Muhammad ibn Yusuf Atfiyash

Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn 'Isa ibn Salih Atfiyash, called Qutb al-A'imma, was an Ibadi scholar of Beni Isguen (Banu Yasdjan) in the Mzab, from a family of scholars. ¹

Through an extensive literary activity he brought about a renaissance of Ibadi religious studies, in the practice of religion and in social life. He kept close relations with his fellow Ibadis in the East, where another great Ibadi scholar, Abd Allah ibn Humayyid al-Salimi, was his contemporary. While defending his own view vigorously, he did much to make the Ibadis known to and respected by other Muslims, which brought him into contact with the Ottoman sultan Abd al-Hamid II. The leading Ibadi scholars of the Mzab in the present time are his disciples. ¹

His library, a unique collection of Ibadi and other works in manuscripts and in printed and lithographed editions, is a waqf at Beni Isguen, and contains many of his autograph manuscripts. His main works include commentaries on the Qur'an (Himyan al-Zad ila Dar al-Ma'ad, Taysir al-Tafsir), a collection of traditions (Wafa al-Damana), works on religious law (Sharh al-Nil, Shamil al-Asl wal-Far', Sharh Da'a'im Ibn al-Nazar), a commentary on the creed of Abu Hafs Umar ibn Jami' (Risalat al-Tawhid), and works on grammar, philology and poetry. ¹