Shaykh ‘Abdul-Razzaq ibn ‘Afifi ibn ‘Atiyyah was born in Shanshur, Ashmoun Center, Al-Munufiyyah Governorate in 1323 A.H.
After finishing elementary, preparatory, and secondary school, Shaykh ‘Abdul-Razzaq gained his Master’s degree in 1351 A.H. and his Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and its Principles from Al-Azhar University in Cairo.
He was appointed as a teacher in the Educational Institute of Al-Azhar. He was then seconded to the Saudi Ministry of Education as a teacher in 1368 A.H., corresponding to 1949 A.D. He was then appointed as a teacher at the Dar at-Tawhid in Ta’if. In 1370 A.H., he was transferred to the Educational Institute in ‘Unayzah in Muharram. He was then transferred to Riyadh towards the end of Shawwal in 1370 A.H. to teach at the Educational Institute of His Eminence Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al Al-Shaykh. He was transferred to teach in the faculties of Shari’ah and Linguistics, and in 1385 A.D. was appointed as the Principal of the High Judicial Institute. He was transferred to the General Presidency of the Departments of Scholarly Research, Ifta’, Da`wah, and Guidance in 1391 A.H. He was subsequently appointed as both Deputy Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’ and as a member of the Council of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Allah endowed him with the gift of strong memory, observation, and understanding of oneself. He dedicated his efforts to seeking knowledge outside Al-Azhar University and attached great importance to the linguistics, exegesis, principles of jurisprudence, beliefs, and Sunnah. Such was his knowledge, that if someone was to speak to him about any of these subjects, then the listener would think he was a specialist in the field spending all his time on it.
He paid special attention to studying the conditions of the different sects. This made the students of knowledge approach and listen to him all the time, and many people benefitted from his knowledge. He also supervised the theses of the postgraduate students, took part in the committees discussing the theses, gave lessons to the students of knowledge in the mosques, gave lectures, and took part in the work of the Da`wah centers at the time of Hajj.