al-Hajwi

Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Hajwi (1291–1376 AH / 1874–1956 CE) was a Moroccan Maliki jurist, educator, and statesman, known for his work on legal historiography, al-Fikr al-Sami fi Tarikh al-Fiqh al-Islami (The Lofty Thought on the History of Islamic Jurisprudence) al-Mawsua al-Fiqhiyya al-…+1.

Lineage and Education

His full lineage is Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Arabi ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Ya'za ibn Abd al-Salam ibn al-Hasan al-Hajwi al-Tha'alibi al-Zaynabi al-Ja'fari al-Filali al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi…+1. His family originated from Taza, tracing descent to the Hajjawa tribe situated near Bani Hasan in Morocco Ithaf al-Mutali bi-Wafaya…. The nisba al-Tha'alibi refers to the Tha'aliba tribe of the Ma'qil Arabs in Algeria, while al-Zaynabi denotes ancestry traced to Zaynab bint Ali ibn Abi Talib al-Mawsua al-Fiqhiyya al-…+1.

Born in Fez in 1291 AH (1874 CE), he was raised there and received his primary education from his father, al-Hasan ibn al-Arabi al-Hajwi, alongside other local scholars al-Mawsua al-Fiqhiyya al-…+1. He pursued higher learning at the University of al-Qarawiyyin, from which he graduated and subsequently began teaching al-Mawsua al-Fiqhiyya al-…+1. He documented his teachers and scholarly connections in his biographical record al-Urwah al-Wuthqa al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassiru…+1. Over his life, he resided in Fez, Meknes, Oujda, and Rabat al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassiru….

Public Career and Educational Reform

Al-Hajwi served in various diplomatic and administrative positions starting in the late 'Azizi period through the era of the French Protectorate al-Mawsua al-Fiqhiyya al-…+1. He served as the Moroccan diplomatic envoy to Algeria between 1321 and 1323 AH and headed official Moroccan delegations abroad al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassiru…. Domestically, he presided over the Scientific Council and the Supreme Shar'i Court of Appeal, and held the cabinet portfolios of Minister of Justice and Minister of Education al-Mawsua al-Fiqhiyya al-…+1.

In 1332 AH, al-Hajwi was tasked with reforming the curriculum at al-Qarawiyyin Maqasid al-Sharia al-Isla…. He established a consultative council to reorganize courses, drafted administrative regulations, introduced modern subjects alongside traditional religious disciplines, and inspected schools to improve instruction Maqasid al-Sharia al-Isla…. His modernization measures met with stiff resistance from senior scholars at the institution whose positions were affected by the reorganization Maqasid al-Sharia al-Isla…. He also addressed female education in a published lecture delivered in Rabat, titled al-Muhadarah al-Ribatiyyah fi Islah Ta'lim al-Fatayat fi al-Diyar al-Maghribiyyah al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassiru…+1.

Legal and Theological Orientation

In jurisprudence, al-Hajwi identified with the Maliki school, though he qualified his adherence by following evidence rather than rigid imitation al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi…. His primary work, the four-volume al-Fikr al-Sami fi Tarikh al-Fiqh al-Islami, surveyed the historical phases and methodology of Islamic jurisprudence from the prophetic era onward al-Alam lil-Zirikli.

In creed, al-Hajwi defined his position as Sunni and Salafi, maintaining beliefs grounded in scriptural proofs al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi…. In his writings, he expressed strong affinity for the theological approaches of Ibn Taymiyyah and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi…+1. During a visit to Tunis, he delivered a lecture at the al-Zaytuna Mosque advocating intellectual renewal and critiquing contemporary Sufi practices al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassiru….

Political Opposition, Death, and Burial

Al-Hajwi's cooperation with the French authorities and his administrative functions under the Protectorate drew severe criticism from Moroccan contemporaries, leading to his alienation from political peers and eventual removal from office Ithaf al-Mutali bi-Wafaya…+1. The Algerian scholar Muhammad al-Bashir al-Ibrahimi composed verses criticizing his political stance al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassiru….

Al-Hajwi died on the evening of Sunday, 1 Rabi' al-Awwal 1376 AH (1956 CE), in a hospital in Rabat Ithaf al-Mutali bi-Wafaya…+1. His body was transported the next day to Fez and interred after the Asr prayer at the Kasbah of Ibn Dabbab outside Bab al-Mahruq Ithaf al-Mutali bi-Wafaya…. The public boycotted his funeral, and regular Quran reciters refused to recite over him Ithaf al-Mutali bi-Wafaya…+1. Following local protests and a refusal by residents to pray at the adjacent mosque, his remains were exhumed and reburied by the Moroccan government in an undisclosed location in Fez Ithaf al-Mutali bi-Wafaya…+1.