Kuftaro's family originated from the village of Karma in the district of Ömerli in Mardin Province, Turkey. In 1878, the Kuftaro family moved to Damascus and settled near the Abu al-Nur mosque in the Kurdish quarter. Kuftaro's father, Amin Kuftaro, received a traditional education and started working at the Sa'id Pasha mosque. His first wife was Najiya Sinjabi and he had four sons and two daughters with her: Musa, Taufiq, Ahmad, Ibrahim, Zaynab and Fatima. With his second wife, Is'af Badir, he had three children, Rabi', 'Abd al-Qadir and Rabi'a. He became a student of Isa al-Kurdi, from whom he has an Ijazah for the spiritual guidance Irshad of Sufi adepts in the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi-Khalidi-Sufi order. Later Amin Kuftaro took over as the head of this particular tariqa. At the time there were many Sufi shaikhs and Sufi traditions present in Damascus. Ahmed Kuftaro was born in Damascus between 1912 and 1915.
Classic education in Damascus
Kuftaro's father insisted that he first receive a classic education in Quran, Tafsir, Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence, namely Shafi'iMadhhab with Muslim scholars in Damascus. His father introduced him to Sufism and the Naqshbandi Sufi order. He was taught by Sufi masters Ali al-Takriti, Muhammad Abu al-Khair al-Midani, and Amin al-Zamalkani. He also went on at least one khalwa. In 1929, he married the fourteen-year-old Arab girl Hawwa Milli, who gave birth to his twelve children: Umar, Fu'ad, Khadija, Wisal, Muhammad, Muhammad Amin, Mahmud, Zahir, Hasan, Ihsan, Wafa', and Salah.
Taking over as a Sufi shaikh
Kuftaro was appointed as the head of Naqshbandiya Tariqa by his father. In the early 1940s he supported a stronger cooperation among the Ulama of Damascus and claimed to have founded the Ulama Association in 1944. In the early 1960s, he gathered more than 2,000 male and female participants in the ancient Abu al-Nur mosque for his Thursday lessons on Islam and his Friday khutbah. From 1959 to 1964 he made 120 radio broadcasts. Unlike most Ulama at that time, he was open towards the media and used it.
Abu al-Nur Islamic Center
The Abu al-Nur mosque was originally built with clay and wood. In the early 1970s, it was replaced by a huge concrete building with seven floors flanked by two 65-meter minarets. It became the center of official state Islam in Syria and propagated a sharia-oriented interpretation of Sufism with an uncritical attitude towards the increasingly expanding police state under President Hafiz al-Assad. It housed a cafeteria for students with 450 seats and sanitary facilities. In an annex was the tomb of the Kuftaro family. On the first floor was an intermediary and secondary school in the morning and university lectures in the afternoon. The actual mosque with a huge prayer hall was in the center. In 1987, the Syrian government decided to close all Islamic schools across the country, including the Abu Al-Noor institute. Kuftaro changed the name of the school to Al-Asad Institute for Learning Qur'an the day before it was closed. The closure happened throughout Syria and allowed branches in each mosque in the country to open Qu'ran learning programs. The building also comprised private apartments for disciples of the shaikh, offices, a library, and a shop. In 1987, the Shaikh Amin Kaftaru Institute for Arabic Language Teaching was opened to male students and expanded over the years. In 1988, a language school for female students was opened next to the mosque. By the 1990s, four universities were receiving students globally.
Career in the Ifta' Administration
In 1948, Kuftaro worked as a mosque teacher in Quneitra before moving to Damascus in 1950. Two years later, he became Mufti of the Shafi'i Madhhab in Damascus and a member of the Higher Ifta Council under Colonel Adib al-Shishakli. Kuftaro's political instinct aligned him with the Syrian Baath Party in 1955. He reportedly supported the Baath Party candidate in the 1955 election for an open seat in parliament.
The Grand Mufti of Syria
On October 26, 1964, an election committee consisting of 36 sheikhs met in the Ministry of Auqaf in Damascus; the Minister of Auqaf was also present. Two candidates stood for election: Hasan Habannaka al-Midani, who was extremely popular and had a high reputation as an Islamic scholar, and Ahmad Kaftaru. Kuftaro won by one vote and was appointed the new Grand Mufti of Syria. He headed the Ifta administration, which was part of the Ministry of Auqaf. In 1984 during his visit to Pakistan, a ruling decision added that the Grand Mufti should have a PhD and would hold the position for life. Kuftaro was awarded an honorary PhD from Omar Al-Farouq University in Pakistan, before being appointed Grand Mufti. Kuftaro survived more than seven presidents:
Ahmad Kaftaru advocated interreligious dialogue. He visited many countries as a representative of Syrian state Islam, including a 1985 visit with the Pope in Rome. He signed the Amman Message, a statement calling for tolerance and unity in the Muslim world that was issued on 9 November 2004 by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.
