Al-Shawkani Explained
Religion: | Islam |
Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah al-Shawkani |
Shaykh al-Islam, Imam, Qadi[1] |
Birth Date: | 1759 CE /1173 AH |
Death Date: | 1834 CE /1250 AH |
Death Place: | Sana'a, Yemen |
Region: | Yemen |
Nationality: | Yemeni |
Denomination: | Sunni[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] |
Jurisprudence: | Zahiri[8] |
Movement: | Salafiyyah[9] [10] [11] [12] |
Creed: | Athari[13] [14] [15] |
Occupation: | Historiographer, bibliographer, Islamic scholar, jurist |
Main Interests: | Fiqh, Hadith, Aqeedah |
Notable Works: | Nayl al-Awtar |
Influences: | Ibn Taymiyyah,[16] Ibn Qayyim, Dawud al-Zahiri, Ibn Hazm |
Influenced: | Modern Sunnism[17] Al-Sayyid Muhammad Rashid Rida Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz Siddiq Hasan Khan |
Module: | Embed: | yes | Ism: | Muḥammad | Ism-Ar: | محمد | Nasab: | ibn ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allah | Nasab-Ar: | بن علي بن محمد بن عبدالله | Kunya: | Abu ʻAlī | Kunya-Ar: | أبو علي | Nisba-Ar: | الشوكاني |
|
Post: | Chief Qadi of Yemen (1795–1834) |
Muḥammad ibn Ali ibn Muḥammad ibn Abd Allah, better known as al-Shawkānī (الشوكاني)(1759–1834), was a prominent Yemeni Sunni Islamic scholar, jurist, theologian and reformer.[18] [19] [20] [21] Shawkani was one of the most influential proponents of Athari theology and is revered as one of their canonical scholars by Salafi Muslims. His teachings played a major role in the emergence of the Salafi movement.[22] [23] [24] Influenced by the teachings of the medieval Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyya, Al-Shawkani became noteworthy for his staunch stances against the practice of Taqlid (imitation to legal schools), calls for direct interpretation of Scriptures, opposition to Kalam (speculative theology) as well as for his robust opposition to various folk practices which he condemned as shirk (idolatry).[25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
Name
His full name was Muhammad Ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Shawkani.[30] The surname "ash-Shawkani" is derived from Hijrah ash-Shawkan, which is a town outside Sanaa.[31]
Biography
Born into a Zaydi Shi'a Muslim family, ash-Shawkani later on converted to Sunni Islam.[18] [32] [21] He called for a return to the textual sources of the Quran and hadith. As a result, Shawkani opposed much of the Zaydi doctrines and engaged in vigorous Sunnification campaigns across Yemen during his tenure as Chief Qadi.[33] [34] He also opposed Sufism and mystical practices of numerous Sufi orders; considering them to be an affront to Tawhid (monotheism).[35] [36] Shawkani is considered as a mujtahid, or authority to whom others in the Muslim community have to defer in details of religious law. Of his work issuing fatwas (judicial verdicts), ash-Shawkani stated "I acquired knowledge without a price and I wanted to give it thus."[37] Part of the fatwa-issuing work of many noted scholars typically is devoted to the giving of ordinary opinions to private questioners. Ash-Shawkani refers both to his major fatwas, which were collected and preserved as a book, and to his "shorter" fatwas, which he said "could never be counted" and which were not recorded.[38] as-Shawkani were known to be influenced by the though of Dawud al-Zahiri Madhhab school and also practicing the jurisprudencial independent thinking or Ijtihad.
