Scholars are the backbone of any society and our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that “When Allah wishes good for a person, He makes him understand the religion.”
Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 A.D and received the first revelation in 610 A.D. Prophet (PBUH) departed from this world in 632 A.D & was buried in Madina.
Many scholars through their knowledge spread the religion of Islam. Among them some worked in the science of hadith, some excelled in Fiqh while other wrote explanation of the the Holy book.
Here is the brief biography of the most famous Muslim scholars:
1) Imam Abu Hanifa (689 A.D – 767 A.D):
In Fiqh Imam Abu Hanifa was able to attain a position which is unmatchable, his fiqh was not only adopted by common citizens but it is the school of thought which was repeatedly adopted by the Ottoman Caliphate and rulers such as Aurangzeb Alamgir. He was born in the city of Kufa in modern Iraq in the year 689 A.D and died in 767 in the city of Baghdad.
2) Imam Malik (717 A.D – 795 A.D):
Imam Malik was born in 717 in the city of Madina and died in the same city at the age of 85 in the year 795. Because of his capabilities he was called ‘Imam Darul Hijrah’, even Imam Abu Hanifa’s student Abu Yusuf & Muhammad Shaybani travelled to Madina to learn from him. Imam Shafi also attended his lectures in Madina.
3) Imam Shafi (767 A.D – 820 A.D):
Imam Shafi was born in 767, the same year in which Imam Abu Hanifa left the world. He attained knowledge from Imam Malik & Imam Abu hanifa’s student Muhammad Shaybani. He died in 820 and is still followed by millions of people in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Malaysia & Indonesia.
4) Imam ibn Hanbal (778 A.D – 855 A.D):
Imam ibn Hanbal was born in Baghdad in the year 778 and died in the same city in 855. He started his education from an early age and at 10 he had already memorized the Quran. He learnt fiqh and hadeeth and had Imam Shafi as his teachers which helped him to attain a position in Fiqh which no scholar after him was able to attain.
5) Imam Bukhari (809 A.D – 870 A.D):
Imam Bukhari is the most famous Muhadith who is known for his collection of Sahih Hadeeth. He was born in 809 in the city of Bukhara, which is now Uzbekistan and died in 870 in Basra. He completed his studies in his native town and later settled in Madina and travelled to Makkah, Syria, Egypt & Iraq where he collected the sayings of Prophet (PBUH) from different scholars and worked hard for 16 years to complete the collection which we today know as Sahih Bukhari.
6) Imam Muslim (819 A.D – 875 A.D):
Imam Muslim was born in Iranian city of Nishapur in 819 which at his time of part of Abbasid Caliphate and now is part of modern Iran. From his birth place he travelled to Hijaz, Egypt, Syria and Iraq to meet prominent hadeeth scholars. He is known for his collection of Hadeeth ‘Sahih Muslim’. He was a student of Imam Bukhari and learnt from him. He died in his native city in the year 875.
7) Imam Ghazali (1058 A.D – 1111 A.D):
Imam Ghazali is the most famous sufi scholar who is respected by all school of thoughts. His works are equally famous among Sufis & salafis, among hanafis and shafis. He was born in 1058 in the city of Tuz at a time when Abbasid Caliphate was in its weak. He served in the court Seljuk Vizier in Isfahan and was later appointed a teacher in the renowned Nizamiyyah School in Baghdad. But he left the position and travelled to different Islamic cities because he felt that his teaching was for prestige & fame rather than for God.
After 11 years of soul purification he came back to Baghdad and started to teach once again, later he moved to his hometown and died in Tus in 1111. He is known for his book ‘The Incoherence of the Philosophers’ which is a refutation of Greek philosophies. His other famous books include ‘Revival of Religious Sciences’ & ‘The Alchemy of Happiness’.
8) Imam Ibn Taymiyyah (1263 A.D – 1328 A.D):
Imam Ibn Taymiyyah is one of the most famous scholar from Hanbali school of though who is known to distinguish the unislamic practices which became prevalent among sufis and waging jihad agaisnt Mongols.
He was born in the city of Harran which is located on Turkish side of Syria-Turkey border. Later his family moved to Damascus due to Mongol invasion, it was in Damascus that he learnt Arabic, Hadith, Fiqh and other islamic science.