RIYADH — Well-known Hadith scholar, educator and community figure Sheikh Muhammad Mustafa Azmi who taught at two of Saudi Arabia's top universities died in Riyadh early Wednesday.

He was buried after funeral prayers at Al-Rajhi Mosque in Riyadh following the Dhuhr prayer.

Hailing from Mau, Uttar Pradesh in India, the 87-year-old sheikh was a product of the well-known Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband in India. He later studied at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He obtained is PhD in "Studies in the Early Hadith Literature" from Cambridge University in 1964.

In 1968, the sheikh was appointed an associate professor at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah. In 1973, he moved to King Saud University as professor of Hadith sciences. He remained in the position until his retirement in 1991.

The sheikh oversaw many research projects on different aspects of Hadith carried out by the students of both Umm Al-Qura and King Saud universities. He also served as member of many educational and research institutions across Saudi Arabia.

In addition to holding various academic positions in the Kingdom and abroad, Sheikh Azmi was also a visiting scholar at the universities of Michigan, Colorado, Princeton and Wales, among others.

In 1980, the Kingdom honored Sheikh Azmi with the prestigious King Faisal Award for his works in Hadith literature. — SG