Al-Kawthari

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Muhammad Zahid ibn Hasan al-Kawthari (1296 AH-1371 AH) was the adjunct to the last Sheikh al-Islam of the Ottoman Empire and a well known Hanafi jurist.

He studied under his father as well as the scholars of Qur'an and hadith Ibrahim Haqqi, Shaykh Zayn al-`Abidin al-Alsuni, Shaykh Muhammad Khalis al-Shirwani, al-Hasan al-Aztuwa'i, and others.

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. A staunch Ashari, he held a critical view of Ibn Taymiyya.

[edit] 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 the First World War.
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.