Jafar ibn al-Hasan al-Barzanji جعفر بن حسن بن عبد الكريم البرزنجي

Imam Ja'far ibn al-Hasan al-Barzanji rahimahullah (1101 AH/1690 CE) was born in Madina, where his father served as a lecturer at the al-Siddiq Mosque and overseer of its charitable endowments (awqaf). His great-grandfather, originally from Shahrazur in Kurdish Iraq, had spent years seeking knowledge in Hamadan, Baghdad, Damascus, Istanbul, and Cairo before settling in Madina. Ja'far studied first under his father and his father's paternal uncle, and subsequently under other scholars of Madina, within a few years earning recognition as a master of many religious sciences. He became particularly distinguished as a jurist (faqih). In 1159 AH/1746, he was appointed imam and teacher at the Mosque of the Prophet in Madina, attracting students from near and far through his erudition, the quality of his lectures, and his skill in scholarly debate. He taught the jurisprudence of all four Sunni schools (madhahib) and was authorized to issue legal opinions (fatwa) in all of them. He is best known for his celebrated devotional poem in praise of the Prophet ﷺ, the Mawlid al-Barzanji.