Reference
Scholar profiles
Figures cited across this site — from the founders of the schools of law to masters of hadith and spirituality. Each page summarizes their place in Sunni scholarship and links to further study on SeekersGuidance where available.
Visual overview
The Scholarly Consensus on Innovation
Browse 19 scholars across all four schools of law and twelve centuries — who affirmed that bid'a admits of good and blameworthy categories. Their own words, cited to source.
- Abdullah ibn al-MubarakEarly master of hadith and jihad literature
- Abu Shama al-MaqdisiShafi'i historian of Damascus
- Al-Izz ibn Abd al-SalamSultan of scholars; fivefold classification of bid'a
- Al-Khatib al-BaghdadiHadith scholar; author of al-Kifaya
- Ibn Abd al-BarrAndalusian Maliki hadith scholar
- Ibn AbidinDamascene Hanafi jurist; Hashiyat Ibn Abidin
- Ibn al-JazariMaster of Quranic recitation (qira'at)
- Ibn al-Qayyim al-JawziyyaHanbali scholar; student of Ibn Taymiyya
- Ibn al-SalahAuthor of the Muqaddima in hadith sciences
- Ibn AshirMaliki scholar; al-Murshid al-Mu'in
- Ibn Hajar al-AsqalaniAuthor of Fath al-Bari on Sahih al-Bukhari
- Ibn KathirHistorian and mufassir; student of Ibn Taymiyya
- Ibn KhaldunHistorian and sociologist of civilization
- Ibn Rushd (Averroes)Maliki qadi; author of Bidayat al-Mujtahid
- Ibn TaymiyyaHanbali theologian and jurist
- Imam Abu HanifaFounder of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence
- Imam Ahmad ibn HanbalHadith master and eponym of the Hanbali school
- Imam al-BukhariCompiler of Sahih al-Bukhari
- Imam al-BusiriPoet of the Burda
- Imam al-FakihaniMaliki scholar with critical view of some mawlid practices
- Imam al-GhazaliHujjat al-Islam; author of Ihya Ulum al-Din
- Imam al-QushayriAuthor of al-Risala al-Qushayriyya
- Imam al-SakhawiHadith scholar and historian
- Imam al-ShatibiMaliki usul scholar; al-Muwafaqat
- Imam ibn Shihab al-ZuhriMedinan scholar; key figure in early hadith compilation
- Imam Jalal al-Din al-SuyutiEncyclopedic scholar; defender of the mawlid
- Imam Malik ibn AnasScholar of Medina and author of the Muwatta
- Imam Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'iFounder of usul al-fiqh and the Shafi'i school
- Imam Muhammad ibn SirinEarly scholar; famous on dream interpretation and hadith
- Imam Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-JazuliAuthor of Dala'il al-Khayrat
- Imam MuslimCompiler of Sahih Muslim
- Imam Taqi al-Din al-SubkiShafi'i chief judge; scholar of theology and fiqh
- Imam Yahya ibn Sharaf al-NawawiCommentator on Sahih Muslim; author of al-Adhkar
- Shah Waliullah al-DihlawiDelhi reformer; bridge between madhahib
- Shaykh Muhammad Ba-DhibContemporary Yemeni scholar at SeekersGuidance
- Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim KellerContemporary Shafi'i scholar and translator
- Shaykh Yusuf WeltchContemporary teacher at SeekersGuidance
- Umar ibn al-KhattabSecond Caliph; Companion of the Prophet ﷺ
- Zakariyya al-AnsariEgyptian Shafi'i jurist and Sufi shaykh