He is credited with developing a series of syllabi for attaining various ranks of scholarship and used a strict system of legal analysis based on Sunni thought. He insisted that the ulama were required to ask for textual evidence, that the gate of ijtihad was not closed and that the mujtahid was to do ijtihad independent of any madhhab, a view which stemmed from his opposition to taqlid for a mujtahid, which he deemed to be a vice with which the Shariah had been inflicted.[39] Al-Shawkani asserted that the decline of the Muslim community was due to their distancing from the Scriptures, the principle sources of religion. Hence he condemned the principle of Taqlid and proposed Ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) as the solution of the problems faced by Muslims.[40] Shawkani equated unyielding imitation to the madhhabs as a type of shirk (polytheism) and accused scholars promoting such methodology of apostasy.[41]
Al-Shawkani wrote the book Nayl al-Autar, a major reference in Islamic law. He also wrote several treatises condemning various popular mystical practices which he viewed to be shirk (polytheism). He praised the contemporary Arabian Islamic reformer Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792) who had advocated for similar views and refuted his Yemeni theological opponents in correspondence. Upon hearing the death of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Shawkani wrote a poem praising his efforts to eradicate shirk, defend Tawhid and his call to Quran and Hadith.[42] [43] Reviving the classical theologian Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya's (1263 - 1328 CE/ 661 - 728 AH) doctrines on Tawḥīd and shirk, Shawkānī compared the participants in the cult of saints (al-qubūriyyūn) to the pagan Arabs of Quraysh.[44]
The Imam of Yemen Mansur Ali appointed Shawkani as the Chief Qadi of Yemen in 1795, an office he held until his death.[45] He made a powerful critique of Zaydism, arguing that many Zaydi theological and legal doctrines have no basis in Scriptures. Meanwhile, Zaydis believed that their Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (Prophetic family) had stronger authority than the Sunni hadith collections; which was the heavy focus of Shawkani's approach.[46] Zaydi doctrines also stipulated that unjust rulers be removed and replaced by a just Imam, through force, if necessary. In contrast, Al-Shawkani supported the Quietist Sunni doctrine that necessitated obedience to rulers, even the unjust who lacked qualifications. Hence, the ruling Qasimid dynasty of Yemen supported scholars like Al-Shawkani who legitimized their dynastic rule.[47]
As chief judge from 1795 until 1834, Shawkani implemented his reformist project with state-backing and placed many of his students in positions of influence, who subsequently carried on his legacy into the 21st century. During the 1796 and 1802 street clashes between Sunni traditionists and Zaydi Shi'is, Shawkani was able to convince the Qasimid rulers to side with the Sunnis. He also campaigned for the 1825 execution of the Zaydi scholar Ibn Hariwa who criticised Shawkani's Sunnification efforts and state policies. Due to the official patronage of Shawkani and other Sunni scholars, Zaydi clerics were unable to stop the spread of hadith-centric approach of Shawkani and his students; who upheld the authority of Sunni hadith over the opinions of Zaydi Imams. Hence, the Zaydis viewed Shawkani as seeking to undermine Zaydism by creating a sect modelled on the Ahl al-Hadith school.[47] [48]
Acting as Mansur's secretary, Shawkani would often correspond with the leaders of the Emirate of Diriyah between 1807 and 1813.[45] Defending the Saudi rulers, Shawkani refuted the allegations that they were from the Khawarij since they followed Ibn Abd al-Wahhab who learned Hadith from the scholars of Medina and they campaigned against superstitious beliefs prevalent in Najd acting upon the views of the Hanbali scholars Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya.[49] The reform efforts of Shawkani throughout the 39 years of his tenure as Chief Judge would fundamentally transform the religious landscape of Yemen. By his death in 1834, the Qasimid rulers had fully adopted Sunni Islam.[50]
Legacy
