Scholars

Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari (d. 870 CE), the greatest hadith scholar, compiler of Sahih al-Bukhari — regarded as the most authentic book after the Quran.

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111 CE), the "Proof of Islam", a towering theologian, jurist, and Sufi whose Ihya Ulum al-Din reshaped Islamic spirituality.

Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (d. 875 CE), a master of hadith and author of Sahih Muslim, ranked second only to Sahih al-Bukhari in authenticity.

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 1449 CE), the great hadith authority whose Fath al-Bari is the foremost commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari.

Isma'il ibn Kathir (d. 1373 CE), a historian and exegete whose Tafsir Ibn Kathir is among the most widely read commentaries on the Quran.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun (d. 1406 CE), a historian and statesman regarded as a founder of sociology and historiography through his Muqaddimah.

Ibn Sina (d. 1037 CE), a Persian polymath, physician, and philosopher whose Canon of Medicine was a standard medical text in East and West for centuries.

Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328 CE), an influential Hanbali theologian and jurist known for his prolific writings and calls to reform; a much-discussed figure.

Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (d. 1277 CE), a Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar famed for Riyad al-Salihin and his Forty Hadith.

Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 923 CE), historian and exegete whose monumental Tafsir and History are foundational references in Islamic scholarship.

Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (d. 1166 CE), a Hanbali preacher and saint of Baghdad after whom the widespread Qadiriyya Sufi order is named.

Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 936 CE), the founder of the Ash'ari school of theology, which became one of the two main Sunni creeds.

Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni (d. 1048 CE), a polymath who made pioneering contributions to astronomy, geography, and the comparative study of cultures.

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (d. c. 850 CE), a mathematician and astronomer; the founder of algebra, from whose name the word "algorithm" derives.

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350 CE), the foremost student of Ibn Taymiyyah, a prolific writer on spirituality, law, and the soul.

Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudamah (d. 1223 CE), a leading Hanbali jurist whose al-Mughni is a monumental encyclopedia of comparative Islamic law.

Ibn Rushd (d. 1198 CE), an Andalusian Maliki jurist, physician, and philosopher whose commentaries on Aristotle deeply influenced European thought.

Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (d. 889 CE), compiler of the Sunan Abi Dawud, one of the six canonical hadith collections (Kutub al-Sittah).

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Dhahabi (d. 1348 CE), a master historian and hadith critic, author of Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, a vast biographical encyclopedia.

Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb al-Nasa'i (d. 915 CE), author of the Sunan al-Nasa'i, famed for the strictness of his criteria for accepting narrators.

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Qurtubi (d. 1273 CE), an Andalusian Maliki scholar famed for his Quranic commentary focused on legal rulings (al-Jami li-Ahkam al-Quran).

Ibrahim ibn Musa al-Shatibi (d. 1388 CE), an Andalusian Maliki scholar who systematised the higher objectives of the law (Maqasid) in his al-Muwafaqat.

Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505 CE), an exceptionally prolific Egyptian polymath who wrote hundreds of works across tafsir, hadith, and the sciences of Arabic.

Muhammad ibn Isa al-Tirmidhi (d. 892 CE), author of the Jami al-Tirmidhi, noted for grading hadith and recording juristic differences.

Al-Junayd al-Baghdadi (d. 910 CE), the "master of the masters" of Sufism, known for his sober, Sharia-centred spirituality.

Rabia al-Adawiyya (d. 801 CE), an early female Sufi saint of Basra, renowned for her doctrine of pure, selfless love of God.

Abu Nasr al-Farabi (d. 950 CE), a philosopher called the "Second Teacher" (after Aristotle), influential in logic, metaphysics, and political philosophy.

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1210 CE), a major theologian and exegete whose vast Quranic commentary (Mafatih al-Ghayb) engages philosophy and the sciences.

Al-Husayn ibn Mas'ud al-Baghawi (d. 1122 CE), a Shafi'i scholar of tafsir and hadith, author of Ma'alim al-Tanzil and Sharh al-Sunnah.

Muhammad ibn Yazid Ibn Majah (d. 887 CE), compiler of the Sunan Ibn Majah, the sixth of the six canonical hadith collections.