Muhammad al-Jizawi (1874–1927) was an Egyptian religious scholar. He was

Grand Imam of al-Azhar The Grand Imam of al-Azhar (), also known as Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar (), is a prestigious and a prominent official title in Egypt and the Islamic world. The current Grand Imam is Ahmed el-Tayeb, who assumed the role on 10 March 2010. The Grand ...

from 1917 until 1927, an eventful time in Islam and the modern history of Al-Azhar University. Under his tenure he witnessed Egypt's 1919 revolution, and the

abolition of the Caliphate The Ottoman Caliphate, the world's last widely recognized caliphate, was abolished on 3 March 1924 (Rumi calendar, R.C. 1340) by decree of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The process was one of Atatürk's reforms following the replacemen ...

; The 1924 King Fuad I Edition of the

Qur’an The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

was published; and the Supreme Council of al-Azhar sentenced Ali Abdel Raziq to exclusion from the

Ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

. Abdel Raziq's brother would later become Grand Imam. Al-Jizawi was born in El-Warraq,

Giza Governorate Giza ( ') is one of the Subdivisions of Egypt#Governorates, governorates of Egypt. It is in the center of the country, situated mostly on the west bank of the Nile River opposite Cairo. Its capital is the city of Giza. It includes a stretch of ...

. He was from the Mālikī school, one of the four major schools of thought (''

madhhab A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni Islam, Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi school, Hanafi, Maliki school, Maliki, Shafi'i school, Shafi'i and Hanbali school, Hanbali. They ...

'') of

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

within

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

. The promotion of the Turkish language Quran necessitated consideration of the lawfulness of any translation from

Classical Arabic Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...

. Al-Jizawi argued against translation citing traditional law prohibiting travelling with the holy book to the lands of unbelievers lest the Quran should fall into their hands. In March 1924 he formed the Greater Committee for Religious Knowledge in direct response to the

collapse of the Caliphate The Ottoman Caliphate, the world's last widely recognized caliphate, was abolished on 3 March 1924 ( R.C. 1340) by decree of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The process was one of Atatürk's reforms following the replacement of the Ottom ...

and the issue of preaching in such an environment. Others included Shaikh Mustafa al-Maraghi. A resolution was adopted: :''Whereas the Caliphate in Islam implies general control of the spiritual and temporal affairs of Islam; Whereas the Turkish Government deprived the Caliph

Abdul Mejid ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of , ), also spelled as Abd ul Majid, Abd ul-Majid, Abd ol Majid, Abd ol-Majid, and Abdolmajid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Maj ...

of his temporal powers, thereby disqualifying him from becoming Caliph in the sense that Islam required; seeing that in principal the Caliph is destined to be the representative of the Prophet, safeguarding everything concerning Islam, which necessarily means the Caliph should be subject of respect, veneration and obedience; and whereas the Caliph Abdul Mejid no longer possesses such qualifications and has not even the power to live in his native land; now therefore it has been decided to convene an Islamic conference in which all Muslim nations shall be represented in order to consider who should be appointed Caliph...'' The Cairo Caliphate conference was eventually scheduled for May 1926 under al-Jizawi's presidency. Issues were the history of the Caliphate, the qualifications of a

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

. The conference clashed with the

Wahabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other p ...

inspired Muslim Congress, scheduled for that year in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Sulaymān al-Tamīmī (1703–1792) was a Sunni Muslim scholar, theologian, preacher, activist, religious leader, jurist, and reformer, who was from Najd in Arabian Peninsula and is considered as the eponymo ...

had founded a military movement, based on

Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...

theology, opposing the Ottoman Sultanate as illegitimate. The Indian Caliphate Committee had indicated their intention to send delegates to

.''The Cairo Caliphate Conference.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

Issue: 44257, 28 April 1926 On his death, Muhammad al-Jizawi was succeeded by Al-Maraghi.

References

External links

Muhammad Abu al-Fadl al-Jizawi
(محمد أبو الفضل الجيزاوي) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jizawi, Muhammad Grand Imams of al-Azhar 1874 births 1927 deaths