| Muhammad Mustafa Al-A‘zami | |
| Birth Date: | 1930 |
| Birth Place: | Mau, United Provinces, British India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) |
| Death Date: | 20 December 2017 (aged 86-87) |
| Death Place: | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Resting Place: | Al-Rajhi Mosque, Riyadh |
| Religion: | Islam |
| Alma Mater: | Darul Uloom Deoband Al-Azhar University University of Cambridge |
| Occupation: | Muhaddith |
| Awards: | King Faisal International Award in 1980 (Islamic Studies Branch) |
Muhammad Mustafa Al-A'zami (; 1930 – 20 December 2017) was an Indian-born Saudi Arabian[1] contemporary hadith scholar best known for his critical investigation of the theories of fellow Islamic scholars Ignác Goldziher, David Margoliouth, and Joseph Schacht.
He was born in Mau, India then in the Azamgarh district (hence his nisba) in the early part of the year 1930. Al-A'zami received his education successively at Darul Uloom Deoband (1952), Al-Azhar University (M.A., 1955), and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom (Ph.D., 1966).[2]
Muhammad Mustafa Azmi died on 20 December 2017, aged 87.[3]
Azmi was a Professor Emeritus at King Saud University where he also chaired the department of Islamic Studies. He served as curator of the National Public Library of Qatar, Associate Professor at Umm al-Qura University, visiting scholar at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Visiting Fellow at St Cross College, Oxford, King Faisal Visiting Professor for Islamic Studies at Princeton University, and visiting scholar at the University of Colorado at Boulder.[4] He was also an Honorary Fellow in Islamic Studies at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David.[5]
In 1980, he was the recipient of the King Faisal International Award for Islamic Studies.[6] Much of A'zami's work focused on challenging Western scholarship on hadith literature, especially on highlighting the fact that there was already intense literary activity on hadiths during the lifetime of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, at his encouragement.[7]
His forthcoming works include The Qurʾānic Challenge: A Promise Fulfilled and The ʾIsnād System: Its Origins and Authenticity.