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Muhammad Abu Zahra (Arabic: محمد أبو زهرة), (1898–1974) was an Egyptian public
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator o ...
and an influential
Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named ...
jurist. He occupied a number of positions; he was a lecturer of
Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...
at
Al-Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...
and a professor at
Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...
. He was also a member of the Islamic Research Academy. His works include
Abu Hanifa Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Mus ...
,
Malik Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic duri ...
and
al-Shafi'i Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī ( ar, أَبُو عَبْدِ ٱللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ ٱلشَّافِعِيُّ, 767–19 January 820 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian, writer, and schol ...
.


Biography

Abu Zahra was born on March 29, 1898 in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, the second largest city in the
Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to ...
.Scholar of renown: Muhammad Abu Zahrah
Ed. Adil Salahi for Arab News. Published Wednesday, 14 November 2001; accessed Sunday 9 June 2013.
In 1913, he completed high school and enrolled in the Ahmadi Madrasa in
Tanta Tanta ( ar, طنطا ' , ) is a city in Egypt with the country's fifth largest populated area and 658,798 inhabitants as of 2018. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia ...
. In 1916, he scored highest on the entry examination for the judiciary institute in the
Gharbia Governorate Gharbia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الغربية ', ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north of the country, south of Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, and north of Monufia Governorate. Its capital is Tanta, which is 90&n ...
despite being several years younger and less experienced than his colleagues. Having been rooted in traditional Azharite education, and never having studied in Europe or in Egyptian Westernized schools, Abu Zahra has been criticized by Orientalists as having a superficial grasp of Western methods.Patrice Brodeur (1999), "Arabic Muslim Writings on Contemporary Religions Other Than Islam." Taken from ''Muslim Perceptions of Other Religions : A Historical Survey: A Historical Survey'', p. 244. Ed. Jacques Waardenburg.
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
:
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
. .
He taught at
al-Azhar Al-Azhar Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit=The Resplendent Congregational Mosque, arz, جامع الأزهر, Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic ...
's faculty of
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
and later, as Professor of Islamic law at
Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...
. Between 1933 and 1942, he taught courses on the history of religions, denominations and sects at Azhar, during which time his lectures on
comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...
and
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
were given, though the latter were not published until 1965. His books include biographies of
Abū Ḥanīfa Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Musl ...
,
Malik ibn Anas Malik ibn Anas ( ar, مَالِك بن أَنَس, ‎ 711–795 CE / 93–179 AH), whose full name is Mālik bin Anas bin Mālik bin Abī ʿĀmir bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith bin Ghaymān bin Khuthayn bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith al-Aṣbaḥī ...
,
Al-Shafi'i Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī ( ar, أَبُو عَبْدِ ٱللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ ٱلشَّافِعِيُّ, 767–19 January 820 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian, writer, and schol ...
,
Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Dhuhli ( ar, أَحْمَد بْن حَنْبَل الذهلي, translit=Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal al-Dhuhlī; November 780 – 2 August 855 CE/164–241 AH), was a Muslim jurist, theologian, ascetic, hadith traditionist, and ...
,
Zayd ibn Ali Zayd ibn Zayn al-Abidin ( ar, زيد بن زين العابدين; 695–740), also spelled Zaid, was the son of Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, and great-grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib. He led an unsuccessful revolt against the Umayyad Calipha ...
, Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-'Abidin,
Ja'far as-Sadiq Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765  CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian.. He was the founder of the ...
,
Dawud al-Zahiri Dāwūd bin ʿAlī bin Khalaf al-Ẓāhirī ( ar, داود بن علي بن خلف الظاهري) (c. 815–883/4 CE, 199-269/270 AH) was a Persian Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian during the Islamic Golden Age, specialized in the st ...
,
Ibn Hazm Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥazm ( ar, أبو محمد علي بن احمد بن سعيد بن حزم; also sometimes known as al-Andalusī aẓ-Ẓāhirī; 7 November 994 – 15 August 1064Ibn Hazm. ' (Preface). Tr ...
and
Ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyyah (January 22, 1263 – September 26, 1328; ar, ابن تيمية), birth name Taqī ad-Dīn ʾAḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Numayrī al-Ḥarrānī ( ar, تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد الحليم � ...
, as well as works on personal status, endowments (''waqf''), property, and crime and punishment in Islamic law.


