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The famous ḥadīth concerning the mujaddid (renewer) is narrated by Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه, who reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:

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«“Indeed, Allah will raise for this Ummah, at the head of every hundred years, someone who will renew its religion for it.” (1)»

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The ḥadīth is recorded by Abū Dāwūd in his Sunan (no. 4291), in Kitāb al-Malāḥim, under the chapter concerning what occurs at the turn of each century. It has been graded ṣaḥīḥ by a number of ḥadīth scholars, including al-Albānī in al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (no. 599).

I had always understood this ḥadīth to mean that there would necessarily be one single mujaddid in every century. However, this is not the only interpretation found among the scholars. While some scholars did indeed understand the ḥadīth as referring to one particular individual in each century, others argued that the word man (مَنْ) can refer either to a single person or to a group. On this interpretation, several people may participate in the renewal of the religion during the same period, each in a different field.

I found the following four passages particularly interesting.

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IBN ḤAJAR AL-ʿASQALĀNĪ

First we have Ibn Ḥajar who wrote in Fatḥ al-Bārī (13/295):

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«“An analogous case is the interpretation given by some of the imams to the ḥadīth: ‘Indeed, Allah will raise for this Ummah, at the head of every hundred years, someone who will renew its religion for it.’ It is not necessary that there be only one person at the head of every century. Rather, the matter may be similar to what has been mentioned concerning the [victorious] group.

This is a sound interpretation, because the qualities which require renewal are not confined to one particular type of good, nor is it necessary that all the qualities of goodness be combined in a single individual, unless this is claimed concerning ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. He was the one who assumed this role at the head of the first century, as he combined all the qualities of goodness and excelled in them. This is why Aḥmad stated that they used to understand the ḥadīth as referring to him.

As for those who came after him, al-Shāfiʿī, despite possessing many excellent qualities, was not responsible for conducting jihād or governing with justice. Therefore, anyone who possesses one of these qualities at the head of the century may be included in what is intended by the ḥadīth, whether there is one such person or several.” (2)»

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This is particularly interesting because Ibn Ḥajar does not understand tajdīd as necessarily being concentrated in a single person. Different aspects of the religion may require renewal, and those different aspects may be renewed by different individuals.

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IBN AL-ATHĪR

Second, we have Majd al-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr (d. 606/1210), the ḥadīth scholar and brother of the historian ʿIzz al-Dīn, makes the point even more explicitly in Jāmiʿ al-Uṣūl. He explains that scholars differed over the interpretation of the ḥadīth and that, historically, scholars often identified the mujaddid according to their own scholarly tradition or madhhab. He then argues that the broader interpretation is preferable:

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«“The scholars have spoken about the interpretation of this ḥadīth, each in his own time, and pointed to the person who arose to renew the religion of the people at the head of every hundred years. It was as though each of them inclined towards his own madhhab and interpreted the ḥadīth accordingly.

It is preferable to understand the ḥadīth in a general sense. The Prophet’s ﷺ statement, ‘Indeed, Allah will raise for this Ummah, at the head of every hundred years, someone who will renew its religion for it,’ does not necessarily imply that the one raised at the head of the century must be a single man. It may be one person, or it may be more than one, for the word man (مَنْ) applies both to one and to many.

Likewise, it does not necessarily mean that those raised are the jurists specifically, as some scholars held. Although the benefit that the Ummah receives from the jurists is general and encompasses many matters of religion, the Ummah also receives considerable benefit from others: rulers, scholars of ḥadīth, Qurʾān reciters, preachers, and the various classes of ascetics. Each of these groups benefits the Ummah in a field in which the others do not. […]

[…] However, the one raised at the head of the century should be a well known and recognised figure, pointed to in each of these fields. If the ḥadīth is interpreted in this way, that is more fitting, further from suspicion [of partisanship], and closer to wisdom. For the disagreement of the imams is a mercy, and upholding the positions of the mujtahids is necessary. If we were to restrict the ḥadīth to one of the madhhabs and interpret it accordingly, the other madhhabs would be left outside its scope, and that would amount to discrediting them.

It is therefore better and more fitting to take it as an indication that, at the head of every century, a group of eminent and well known figures will arise who renew the people’s religion for them and preserve the madhhabs in which they follow their mujtahids and imams.” (3)»

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This interpretation gives tajdīd a much broader meaning. Renewal is not limited to fiqh or to one outstanding scholar. A ruler may renew the implementation of justice, a muḥaddith may preserve and revive the Sunnah, a jurist may renew legal scholarship, a preacher may revive religious commitment, and so forth. Several such figures could therefore collectively embody the renewal promised in the ḥadīth.

