Born in Ta'if to a Sharifian family, al-Awni completed his BA, MA and PhD in Sharia at the College of Da'wah and Fundamentals of Religion at Umm al-Qura University, where he later became Associate Professor.
[4] Al-Awni argues that some Wahhabi and Salafi clerics definition of worship (ibadah) is incorrect, stating it is a "specific action of the heart" and emphasizing the importance of intentions.
[5] He also argues for limited freedom of thought, where people would be free to hold views as long as they do not encourage criminal acts, exploit ignorance or undermine the "fundamentals of religion".
[5] In al-Awni's view, the doctrine of al-Wala' wal-Bara' is fundamental to belief but does not preclude acting judiciously and humanely to unbelievers who are peaceful toward Muslims.
[5] On 3 August 2014, al-Awni published an essay entitled "The Lazy Scholars", in which he criticised the Saudi religious establishment for "lazily" responding to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).