Mujaddid
A mujaddid (مجدد), is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" (تجديد) to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revive Islam, cleansing it of extraneous elements and restoring it to its pristine purity. In contemporary times, a mujaddid is looked upon as the greatest Muslim of a century. The concept is based on a hadith (a saying of Islamic prophet Muhammad), recorded by Abu Dawood, narrated by Abu Hurairah who mentioned that Muhammad said: Allah will raise for this community at the end of every 100 years the one who will renovate its religion for it. Ikhtilaf (disagreements) exist among different hadith viewers. Scholars such as Al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani have interpreted that the term mujaddid can also be understood as plural, thus referring to a group of people. Mujaddids can include prominent scholars, pious rulers and military commanders. While there is no formal mechanism for designating a mujaddid in Sunni Islam, there is often a popular consensus. The Shia and Ahmadiyya have their own list of mujaddids. Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (682–720) Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i (767–820) Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780-855) Muhammad al-Bukhari (810–870) Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (874–936) Hakim al-Nishaburi (933–1012) Abu Bakr Al-Baqillani (950–1013) Ibn Hazm (994–1064) Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111) Abdul Qadir Jilani (1078-1166) Salauddin Ayyubi (1137–1193) Ibn Qudamah (1147-1223) Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji (1148-1206) Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1210) Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (1228–1302) Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328) Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292–1350) Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini (1324–1403) Tamerlane (Timur) (1336–1405) Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1372–1448) Shah Rukh (1377-1447) Mehmet II (1432–1481) Jalaludin Al-Suyuti (1445–1505) Selim I (1470–1520) Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566) Ahmad Sirhindi (1564–1624) Khayr al-Din al-Ramli (1585–1671) Mahiuddin Aurangzeb Alamgir (1618–1707) Abdullah ibn Alawi al-Haddad (1634–
