Mujaddid

A mujaddid (Arabic: مجدد‎‎), is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" (تجديد tajdid) to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revive Islam, cleansing it of extraneous elements and restoring it to its pristine purity.

The concept is based not on the Quran but on a famous hadith (Prophetic tradition) recorded by Abu Dawood: Abu Hurairah narrated that the Islamic prophet Muhammad said:

Allah will raise for this community at the end of every hundred years the one who will renovate its religion for it.

— Sunan Abu Dawood, Book 37: Kitab al-Malahim [Battles], Hadith Number 4278

Mujaddid tend to come from the most prominent Islamic scholars of the time, although they are sometimes pious rulers.

List of claimants and potential Mujaddids

While there is no formal mechanism for designating a mujaddid, there is often a popular consensus. The Shia and the Naqshbandi order have their own list of mujaddids.

First Century (after the prophetic period) (August 3, 718)

• Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (682–720)

Second Century (August 10, 815)

• Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i (767–820)

Third Century (August 17, 912)

• Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (864–941)
• Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (874–936)

Fourth Century (August 24, 1009)

• Abu Bakr Al-Baqillani (950–1013)
• Hakim al-Nishaburi (933–1012)
• Ibn Hazm (994–1064)

Fifth Century (September 1, 1106)

• Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111)

Sixth Century (September 9, 1203)

• Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1210)

Seventh Century (September 5, 1300)

• Moinuddin Chishti (1165–1240)
• Ibn Arabi (1165–1240)
• Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328)

Eighth Century (September 23, 1397)

• Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1372–1448)

Ninth Century (October 1, 1494)

• Jalaludin Al-Suyuti (1445–1505)

Tenth Century (October 19, 1591)

• Khayr al-Din al-Ramli (1585–1671)

Eleventh Century (October 26, 1688)

• Ahmad Sirhindi (1564–1624)
• Abdullah ibn Alawi al-Haddad (1634–1720)
• Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (1703–1762)

Twelfth Century (November 4, 1785)

• Murtaḍá al-Zabīdī (1732–1790)
• Shah Abdul Aziz Delhwi (1745–1823)
• Usman Dan Fodio (1754–1817)

Thirteenth Century (November 14, 1882)

• Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905)
• Said Nursî (1878–1960)

Fourteenth Century (November 21, 1979)

• Ahmad Raza Khan (1856–1921)
• Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908)

Further reading

• Alvi, Sajida S. "The Mujaddid and Tajdīd Traditions in the Indian Subcontinent: An Historical Overview" ("Hindistan’da Mucaddid ve Tacdîd geleneği: Tarihî bir bakış"). Journal of Turkish Studies 18 (1994): 1–15.
• Friedmann, Yohanan. "Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi: An Outline of His Thought and a Study of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity". Oxford India Paperbacks

External links

• Islami Mehfil, Concept Of Revivalist (Mujaddid) In Islam
• Shah Waliyu Llah about the Mujaddids (French)
• Al Hafiz Adh Dhahabi about the Mujaddids (French)
• Brief Introduction to the Concept of Mujaddidiyyat in Islam (Urdu)

• Sunan Abu Dawood, 37:4278
• Josef W. Meri, Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, (Routledge 1 Dec 2005), p 678. ISBN 0415966906.
• Josef W. Meri, Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, (Routledge 1 Dec 2005), p 678. ISBN 0415966906
• Jane I. Smith, Islam in America, p 36. ISBN 0231519990
• Dhahabi, Siyar, 4.566
• Willard Gurdon Oxtoby, Oxford University Press, 1996, p 421