Muhamad Abu Snina

Muhamad Abu Snina, one of Libya’s finest reciters

Sheikh Muhamad Abu Snina, whose full name is Muhammad Ahmed Ali Abu Snina, is regarded as one of the most prominent reciters and sheikhs in Libya in particular and in the Muslim world in general. He combined a beautiful voice, a refined style, and mastery of the rules of recitation and Tajweed. He was born in the city of Benghazi in 1928.

As a child, Sheikh Muhamad Abu Snina grew up in a conservative environment that cherished religious values and Islamic ethics. He began memorizing the Holy Quran at the Al-Mukahhal Mosque under its imam, Sheikh Othman al-Jahani, before moving on to the Al-Sallak and Al-Wuhayshi mosques, where he completed his memorization of the Quran under Sheikh Saad Irhim al-Darsi and Sheikh Muhammad al-Sawadani.

In addition to these two eminent sheikhs, Abu Snina studied under a number of well-known scholars in Libya and regularly attended the study circles they held here and there. Among them, for example, were Sheikh Mahmoud Dahmish, with whom he reviewed the Quran and learned Tajweed and the narration of Imam Nafi’, and Sheikh Hussein Youssef Boudajaja, the Grand Mufti of Libya, who granted him an ijazah in Quran memorization and the Islamic sciences.

Later, in 1949, he traveled to Egypt to enroll at the venerable Al-Azhar. He was examined by the eminent scholar Mansour al-Mahjoub, a professor of graduate studies at Al-Azhar, together with a group of sheikhs; he performed brilliantly and was admitted to the College of Sharia. Contrary to all expectations, Sheikh Muhamad Abu Snina declined this honor and insisted on starting his Al-Azhar studies from the very beginning. When the Sheikh of Al-Azhar expressed his surprise, he told him: “I have come for knowledge, not for certificates.” After successfully completing the preparatory stage at Al-Azhar, he joined the College of Sharia and Law, from which he graduated with honors.

After graduating from Al-Azhar and marrying an Egyptian woman, he returned to his country in 1964, bringing with him a valuable library rich in rare books and manuscripts. In recognition of his knowledge and competence, he was appointed to the Libyan judiciary. He served in several courts in Al-Marj, Al-Bayda, and Derna before becoming president of the Ajdabiya Court of First Instance, then head of the Sharia judiciary at the Benghazi court, then a counselor at the same court, and finally its president.

His career in the judiciary and in religious scholarship left an excellent reputation. Among his most notable contributions were a study on the rulings of divorce, in which he sought to cover the full range of opinions and schools of thought; his involvement in preaching and religious lectures; and his appearances on radio and television, not to mention the lessons he gave in mosques large and small.

He was known for his interest in the Sufi orders, in which he saw sincerity, devotion, and love. After a life full of giving, illness took him by surprise and death came swiftly: he answered his Lord’s call on June 27, 1990. His funeral was attended by a group of Benghazi’s scholars and notables, and he was laid to rest in the Sidi Obeid cemetery in Benghazi.