Muhammad Al-Shawkani is widely regarded as one of the most prolific Hadith scholars of his time; whose ideas influenced later Salafi movements. He played a major role in the revival of the works of medieval theologian Ibn Taymiyya.[51] He was one of the most prominent figures in the late lineage of hadith-oriented Sunni scholars that emerged in Yemen with Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Wazir (d. 1436 C.E).[47] Salafis in Sa'ada, would later claim ash-Shawkani as an intellectual precursor. Future Yemeni regimes would uphold his Sunnization policies as a unifier of the country,[52] invoking his teachings to undermine Zaydi Shi'ism under the broad label of "Islamic reform".[53] [54] Shawkani is popularly deemed as a Mujaddid of his era by adherents of the Wahhabi and various Salafi movements.[55]
Beyond Yemen, his works are widely used in Sunni schools.[17] He also profoundly influenced the Ahl-i Hadith in the Indian subcontinent (such as Siddiq Hasan Khan) and Salafis across the globe.[56] Much of the Ahl-i Hadith literature condemning grave-visits, necrolatry and idolatry (shirk) was modelled on the literature of Yemeni scholarship, most notably Al-Shawkani, who followed the works of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim. In recognition of his contributions, Siddiq Hasan Khan ranked Al-Shawkani as amongst the "Huffāz al-Islām" (greatest guardians of Islam) alongside Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim and Ibn al-'Amir al-San'ani.[57] Apart from the Ahl-i Hadith, the Wahhabis also often refer to Shawkani for legitimacy; citing his support for Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab.[58]
Shawkani had been a prominent representative of the traditionalist school that advocated Ibn Taymiyya's doctrines such as opposition to Falsafa (Islamic philosophy), Kalam (scholastic theology), Isrāʾīliyyāt, heresies, etc. emphasising literalist interpretations of the Qur’an.[59] Alongside Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (1703-1762 C.E), Shawkani made significant contributions to the field of Tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) during the era of revivalist trends of 18th and early 19th centuries. He completed his seminal Qur'anic commentary Fath al-Qadir in 1814, which demonstrated remarkable methodological similarities to Fawz al-Kabir, the Tafsir work compiled a few decades earlier by Shah Waliullah. Shawkani's Qur'anic interpretations demonstrated a firm belief in Scriptural perfection; which upheld that literal meanings of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah, are to be the sole authoritative sources of exegesis. Fath al-Qadir laid the groundwork for future reformist exegetical endeavours; such as Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān’s Fatḥ al-Bayān, Syrian Salafi reformer Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi's Maḥāsin al-Taʾwīl and Muhammad Rashid Rida's Tafsir al-Manar.[60]
Works
He has been described as "an erudite, prolific, and original writer who composed more than 150 books (many of which are multivolume works)",[61] some of his publications including
- Nayl al-Awtar
- Fath al-Qadir, a well known tafsir (exegesis)
- al-Badr at-tali[62]
- Tuhfatu al-Dhakirin – Sharh Uddatu Hisna al-Haseen: a superb one volume commentary on the collection "Uddatu Hisna al-Haseen", on ahadith of Adhkar, by Ibn Al-Jazari (d. 833H)
- Al-Fawaid al-Majmu'ah Fil Ahadith ul Mau'zoo'ah a collection of fabricated hadith
- Irshad ul Fuhool – a book on Usul al-fiqh
- Ad-Durur ul-Bahiyyah fil-Masaa'il il-Fiqhiyyah – a concise Fiqh manual
- Ad-Daraaree Al-Mudhiyyah Sharh ud-Durur il-Bahiyyah – his detailed explanation of his Fiqh manual, Ad-Durur
- Adab ut-Talab wa Muntaha al-Arab – advice on the etiquette and manners of one who is seeking Islamic knowledge
- Al-Qawl ul-Mufeed fee Hukm it-Taqleed – an explanation of the ruling regarding blind following (Taqleed) of the opinions of Fiqh schools (Madhaahib) and its harms.
- Al-Sayl al-jarrar - includes the denunciation of a text written by the Zaydi Imam Al-Mahdi Ahmad bin Yahya.[63]
See also
References
- Revival and Reform in Islam: The Legacy of Muhammad al-Shawkani by Bernard Haykel
Further reading
Notes and References
- Book: ibn Ali al Shawkani, Muhammad . 2009 . A Critique of the ruling of Al-Taqlid. Birmingham, UK . Dar al Arqam Publishing. 3–4, 12–13 . 978-1-9164756-4-9.
- Book: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press. 2013. 978-0-691-13484-0. Bowering. Gerhard. Princeton, NJ. 606. "a number of influential thinkers abandoned Zaydism for Sunnism. The best known of these are Muhammad b. Isma‘il al-San‘ani (d. 1769), Muhammad b. ‘Ali al-Shawkani (d. 1834), and more recently Muqbil al-Wadi‘i (d. 2001)".
