Al‑Kawthari

Muhammad Zahid Hasan (محمد زاهد حسن; c. 1879–1952), commonly known by the al-Kawthari (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 to avoid crackdown by the Atatürkists. He then resided in Cairo and became a well-known scholar there.

Al-Kawthari was a staunch critic of Salafism and wrote works against Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim. Al-Kawthari is widely honored by modern Hanafis and Maturidis. He is considered a leading of the Ottoman era.

Biography
Muhammad Zahid Hasan was born in 1879 in Düzce, then part of the Ottoman Empire. His family was of Circassian descent. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Atatürkists began a violent crackdown on the religious scholarly class.

Fearing that his life may be in danger, al-Kawthari fled to Cairo, then to Syria and finally returning to Cairo. There, he edited classical works of Fiqh, Hadith and Usul, bringing them back into circulation. In particular, he wrote short biographies of prominent personalities of the Hanafi school of thought. A staunch Maturidi,. he held a critical view of the Medieval Scholar Ibn Taymiyya and his student Ibn al-Qayyim.

Scholarly works

 * Tabdid al-Zalam al-Mukhim min Nuniyyat Ibn al-Qayyim - Refutation of Ibn al-Qayyim.
 * Bulugh al-Amani fi Sirat al-Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani - a short biography of Imam Abu Hanifa's student who would compile the Zahir al-Riwaya.
 * Al-Fara'id al-Wafiya fi `Ilmay al-`Arud wa al-Qafya - (The Abundant Peerless Matters in the Two Sciences of Prosody and Rhyme).
 * Fiqh Ahl al-`Iraq wa Hadithuhum: Originally an introduction to Nasb al-Raya, it was published separately with Shaykh Abdul Fattah's footnotes.
 * Hanin al-Mutafajji` wa Anin al-Mutawajji`- a poem on the horrors of World War I.
 * Al-Hawi fi Sira al-Imam Abi Ja`far al-Tahawi - a biography of Imam Al-Tahawi.
 * Husn al-Taqadi fi Sira al-Imam Abi Yusuf al-Qadi - a biography of Imam Abu Yusuf.
 * Al-Istibsar fi al-Tahadduth `an al-Jabr wa al-Ikhtiyar - (The Obtainment of Insight Concerning Determinism and Freedom of Choice).
 * Maqalaat ul Kawthari - a collection of his articles.
 * Al-Insaf fima Yajib I'tiqaduh (edited by him).
 * Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari fima Nusiba ila al-Imam Abi al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (edited by him).

Assessment and legacy
Mufti Muhammad Anwar Khan Qasmi, a Deobandi scholar, has recently translated many of Kawthari's works into Urdu and published them in Indian academic journals and magazines. For example, al-La Madhhabiyya Qintarat al-La Diniyya, an article Kawthari wrote equating non-adherence to the schools of jurisprudence to irreligiousness, was translated by Qasmi with extensive footnotes and introduction by him and published by Deoband Islamic Research and Education Trust in 2013 under the title of Ghayr Muqallidiyyat: Ilhad Ka Darwaza. Also, Qasmi translated Kawthari's extensive introduction to Imam Ibn `Asakir's Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari, published by the same center in Deoband in 2013, under the title of Islami Firqe: Eik jaiza. Qasmi also translated and edited in Urdu one of his great books called Fiqh Ahl al-`Iraq wa Hadīthuhum, initially an introduction to Naṣb al-Rāyah, which was published separately with ʿAbdul Fattāḥ's footnotes. On the same pattern, other books of Kawthari like min ʿIbar al-Tārīkh fi al-Kayd lil-Islam, and his introduction to the book al-Asmā wa al-Sifāt of Bayhaqī, and Kawthari's footnotes on Dhahabi's Bayan Zaghal al-Ilam were also edited and translated by Qasmi and published by the same center in Deoband.