Hussein Hamed Hassan: A Pillar of Islamic Economics and Sharia Law
First Bank
Dr. Hussein Hamed Hassan was one of the leading scholars in Islamic economics and Sharia law globally. He contributed to the establishment of several universities and colleges in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia.
Born in July 1932 in Bani Sweif, Jazirat al-Nur village, he came from a humble background. His father passed away when he was six, and his mother played a significant role in his upbringing and education. He started formal education at the age of twelve, learning to read, write, and memorize the Quran in six months at the Quran Memorization Society in Al-Wasta.
He later moved to Cairo, where he joined the Cairo Religious Institute affiliated with Al-Azhar Sharif. During his studies, he also attended evening classes to learn English, aiming to share his knowledge with non-Muslims and invite them to Islam.
Driven by his ambition, he combined religious studies at Al-Azhar with basic education, attending Al-Azhar in the morning and government schools in the evening. He pursued higher education in both religious studies and law, graduating from Al-Azhar with a degree in Sharia and later from Cairo University with a law degree. He continued his postgraduate studies at both institutions, eventually earning a Ph.D. from both faculties.
After graduation, he became an assistant professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Law. He had previously worked as a government attorney in 1959. He then traveled to the United States to study at New York University's Institute of Comparative Law, where he obtained his Master of Comparative Jurisprudence (M.C.J.) degree.
Hassan was deeply influenced by scholars such as Imam al-Shatibi, Imam al-Shafi'i, Imam Malik, and others like Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, Muhammad Abduh, and Rashid Rida. These scholars contributed to shaping Dr. Hussein Hassan as a distinguished Islamic jurisprudence scholar.
He served as an advisor to several Islamic countries' leaders and worked with parliaments, universities, organizations, Arab and Islamic bodies, and economic experts and wealthy investors. He was also a member of various scholarly councils and associations.
Dr. Hassan played a significant role in the Islamic banking movement, training its professionals and overseeing its Sharia compliance. He converted several conventional banks into Islamic ones. Additionally, he supervised a project translating 200 Islamic books from Arabic and English into Russian. Under his leadership at the International Islamic University in Islamabad, the institution authored and translated over 400 Islamic books into more than 20 languages.
He authored numerous books, research papers, and articles on law, Sharia, comparative economics, insurance, Islamic banking, and Islamic media. His contributions to Islamic economics have left a lasting legacy for future generations.
Dr. Hussein Hamed Hassan passed away in August 2020, leaving behind a significant legacy in the field of Islamic economics, from which new generations continue to learn.
