Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari

Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari (b. 1975 CE / 1395 AH) is a British Hanafi scholar of Indo-Pakistani origin based in Leicester, England. He studied traditional Islamic sciences at Darul Uloom in Bury, England, and later at various institutions in the Muslim world, including study with scholars in Syria, Pakistan, and elsewhere. He is named al-Kawthari in tribute to the Ottoman scholar Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari.

Muhammad ibn Adam founded Darul Iftaa (Institute of Islamic Jurisprudence) in Leicester, which provides Islamic legal opinions and educational resources. He has authored and contributed to several works on contemporary Hanafi fiqh, including Islamic Guide to Sexual Relations, which addresses intimate matters from an Islamic perspective in a direct and scholarly manner, and Birth Control & Abortion in Islam. He also maintains an extensive online fatwa archive that addresses thousands of contemporary questions in Islamic jurisprudence.

His scholarly approach combines classical Hanafi legal methodology with sensitivity to the challenges faced by Muslims living in the West. He is a popular lecturer and teacher who travels internationally to deliver courses on fiqh, hadith, and Islamic spirituality. His ability to address contemporary issues such as medical ethics, financial transactions, and family law while remaining grounded in the classical Hanafi tradition has made him one of the most sought-after scholars in the English-speaking Muslim world.