- Book: Moreau, Schaar, Odile, Stuart . Subversives and Mavericks in the Muslim Mediterranean: A Subaltern History. University of Texas Press . 2016. 978-1477319956 . United States of America . 139 .
- Book: Ahmed, Chanfi. West African ʿulamāʾ and Salafism in Mecca and Medina Jawāb al-Ifrῑqῑ—The Response of the African . Brill. 2015. 978-90-04-27031-2 . Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. 97. “He taught both at the mosque and in his home, and was a prolific author who wrote in defense of Sunnī Islam..” . 4: The Dār al-Ḥadīth in Medina and the Ahl al-Ḥadīth.
- Book: Hanssen, Weiss, Jens, Max . Arabic Thought Beyond the Liberal Age: Towards an Intellectual History of the Nahda. Cambridge University Press . 2016. 9781107136335 . United Kingdom . 95 .
- Book: Saint-Prot, Charles . Happy Arabia : from antiquity to Ali Abdullah Salih, the Yemeni unifier. University of Michigan . 1999 . 9781107136335 . USA . 31. ”In the late 18th century they supported the reform movement of the Sunni theologian Muhamed bin Ali al - Shawkani (1750-1834)..” .
- Book: Ala Hamoudi, Cammack, Haider, Mark . Islamic Law in Modern Courts . Aspen Publishing. 2018 . 9781454830399 . USA . 576 .
- Book: Ahmad Farid Al-Mazidi . المذهب العارف ومذاهب أخرى (دائرة المعارف -8-) . 2023 . f Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية. . 2745182641 . iii, 28, 31 . 20 August 2024.
- Ali, Mohamed Bin. "Salafis, salafism and modern salafism: what lies behind a term?." (2015).
- Book: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press. 2013. 978-0-691-13484-0. Bowering. Gerhard. Princeton, NJ. 484, 506. "Shawkani .. is a prominent authority for the Salafi version of Islam".
- Book: Haykel, Hegghammer, Lacroix, Bernard, Thomas, Stéphane . Saudi Arabia in Transition: Insights on Social, Political, Economic and Religious Change. Cambridge University Press . 2015. 9781107006294 . New York, USA . 158 .
- Book: Orkaby, Asher . Yemen: What Everyone Needs to Know . Oxford University Press . 2021. 9780190932268. New York, USA . 120, 160 .
- Book: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press. 2013. 978-0-691-13484-0. Bowering. Gerhard. Princeton, NJ. 506–507. "al-Shawkani, Muhammad b. ‘Ali (1760–1834)... dismissed speculative theology (kalām) and reason-based arguments as idle talk and was a staunch Salafi in matters of creed".
- Book: Haykel, Bernard. Revival and Reform in Islam: The Legacy of Muhammad Al-Shawkani. Cambridge University Press. 2003. 9780521528900. Cambridge, UK . 104. The Absolute Interpreter and Renewer of the Thirteenth Century AH. "Shawkänī, as was mentioned already, was opposed to kaläm, which he regarded as a science that led to more confusion than clarity for the believer. He admits that he felt confused by it (lam azdad bihā illā þpiratan) and he found it to consist of idle talk (khuza"balār)... Shawkānī appears to fit more properly, though perhaps not entirely, in the Hanbalī tradition, which rejected outright many of the theological claims made by the various schools of kalām.".
- Book: Beránek, Ťupek, Ondřej, Pavel . The Temptation of Graves in Salafi Islam: Iconoclasm, Destruction and Idolatry . Edinburgh University Press. 2018 . 978-1-4744-1757-0 . The Tun -Holyrood Road, 12 (2f) Jackson's Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ . 7, 47, 73 . "Muhammad al-Shawkani (d. 1839), a famous Yemeni traditionalist and reformer..." "The legacies of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya were also palpable in Arabia in the eighteenth-century traditionalist movement. In Yemen, the most prominent figures in this movement were Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil al-Sanʿani (referred to as al-Amir al-Sanʿani, d. 1769) and Muhammad al Shawkani (d. 1839).".
