Yusuf al-Nabhani يوسف بن إسماعيل النبهاني

Yusuf al-Nabhani (1265-1350 AH / 1849-1932 CE) was a Palestinian scholar, Ottoman jurist, and one of the most prolific poets of devotion to the Prophet Muhammad in the modern era. Shafiʿi in law and Ashʿari in creed, he was born in the village of Ijzim near Haifa, where his father, an imam, gave him his first instruction. He went on to study at al-Azhar in Cairo, then entered the Ottoman judiciary, holding posts across the Ottoman lands and rising to head the rights court of Beirut, an office he held for over twenty years. He took authorization in several Sufi paths, among them the Qadiriyya and Shadhiliyya. Al-Nabhani is most celebrated for his devotional and hadith-related writing centered on the Prophet. His landmark works include Wasaʾil al-Wusul ila Shamaʾil al-Rasul on the Prophet's noble character and appearance, Jamiʿ Karamat al-Awliyaʾ on the saints and their miracles, Saʿadat al-Darayn on prayers upon the Prophet, and al-Anwar al-Muhammadiyya. He compiled vast collections of litanies and praise poetry, such as al-Majmuʿa al-Nabhaniyya fi al-Madaʾih al-Nabawiyya. Late in life he traveled to Madina, where he lived for a time, before returning to his homeland, dying in Ramadan 1350 AH. He is remembered as a steadfast defender of traditional Sunni piety, Sufism, and love of the Prophet against the reformist currents of his day.