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Mecca, Saudi Arabia : Sheikh Dr. Abdul Aziz Baleelah, the father of Sheikh Bandar Baleelah, an Imam and Khateeb of Masjid Al Haram, has passed away.

The Imam led the funeral prayer of his father at Masjid Al Haram after Dhuhr prayer today, Tuesday, August 8, before burial at the Mualla Cemetery.

In his message of condolence, the President of the Presidency for the Affairs two Holy Mosques, Sheikh Abdur Rahman Sudais, said, “With hearts reassured by Allah’s will and destiny, I send my deepest condolences and sincere sympathy to the imam and Khateeb of the Grand Mosque, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, His Eminence Sheikh Dr. Bandar bin Abdulaziz Baleelah, and to his honourable family on the death of his father, Sheikh Dr. Abdulaziz Baleelah.”

Sheikh Bandar Baleelah has been an Imam of Masjid Al Haram in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, since 2013, when a royal decree was issued in October 2013 to appoint him as Imam of the Grand Mosque.

He was born in Makkah in 1975, and at a young age, he managed to memorise the entire Qur’an.

In 1996, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Umm Al-Qura University, pursuing Islamic law at Shariah College.

Sheikh Baleelah also earned a master’s degree in Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh) from the same university and graduated with first-class honours before earning his PhD from the Islamic University of Madinah in 2008.

Sheikh Bandar Baleelah worked as a teacher of “Al Fiqh” in the Institute of “Al Haram Al Maki Al Sharif” in the higher department. He also worked as an assistant Professor at Al Taif University.

He is an Imam and a preacher too in the Al Amira Nouf mosque in the Al Aziziyah region of Mecca.

Before becoming an Imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, he worked as an imam (leading prayers) and khateeb (delivering sermons) at numerous mosques throughout Makkah.

The most recent was the Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz Mosque in the Ash-Shishah district of Makkah.

Sheikh Bandar Baleelah has authored numerous books and research papers related to his field. In Ramadan 2013, he first led the Taraaweeh prayers at Masjid Al Haram and began delivering Friday sermons in 2019 by royal decree.

Furthermore, another royal decree appointed Sheikh Baleelah as a member of the Council of Senior Scholars in October 2020.

In 2021, he was, through a royal decree, appointed the Khateeb for Hajj 2021.