Shaykh al-Barzanji

The two well-known maulids are those written by ad-Diba'i and al-Barzanji - the former preferred by Arabs and younger Muslims whilst the latter by the earlier generation. This is the autobiography of Shaykh al-Barzanji:

Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Abdul Rasul ibn `Abdul Sayyid al-`Alawi al-Husayni al-Musawi al-Shaharzuri al-Barzanji, and thenceforth al-Madani. He was born in Shahrzur, a Kurdish town in Iraq on Friday, the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal, 1040 AH.

He grew up in Shahrzur and read the holy Qur’an and other Islamic sciences with his father. He also studied under Mulla Zayrak and Mulla Sharif al-Siddiqi al-Kawrani.

He traveled to many cities seeking knowledge and thus he studied under Ahmad al-Salahi in Mardayn, Abul Wafa al-`Ardi and Muhammad al-Kawakibi in Aleppo, `Abd al-Baqi al-Hanbali and `Abd al-Qadir al-Saquri in Damascus, Shaykh Mudlij in Baghdad and in Yemen. In Egypt he studied under the Shaykhs Muhammad al-Babili, `Ali al-Shibramilsi, Sultan Mizahi, Muhammad al-`Anani and Ahmed al-`Ajami. Finally, he settled in Madinah where he became a disciple of the great shaykhs: Ibrahim ibn Hasan al-Kawrani and Ahmad al-Qashshashi.

He was the Chief Mufti of the Shafi`es in Madina. The Shaykh passed away in Muharram in Madina in 1103 AH. He was buried in al-Baqi alongside other prominent Barzanjis. Many of his descendants became prominent scholars and many held the post of the ‘Chief Mufti of Shafi`es’ in Madina.