Mahmud al-Alusi

Not to be confused with Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi.

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 Iraqi Islamic scholar best known for writing Ruh al-Ma`ani, an exegesis (tafsir) of the Qur'an.^[5]

Abū al-Thanā’ Shihāb ad-Dīn Maḥmūd al-Ḥusaynī al-Ālūsī أبو الثناء شهاب الدين محمودالحسيني الآلوسي
Title	al-Ālūsī Al-Kabīr (The Grand Ālūsī)
Personal life
Born	10 December 1802 CE / 1217 AH Baghdad, Baghdad Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died	29 July 1854 CE / 1270 AH
Resting place	Sheikh Marouf cemetery in Baghdad
Notable work(s)	Ruh al-Ma`ani
Occupation	Islamic scholar, Mufti, religious teacher
Religious life
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni Islam
Jurisprudence	Hanafi[1]/ (Shafi'i influenced)[1]
Tariqa	Naqshbandi
Creed	Maturidi[2]
Muslim leader
Influenced by Abu Hanifa[1] Al-Shafi'i[1]
Influenced Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi[3][4]

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 phrases resembled that of the Ahl al-Hadith^{[8][need quotation to verify]} and Salafis such ibn Taymiyyah and Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, he was accused of supporting Wahhabism.^[9] This led to his dismissal in 1847. He sent his tafsir to the authorities in Istanbul as proof for his loyalty to the established Islamic tradition and the Ottoman Empire.^[10] ʿĀrif Hikmet Bey was impressed by al-Alusis' deep knowledge and 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 too long and thus difficult to compile. Indexes in the British Library and the below are a few examples:

• Rūḥ al-ma‘ānī fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘aẓīm wa-al-sab‘ al-mathānī (روح المعاني في تفسير القرآن العظيم والسبع المثاني)
• 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.^[11] His tafsir was published for the first time in 1883.^[12] 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.^[13]

References

1. Al-Alousi, Mahmoud Shukri (2016). "Allama Alusi" [Allama Alusi] (in Arabic). Baghdad. Archived from the original on 2018-01-20. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
2. Alpyağıl, Recep (28 November 2016). "Māturīdī". Oxford Bibliographies – Islamic Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0232. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017.
3. "'Wahhabi' Influences, Salafi Responses: Shaikh Mahmud Shukri and The Iraqi Salafi Movement, 1745–1930". academic.oup.com. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
4. "سلسلة رموز الإصلاح 16– علامة العراق أبو المعالي محمود شكري الألوسي (1273/ 1342هـ - 1856/ 1924م)". www.alrased.net. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
5. "الإمام الآلوسي وكتابه \ روح المعاني في تفسير القرآن العظيم والسبع المثاني\". 2019-05-21. Archived from the original on 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
6. Al-Alousi, Mahmoud Shukri (1930). Al-Jubouri, Abdullah (ed.). المسك الأذفر [Almisk Aldhfar] (in Arabic). Baghdad: Arab Encyclopaedia House. pp. 171–200.
7. 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.
8. "الإمام الآلوسي وكتابه \ روح المعاني في تفسير القرآن العظيم والسبع المثاني\". 2019-05-21. Archived from the original on 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
9. GÖKKIR, Bilal, and Necmettin GÖKKIR. "Sufi or Salafi? Alusi’s Struggle For His Reputation Against Ottoman Bureaucracy With His Tafsir, Ruh al-Maani."
10. GÖKKIR, Bilal, and Necmettin GÖKKIR. "Sufi or Salafi? Alusi’s Struggle For His Reputation Against Ottoman Bureaucracy With His Tafsir, Ruh al-Maani."
11. Al-Alousi, Mahmoud Shukri (1930). Al-Jubouri, Abdullah (ed.). المسك الأذفر [Almisk al-Adhfar] (in Arabic). Baghdad: Arab Encyclopaedia House. pp. 171–200.
12. GÖKKIR, Bilal, and Necmettin GÖKKIR. "Sufi or Salafi? Alusi’s Struggle For His Reputation Against Ottoman Bureaucracy With His Tafsir, Ruh al-Maani."
13. "سلسلة رموز الإصلاح 16– علامة العراق أبو المعالي محمود شكري الألوسي (1273/ 1342هـ - 1856/ 1924م)". www.alrased.net. Retrieved 2024-03-28.