- Nafi, Basheer M. "Abu al-Thana'al-Alusi: An Alim, Ottoman Mufti, and Exegete of the Qur'an." International Journal of Middle East Studies 34.3 (2002): 465-494. "...al-Shawkani (1760–1834), were all, in varying degrees, interested in Ibn Taymiyya's intellectual legacy."
- Book: Oxford University Press. Islam in Yemen: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide. 1 May 2010. Oxford University Press. 9780199804351. 6.
- Book: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought . Princeton University Press . 2013 . 978-0-691-13484-0 . Bowering . Gerhard . Princeton, NJ . 606 . "a number of influential thinkers abandoned Zaydism for Sunnism. The best known of these are Muhammad b. Isma‘il al-San‘ani (d. 1769), Muhammad b. ‘Ali al-Shawkani (d. 1834), and more recently Muqbil al-Wadi‘i (d. 2001)".
- Book: Moreau, Schaar, Odile, Stuart . Subversives and Mavericks in the Muslim Mediterranean: A Subaltern History . University of Texas Press . 2016 . 978-1477319956 . United States of America . 139.
- Book: Saint-Prot, Charles . Happy Arabia : from antiquity to Ali Abdullah Salih, the Yemeni unifier . University of Michigan . 1999 . 9781107136335 . USA . 31.
- Book: Ala Hamoudi, Cammack, Haider, Mark . Islamic Law in Modern Courts . Aspen Publishing . 2018 . 9781454830399 . USA . 576.
- Book: Thurston, Alexander . Salafism in Nigeria Islam, Preaching, and Politics . Cambridge University Press . 2016 . 978-1-107-15743-9 . University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom . 47–48.
- Book: Azoulay, Rivki . Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State . I.B. Tauris . 2020 . 9781838605070 . London, UK . 224.
- Book: Pall, Zoltan . Lebanese Salafis between the Gulf and Europe . Amsterdam University Press . 2013 . 978-90-8964-451-0 . Amsterdam . 18.
- Book: Moussa, Mohammed . Politics of the Islamic Tradition: The thought of Muhammad al-Ghazali . Routledge . 2016 . 978-1-138-84121-5 . New York, USA . 56–59 . 3: Renewal in the formation of the Islamic tradition.
- Book: Leaman, Oliver . Routledge Handbook of Islamic Ritual and Practice . Routledge . 2022 . 978-0-367-49123-9 . New York, NY . 128.
- Book: Vassiliev, Alexei . The History of Saudi Arabia . Saqi Books . 1998 . 0-86356-399-6 . London, UK . 146.
- Book: Carr, Mahalingam, Brian, Indira . Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy . Routledge . 1997 . 0-203-01350-6 . London, UK . 931.
- Web site: WEBSITE.WS - Your Internet Address For Life™. umma.ws.
- Web site: Dogs in the Islamic Tradition and Nature (Article Included). Scholar of the House.
- al-Badr at-Taali' bi Mahaasin man Ba'd al-Qarn as-Sabi' , vol. 2 pg.214
- Book: Moreau, Schaar, Odile, Stuart . Subversives and Mavericks in the Muslim Mediterranean: A Subaltern History . University of Texas Press . 2016 . 978-1477319956 . United States of America . 139 . "Al-Shawkani... converted to Sunni Islam".
- Book: Farhad Daftary. A History of Shi'i Islam. 2 Dec 2013. I.B.Tauris. 9780857735249. revised. In his view, Zaydi theological and legal teachings had no basis in revelation but reflected the unsubstantiated opinions of the Zaydi imams and therefore had to be rejected..
- Book: Hanssen, Weiss, Jens, Max . Arabic Thought Beyond the Liberal Age: Towards an Intellectual History of the Nahda . Cambridge University Press . 2016 . 9781107136335 . United Kingdom . 95.
- Book: Farhad Daftary. A History of Shi'i Islam. 2 Dec 2013. I.B.Tauris. 9780857735249. revised. Al-Shawkani also manifested the general Zaydi, as well as traditionist Sunni, aversion towards Sufism..
