Mahmoud Shokry al-Al Alusi

Maḥmūd Shukrī al-Ālūsī (1856–1924) was a historian, jurist, and Islamic scholar of the Hanafi school. He was a grandson of the exegete Mahmud al-Alusi and a disciple of his uncle Nu'man al-Alusi. Living in Baghdad, Al-Alusi was an early advocate of the Salafi movement in Iraq, but strongly opposed Wahhabism.

Biography Mahmud Shukri bin Abdullah Bahauddin was born in 1856 in Baghdad. Coming from the scholarly Alusi family, he was the grandson of Mahmud al-Alusi, an Iraqi Islamic scholar best known for writing the Rūh al-Ma'ānī, a commentary on the Qur'an.

After receiving his ijazah, Mahmoud Shukri al-Alusi began to campaign against the Sufi practices which he deemed "polytheistic" and "contradictory to the Islamic religion." His preference for the Athari doctrine drew ire from contemporary scholars such as Abu al-Huda al-Sayyadi, due to the fact that the doctrine of Maturidism was well-established within the Hanafi school, unlike the doctrines of Atharism and Ash'arism.

Al-Alusi was interested in Islamic history and architecture, writing books and treatises about such topics. According to his student Muhammad Bahjat Athari, he was also interested in the study of Arabic grammar and linguistics. Ghāyat al-Amānī fī al-Radd ‘alā al-Nabhānī (The Ultimate Goal in Refuting Al-Nabhani) – A treatise refuting Yusuf al-Nabhani, a contemporary Islamic scholar who was known for his Sufism, including practices which Al-Alusi deemed to be "heretical." Bulūgh al-Arab fī Ma‘rifat Aḥwāl al-‘Arab (Reaching the Goal in Knowing the Circumstances of the Arabs) – A book on the history of pre-Islamic Arabia, including descriptions of the religious rituals practiced by the ancient Arab civilisations such as the Sabaeans and Himyarites. Mukhtaṣar al-Tuḥfah al-Ithnay ‘Ashariyyah (Abridgement of Tuḥfah al-Ithnay ‘Ashariyyah) – An abridged and annotated version of the book Tuḥfah al-Ithnay ‘Ashariyyah, a treatise refuting the doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism, that was written by the Indian Muslim scholar, Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi. Al-Alusi's version of the book includes his own commentaries and omits material that he considers redundant.