al-Mahdi al-Wazzani

Abu Isa Muhammad ibn al-Mahdi ibn al-Talib ibn al-Mustafa al-Wazzani (1266-1342 AH / 1849-1923 CE) was a Moroccan Maliki jurist and mufti who produced one of the most extensive collections of Maliki legal opinions in North African history. He served as the chief mufti (qadi al-qudat) of Fez and was one of the leading legal authorities in Morocco during the late Alawid period.

Al-Wazzani studied under major Moroccan scholars and became deeply grounded in the Maliki legal tradition. He served as a judge and mufti in Fez for many years, producing an enormous number of legal opinions addressing the practical questions of Moroccan society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

His most important work is al-Mi'yar al-Jadid al-Jami' al-Mu'rib an Fatawa Ulama' Ifriqiya wal-Andalus wal-Maghrib (The New Standard: A Comprehensive Collection of the Fatawa of the Scholars of North Africa, al-Andalus, and the Maghreb), which continues and updates the earlier compilation by al-Wansharisi (al-Mi'yar al-Mu'rib). This multi-volume work is one of the most comprehensive collections of Moroccan and North African Maliki legal opinions, invaluable for understanding the application of Maliki law in historical context.

He also authored al-Nawazil al-Jadidah al-Kubra (The Major New Unprecedented Legal Cases), another large collection of fatawa. Al-Wazzani passed away in 1342 AH. His fatawa collections are primary sources for both legal scholars and historians of Moroccan society in the 19th-20th centuries.