al‑Kawthari
Al-Kawthari | |
|---|---|
الكوثري | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Muhammad Zahid Hasan c. 1879 |
| Died | 1952 (aged 72–73) |
| Main interest(s) | Aqidah, Kalam (Islamic theology), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Hadith studies, Shari'a (Islamic law), Tasawwuf, Literature |
| Notable work(s) | Maqalat al-Kawthari, Mahq al-Taqawwul fi Mas'alat al-Tawassul, Al-Lamadhhabiyya Qantarat al-Ladiniyya |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Creed | Maturidi |
| Muslim leader | |
Muhammad Zahid ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī (Arabic: محمد زاهد ابن الحسن ابن علي; c. 1879–1952), commonly known by the nisba al-Kawthari (Arabic: الكوثري), was an Islamic scholar and theologian. A prolific author of over 40 works, al-Kawthari followed the Hanafi school of jurisprudence and championed the Maturidi school of theology.
A Circassian, al-Kawthari was born in Düzce, Ottoman Empire and studied at the Fatih Mosque, Istanbul. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, al-Kawthari fled to the Kingdom of Egypt in 1922 to avoid crackdown by the Kemalists. He then resided in Cairo and became a well-known scholar there.
Al-Kawthari authored numerous works defending traditional Hanafism and was a staunch critic of Salafism and Kemalism. He was known for authoring numerous works on the different Islamic Sciences and editing different manuscripts. He is widely honored by modern Hanafis, and is considered a leading Shaykh al-Islam of the Ottoman era.