Mohammed Bahjah Al-Athari

Muhammad Bahjat Athari was a Muslim Iraqi linguist, historian and a jurist. He was a student and close companion of the Hanafi scholar, Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi.

Biography His full name is Muhammad Bahjat bin Mahmud Effendi. His lineage is Muhammad Bahjat bin Mahmud Effendi bin Abdul Qadir bin Ahmed bin Mahmud al-Bakri. He was born in 1904 in Baghdad, and resided there for his life. His family, at the time his birth, were successful traders and owned many properties in Iraq. His great-grandfather, Ahmed bin Mahmud al-Bakri, moved from Diyarbakir to Erbil where he was married to a Baghdadi family from the Qays clan. Zainab, the mother of Muhammad Bahjat Athari, was an Iraqi Turkmen, originally from Kirkuk who was fluent in both Turkish and Arabic languages.

Muhammad Bahjat studied under many prominent scholars in his lifetime. These include Nu'man al-Alusi, 'Ala al-Din al-Alusi, and Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi. He was especially very close with the latter, and they remained as close companions. Bahjat would accompany Mahmud al-Alusi until 8 May 1924 when he died of a chronic disease.

Muhammad Bahjat Athari worked as a teacher in 1924. Four years later, he founded the Young Muslim Men Association for youths. In 1936, he was appointed by the government to be the director of Baghdad's endowments. At the same time, he was a professor at a college and the general director of the Islamic Endowments of Baghdad. Bahjat then became an editor for the Aalam Islam magazine in 1938.

Bahjat was a master calligrapher, with a unique style similar to Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi. He was also interested in history and biography. His historical writings include the Kitab Aalam Iraq, which contains the biographies of prominent figures of Iraq. He was also a poet, and he has two huge collections of poetry.

Works Among his twenty-five works include:

Positions Director of the Baghdad General Waqf Directorate. Head of the Iraq Academy of Sciences Member of the Arabic Language Academy in Damascus, Jordan, and Cairo

Awards King Faisal Prize for Arabic Literature in 1986 Saddam Hussein International Prize.