Syrian Islamic scholar and religious leader.

He has opposed both Bashar al-Assad and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Al-Yaqoubi was born in Damascus, Syria.

He comes from a family of Islamic scholars that traces its roots back to Morocco and has taught the Islamic sciences for centuries.

His father's maternal uncle was Arabi al-Yaqoubi (d. 1965), and his paternal uncle was Sharif al-Yaqoubi (d. 1943).

Amongst al-Yaqoubi's predecessors three have held the post of Maliki Imam at the Grand Umayyad Mosque of Damascus.

Al-Yaqoubi is a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, tracing his lineage through Mawlay Idris al-Anwar, (founder of the city of Fès), who was a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.

Al-Yaqoubi's father took care of his upbringing, and he was both his teacher and spiritual master.

His father gave him several ijazah, or certificates of authority to teach, narrate and issue legal rulings under Islamic law.

Al-Yaqoubi also received training from his father in Sufism, until he attained qualification as a murshid and the rank of a spiritual master in the Sufi tradition.

Al-Yaqoubi has also received ijazat from prominent scholars of Syria including: the Maliki Mufti of Syria, Makki al-Kittani; the Hanafi Mufti of Syria, Muhammad Abul Yusr Abidin; Ali al-Boudaylimi of Tlemcen, Abdul Aziz Uyun al-Sud, Salih al-Khatib, Zayn al-'Abideen at-Tounisi, Muhammad Wafa al-Qassaaband and Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri of Damascus.

His father, Ibrahim al-Yaqoubi (d. 1985) was a scholar.

In 1987, al-Yaqoubi completed a degree in Arabic Literature at the University of Damascus within the Faculty of Islamic Law.

He then studied philosophy for two years at the Beirut Arab University.

In 1991, he joined the PhD program of linguistics in the Oriental Studies Department of the University of Gothenburg.

In Sweden, he worked as a researcher and teacher of Arabic literature.

In 1999, the Swedish Islamic Society appointed him mufti of Sweden.

Al-Yaqoubi is "fluent in several languages including Arabic, English, and Swedish" and sacred knowledge organisation states that he has trained several hundreds of scholars, imams and preachers

Al-Yaqoubi started teaching Qur'an studies and recitation at the Darwishiyya Mosque at the age of 11.

He delivered his first Friday sermon at the age of 14 at al-Saadaat Mosque, was appointed as Friday Imam and speaker (Khatib) at the age of 17 and was appointed as a teacher of Islamic studies at the age of 20.

In the mid-2000s, al-Yaqoubi returned to Syria and began preaching and teaching the Islamic sciences such as Aqidah (Islamic theology), Tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), Hadith (Prophetic tradition), Tasawwuf (Sciences of the heart), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Usul (origins and fundamentals), Mustalah (hadith terminology), and Nahw (Arabic grammar).

Al-Yaqoubi previously resided in Damascus and was a public teacher at institutions there.

He taught Islamic theology at the Umayyad Mosque; and he held the position of Jumu'ah Khatib (Friday speaker) at the Jami' al-Hasan Mosque; at the Mosque of Ibn Arabi, he taught from al-Risalah of Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin Qushayri and Shamaail Tirmidhi of Tirmidhi.

He was a public speaker in both Arabic and English.

In June 2011, al-Yaqoubi was forced into exile by the Assad government and moved to Morocco.

Al-Yaqoubi is currently writing, publishing new works and continuing to teach under Sacred Knowledge, an initiative dedicated to the spreading of orthodox Islam.

In April 2011, al-Yaqoubi was one of the first Sunni clerics to express his support for the Syrian uprising and condemn the Syrian government's response to peaceful demonstrations.

In August 2011, the BBC reported that al-Yaqoubi had called for more international pressure on the government of Syria after Government forces renewed their crackdown on protesters.

He was forced into exile in 2011.

Despite other leading scholars initially calling for minor reforms, al-Yaqoubi was early to demand the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad.

Al-Yaqoubi initially fully supported Kofi Annan's "Six-point plan" urging for "international pressure on Russia and China" to force the end of the conflict in Syria.

As the conflict has protracted, al-Yaqoubi publicly urged Jordan and Turkey to intervene militarily in Syria "to save the Syrian people", voicing frustration at the failure of the international community to intervene.

In addition, he believes that any intervention will be undertaken by the United Nations, NATO, or the United States because it's "more realistic".

Al-Yaqoubi has been an active participant in the political process to form a credible political alternative to the Assad government.

However, due to political intrigue, his appointment to be a full member of the Syrian National Council was blocked almost as soon as it was to be formally confirmed.

Since the start of the Syrian uprising, al-Yaqoubi has campaigned internationally to provide humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees.

In December 2012, he led a convoy for the delivery of "vast quantities of food, baby food and blankets" to displaced Syrians in Turkey.

Consequently, he fled the country after the Syrian regime tried to silence him after he publicly criticised the ruling Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, calling on the president to step down and supporting the Syrian uprising.

He is currently in exile in Morocco, helping to deliver humanitarian aid, and is in regular contact with Syrian fighters who consult him on the moral and spiritual issues raised by their struggle.