Abū al-Thanā’ Shihāb ad-Dīn Sayyid Maḥmūd ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Ḥusaynī al-Ālūsī al-Baghdādī (
Arabic: أبو الثناء شهاب الدين سيد محمود بن عبد الله بن محمود الحسيني الآلوسي البغدادي; 10 December 1802 – 29 July 1854 CE) was an
IraqiIslamic scholar best known for writing Ruh al-Ma`ani, an
exegesis (tafsir) of the
Qur'an.[5]
Biography
He was born in
Baghdad on the day of Jumu`ah, 14 Sha`ban 1217
AH (Friday, 10 December 1802).[6][7]
He was a prominent Baghdad scholar in the Ottoman Empire. Because some of his teachings resembled that of the Salafis and
ibn Taimiyya, he was accused of supporting
Wahhabism.[8] This led to his dismissal in 1847. He sent his tafsir to the authorities in
Istanbul as proof for his loyalty to established Islamic tradition and the Ottoman Empire.[9] ʿĀrif Hikmet Bey was impressed by al-Alusis' deep knowledge advised him to consult
Reşid Mehmed Pasha for his concern. Reşid Mehmed Pasha eventually assigned him as a member of the
madrasa of the
Murjan Mosque and the position of a
mufti.
He died on 5 Dhul-Q'dah, 1270 AH (29 July 1854)[6]
Works
An exhaustive list of all his works far to long and thus difficult to compile. Indexes in the
British Library and the below are a few examples:
Nashwat al-shamūl fī al-safar ilā Islāmbūl (نشوة الشمول في السفر إلى إسلامبول)
Nashwat al-mudām fī al-‘awd ilá Madīnat al-Salām (نشوة المدام في العود إلي مدينة السلام)
al-Ajwibah al-‘Irāqīyah ‘alá al-as’ilah al-Lāhūrīyah (الأجوبة العراقية على الأسئلة اللاهورية)
al-Ajwibah al-‘Irāqīyah ‘an al-as’ilah al-Īrānīyah (الأجوبة العراقية عن الأسئلة الإيرانية)
Ghra'b al-'Ightirab (غرائب الإغتراب)
Daqaiq al-Tafsir (دقائق التفسير)
Sharh Sullam al-Mantiq (شرح سلم المنطق)
al-Tiraz al-Mudh-hab Fi Sharh Qasydat al-Baz al-Ash-hab (الطراز المذهب في شرح قصيدة الباز الأشهب)
al-Maqamat al-Alousiya (المقامات الآلوسية)
Legacy
Mahmud al-Alusi had five sons who were also scholars: Sayyid Abdullah Bahauddin al-Alusi, Sayyid Sa'ad Abdulbaqi al-Alusi,
Nu'man al-Alusi, Sayyid Mohammad Hamid al-Afandi and Sayyid Ahmed Shakir al-Afandi.[10] His tafsir was published for the first time in 1883.[11] Through his son Sayyid Abdullah Bahauddin al-Alusi, Mahmud had a grandson,
Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi, who was a leading scholar of Baghdad and a religious reformist.[12]
References
^
abcdAl-Alousi, Mahmoud Shukri (2016).
"Allama Alusi" [Allama Alusi] (in Arabic). Baghdad.
Archived from the original on 2018-01-20. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
^
abAl-Alousi, Mahmoud Shukri (1930). Al-Jubouri, Abdullah (ed.).
المسك الأذفر [Almisk Aldhfar] (in Arabic). Baghdad: Arab Encyclopaedia House. pp. 171–200.
^al-Musawi, Muhsin J.; Khaldi, Boutheina (2010). الوافي في تراث العرب الثقافي : الأندلس والمشرق العربي منذ سقوط الخلافة العباسية / al-Wāfī fī turāth al-ʻArab al-thaqāfī : al-Andalus wa-al-mashriq al-ʻArabī mundhu suqūṭ al-khilāfah al-ʻAbbāsīyah [The Exhaustive in the Cultural Heritage of the Arabs : Andalusia and the Arab East since the fall of the Abbasid caliphate] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Beirut: al-Markaz al-Thaqāfī al-ʻArabī.
^GÖKKIR, Bilal, and Necmettin GÖKKIR. "Sufi or Salafi? Alusi’s Struggle For His Reputation Against Ottoman Bureaucracy With His Tafsir, Ruh al-Maani."
^GÖKKIR, Bilal, and Necmettin GÖKKIR. "Sufi or Salafi? Alusi’s Struggle For His Reputation Against Ottoman Bureaucracy With His Tafsir, Ruh al-Maani."
^Al-Alousi, Mahmoud Shukri (1930). Al-Jubouri, Abdullah (ed.).
المسك الأذفر [Almisk al-Adhfar] (in Arabic). Baghdad: Arab Encyclopaedia House. pp. 171–200.
^GÖKKIR, Bilal, and Necmettin GÖKKIR. "Sufi or Salafi? Alusi’s Struggle For His Reputation Against Ottoman Bureaucracy With His Tafsir, Ruh al-Maani."