This biography explores the remarkable life and scholarly legacy of Shaykh Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī al-Maghribī, a distinguished scholar, traveler in pursuit of knowledge, and defender of authentic Islamic teachings.
He was the prominent scholar of ḥadīth, renowned linguist, distinguished writer, prolific poet, and widely travelled scholar from Morocco, the Salafī Shaykh Dr. Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī, better known simply as Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn. He was also known by the kunyah Abū Shakīb (the father of Shakīb), as he named his firstborn son after his close friend, the Amīr Shakīb Arsalān.
He was Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn al-Ṭayyib ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Nūr ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Hilāl ibn Muḥammad ibn Hilāl ibn Idrīs ibn Ghālib ibn Muḥammad al-Makkī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Abū al-Qāsim ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-Qawī ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Idrīs ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Sulaymān ibn Mūsá al-Kāẓim ibn Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq ibn Muḥammad al-Bāqir ibn ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Fāṭimah, the daughter of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ.
This lineage was confirmed by Sulṭān al-Ḥasan I when he visited Sijilmāsa in Morocco in the year 1311 AH (1893 CE).
The Shaykh was born in the year 1311 AH (1893 CE) in a village known as al-Farkh, also referred to as al-Fayḍah al-Qadīmah, located just a few miles from Rissani, one of the desert cities of Sijilmāsa, in what is today known as Tāfilālt, situated in the south of the Kingdom of Morocco.
He grew up in a household of knowledge and understanding, as both his father and grandfather were jurists of that region.
He recited the Qurʾān under his father and memorised it at the age of twelve. He then perfected his recitation with the Shaykh and Qurʾān reciter Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ. Thereafter, he studied extensively with Shaykh Muḥammad Sayyidī ibn Ḥabīb Allāh al-Tandaghī al-Shinqīṭī, beginning his studies with him by memorising the Mālikī text Mukhtaṣar Khalīl. He also read under him in the sciences of the Arabic language and Mālikī jurisprudence until the Shaykh permitted him to teach on his behalf during his absence.
After the death of his teacher, he devoted himself to seeking knowledge from the scholars of Oujda and Fez, eventually attaining a degree from the University of al-Qarawiyyīn in Fez.
He then travelled to Cairo to pursue the Sunnah of the purified Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. There he met a number of scholars, among them Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ẓāhir Abū al-Samḥ, Shaykh Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā, and Shaykh Muḥammad al-Ramālī, as well as others. He also attended the lessons of the advanced studies department at al-Azhar University and remained in Egypt for one year, calling to the creed of the Salaf and combating polytheism and heresy.
After performing the Ḥajj, he travelled to India in pursuit of the science of ḥadīth. There he met prominent scholars and benefitted them just as they benefitted him. Among the most notable of those he met was the prodigious ḥadīth scholar Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Mubārakfūrī, the author of Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī bi Sharḥ Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī. Shaykh al-Hilālī studied ḥadīth under him, received an ijāzah¹ from him, and was honoured with a commendatory poem encouraging students of knowledge to adhere to ḥadīth and benefit from the aforementioned commentary. This poem was published in the fourth volume of the Indian edition of Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī bi Sharḥ Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī.
He also stayed with Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn ibn Muḥsin al-Ḥudaydī al-Anṣārī al-Yamānī, who had settled in India at that time. Shaykh al-Hilālī read portions of the six canonical books of ḥadīth under him and likewise received an ijāzah from him.
From India, he travelled to al-Zubayr near al-Baṣrah in Iraq, where he met the discerning Salafī Mauritanian scholar Shaykh Muḥammad al-Amīn al-Shinqīṭī, founder of the al-Najāḥ private school in al-Zubayr. He should not be confused with the later exegete and author of Aḍwāʾ al-Bayān. Shaykh al-Hilālī benefitted from him and remained in Iraq for approximately three years.
He then travelled to Saudi Arabia, passing through Egypt, where Shaykh Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā gave him a letter of recommendation addressed to King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd, in which he wrote: “Indeed, Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī al-Maghribī is among the most distinguished of the scholars who have visited you from various lands, and I hope that you will benefit from his knowledge.”
Shaykh al-Hilālī remained a guest of King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz for several months before being appointed supervisor of lessons at the Prophetic Mosque in Madinah, where he remained for two years. He then transferred to the Sacred Mosque and the Saudi Educational Institute in Makkah, where he remained for one year. Thereafter, he received letters from Indonesia and India inviting him to teach in their respective institutions.
He decided to accept the invitation of Sulaymān al-Nadawī, hoping also to pursue further university studies in India. He became head of the professors of Arabic literature at Nadwat al-ʿUlamāʾ in Lucknow, where he remained for three years. During this period, he studied the English language, though he was unable to pursue further university studies. At the suggestion of Sulaymān al-Nadawī, he published the journal al-Ḍiyāʾ, assisted by his student Masʿūd ʿĀlim al-Nadawī.
