Biography
Traditional formation and advanced Islamic study
Mufti Abdul Waheed graduated from Darul-Uloom Bury in 2004 after completing the Dars-e-Nizami course. He holds Ijazah in various Islamic disciplines, including theology, Arabic, Usul al-Fiqh, Tafsir, Hadith studies and Hanafi Fiqh. His advanced studies were under scholars including Shaykh Yusuf Motala, Mufti Shabbir Ahmad Patel, Shaykh Abdur Raheem Limbada, Shaykh Sufi Tahir and Mufti Ibrahim Raja.
In 2005, he completed an intensive Ifta training course, answering over 600 legal queries while studying advanced Usul al-Fiqh, Qawaid al-Fiqh, inheritance and Hanafi legal texts. He then spent two years memorising the Qur'an and has regularly led Taraweeh prayers in California, USA, for over a decade.
University study and research
After completing his Alimiyyah, Ifta and Hifz, he enrolled at UCLAN University in 2006 for a foundation course in social work, followed by undergraduate studies in social sciences at Bradford University. His modules included sociology, psychology, racism studies, introduction to politics, political philosophy, critical thinking and comparative religion.
He dedicated six years to researching Minority Fiqh and Shari'ah Councils under Dr Shaykh Mufti Amjad Mohammad, completing a 30,000-word dissertation in 2020. In 2023, he completed an MA in Islamic Education: Theory and Practice at Warwick University. His dissertation focused on an empirical investigation of British Ifta pedagogy and earned a distinction under the supervision of Dr Abdullah Sahin.
He also completed Level 1 and Level 2 certificates in Islamic Psychology and Counselling from Al-Balagh Academy in 2024.
Research, teaching and contemporary fiqh
Mufti Abdul Waheed has served as a full-time researcher and director of the JKN Fatawa Department since 2008. His responsibilities include writing fatawas and research articles, delivering onsite workshops and webinars, and producing fatwa videos on contemporary fiqh topics. This work is featured on the JKN Fatawa website and approved by Shaykh Mufti Saiful Islam.
He also provides Islamic marriage advice and counselling through the department's extended services and has been invited by institutes, both online and onsite, to deliver workshops and talks offering practical guidance on navigating modern challenges in light of Islamic fiqh principles and spirituality.
At JKN Institute in Bradford, he lectures in Islamic sciences including Tafsir, Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Arabic syntax, Aqeedah and Islamic research. As an instructor at Al-Balagh Academy, he leads and teaches the Takhassus fil Fiqh course and regularly delivers intensive modules on contemporary fiqh topics, including advanced marriage and divorce and the challenges between traditionalism and modernity.