Muhammad Mustafa Azmi

{{Short description|Indian-born Saudi Arabian hadith scholar (1930–2017)}}

{{Infobox religious biography

| name = Muhammad Mustafa Al-A‘zami

| image = Renowned Muhaddis Dr. Mohammad Mustufa Azmi is launching the 39 Electronic Books of Dr. Mohammad Najeeb Qasmi on 19 March 2016.jpg

| caption = Azmi (second from the left) while launching 39 electronic books of Mohammad Najeeb Qasmi

| birth_date = 1930

| birth_place = Mau, United Provinces, British India
(present-day Uttar Pradesh, India)

| death_date = 20 December 2017
(aged 86-87)

| death_place = Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

| resting_place = Al-Rajhi Mosque, Riyadh

| religion = Islam

| alma_mater = Darul Uloom Deoband
Al-Azhar University
University of Cambridge

| occupation = Muhaddith

| awards = King Faisal International Award in 1980 (Islamic Studies Branch)

| education =

}}

Muhammad Mustafa Al-A'zami ({{Langx|ar|محمد مصطفى الأعظمي}}; 1930 – 20 December 2017) was an Indian-born Saudi Arabian{{Cite web|date=2017-12-20|title=ولد بالهند ورحل بالسعودية وأدخل التقنية بالحديث.. من هو الشيخ الأعظمي؟|url=https://arabic.cnn.com/middle-east/2017/12/20/azami-saudi-passed-away|access-date=2021-11-17|website=CNN Arabic|language=ar}} contemporary hadith scholar best known for his critical investigation of the theories of fellow Islamic scholars Ignác Goldziher, David Margoliouth, and Joseph Schacht.

Life and education

He was born in Mau, India then in the Azamgarh district (hence his nisba) in the early part of the year 1930. Al-A'zami received his education successively at Darul Uloom Deoband (1952), Al-Azhar University (M.A., 1955), and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom (Ph.D., 1966).{{cite web |author1=Mohammad Najeeb Qasmi |title=Dr. Muhammad Mustafa Azmi & His Contributions To Hadeeth |url=http://www.deoband.net/blogs/dr-muhammad-mustafa-azmi-his-contributions-to-hadeeth |website=Deoband.net |accessdate=7 June 2019}}

Muhammad Mustafa Azmi died on 20 December 2017, aged 87.{{Cite web |date=21 December 2017 |title=Ulama Hadits Sheikh Mustafa al A'zami Wafat di Riyadh |url=http://m.hidayatullah.com/berita/internasional/read/2017/12/21/131136/ulama-hadits-syeikh-mustafa-al-azami-wafat-di-riyadh.html |language=id}}

Career

Azmi was a Professor Emeritus at King Saud University where he also chaired the department of Islamic Studies. He served as curator of the National Public Library of Qatar, Associate Professor at Umm al-Qura University, visiting scholar at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Visiting Fellow at St Cross College, Oxford, King Faisal Visiting Professor for Islamic Studies at Princeton University, and visiting scholar at the University of Colorado at Boulder.Azami, M. M. (2003). The History of the Qur'anic Text from Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments. Leicester: UK Islamic Academy. {{ISBN|1-872531-66-0}}. He was also an Honorary Fellow in Islamic Studies at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110518112900/http://www.trinitysaintdavid.ac.uk/en/schooloftheologyreligiousstudiesandislamicstudies/visitingandhonorarystaff/ Visiting and Honorary Staff, School of Theology, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Departments; University of Wales Trinity Saint David]

Awards and recognition

In 1980, he was the recipient of the King Faisal International Award for Islamic Studies.{{Cite web |url=http://www.kff.com/EN01/KFIP/KFIPImages/KFIP%20Winners%20Archive-Yearly.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=13 December 2011 |archive-date=6 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406224126/http://www.kff.com/EN01/KFIP/KFIPImages/KFIP%20Winners%20Archive-Yearly.pdf |url-status=dead }} Much of A'zami's work focused on challenging Western scholarship on hadith literature, especially on highlighting the fact that there was already intense literary activity on hadiths during the lifetime of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, at his encouragement.Herbert Berg, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2GGZ-jIQGoMC&dq=m.m.+azami&pg=PT26 The Development of Exegesis in Early Islam: The Authenticity of Muslim Literature from the Formative Period]. Routledge Studies in the Qur'an. Transferred to digital publishing in 2005. he died on 20 December 2017 Routledge, 2013. {{ISBN|9781136115226}}

Literary works

Studies in Early Hadith Literature, His doctoral thesis at the University of Cambridge
Hadith Methodology and Literature, a general introduction to the subject
The History of the Qur'anic Text from Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments
On Schacht's Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence
Dirasat fi al-Hadith an-Nabawi{{Cite thesis |last=Kaleem |first=Mohd |title=Contribution of Old boys of Darul uloom Deoband in Hadith Literature |publisher=Department of Sunni Theology, Aligarh Muslim University |year=2017 |location=India |language=ur |hdl=10603/364028 |type=PhD |url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8443/jspui/handle/10603/364028 |access-date=24 October 2023 |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024044219/https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8443/jspui/handle/10603/364028 |url-status=live |pages=308–309}}
Kuttab an-Nabi
Manhaj an-Naqd 'ind al-Muhaddithin
al-Muhaddithun min al-Yamamah

His forthcoming works include The Qurʾānic Challenge: A Promise Fulfilled and The ʾIsnād System: Its Origins and Authenticity.

= Edited works =

al-ʿIlal of Ibn al-Madini
Kitāb at-Tamyiz of Imam Muslim
Maghāzi Rasulullah of Urwah ibn Zubayr
Muwatta Imam Malik
Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah
Sunan ibn Majah

References

Bibliography

[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336837508_alshykh_mhmd_mstfy_alazmy_wmsahmth_allmyt_fy_alhdyth_alnbwy الشيخ محمد مصطفى الأعظمي ومساهمته العلمية في الحديث النبوي]
[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336983201_alshykh_mhmd_mstfy_alazmy_wmsahmath_allmyt_fy_mjal_alhdyth_alnbwy_drast_astqrayyt الشيخ محمد مصطفى الأعظمي ومساهماته العلمية في مجال الحديث النبوي: دراسة استقرائية]
[https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8443/jspui/handle/10603/476403 Muhammad Mustafa Azamis Contribution to and hadith Literature and his Critique of Orientalists]

External links

[https://archive.org/details/way2allah-299/asater-esteshraqia-28-9.AVI Interview with al-A'zami (In the Arabic language)]
[http://kfip.org/professor-mohamad-mustafa-al-aazami/ King Faisal International Award for Islamic Studies, 1980, winner: Al-A'zami]

Category:Saudi Arabian curators

Category:1930 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:People from Mau

Category:Hadith scholars

Category:Fellows of St Cross College, Oxford

Category:Princeton University faculty

Category:University of Michigan faculty

Category:University of Colorado Boulder faculty

Category:People associated with University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Category:Academic staff of King Saud University

Category:20th-century Indian Muslims