Shaikh Bandar Abdul Azeez Baleelah Ph.D (Arabic: بندر بن عبد العزيز بليله), born in Mecca in 1975, is an imam of the Masjid Al-Haram, the Great Mosque of Mecca, the most sacred place for Muslims. He graduated from Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca as well as from the University of Medina. In 2001, he obtained a degree in Islamic jurisprudence from the Sharia faculty and Islamic study at UmAl Qura University. In 2008, Sheikh Baleela graduated from his doctorate at the University of Medina. After performing prayer in several mosques in Mecca, he was appointed imam of Mecca Grand Mosque1 in 2013. He led the prayer for the first time on the 15th Ramadan 1434 (July 23, 2013) during the Taraweeh (night prayer). Ramadan). Bandar Baleela was born in Mecca in 1975, and memorized the Quran at an early age. In 2001, he obtained a Master degree in Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), from the department of "Sharia and Islamic Studies" (Law and Islamic Studies) of Umm Al-Qura University, in Mecca. Later, in 2008, he validated his doctorate at the University of Medina, still in the field of Islamic jurisprudence. Two years later, he worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Tati, a position he still holds today. During the month of Ramadan 1434 (2013), the management committee of the Two Holy Mosques of Mecca and Medina, appeals to three new imams to lead the Tarawhi prayer: two in Medina, and one in Mecca, Sheikh Bandar Baleela. He will thus officiate his first prayer in the Masdjid Al-Haram, in front of hundreds of thousands of faithful on the night of the 15th Ramadan 1434 (July 23, 2013). Subsequently, he will be officially appointed to the permanent Imam position at the Great Mosque of Mecca on 4 Dhul-Hijja 1434 (October 9, 2013), and will conduct his first prayer (excluding Ramadan night prayer) the next day, in full Hajj period.

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