Nasib al-Bitar

قاضي القدس الشرعي الأسبق فضيلة الشيخ نسيب البيطار

Judge Sheikh Nasib Al Bitar (1890 – 1948) was born in the city of Nablus in Palestine on June 13 in the year 1890 as the second son of Al Sayed Said Al Bitar Al Husseini. He finished his elementary education in Nablus on July 13, 1902. He completed Al Rushdieh by 1905.

For his college education he started in Nablus and then went to Al Azhar Al Shareef in Cairo for his university degree. He then went to Istanbul for his higher education in Islamic Law. He finished as the First World War broke out.

As a new graduate he was recruited by the Ottoman Army sent to the Military Cadet School and graduated as an officer. He served gallantly for about four years moving up the ranks, thus got his share of the First World War and a medal for his honorable service.

After the War he worked all over Palestine in Islamic Law courts, starting in Java in 1921, to Jerusalem in 1923 followed by Gaza as an Islamic Judge in 1938, Nazareth and Jenine came later in 1942 together with Beisan. He then was appointed to Haifa in 1944. Finally back to Jerusalem in 1946 as the Jerusalem Islamic Judge.

Until one day during the 1948 War and as a result of it, he felt very sick and had to be taken to the Italian Hospital in Amman, Jordan. There he died on June 26, 1948. He was buried in Nablus, Palestine.

He wrote a unique book about the law of inheritance in Islam first published on the 30th of September in the Year 1931 under the title AlFareedah Fi Hisab AlFareeddaالفريدة في حساب الفريضة.

When he died it was discovered that he was in the process of writing another book on the same topic in Turkish, unfortunately he could not finish the manuscript.

A nice paragraph was written about him in a book entitled Men from Palestine, رجال من فلسطين written by the famous Arab Scholar Ajaj Nuweihedعجاج نويهض.

Whenever he went to Nablus he was always invited to lead the prayers in the main Mosque as a gesture of respect. He was an expert in Arabic calligraphy and sometimes gave lessons of "Al Khat Alarabi" at "Al Rawdah College" in Jerusalem next to the court-house.

Life Coincidences

One astonishing fact was the death of Sheik Nasib and his wife Bahija.

a) He died in 1948, She died in 1967 both years had wars. b) He died on June 26, 1948; she also died on June 26, 1967. They died two wars apart. c) He died at the Italian Hospital in Amman; she also died at the same hospital.

See also

• Islamic inheritance jurisprudence