He later returned to al-Zubayr, where he remained for three years teaching at the al-Najāḥ private school. Thereafter, he travelled to Geneva, Switzerland, where he stayed with his close friend Shakīb Arsalān, known as Amīr al-Bayān. Shaykh al-Hilālī wished to study at a British university but was unable to do so. Shakīb Arsalān therefore wrote to one of his contacts in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating:
“There is a young Moroccan literary figure, the likes of whom has never entered Germany before, who wishes to study at one of its universities. Perhaps you may find for him a position teaching Arabic literature, with a wage that would allow him to study.”
The response came swiftly, granting acceptance. Shaykh al-Hilālī travelled to Germany and was appointed lecturer at the University of Bonn. There, he learned German and obtained a language certificate after one year. He subsequently enrolled as a student while continuing to lecture and translated extensively to and from German. After three years, he transferred to Humboldt University of Berlin, serving as a student, lecturer, and supervisor of the Arabic radio station.
In 1940 CE, he presented his doctoral thesis addressing orientalist claims advanced by figures such as Martin Hartmann and Carl Brockelmann. The title of his dissertation was The Translation of the Introduction to al-Jamāhir fī Maʿrifat al-Jawāhir² with commentary. A committee of ten scholars unanimously approved the awarding of a doctorate in Arabic literature.
During the Second World War, Shaykh al-Hilālī returned to Morocco. In 1947 CE, he travelled to Iraq and taught at Queen ʿĀliyyah Women’s College in Baghdad until the military coup, after which he returned to Morocco in 1959 CE. During his stay in his ancestral homeland, he actively called to pure tawḥīd, the abandonment of polytheism, and adherence to the methodology of the righteous Salaf.
In that same year, he was appointed professor at Muḥammad V University in Rabat, and later taught at its branch in Fez. In 1968 CE, he received an invitation from Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz, then President of the Islamic University of Madinah, to serve as a professor there while remaining commissioned from Morocco. He accepted and remained in this position until 1974 CE, after which he returned to Meknes to devote himself fully to daʿwah. He continued teaching in mosques and travelling throughout Morocco, spreading the call of the righteous Salaf. He was also a regular contributor to the journals al-Fatḥ edited by Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb and al-Manār edited by Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā, may Allāh have mercy upon them all.
Among his teachers were:
Shaykh Muḥammad Sayyidī ibn Ḥabīb Allāh al-Shinqīṭī
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Mubārakfūrī
Shaykh Muḥammad al-ʿArabī al-ʿAlawī
Shaykh al-Fāṭimī al-Sharādī
Shaykh Aḥmad Sakīraj
Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn ibn Muḥsin al-Ḥudaydī al-Anṣārī al-Yamānī
Shaykh Muḥammad al-Amīn al-Shinqīṭī (not the exegete of Aḍwāʾ al-Bayān)
Shaykh Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā
Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm
Scholars of al-Qarawiyyīn and al-Azhar
There are numerous works attributed to Shaykh Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī, written across different periods and lands. Among them are:
al-Zand al-Wārī wa al-Badr al-Sārī fī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (vol. 1 only)
al-Ilhām wa al-Inʿām fī Tafsīr al-Anʿām
Mukhtaṣar Hadī al-Khalīl fī al-ʿAqāʾid wa ʿIbādat al-Jalīl
al-Hadiyyah al-Hādiyah li al-Ṭāʾifah al-Tijāniyyah
al-Qāḍī al-ʿAdl fī Ḥukm al-Bināʾ ʿalā al-Qubūr
al-ʿIlm al-Maʾthūr wa al-ʿIlm al-Mashhūr wa al-Liwāʾ al-Manshūr fī Bidaʿ al-Qubūr
Āl al-Bayt: Mā Lahum wa Mā ʿAlayhim
Ḥāshiyah ʿalā Kitāb al-Tawḥīd li Shaykh al-Islām Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb
Ḥāshiyah ʿalā Kashf al-Shubuhāt li Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb
al-Ḥusām al-Māḥiq li Kulli Mushrik wa Munāfiq
Dawāʾ al-Shākkīn wa Qāmiʿ al-Mushakkikīn fī al-Radd ʿalā al-Mulḥidīn
al-Barāhīn al-Injīliyyah ʿalā Anna ʿĪsá Dākhil fī al-ʿUbūdiyyah wa Barīʾ min al-Ulūhiyyah
Fakkāk al-Asīr al-ʿĀnī al-Makbūl bi al-Kabl al-Tijānī
Faḍl al-Kabīr al-Mutaʿālī (poetry)
Asmāʾ Allāh al-Ḥusná (poem)
al-Ṣubḥ al-Sāfir fī Ḥukm Ṣalāt al-Musāfir
al-ʿUqūd al-Durriyyah fī Manʿ Taḥdīd al-Dhurriyyah
al-Thiqāfah allatī Naḥtāj Ilayhā (article)
Taʿlīm al-Ināth wa Tarbiyyatihinna (article)
Mā Waqaʿ fī al-Qurʾān bi Ghayr Lughah al-ʿArab (article)
Akhlāq al-Shabāb al-Muslim (article)
Min Waḥy al-Andalus (poem)
On Monday, 25 Shawwāl 1407 AH (22 June 1987 CE), the Muslim world was struck by a tremendous loss with the passing of Shaykh Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī in his home in Casablanca, Morocco. His funeral rites were attended by vast numbers of people, beginning with scholars and including educated figures and politicians.
