Maher AlmuaiQLY

Maher ibn Hamad ibn Muaiqel al-Muaiqly al-Balawi (; born 7 January 1969) is an imam and preacher of the Grand Mosque of Mecca, Masjid al-Haram. In 2024, he delivered the Hajj sermon to a multitude of pilgrims gathered at Mount Arafat after prayers.

Education

Al-Muaiqly graduated from the Teachers College in Medina where he studied mathematics and moved to work in Makkah al-Mukarramah as a teacher. He then became a student guide at Prince Abdul Majeed School in Mecca. He holds a master's degree in 1425 AH in the jurisprudence of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal at the College of Shari'a at Umm al-Qura University and obtained a doctorate in interpretation. He works as an assistant professor in the Judicial Studies Department at the College of Judicial Studies and Regulations at Umm al-Qura University, and holds the position of Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research.

The thesis was entitled Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal Jurisprudence Issues according to the narration of Abd al-Malik al-Maimouni (collection and study). He obtained his doctorate from Umm al-Qura University in the 1432 AH, which is the research of the book (Tuhfat al-Nabih, Sharh al-Tanbih) on Borders and Districts (by Imam Shirazi in Shafi’i jurisprudence).

He also obtained a doctorate thesis entitled The Prophet's Masterpiece in Explanation of the Warning to al-Zanklouni al-Shafi'i, a Study and research of the Chapter on Borders and the Judiciary. The thesis was discussed in the King Abdul Aziz Hall. He obtained his doctorate in jurisprudence on 28 Muharram 1434, the Hijri equivalent to 12 December 2012 Gregorian.

He was subsequently promoted to the rank of professor in Islamic jurisprudence at Umm al-Qura University.

Imam of Grand Mosque He led the sermon of al-Saadi Mosque in al-Awali district in Mecca Province. He assumed the leadership of the prayer at the Prophet's Mosque during the month of Ramadan in 1426 AH and 1427 AH. And he led the Tarawih and Tahajjud prayers at the Grand Mosque during the month of Ramadan in 1428 AH, and he was appointed as an official Imam of the Grand Mosque in that year to date.