Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — World renowned Saudi Islamic figure and former Vice President of the Saudi Shoura Council and Secretary General of Muslim World League Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef passed away after prolonged illness. He was 86. Funeral prayer for Naseef was offered after Asr prayer at Al-Juffali Mosque and his body was buried at Al-Assad Cemetery in Jeddah on Sunday.

Naseef was born in Jeddah in 1939. After completing primary education, he obtained bachelor's degree in chemistry from King Saud University in 1964. He was holder of a doctorate degree in geology from the University of Leeds in 1971. He started his career as a teacher first at King Saud University in Riyadh and then at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. He continued to rise through the academic ranks, until becoming a professor and later appointed as the president King Abdulaziz University. He was also a fellow of the Geological Society of London and the Geological Society of America.

Dr. Naseef was awarded with the King Faisal Prize for Service to Islam in 1991 and the King Abdulaziz Medal of the First Class in 2004. In 1983 Nasseef was awarded the Bronze Wolf, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee, for exceptional services to world Scouting.

He served as Chief Scout and member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Boy Scouts Association, which he joined in 1956. Later, he served as president of the International Union of Muslim Scouts and member of the World Scout Committee.

Naseef has held several key positions both domestically and internationally. He served as secretary general of the Makkah-based Muslim World League from 1983 to 1993. During this period, he made outstanding contributions and exerted great efforts to study the conditions of Muslim minorities around the world and solve their problems. His efforts were highlighted in the Islamic Relief Project, known as "Sanabel Al-Khair," which aims to save the poor masses in the far reaches of the Islamic world from poverty, ignorance, and disease. He represented Saudi Arabia in several international conferences and forums, defending Islamic causes and calling for dialogue and understanding between peoples and religions.

He later served as vice president of the Saudi Shoura Council and carved his niche as a model of wisdom, broad vision, and service to the national interests. The positions held by Dr. Naseef include vice chairman of the Saudi National Dialogue Committee for 10 years, secretary general of the International Islamic Council for Call and Relief from 2008 to 2019, chairman of the Board of the International Islamic Relief Organization in 2000, president of the World Muslim Congress, vice chairman of the Saudi National Dialogue Committee for 10 years, and president of the Abdullah bin Omar Nassif Charitable Foundation.

Among the Arab and international positions that he held include member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Dar es Salaam in New Mexico, the Islamic American College in Chicago, the Royal Moroccan Academy, the Islamic Academy in Cambridge, and Vice President of the International Islamic University in Islamabad. He chaired the Boards of Trustees of the Islamic Cultural Center in Geneva, the Institute for the History of Arabic and Islamic Sciences at the University of Frankfurt, the Islamic Cultural Center in Sydney, the International Islamic University in Chittagong, Darul Ihsan University in Bangladesh, and the Islamic University in Niger.