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Allah does not take away knowledge by removing it directly from the servants. Rather, He removes knowledge by taking away the scholars, until no scholar remains. Then people take ignorant leaders, who are asked and give verdicts without knowledge, thereby going astray and leading others astray.” Narrated by al-Bukhārī
We ask Allāh, the Ever Generous, to envelop the Shaykh in His vast mercy and admit him into the most spacious part of His Paradise.
We have been informed by a man who sat with Shaykh Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī and visited him in his home, al-Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ilāh al-Sharqāwī al-Rabāṭī, who is currently living in Morocco, that the Shaykh’s paternal cousin, widely known in Morocco as “al-Hilālī”, informed him of the following:
During the final days of his life, Shaykh Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī was ill and confined to his bed, unable to perform ablution. He therefore performed tayammum. It was his opinion that tayammum should not be performed with rock, but rather with pure earth, if it was possible to place some of it in a container. If he was told to perform tayammum with rock, he would respond: “No, this is what was known from the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ,” meaning tayammum with pure earth.
On that day, he requested that his family bring him a container of water. They said to him that he was unable to perform ablution and should instead perform tayammum, but he insisted. They brought him a basin of water, and he performed ablution, prayed two units of prayer, then lay back in his bed and asked: “Which of you has the best recitation of the Qurʾān?”
One of them recited Sūrah Yā Sīn over him. He listened attentively until the recitation was complete, then asked the reciter to repeat the statement of Allāh ﷻ:
وَآيَةٌ لَّهُمُ اللَّيْلُ نَسْلَخُ مِنْهُ النَّهَارَ فَإِذَا هُم مُّظْلِمُونَ
“And a sign for them is the night. We withdraw from it the day, and behold, they are in darkness.” (Qurʾān 36:37)
The reciter continued until he reached the statement of Allāh ﷻ:
وَضَرَبَ لَنَا مَثَلًا وَنَسِيَ خَلْقَهُ ۖ قَالَ مَن يُحْيِي الْعِظَامَ وَهِيَ رَمِيمٌ
“And he puts forth for Us a parable and forgets his own creation. He says: ‘Who will give life to these bones when they are rotten?’” (Qurʾān 36:78)
At that point, the Shaykh raised his index finger towards the sky, as if affirming that it is Allāh Who gives life to bones after they have decayed. His soul then departed his body.
May Allāh have immense mercy upon him and grant us and you a good end.
Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz wrote in his biographical compilation Tuḥfat al-Ikhwān after receiving news of Shaykh al-Hilālī’s passing: “The Shaykh and eminent scholar Dr. Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Hilālī al-Ḥasanī passed away in Casablanca at sunset on Tuesday night, the 27th of Shawwāl 1407 AH. May Allāh envelop him in His mercy, elevate his rank among the guided, multiply his good deeds, and expiate his sins. He was born in Muḥarram 1311 AH, as he personally informed me, and thus lived ninety-seven years minus two months and a few days. He was a great scholar who exerted himself tirelessly in calling to Allāh wherever he was. He travelled extensively, calling to Allāh in Europe, India, and the Arabian Peninsula. He taught at the Islamic University of Madinah and authored many works, including al-Hadiyyah al-Hādiyah li al-Ṭāʾifah al-Tijāniyyah. In the early part of his life, he belonged to the Tijāniyyah sect⁴, then Allāh freed him from it, after which he refuted and exposed it. Among his final works was Sabīl al-Rashād⁵. He left behind two sons and two or three daughters. A great multitude prayed over him, and he was buried in the cemetery of Casablanca. May Allāh unite us with him in His eternal abode and grant the Muslims a righteous successor. Indeed, He is the Bestower and Most Generous.”
_________
¹ Translator’s note on ijāzah preserved verbatim.
² Translator’s note regarding al-Bīrūnī preserved verbatim.
⁴ Translator’s note on the Tijāniyyah preserved verbatim.
⁵ Translator’s note on Sabīl al-Rashād preserved verbatim.
⁶ Tuḥfat al-Ikhwān bi Tarājim Baʿḍ al-Aʿyān, pp. 69–71.
September 19, 2017
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