Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Alawi ibn al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Aziz (1944–2004), also known asMuhammad ibn Alawi al-Maliki, (Arabic:محمد بن علوي المالكي) was one of the foremost traditionalSunniIslamic scholar of contemporary times fromSaudi Arabia.[2] He is considered to be theMujaddid of 20th-21st century.[3][4]
The Maliki family is one of the most respected families in Mecca and has produced great scholars who taught in the Haram of Mecca for centuries. In fact, five of the Sayyid's ancestors have been the MalikiImams of theHaram of Mecca. Muhammad ibn Alawi al-Maliki was born inMecca. Due to the well-known nature of their family, they preferred to teach themselves in theSacred Holy Mosque.[2][5]
With his father's instruction, he also studied and mastered the various traditional Islamic sciences ofAqidah,Tafsir,Hadith,Seerah,Fiqh,Usul,Mustalah,Nahw, etc. Scholars of Mecca, as well asMedina, all of whom granted him fullIjazah to teach these sciences to others. Some of the scholars from whom he obtainedijazahs and chains of transmission from include: His father, 'Alawi ibn 'Abbas al-Maliki al-Hasani, al-Habib Ahmad Mashhur Taha al-Haddad, Hasanain Makhlouf,Muhammad al-'Arabi al-Tabbani,[6] Muhammad Hafidh al-Tijani, Amin Kutbi,Mustafa Raza Khan, and numerous others.[7]
Despite criticism of him, al-Maliki retained prominence. In an attempt to counter Wahabism in the early 1990s, theGovernment of Saudi Arabia began supporting practitioners of Sufism in the Hijaz region as a way to bolster religious support of the state; al-Maliki became the self-imposed leader of Hijazi Sufism under state sponsorship, with several thousand supporters.[8]
He died in 2004 and was buried in Mecca. After his death, Saudi dignitaries made condolence visits to his family.[9] Crown Prince 'Abd Allah (the future king) was quoted as stating that al-Maliki "was faithful both to his religion and country"[10] as one western journalist noted, "the rehabilitation of his legacy was almost complete."[11]
^Marion Holmes Katz, The Birth of the Prophet Muhammad: Devotional piety in Sunni Islam, p. 215.ISBN0203962141. Publication Date: June 6, 2007. See Khalid ' Abd Allah, " al-Amlr Sultan yazuru usrat al-Duktur Muhammad 'Alawl al-Malikl mu'azziyan," Jaridat al-Riyad, 19 Ramadan 1425 (accessed at www.alriyadh.com/Contents/02-l l-2004/Mainpage/LOCALl_24136.php on May 25, 2006).
^Marion Holmes Katz, The Birth of the Prophet Muhammad: Devotional piety in Sunni Islam, p. 215.ISBN0203962141. Publication Date: June 6, 2007. Quoting Ambah, "In Saudi Arabia," p. A13.
