The name “Ibrahim al-Kurani” is a very popular name amongst the ulama of Southeast Asia here, even though Ibrahim al-Kurani himself never went there. This man was the teacher of several scholars whom have propagated Islam to Asia, hence his popularity there. He was one of the greatest murshid (Sufi master) and an excellent Muhaddith. He was also a mujaddid (reformer).
Burhan al-Din Ibrahim ibn Hassan was born in the year 1615 AD/1023 H, in the village of Shahraneh in Persia. He was of Kurdish ethnicity as well, and belonged to the Gorani tribe, hence his epithet “Al-Kurani.” He started his education by travelling to Istanbul. Ibrahim al-Kurani became an adherent of the Shafi'i madhab. He travelled to Egypt next, where he became a student of the Al-Azhar University, which was not very deviant back then. As an Azhari, he studied the books Taysir fi al-Qira'at al-Sab'a and Thayyibat al-Nashr fi al-Qira'at al-'Ashr under Shaykh Ibn Ali al-Shabramallisi. He studied and learned Hadith from Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ala al-Din al-Babili. Finally, he travelled to Madinah, where he studied under Ahmad al-Qushashi. Al-Qushashi was a traditionalist and a Sufi scholar who rejected the creed of Wahdat al-Wujood which his predecessors followed. When he died, he was succeeded by Ibrahim al-Kurani who became an authority in his tariqah, the Shattariyah.
In Madinah, Ibrahim al-Kurani worked as a religious teacher and scholar. He taught classes at the Mosque of the Prophet ﷺ which were attended by students from various countries. Some of these countries were India, and even Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia. Ibrahim al-Kurani was also very close to Abdul Rauf as-Singkili, another scholar who studied from Ahmad al-Qushashi. He maintained close relations with his Southeast Asian students as well.
In the year 1690 AD/1101 H, Ibrahim al-Kurani passed away at the age of seventy-five, and was buried in Jannatul Baqi' cemetery. His legacy lived on in the form of his son, who was also a religious teacher. His son was the teacher of Muhammad Hayyat al-Sindhi, who was in turn the teacher of Imam Muhammad bin Abdulwahhab, the known reformer. Essentially, the teachings of a reformer were passed on to another reformer from another generation. His teachings also found their way to Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, a Hanafi scholar with Hanbali influences, but Ash'ari in his aqidah.
The aqidah of Ibrahim al-Kurani remains a very controversial subject. It is commonly concluded that he was an Ash'ari due to being Shafi'i in his jurisprudence, and Shafi'is were usually Ash'ari in those times. He also wrote a book defending the deviant Ibn Arabi from accusations of pantheism. Yet, he was in fact, an Athari in his creed. Al-Kurani writes in his Mujalla Al-Ma'ani 'ala Sharh 'Aqaid Ad-Dawani, “Ibn Taymiyyah is innocent from accusations of tajsim. Indeed, he has confirmed in a treatise that discusses the hadith of Allah's descent to the heavens, and he has also said that Allah is not a body. In another treatise, he confirms that whoever thinks that Allah Ta'ala is like a human body or that Allah Ta'ala resembles a creature is a bad liar.” Al-Kurani also says, “In fact, he (Ibn Taymiyyah) is in accordance with the school of the Salaf, that is believing in Nash, which is accompanied by the affirmation that there is nothing similar to Him whatsoever.” From his statement, we can see that Ibrahim al-Kurani was an Athari in his creed and not an Ash'ari. He only made some big errors like a defence of Ibn Arabi, and we ask Allah to forgive him for such.
May Allah have mercy on Ibrahim al-Kurani.
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