Muhammad Mustafa Azmi


Muhammad Mustafa Al-A'zami was a contemporary Indian Scholar of Hadith, best known for his critical investigation and scrutiny of some of the Western writings on Islam and Islamic civilization, such as: Ignác Goldziher, David Margoliouth, and Joseph Schacht.

Life and Education

He was born in Mau, India to Brahman Hindu parents in 1930. Al-A'zami received his Islamic Education successively from Darul Uloom Deoband, then he joined Al-Azhar University, Egypt in 1952 and did his Masters in the Faculty of the Arabic Language, and obtained a Certification to teach Arabic language.

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, 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. He was also an Honorary Fellow in Islamic Studies at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David.

Awards and Recognition

In 1980, he was the recipient of the King Faisal International Award for Islamic Studies. 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.

Literary works

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

Edited works

Muhammad Mustafa Azmi died on 20 December 2017, aged 87.