Unconventional Duha Research Unitary

Lives of the Mujaddidūn

The Qur’an promises: “O you who believe, if you have taqwā of Allah, He will grant you furqān (a criterion to distinguish truth from falsehood)” (Qur’an 8:29, Sahih International, 1997). Across the centuries, Allah fulfilled this promise through mujaddidūn — renewers whose furqān illuminated their age, whose taqwā preserved their light, and whose tajdīd renewed the faith of the ummah.

ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (d. 101H)

Furqān (Clarity of Governance). As caliph, he restored the Qur’an and Sunnah as the basis of governance, ordering the systematic collection of hadith under Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (Brown, 2009).

Taqwā (God-Consciousness). He lived in radical simplicity. It is reported that when he extinguished the public candle upon turning to personal matters, he remarked: “This is from the wealth of Muslims” (Ibn al-Jawzī, 1992).

Tajdīd (Renewal). His justice was so effective that zakāt funds reportedly went unclaimed in some provinces, as poverty had been eradicated (Hitti, 1970).

Imām al-Ghazālī (d. 505H)

Furqān (Clarity of Intellect). A master of philosophy, kalām, and fiqh, he critiqued philosophers in Tahāfut al-Falāsifah and distinguished between valid reasoning and deviation (Griffel, 2009).

Taqwā (Renunciation). At the height of prestige in Baghdad, he abandoned wealth and status, confessing in al-Munqidh min al-Ḍalāl that his heart was diseased with love of reputation (al-Ghazālī, 2000/1107). He embraced zuhd, retreating to Damascus and Jerusalem.

Tajdīd (Reconciliation). His magnum opus Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn reconciled law, spirituality, and ethics, reviving the “soul” of knowledge. Later scholars agreed that he embodied the hadith: “Allah will send to this ummah at the head of every hundred years someone who will renew its religion” (Abū Dāwūd, Sunan, ḥasan).

Ibn Khaldūn (d. 808H)

Furqān (Critical History). In his Muqaddimah, he pioneered ʿilm al-ʿumrān (science of civilization), applying furqān to distinguish sound reports from fabrications (Ibn Khaldūn, 2015/1377).

Taqwā (Detachment). Though courted by rulers, he often withdrew from politics when corruption loomed, preferring teaching and scholarship (Alatas, 2006).

Tajdīd (New Science). He reframed history as a science of divine patterns (sunan Allāh), enabling Muslims to reflect on the rise and fall of nations, echoing Qur’an 12:111: “Indeed, in their stories is a lesson (ʿibrah) for those of understanding.”

Imām al-Nawawī (d. 676H)

Furqān. His concise works (al-Arbaʿīn al-Nawawiyyah, Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn) distilled the Sunnah into accessible, universal guidance (Al-Subkī, 1999).

Taqwā. He lived celibately, ate little, and refused political gifts. His asceticism (zuhd) preserved scholarly integrity (Ibn al-ʿAttār, 1970).

Tajdīd. By compiling works centered on ethical and spiritual hadith, he renewed the practical Sunnah for generations.

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911H)

Furqān. Authoring over 500 works, including Al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān and Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr, he preserved and clarified disciplines across tafsīr, ḥadīth, and Arabic sciences (El-Rouayheb, 2015).

Taqwā. He avoided rulers and lived independently in Cairo, devoting his life to scholarship.

Tajdīd. His encyclopedic writings ensured the preservation of Qur’anic and hadith sciences during a turbulent period.

Shāh Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī (d. 1176H)

Furqān. He bridged rational, spiritual, and practical sciences. His Persian translation of the Qur’an made revelation accessible to the common people (Baljon, 1986).

Taqwā. He lived humbly, serving as a teacher and guide.

Tajdīd. Through works such as Hujjat Allāh al-Bālighah, he renewed Sunnah in Mughal India, countering decline by uniting turāth (heritage) with lived society.

Synthesis: The Triad of Renewal

From ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz to Shāh Walī Allāh, the mujaddidūn demonstrate that:

• Furqān illuminates the intellect and disciplines knowledge.
• Taqwā preserves the nūr of faith, shielding it from corruption.
• Tajdīd is the fruit — the renewal of faith, law, science, or society.

As the Prophet ﷺ said: “The most beloved of people to Allah are those most beneficial to others” (Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ, ḥasan). Renewal is thus not brilliance for its own sake but the beneficial transformation of society rooted in taqwā and furqān.

References

[1] Abū Dāwūd. (2008). Sunan Abī Dāwūd. (M. al-Albānī, Ed.). Dār al-Salām.

[2] Alatas, S. F. (2006). Ibn Khaldun and contemporary sociology. International Sociology, 21(6), 782–795.

[3]Al-Ghazālī. (2000). Deliverance from error (al-Munqidh min al-Ḍalāl, R. McCarthy, Trans.). Louisville: Fons Vitae. (Original work ca. 1107).

[4]Al-Subkī, T. (1999). Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyyah al-Kubrā. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah.

[5]Baljon, J. M. S. (1986). Religion and thought of Shah Wali Allah Dihlawi, 1703–1762. Leiden: Brill.

[6]Brown, J. A. C. (2009). Hadith: Muhammad’s legacy in the medieval and modern world. Oxford: Oneworld.

[7]El-Rouayheb, K. (2015). Islamic intellectual history in the seventeenth century. Cambridge University Press.

[8]Griffel, F. (2009). Al-Ghazali’s philosophical theology. Oxford University Press.

[9]Hitti, P. K. (1970). History of the Arabs. London: Macmillan.

[10] Ibn al-ʿAttār, M. (1970). Tuhfat al-Tālibīn fī tarjamat al-Imām al-Nawawī. Damascus: Dār al-Qalam.

[11] Ibn al-Jawzī, A. (1992). Sifat al-ṣafwah. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifah.

[12] Ibn Khaldūn. (2015). The Muqaddimah: An introduction to history (F. Rosenthal, Trans., abridged ed.). Princeton University Press. (Original work 1377).

[13] Ṭabarānī, S. (1995). Al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ. Cairo: Dār al-Haramayn.

[14] Qur’an. (1997). The Qur’an: English translation of the meaning (M. Khan & M. al-Hilali, Trans.). Riyadh: Dārussalam.