A Mujaddid is someone who appears at the start of each Islamic century to revive Islam. This could be a caliph, scholar, or other influential figure.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْعَثُ لِهَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ عَلَى رَأْسِ كُلِّ مِائَةِ سَنَةٍ مَنْ يُجَدِّدُ لَهَا دِينَهَا
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Allah shall raise for this Ummah at the head of every century a man who shall revive its religion.
Source: Sunan Abi Dawud 4291
A Mujaddid can refer to a group of people
There can be more than one Mujaddid in a century. While the hadith uses a singular term, it can mean multiple people, as explained in Islamic jurisprudence texts Allamah Mulla Ali Qari (RA), who is said to be the Mujaddid of the 11th Century:
“From the words, not only one single person is implied, but the implication is towards a group of people, from amongst whom each one is reforming a single type of knowledge or all types of knowledge in his city.”
Sometimes a single Mujaddid is born in a century and sometimes there are two or a group in one given century.
A Scholar in the middle of the century who may be seen as a Mujaddid, at times cannot be classified as a Mujaddid because he was not present at the early stages of the century. The reason for this is because generally at the end of a century, many Ulemas pass away and great Fitna engulfs the Ummah.
Source: Mufti Waseem Khan
Mujaddids of the Past Century
Here we analyze the time of the coming of Mujaddids of the past:
- 622 – Start of Hijri Calender (Migration of the Prophet SAW from Mecca to Medina)
- 1st Century Mujaddid: Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz
- Became Caliph on between 717 – 720
- Fitna: Internal wars, Hajjaj Bin Yusof
- Expected year ~719 ✅
- 2nd Century Mujaddid: Imam al-Shafi’i
- Started the Shafi’i Madhab between 813-820
- Fitna: Mu’tazila (Caliph Al-Ma’mun)
- Expected year: ~816 ✅
- 3rd Century Mujaddid: Imam Abul Hasan Al-Ashari
- 4th Century Mujaddid: Imam Al-Baqillani
- 5th Century Mujaddid: Imam Al Ghazali
- Went in seclusion in 1096. Passed away 1111
- Fitna: Dunya, Declining spiritualism
- Expected Year: ~1106 ✅
- 6th Century Mujaddid: Imam Fakhraddin al-Razi
- Lived 1150 – 1210
- Expected Year: ~1203 ✅
- 7th Century Mujaddid: Ibn Daqiq al’Id
- Lived 1228 to 1302
- Expected Year: ~1300 ✅
- 8th Century Mujaddid: Imam Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini
- Lived 1324–1403
- Expected Year: ~1397 ✅
- 9th Century Mujaddid: Imam Jalaluddin al-Suyuti
- Lived 1445 – 1505
- Expected Year: ~1494 ✅
- 10th Century Mujaddid
- Expected Year: ~1591 ✅
- 11th Century Mujaddid
- Expected Year: ~1688 ✅
- 12th Century Mujaddid: Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi
- Lived: 1746 – 1824
- Fitna: Shiism, British Raj
- Expected Year: ~1785 ✅
- 13th Century Mujaddid: The Deobandi Movement
- Deobandi Movement started after 1866 by Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, Muhammad Yaqub Nanautawi, Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi
- Fitna: Colonialism
- Expected Year: ~1882 ✅
- 14th Century Mujaddid: Tablighi Jamaat
- Tablighi Jamaat was started in 1926 by Maulana Ilyas, fortified by Maulana Yusuf in 1946, and expanded worldwide by Maulana Inamul Hasan from 1965 onwards. These 3 figures are well known as the “Three Hadratjis”.
- Fitna: Modernism, Destruction of Sunnah
- Expected Year: ~1979 ✅
- 14th Century Mujaddid:
- Expected Year: ~2076 (InshaAllah)