- Book: Knysh, Alexander . Islam in Historical Perspective . Routledge . 2017 . 978-1-138-19369-7 . Second . 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 . 238.
- cited in Messick, Brinkly The Calligraphic State:Textual Domination and History in a Muslim Society, Berkeley 1993, p.145
- cited in Messick, Brinkly The Calligraphic State:Textual Domination and History in a Muslim Society, Berkeley 1993, p.150
- Hallaq. Wael B.. Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed?. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 16. 1. Cambridge University Press. 1984. 32–33. 10.1017/S0020743800027598. 162939. 159897995 .
- Book: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press. 2013. 978-0-691-13484-0. Bowering. Gerhard. Princeton, NJ. 506.
- Book: L. Esposito, O. Voll, John, John . Makers of Contemporary Islam . Oxford University Press . 2001 . 0-19-514128-8 . New York, New York . 15 . 1: Introduction: Muslim Activist Intellectuals and Their Place in History.
- Book: Abualrab, Jalal . Biography and Mission of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab. Madinah Publishers and Distributors . 2013 . 978-0-9856326-9-4 . New York, NY . 497.
- Web site: ul Haq. Asim. August 2011. Al Imam al-Shawkani (d. 1250H) on the Writings, Da'wah and Adversaries of Shaykh Muhammad Bin Abd Al-Wahhab . live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140724110456/http://www.wahhabis.com/articles/ytouz-imam-al-shawkani-d-1250h-on-the-writings-dawah-and-adversaries-of-shaykh-muhammad-bin-abd-al-wahhaab.cfm . 24 July 2014. 'Wahhabis'.com.
- Book: M. Bunzel, Cole. Manifest Enmity: The Origins, Development, and Persistence of Classical Wahhabism (1153-1351/1741-1932). Princeton University. 2018. Princeton, New Jersey, USA. 223. "Ibn al-Amīr and al-Shawkānī took issue with the cult of saints on the same grounds on the same grounds as Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb: they both adopted Ibn Taymiyya’s ideas concerning tawḥīd and shirk and compared the participants in the cult of saints (al-qubūriyyūn) to the pagan Arabs of Quraysh, arguing that the latter were in reality monotheists.".
- Peters. Rudolph. September 1980. Ijtihad and Taqlid in 18th and 19th century Islam. Die Welt des Islams. University of Amsterdam. XX, 3-4. 134. https://web.archive.org/web/20190217064715/https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/1486104/94781_Ijtihad_and_taqlid.pdf. 17 February 2019.
- Book: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought . Princeton University Press . 2013 . 978-0-691-13484-0 . Bowering . Gerhard . Princeton, NJ . 507 . "Zaydis continue to insist that their imams, as members of the Prophet’s family, are more authoritative sources for religious teachings than the Sunni canonical hadith collections on which Shawkani’s interpretive methodology is so heavily focused.".
- Book: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press. 2013. 978-0-691-13484-0. Bowering. Gerhard. Princeton, NJ. 507.
- Book: Afzal Upal, M. Cusack, Muhammad, Carole. Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements. Brill. 2021. 978-90-04-42525-5. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. 220.
- Web site: ul Haq. Asim. 16 September 2020. Al Shawkani refuted the notion that followers of Shaykh Muhammad bin Abdil Wahaab are Khawarij. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210310210627/http://www.systemoflife.com/al-shawkani-refuted-the-notion-that-followers-of-shaykh-muhammad-bin-abdil-wahaab-are-khawarij/ . 10 March 2021. System of Life.
- Book: Afzal Upal, M. Cusack, Muhammad, Carole. Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements. Brill. 2021. 978-90-04-42525-5. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. 220. "In 1795, al-Manṣūr ʿAlī (r. 1775–1809) appointed al-Shawkānī to the post of chief judge. He would hold this position for the next thirty-nine years, serving three Qāsimī Imāms and, in the process, fundamentally altering the religious landscape of Yemen... When al-Shawkānī died in 1834, the Qāsimī Imāms had fully embraced Sunnī traditionism.".
