Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi

Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi (1310–1378 AH / 1892–1959 CE) was an Egyptian Salafi scholar, Azhari jurist, and the founder and first president of Jama'at Ansar al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyyah al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1.

Early Life and Education

Muhammad Hamid ibn Sayyid Ahmad Abduh al-Fiqi was born in 1310 AH (1892 CE) in the village of Nikla al-Inab, located in the Shubrakhit district of the Beheira Governorate in Egypt al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1. He was raised in a religious household; his father had studied at al-Azhar, and his mother was literate and had memorized the Quran al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…. Al-Fiqi completed his memorization of the Quran at the age of twelve in Ramadan 1322 AH Usul al-Dawa wa Turuquha …. His father sought to divide his elder sons across the four Sunni legal schools, intending for Hamid to study the Hanbali madhhab, though administrative circumstances led him to enroll formally under the Hanafi school upon entering al-Azhar in 1322 AH (1904 CE) al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+2.

During his six years of foundational study at al-Azhar, he studied Arabic grammar, jurisprudence, logic, theology, morphology, and rhetoric, before turning extensively to hadith and Quranic exegesis in 1910 at the age of eighteen al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…. He completed his formal education in 1336 AH (1917 CE), earning the 'alimiyya degree from al-Azhar at the age of twenty-five al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1.

Dawah and Career

From around 1910, al-Fiqi began actively advocating a return to the Quran and the Sunnah, drawing heavily upon the works of classical authorities such as Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Taymiyya, and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1. After graduating, he led preaching and communal worship at the Sharaks Mosque in Cairo and subsequently served as the imam of the Hiddarah Mosque until the end of his life al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi….

In Jumada al-Ula 1345 AH (December 1926 CE), al-Fiqi and a circle of associates formally established Jama'at Ansar al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyyah in Cairo to propagate Salafi creed and oppose religious innovations and contemporary Sufi practices al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi…+1. His public activities drew fierce opposition from religious rivals and prompted an assassination attempt orchestrated by officials connected to Abdeen Palace al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+1. Al-Fiqi later traveled to the Hijaz, where he resided and taught in Mecca for approximately three years, holding teaching circles in the Grand Mosque near Bab Ali Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1.

Following his return to Egypt, he re-energized the society, opening regional branches across Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi…. In 1356 AH (1936–1937 CE), he launched the organization's official periodical, Majallat al-Hady al-Nabawi, serving as its editor-in-chief, and established Matba'at al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyyah to print and disseminate classical theological and legal works al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+2. He also authored a treatise titled Athar al-Da'wa al-Wahhabiyya fi al-Islah al-Dini wa al-Umrani fi Jazirat al-Arab wa Ghayriha Athar al-Dawa al-Wahhabiy….

Students, Relations, and Controversies

Al-Fiqi influenced a number of students and scholars across the region, including Hammad al-Ansari, Abu Turab al-Zahiri (who lived with him in Egypt for five years and assisted in manuscript editing), and Abu Zayd Muhammad Hamza, who helped spread the movement's dawah in Sudan al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+1.

He shared a close scholarly friendship of nearly fifty years with the hadith scholar Ahmad Muhammad Shakir Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1. However, in 1374 AH, their relationship deteriorated over a marginal note al-Fiqi appended to an epistle by Ibn Taymiyya published in al-Hady al-Nabawi, which Shakir interpreted as an accusation of falsehood against Ibn Taymiyya; Shakir responded by publishing a dedicated critical work titled Bayni wa-bayna Hamid al-Fiqi Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh….

Death

Al-Fiqi died at dawn on Friday, 7 Rajab 1378 AH (January 1959 CE) al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1. His death followed severe post-operative bleeding after undergoing surgery at al-Agouza Hospital in Giza; before expiring, he performed the two units of the dawn prayer, reciting Surah al-Ra'd, and was transported at his request to the headquarters of Ansar al-Sunnah, where he passed away Mawsuat Mawaqif al-Salaf …+1. His funeral was attended by prominent scholars and dignitaries, including the Egyptian Minister of Awqaf, Grand Imam of al-Azhar Abd al-Rahman Taj, and former Grand Mufti Muhammad Hasanayn Makhluf Usul al-Dawa wa Turuquha ….