Sayyid Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki محمد بن علوي المالكي الحسني

Muhammad ibn Alawi al-Maliki al-Hasani (1363-1426 AH / 1944-2004 CE) was among the foremost traditional Sunni scholars of his age, a Hasani sayyid descended from the Prophet through his grandson al-Hasan. He was born in Makka into the renowned al-Maliki family, in which five forebears had served as Maliki imams of the Masjid al-Haram, his grandfather al-Sayyid Abbas having been mufti and khatib of the Sacred Mosque. He memorized the Qurʾan in his youth under his father al-Sayyid Alawi, studied the traditional sciences with leading teachers of the Hijaz, and earned a doctorate from al-Azhar in Egypt while still young, gathering ijazas from scholars across the Muslim world. He taught within the Masjid al-Haram in his father's circle and at Umm al-Qura University, and after being removed from those posts he continued teaching from his home, where evening gatherings drew hundreds of students.

Maliki in jurisprudence and Ashʿari in creed, attached to the Shadhili path, he authored close to a hundred works on creed, hadith, Qurʾanic exegesis, sira, and spirituality. His Mafahim Yajib an Tusahhah (rendered "Notions That Must Be Corrected") became a landmark defense of mainstream Sunni belief and devotion to the Prophet. He died in Makka and was buried at Jannat al-Muʿalla; his students carry his teaching across the Islamic world.