Views on Salafi movement and Salafi Theology

Based on Abu'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi's criticism of ''
Athari Atharī theology or Atharism ( ar, الأثرية: / , "archeological"), otherwise referred to as Traditionalist theology or Scripturalist theology, is one of the main Sunni schools of Islamic theology. It emerged as an Islamic scholarly movem ...
-
Hanbalis The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools ('' madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal ...
,'' Muhammad Abu Zahra deduced that ''Salafi
aqidah ''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means " creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology. ''Aqidah'' go beyond concise state ...
'' is located somewhere between
ta'tili In Islamic theology, taʿṭīl ( ar, تَعْطِيل‎) means "divesting" God of His attributes. The word literally means to suspend and stop the work and refers to a form of apophatic theology which is said because God bears no resemblance t ...
and
tashbih ''Tashbih'' ( ar, تشبيه) is an Islamic religious concept meaning anthropomorphism, assimilating/comparing God to His creatures. In Islamic theology, two opposite terms are attributed to Allah, ''tashbih'' and '' tanzih'' (transcendence). ...
.Muhammad Abu Zahra, ''The history of Madhhabs and
Schools of Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding ''Aqidah, ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, ...
in Islam-Chapter on Wahhabi Movement.''


Views on the Wahhabi movement

Regarding
Wahhabism Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic Islamic revival, revivalist and Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabians, ...
, Abu Zahra said: "The Wahhabis exaggerated nd bowdlerizedIbn Taymiyya's positions ... The Wahhabis did not restrain themselves to proselytism only, but resorted to warmongering against whoever disagreed with them on the grounds that they were fighting innovation (''bid`a''), and innovations are an evil that must be fought.... Whenever they were able to seize a town or city they would come to the tombs and turn them into ruins and destruction ... and they would destroy whatever mosques were with the tombs also.... Their brutality did not stop there but they also came to whatever graves were visible and destroyed them also. And when the ruler of the Hijaz regions caved in to them they destroyed all the graves of the Companions and razed them to the ground.... In fact, it has been noticed that the Ulema of the Wahhabis consider their own opinions correct and not possibly wrong, while they consider the opinions of others wrong and not possibly correct. More than that, they consider what others than themselves do in the way of erecting tombs and circumambulating them, as near to idolatry.... In this respect they are near the Khawarij who used to declare those who dissented with them apostate and fight them as we already mentioned."Muhammad Abu Zahra, ''Tarikh al-Madhahib al-Islamiyya'', pp. 235-38


Views on Ahmadiyya Movement

According to Muhammad Abu Zahra, ''Ghulam Ahmad'' deviated from the mainstream
aqidah ''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means " creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology. ''Aqidah'' go beyond concise state ...
of Islam due to his distinct views which is not shared by any other
Schools of Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding ''Aqidah, ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, ...
. First of all, ''Ghulam'' claimed that he found the grave of
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
which is not accepted by any other Islamic school of divinity. In addition, ''Ghulam Ahmad'' conceded that the soul and the power of
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
incarnated to his body due to his discovery of
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
's grave. Because of this reason, his words are indisputable and absolute ''(Haqq)''. Moreover, ''Ahmad'' declared that he was authorized by Allah ''(Jalla Jalaalahoo)'' to make any revisions and modernization of ''
Dīn Dīn ( ar, دين, Dīn, also anglicized as Deen) is an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion. It is used by both Muslims and Arab Christians. In Islamic terminology, the word refers to the way of life Muslims ...
,'' since he is the ''
Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad w ...
.'' Furthermore, ''Ghulam'' does not give permission to Ahmadi-Women to get married with the other Muslim-Men of non-Ahmadi Muslim sects. This is clearly admission of the
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...
of the other madhhabs as Non-Muslims. Therefore, it is a justification that non-Ahmadis are being considered as Non-Muslims (according to the theological discourse developed) by ''
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdi—which is the metaphori ...
.''Muhammad Abu Zahra, ''The history of Madhhabs and
Schools of Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding ''Aqidah, ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, ...
in Islam-Chapter on
Ahmadiyya movement Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
.


Works

Abu Zahra wrote over a dozen books, amongst them: * ''Tarikh al-Madhahib al-Islamiyya'' (History of the Islamic Schools) * ''al-'Alaqat al-Dawliyah fi al-Islam'' (International Relations in Islam) * ''Zahrat al-Tafasir''. * ''Al-Jarīmah wa al-‛Uqūbah fī al-Fiqh al-Islāmī''. * ''Al-Mujtama‛ al-Insānī fī Zill al-Islām''. (Human Society in the Shade of Islam) * ''Sīrah Khātam al-Nabiyyīn''. * ''Tanzīm al-Islām lil-Mujtama‛''. * ''Ilm Usul al-Fiqh''.


Notes


External links


Muhammad Abu Zahrah
International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia
Scholar of renown: Muhammad Abu Zahrah
Arab News
Bibliography
at
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Zahra, Muhammad Hanafis Asharis Maturidis Mujaddid 20th-century Muslim theologians Sunni imams Sunni fiqh scholars Egyptian Muslim scholars of Islam Quranic exegesis scholars Al-Azhar University faculty Cairo University faculty People from El Mahalla El Kubra 1898 births 1974 deaths