Ahmad Zayni Dahlan


Ahmad Zayni Dahlan was the Grand Mufti of the Shafi'i madhab in Mecca, and Shaykh al-Islam in the Hijaz region of the Ottoman state, and Imam al-Haramayn, as well as being a historian and an Ash'ari theologian. He was known for his extreme criticisms of Wahhabism and his tendency toward Sufism. In his treatise against Wahhabi influence, Dahlan clearly views Sufism as a legal and integral part of Islamic practice – including such aspects as Tawassul, Tabarruk, and Ziyarat al-Qubur.
He was the descendant of 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. He authored, and personally published numerous works on history, fiqh, and the Islamic sciences in general.

Birth

He was born in Mecca in 1231 or 1232 AH = 1816 or 1817 AD.

Teachers

He studied under Ahmad al-Marzuqi al-Maliki al-Makki.

Students

His students were so many, to the extent that it is rare to find a scholar who came after him whose chains of narrations do not include him. Among his students were Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca who studied the Qur'an with him and completed its memorization before he was 20 years old, Sheikh Mustafa, Usman bin Yahya, Arsyad Thawil al-Bantani, Muhammad Amrullah, and Ahmad b. Hasan al-'Attas.

Works

He wrote and taught in an era when the first printing press came to Mecca, Dahlan was able to disseminate his challenges to Salafism through his devoted students. He wrote, for instance, a booklet outlining the suffering Wahhabis brought to Mecca during their rule in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Fitnat al-Wahhabiyyah, and also a study refuting the entire Wahhabi doctrine and practices, Al-Durar al-Saniyyah fi al-Radd 'ala al-Wahhabiyyah.
Following is a list of some of his published works:
He died in Medina in the month of Muharram of 1304 AH = 1886 AD.