- Book: Beránek, Ťupek, Ondřej, Pavel. The Temptation of Graves in Salafi Islam: Iconoclasm, Destruction and Idolatry. Edinburgh University Press. 2018. 978-1-4744-1757-0. The Tun -Holyrood Road, 12 (2f) Jackson's Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ. 12, 77, 223. "Al-Shawkani was an outstanding scholar of hadith of his time, who made a lasting impression on later Salafi thought in Yemen, India, Iraq and Syria" .. "Among the most influential of these scholars who shaped later Salafism was the Yemeni scholar Muhammad al-Shawkani.".
- Book: Barak A. Salmoni. Bryce Loidolt. Madeleine Wells. Regime and Periphery in Northern Yemen: The Huthi Phenomenon. 28 Apr 2010. Rand Corporation. 9780833049742. 72.
- Book: Farhad Daftary. A History of Shi'i Islam. 2 Dec 2013. I.B.Tauris. 9780857735249. revised. Since 1962, republicans in Yaman have continuously used al-Shawkani's teachings and works to undermine the past doctrines of the Zaydi imamate and Zaydi Shi'ism itself. The modern Yamani state has indeed pursued an anti-Zaydi policy in the guise of Islamic reform, drawing extensively on al-Shawkani's teachings..
- Book: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press. 2013. 978-0-691-13484-0. Bowering. Gerhard. Princeton, NJ. 507. "The modern Yemeni state has indeed pursued an anti-Zaydi policy and justifies this under the broad label of Islamic reform and by invoking Shawkani's teachings.".
- Book: L. Esposito, John. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. 2003. 0-19-512558-4. New York. 290. "Shawkani, Muhammad al- (d. 1834) .. he is regarded as a great revivalist ofsunni Islam in his time by various Salafi and Wahhabi movements..".
- Book: Böwering. Gerhard. Crone. Patricia. Mirza. Mahan. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. 2013. Princeton University Press. 9780691134840. 507. illustrated.
- Book: Beránek, Ťupek, Ondřej, Pavel. The Temptation of Graves in Salafi Islam: Iconoclasm, Destruction and Idolatry. Edinburgh University Press. 2018. 978-1-4744-1757-0. The Tun -Holyrood Road, 12 (2f) Jackson's Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ. 90–92. 2: Early Wahhabism and the Beginnings of Modern Salafism.
- Book: Beránek, Ťupek, Ondřej, Pavel. The Temptation of Graves in Salafi Islam: Iconoclasm, Destruction and Idolatry. Edinburgh University Press. 2018. 978-1-4744-1757-0. The Tun -Holyrood Road, 12 (2f) Jackson's Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ. 77. 2: Early Wahhabism and the Beginnings of Modern Salafism.
- Book: Shah, Muhammad. Mustafa, Muhammad. The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies. Pink. Johanna. Oxford University Press. 2020. 978-0-19-969864-6. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom. 829. 55:Classical Qur'anic Hermeneutics. "A different strand of the scripturalist tradition, represented by al-Shawkānī (d. 1250/1834), shares Ibn Taymiyya’s mistrust of philosophy, scholastic theology, isrāʾīliyyāt, and ‘heretical’ opinions, but places more emphasis on the ‘literal meaning’ of the Qur’an.".
- Book: Schmidtke. Sabine. The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. Pink. Johanna. Oxford University Press. 2014. 978-0-19-969670-3. New York, United States of America. 768–770. Striving for a New Exegesis of the Qurʾān.
- [Ahmad S. Dallal]
- Web site: Fatawa of the rightly guided Imams on Mawlid.
- Book: Farhad Daftary. A History of Shi'i Islam. 2 Dec 2013. I.B.Tauris. 9780857735249. revised. In his book entitled al-Sayl al-jarrar, al-Shawkani denounced the Kitab al-azhar fi fiqh al-a'immat al-athar of Imam al-Mahdi Ahmad b. Yahya al-Murtada (d. 830/1437), the legal corpus of opinions recognised by the Hadawi Zaydi school, which, according to him, represented opinions not rooted in the revelation..