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IBN KATHĪR

Third, we have Ibn Kathīr who makes the same observation in al-Nihāyah fī al-Fitan wa-l-Malāḥim:

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«“Every group has claimed that its own imam is the one intended by this ḥadīth. What is apparent, and Allah knows best, is that it includes the bearers of knowledge from every group and every category of scholars: Qurʾān commentators, ḥadīth scholars, jurists, grammarians, linguists […] and other categories besides. And Allah knows best.” (4)»

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Like Ibn al-Athīr, Ibn Kathīr notices that each group tended to claim the ḥadīth for its own imam, and he resolves the problem in the same way, by extending it to scholars of every discipline.

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ḤAMMŪD AL-TUWAYJIRĪ

Finally, a similar argument was made much later by Shaykh Ḥammūd al-Tuwayjirī in Itḥāf al-Jamāʿah bi-mā Jāʾa fī al-Fitan wa-l-Malāḥim wa-Ashrāṭ al-Sāʿah (1/336). Right after quoting Ibn Kathīr’s statement above, he writes:

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«“As for restricting the ḥadīth to a limited number of individuals, with one person for every hundred years, this is very far-fetched, and the ḥadīth does not indicate such a restriction. This is because the word man (مَنْ) can refer to one person and can also refer to a group.

Accordingly, understanding the ḥadīth as referring to a group of people engaged in spreading knowledge and renewing the religion is preferable to understanding it as referring to one individual after another.

This is supported by what al-Tirmidhī narrated and declared ḥasan (6) from ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf رضي الله عنه, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Indeed, the religion began as something strange and will return to being strange, so glad tidings to the strangers: those who rectify what the people corrupted of my Sunnah after me.’

It was also narrated by Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣābūnī with the wording: ‘Indeed, this religion began as something strange and will return to being strange as it began, so glad tidings to the strangers.’ It was said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, who are the strangers?’ He said: ‘Those who revive my Sunnah after me and teach it to the servants of Allah.’

It is also supported by what Ibn Waḍḍāḥ narrated from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه, who said: ‘Praise be to Allah who has bestowed upon His servants that, during every period between the messengers, He leaves remnants from among the people of knowledge who call those who have gone astray back to guidance, patiently endure the harm they receive from them, and revive with the Book of Allah those whose hearts have become blind…’

This indicates that renewal may be carried out by a group of scholars and is not restricted to one individual after another. And Allah knows best.” (5)»

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CONCLUSION

So the common picture of one mujaddid for each century is certainly one interpretation of the ḥadīth, but it should not be treated as though it were the only possible understanding. A significant scholarly interpretation understands tajdīd as something that can be carried out collectively, with different scholars and leaders renewing different aspects of Islam during the same period.

In that sense, rather than asking, “Who is the mujaddid of this century?”, it may sometimes be more accurate to ask: “Who were the mujaddids of this century, and what aspect of the religion did each of them renew?”

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ORIGINAL ARABIC TEXTS

(1)

إِنَّ اللهَ يَبْعَثُ لِهَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ عَلَى رَأْسِ كُلِّ مِائَةِ سَنَةٍ مَنْ يُجَدِّدُ لَهَا دِينَهَا.

— Sunan Abī Dāwūd, no. 4291.

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(2)

قال الحافظ ابن حجر:

ونظير ما نبه عليه ما حمل عليه بعض الأئمة حديث: «إن الله يبعث لهذه الأمة على رأس كل مائة سنة من يجدد لها دينها» أنه لا يلزم أن يكون في رأس كل مائة سنة واحد فقط، بل يكون الأمر فيه كما ذكر في الطائفة، وهو متجه، فإن اجتماع الصفات المحتاج إلى تجديدها لا ينحصر في نوع من أنواع الخير، ولا يلزم أن جميع خصال الخير كلها في شخص واحد، إلا أن يدعى ذلك في عمر بن عبد العزيز، فإنه كان القائم بالأمر على رأس المائة الأولى، باتصافه بجميع صفات الخير، وتقدمه فيها، ومن ثم أطلق أحمد أنهم كانوا يحملون الحديث عليه، وأما من جاء بعده فالشافعي وإن كان متصفا بالصفات الجميلة إلا أنه لم يكن القائم بأمر الجهاد والحكم بالعدل، فعلى هذا كل من كان متصفا بشيء من ذلك عند رأس المائة هو المراد، سواء تعدد أم لا.

— Fatḥ al-Bārī, 13/295.

