Al-Kawthari

Muhammad Zahid ibn Hasan al-Kawthari (1879-1951 or 1296 AH-1371 AH) was the adjunct to the last Sheikh al-Islam of the Ottoman Empire and a well known Hanafi jurist, historian, and master of hadith.^[1]

Later career

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire Kawthari moved to Cairo, then Sham, then returned to Cairo where he edited and brought back into circulation countless classical books of fiqh, hadith, and usul. He authored extensive and well-researched biographies of most of the great scholars of Hanafi Fiqh.^[2] Many of his books have been translated into Urdu by a Deobandi scholar and translator Mufti Muhammad Anwar Khan Qasmi, who is working on bringing all of his books into Urdu with commentary and footnotes.

A staunch Maturidi, he held a critical view of Medieval dogmatist Ibn Taymiyya.^[3] Kawthari was one of the teachers of Moroccan scholar Abdullah al-Ghumari, who would later go on to become one of Kawthari's most prominent detractors.^[4]

Scholarly works

1. Bulugh al-Amani fi Sira al-Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani - a biography of the foremost Hanafi authority after Imam Abu Hanifa.
2. Al-Fara'id al-Wafiya fi `Ilmay al-`Arud wa al-Qafya - (The Abundant Peerless Matters in the Two Sciences of Prosody and Rhyme)
3. Fiqh Ahl al-`Iraq - (The Jurisprudence of the Iraqi Scholars),Download part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5
4. Hanin al-Mutafajji` wa Anin al-Mutawajji`- a poem on the horrors of World War I.
5. Al-Hawi fi Sira al-Imam Abi Ja`far al-Tahawi - a biography of Imam Al-Tahawi
6. Husn al-Taqadi fi Sira al-Imam Abi Yusuf al-Qadi - a biography of Imam Abi Yusuf al-Qadi.
7. Al-Istibsar fi al-Tahadduth `an al-Jabr wa al-Ikhtiyar - (The Obtainment of Insight Concerning Determinism and Freedom of Choice).
8. Maqalaat ul Kawthari - a collection of his articles.

Many of his Arabic discourses have been translated by Mufti Muhammad Anwar Khan into Urdu and published in academic journals and magazines of India. One of his famous discourses refuting those who deny Taqlid was translated by Mufti Anwar Khan and published by Deoband Islamic Center in 2013 under the title of{غیر مقلدیت-الحاد کا دروازہ}. His extensive introduction to the book of Tabeen Kadhib Al-Muftari was also translated by the same scholar and published by the same Center in Deoband in 2013 under the title of{اسلامی فرقے-ایک جائزہ}.

References

1. From Living Islam by G.F. Haddad
2. From Living Islam by G.F. Haddad
3. From Living Islam by G.F. Haddad
4. Gibril Haddad, The Ghumari School. 6 December 2002: Living Islam. Last updated 2 June 2003.