Yasir al-Dawsari

Shaykh Yasser al-Dosari
ياسر الدوسري
Imam of Masjid al-Haram
Incumbent
Assumed office March 2024
In office 12 October 2019 – 8 October 2023
Personal life
Born	Yasser ibn Rashid ibn Husayn al-Wad‘ani al-Dosari (Arabic: ياسر بن الراشد بن حسين الودعاني الدوسري) (1980-08-06) August 6, 1980 Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia
Home town	Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia
Education	Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University
Occupation	Imam of Masjid al-Haram
Religious life
Religion	Islam
School	Hanbali
Creed	Athari
Movement	Salafi
Profession	Qāriʾ, Imam, Khatib, Fiqh Professor

Yasser ibn Rashid al-Dosari (ياسر بن راشد بن حسين الودعاني الدوسري, Yāsir ibn Rāshid ibn Ḥusayn al-Wadʿānī al-Dawsarī; born 6 August 1980 / 24 Ramadan 1400 AH) is a Saudi Islamic scholar, khateeb and qāriʾ who has served as one of the imams of Masjid al-Haram since 2019. He led Taraweeh and Tahajjud prayers at Masjid al-Haram from 2015, and served as the Imam of several mosques in Riyadh from 1995.

He holds a doctorate in comparative fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and has combined his religious duties with an academic career, having taught at King Saud University before becoming an associate professor at the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Umm al-Qura University. He also serves as an adviser to the General Presidency of Haramain and has been listed among the most influential figures in Saudi society and the Arab world by Insan magazine.

Early life and education

Yasser al-Dosari was born in the Saudi governorate of al-Kharj, southeast of the capital, Riyadh, and completed his early education in Riyadh. According to close childhood friend Sheikh Nasser al-Qatami, Al-Dosari frequently recited the Qur'an on local radio stations while in high school. He was a student of a group of highly-respected 'ulama and sheikhs, including Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, Salih al-Fawzan, and Ibn Jibrin. He also studied qira'at (Quranic recitation methods) under several shuyukh and qaris, including Bakri Al-Tarabichi and Ibrahim Al-Akhdar.

He earned a bachelor's degree from the College of Sharia at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, and subsequently enrolled at the university's Higher Judicial Institute, where he completed both a master's degree and a doctorate in comparative fiqh.

Career

Early mosque appointments

Al-Dosari began serving as an Imam in Riyadh in 1995 (1416 AH), at Abdullah Al-Khulaifi Mosque. He later served at Al-Kawthar Mosque, where his first recorded recitation, which was of Surah Yusuf, was made in 1419 AH (1998–1999), and subsequently at Imam Abdullah Mosque and other mosques in the city.

Academic career

After graduating, Al-Dosari worked as a lecturer and later as an assistant professor at King Saud University, before joining Umm al-Qura University as an associate professor in the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies. He is a member and ambassador of several scholarly and Islamic organizations, including the Saudi Society for Da'wah Studies and the Saudi Fiqh Academic Society, and has served on the European committee of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.

Imam of Masjid al-Dakheel, Riyadh

Before his appointment to Masjid al-Haram permanently in 1441/2019, al-Dosari served as Imam of Masjid al-Dakheel, Riyadh from 1425-1441 (2005-2019). During this period, his voice became recognised across social media platforms. His Ramadan recitations included passages from such Surahs as Mu'minoon, Luqman, Shu'ara, Ahzab, Qiyamah, Saad, Yusuf, Rahman and Waqi‘ah. By 2014, reports described over 10,000 worshippers attending his Taraweeh Prayers at Dakheel, with the congregation often spilling into the Riyadh streets surrounding Masjid al-Dakheel, leading to police being deployed to organise traffic during the final ten nights of Ramadan.

Imam of Masjid al-Haram

On 29 Sha'ban 1436 AH (15 June 2015), King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued an order for Yasser al-Dosari to become one of the Imams of Taraweeh and Tahajjud at Masjid al-Haram during Ramadan. He carried out that role for five years.

On 13 Safar 1441 AH (12 October 2019), King Salman appointed Al-Dosari as a permanent Imam at Masjid al-Haram. Believed to be the youngest imam appointed at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, he led his first prayer at Masjid al-Haram during the Maghrib and Isha prayers on Saturday, 13 October 2019.

About three years after his appointment as Imam, Sheikh Abdul-Rahman Al-Sudais announced that Al-Dosari had also been appointed as a Khateeb of Masjid al-Haram, with King Salman's approval, in December 2022.

After the completion of his four-year contract as Imam, Al-Dosari was excused from the post in October 2023. Many called for his return, with an online survey showing that 94% of worshippers wished to see him reinstated as Imam. Nearly six months later, on Sha'ban 26, 1445 AH (7 March 2024), Al-Sudais announced Al-Dosari's re-appointment as Imam of Masjid al-Haram, effective from Ramadan 1445 AH (2024).

Advisory role

Aside from being an Imam, Yasser al-Dosari has also been an adviser to the General Presidency of the Haramain since 2020. He was appointed to that position after Abdul-Rahman Al-Sudais, head of the General Presidency of the Haramain, decided to reorganise the ranks of the agency's advisory body.

Publications

Yasser al-Dosari has authored a number of scholarly works in the fields of Quranic sciences and comparative fiqh; sources report a body of work totalling around thirty-three titles. His writings include Al-Dawabit al-Fiqhiyya fi al-Sabq wa-l-Ju'ala Jam'an wa-Dirasatan ("Legal Rulings on Racing Contests and Reward Contracts: A Compilation and Study"), considered a notable reference work in the area of Islamic fiqh.

Recognition

Yasser al-Dosari has been listed by Insan magazine as one of the most influential personalities in Saudi society.

See also

• Imams of Masjid al-Haram
• Abdul-Rahman Al-Sudais
• Nasser Al-Qatami

External links

• Yasir al-Dawsari on X