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(3)

قال ابن الأثير:

قد تكلم العلماء في تأويل هذا الحديث، كل واحد في زمانه، وأشاروا إلى القائم الذي يجدد للناس دينهم على رأس كل مائة سنة، وكأن كل قائل قد مال إلى مذهبه وحمل تأويل الحديث عليه، والأولى أن يحمل الحديث على العموم، فإن قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: «إن الله يبعث لهذه الأمة على رأس كل مائة سنة من يجدد لها دينها» لا يلزم منه أن يكون المبعوث على رأس المائة رجلاً واحداً، وإنما قد يكون واحداً، وقد يكون أكثر منه، فإن لفظة «مَنْ» تقع على الواحد والجمع.

وكذلك لا يلزم منه أن يكون أراد بالمبعوث الفقهاء خاصة، كما ذهب إليه بعض العلماء، فإن انتفاع الأمة بالفقهاء، وإن كان نفعاً عاماً في أمور الدين، فإن انتفاعهم بغيرهم أيضاً كثير، مثل أولي الأمر، وأصحاب الحديث، والقراء، والوعاظ، وأصحاب الطبقات من الزهاد، فإن كل قوم ينفعون بفن لا ينفع به الآخر [...]

[...] لكن الذي ينبغي أن يكون المبعوث على رأس المائة رجلاً مشهوراً معروفاً، مشاراً إليه في كل فن من هذه الفنون، فإذا حمل تأويل الحديث على هذا الوجه كان أولى، وأبعد من التهمة، وأشبه بالحكمة، فإن اختلاف الأئمة رحمة، وتقرير أقوال المجتهدين متعين، فإذا ذهبنا إلى تخصيص القول على أحد المذاهب، وأولنا الحديث عليه، بقيت المذاهب الأخرى خارجة عن احتمال الحديث لها، وكان ذلك طعناً فيها.

فالأحسن والأجدر أن يكون ذلك إشارة إلى حدوث جماعة من الأكابر المشهورين على رأس كل مائة سنة يجددون للناس دينهم، ويحفظون مذاهبهم التي قلدوا فيها مجتهديهم وأئمتهم.

— Jāmiʿ al-Uṣūl fī Aḥādīth al-Rasūl, 11/319–323.

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(4)

قال الحافظ ابن كثير:

وقد ادعى كل قوم في إمامهم أنه المراد بهذا الحديث، والظاهر - والله أعلم - أنه يعم حملة العلم من كل طائفة وكل صنف من أصناف العلماء؛ من مفسرين، ومحدثين، وفقهاء، ونحاة، ولغويين ... إلى غير ذلك من الأصناف، والله أعلم.

— al-Nihāyah fī al-Fitan wa-l-Malāḥim, as quoted by al-Tuwayjirī in Itḥāf al-Jamāʿah, 1/336.

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(5)

قال الشيخ حمود التويجري:

وأما قصر الحديث على أشخاص معدودين، في كل مائة سنة واحد منهم؛ فهو بعيد جدا، والحديث لا يدل على ذلك؛ لأن لفظة «من» يراد بها الواحد ويراد بها الجماعة، وعلى هذا فحمل الحديث على الجماعة القائمين بنشر العلم وتجديد الدين أولى من حمله على واحد بعد واحد منهم.

ويؤيد هذا ما رواه الترمذي وحسنه عن عمرو بن عوف رضي الله عنه: أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: «إن الدين بدأ غريبًا ويرجع غريبًا؛ فطوبى للغرباء الذين يصلحون ما أفسد الناس من بعدي من سنتي».

ورواه إسماعيل بن عبد الرحمن الصابوني، ولفظه: قال: «إن هذا الدين بدأ غريبًا وسيعود غريبًا كما بدأ؛ فطوبى للغرباء. قيل: يا رسول الله! ومن الغرباء؟ قال: الذين يحيون سنتي من بعدي، ويعلمونها عباد الله».

ويؤيده أيضا ما رواه ابن وضاح عن عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه: أنه قال: «الحمد لله الذي امتن على العباد بأن جعل في كل زمان فترة من الرسل بقايا من أهل العلم؛ يدعون من ضل إلى الهدى، ويصبرون منهم على الأذى، ويحيون بكتاب الله أهل العمى...» إلى آخر خطبته رضي الله عنه.

فهذا يدل على أن التجديد يكون في جماعة من أهل العلم، ولا ينحصر في واحد بعد واحد منهم. والله أعلم.

— Itḥāf al-Jamāʿah bi-mā Jāʾa fī al-Fitan wa-l-Malāḥim wa-Ashrāṭ al-Sāʿah, 1/336.

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(6)

Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, no. 2630. Al-Tuwayjirī reports al-Tirmidhī’s grading accurately, but the chain runs through Kathīr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muzanī, whom most ḥadīth critics considered very weak, and al-Albānī graded the narration ḍaʿīf jiddan. It is cited here as al-Tuwayjirī cites it.

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