Scholar. Mustafa al-Zarqa ranked among the top Islamic scholars of twentieth century. He taught fiqh, civil law, hadith and other disciplines and worked as a lawyer. His famous book, Al Madkhal al-Fiqhi al-A'am, (Comprehensive Introduction to Islamic Law) in two large volumes bridges the gap between traditional Islamic scholarship and modern study. Mustafa joined politics and took part in the independence of Syria from French. After independence, he was involved in the drafting and enactment of the family and civil laws in Syria. The Arab League sought his help to formulate a unified civil law for all Arab countries on the basis of Islamic jurisprudence. He supervised the preparation of the Encyclopaedia of Islamic Fiqh in Kuwait. He served for many years on the Islamic Fiqh Council in Makkah and Islamic University of Madinah. Mustafa al-Zarqa looked at Islamic rules from a very broad perspective, and to him Islam is meant to be implemented in all societies and at all times; hence flexibility and practicality. In 1984, he was awarded the King Faisal International Prize for his work on Islamic Fiqh. Mustafa al-Zarqa was born in Aleppo, Syria into a family with long history of learning and Islamic scholarship and died in Riyadh.