Muhammad Birgivi (1523–1573), full name Taqī al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Pīr ʿAlī al-Birgawī and known simply as Imam Birgivi, was a Hanafi Muslim jurist and scholar who lived during the rule of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. He was also a religious reformist, and a moralist.
Imam Birgivi and his disciples were vocal critics of corruption within the Ottoman Empire and without, particularly decrying the twisting of Islamic teachings for the benefit of the rich. At one point Birgivi traveled to the capital of the Empire and personally took the prime minister to task. This reprimand was taken well by the minister, who consulted him on how to cure the degeneration of the Islamic virtues.[7] One of his biggest supporters in the Ottoman court was Sokollu Mehmed Pasha.[8]
He stayed in İzmir, working there as a religious teacher, until his death in 1573.[3] He was buried in the private cemetery named after him, the İmam-î Birgivi Hazretleri Kabri, which is adjacent to a religious school complex named after him.[9]
Imam Birgivi was a Maturidi in creed, and a Hanafi in his jurisprudence and doctrine.[1][5] However, Birgivi was against the usage of Kalam and found it unnecessary.[1][10][11] He also found contemporary Sufi practices to be heretical, and his views of Sufism were influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah.[12] Birgivi's writings also influenced the Kadizadeli movement which opposed contemporary Sufism.[12]
Birgivi was a critic of Ibn Arabi and refuted him on theological standpoints including the faith of Amenhotep II.[13]
Birgivi is famous for his eṭ-Ṭarîḳatü'l-Muḥammediyye, a book which explains his views on Sufism, innovations, Islamic sects and Prophetic traditions, through the viewpoints of the Hanafi school and the Maturidi creed. Some of his views in the book are inspired by Ibn Taymiyyah.[12]
In addition to eṭ-Ṭarîḳatü'l-Muḥammediyye, Birgivi also wrote books on language, grammar, and the etiquette when visiting graves.
^Rashid Rida (1350). Al-Manar’s Magazine (in Arabic). Egypt. pp. (32/2).
^ abDawood Kuri, Muhammad (2017). The call of the reformist Kadizade group in the Ottoman Empire, before the emergence of the call of Imam Muhammad bin Abdulwahhab and the rise of the Saudi State. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Lu'lu. pp. 14–15. ISBN9781513619507.
^UNAN, Fahri, Liquidation in Religion or Sunni Opposition to Ottoman Sunnism: Birgivî Mehmet Effendi, Türk Yurdu, Issue 36, Ankara, August 1990, p. 33-42.
