Personal Info
- Country of residence: Portugal
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Youssef Jumaa Abdel-Hadi Salama was born in the Maghazi refugee camp near Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip on October 16, 1954, to a Palestinian refugee family originally from the depopulated village of Beit Tima in the occupied Gaza Strip. He completed his primary and secondary education in Gaza schools, earned a bachelor's degree in Islamic Theology from Al-Azhar University in 1984, a master's degree in Islamic Law from Algeria in 2001, and a doctorate from Al-Zaytuna University in Tunisia in 2005. He also obtained a license to practice Sharia law.
He worked as a teacher between (1974-1984), an imam and preacher of the Grand Mosque in Al-Maghazi camp, the director of public relations at Al-Azhar University between (1984-1990), the head of the Academic Council at Al-Azhar University for two years, the director of preaching and religious guidance at Al-Azhar University between (1992-1993), and a lecturer therein between (1993-1994). He was appointed as an assistant undersecretary in the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs between (1994-1996), then as deputy minister of endowments between (1996-1998).
He was a preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque, and deputy head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem. He then became acting Minister of Endowments between (1998-2005), then Minister of Endowments between (2005-2006), then Dean of Al-Azhar Institutes in Palestine by virtue of a presidential decree issued in 2015.
He was a member of the Advisory Council of the Faculty of Qur’an and Islamic Studies at Al-Quds University/Abu Dis, a member of the Board of Trustees of Al-Azhar University in Gaza, and a representative of Palestine in the Founding Council of the Muslim World League.
He was interested in developing the Ministry of Endowments, and contributed to strengthening its role in the scientific and research aspect. He was active in the field of Sharia education, so he opened a number of Sharia schools and the College of Islamic Call in its two locations in Gaza and Qalqilya, and associations for memorizing the Holy Qur’an, and he established the Palestinian Recitation Council and the Forum of Memorizers, and he opened the Holy Qur’an Radio, and he printed the Al-Aqsa Mosque Qur’an in 2004, and he announced the Al-Aqsa International and Local Competition in memorizing and interpreting the Holy Qur’an in 2005, and the Yasser Arafat Prize for Islamic Studies and Research.
He ran on the Fatah movement's list for the Palestinian legislative elections that were scheduled to be held in 2021.
He published a number of books, studies and articles, including: Religious Guidance on the Innovations of Mourning (1975), Religious Guidance on the Path to a Happy Islamic Marriage (1977), A General Summary of the Rulings on Sacrifice (1990), Dialogue in Islam (1997), Moderation in Islam (1999), Human Rights in Islam (2001), The Islamic Dimension of the Palestinian Cause (2002), The Status of Palestine in the Book and Sunnah (2003), Religious Freedom in Islam (2004), The Rites of Hajj and Umrah (2005), A Guide to Salvation in the Rulings of Purification and Prayer (2010), and The Rulings of Fasting in the Month of Ramadan (2010).
He was martyred as a result of a raid on his home in Al-Maghazi camp on December 31, 2023. His wife was also martyred in the same assassination incident, and a number of his family members were injured.
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