Muhammad Mustafa al-ʿAzami is a leading contemporary hadith scholar recognized for his critique of Orientalist studies of hadith. He was born in India in 1932 and received his education at Darul Uloom Deoband. Al-ʿAzami furthered his studies at Al-Azhar University, earning an M.A. in 1955, and later completed his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in 1966.

He is Professor Emeritus at King Saud University in Riyadh, where he also chaired the Department of Islamic Studies. In 1980, he was awarded the prestigious King Faisal International Award for Islamic Studies.

Throughout his esteemed career, al-ʿAzami has held various academic positions and has served as curator of the National Public Library in Qatar. He has been a Visiting Scholar, Fellow, and Professor at several renowned institutions, including Umm al-Qura University, Princeton University, and St. Cross College at the University of Oxford.