Reliable 'ulama?

[Taymullah]

Who are the major orthodox 'ulama you can name who enjoy mainstream acceptance among Ahl as-Sunnah the world over besides the a'immah arba'a (Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Malik and Imam ibn Hanbal) and their immediate students (such as Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Shaybani)? Please refrain from listing controversial figures such as Shaykh Ibn Taymiyya and Shaykh Ibn Arabi and restrict yourself to scholars from before the 19th century (I don't want this to turn into another Barelwi/Deobandi spat).

Some of the names I can think of: Imam Nawawi, Shaykh Ibn Hajr Asqalani, Imam at-Tahawi, Imam as-Suyuti, Allama Ibn Abidin, Imam Qurtubi, Shaykh Ali al-Qari, and Shaykh al-Haytami.

[Jawad_ Khan]

Sultan Ul Aarifeen Hazrat Maulana Jalal Uddin Rumi R.A.




.

[Adnan bin Khalid]

Moulana Shah WalliAllah Muhaddith Dehlwi R.A.

[المفكّر]

Sheikh Abdullah Ibn Al Mubarak (the teacher of Imam Bukhari), Imam Ghazali and Imam Ibn Kathir (Allah 's mercy on them all) are a few that immediately come to mind.

[True Life]

Imam Sufyan al-Thawri, Hadhrat Ibrahim bin Adham, Imam Hasan al-Basri, Imam Badr al-Din al-’Ayni, Imam al-Nasafi, Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Hafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Hafiz al-Sakhawi, Hafiz al-Iraqi, Imam Ibn al-Salah... [may Allah shower his blessings and mercy over all of them]

Please tell me if any of those are not 'enjoying mainstream acceptance'...

[Rifai]

A few important ulama that i have not seen mentioned are:

The authorative Shafi'is Imam Rafi'i and Shams al-Ramli, another notable alim is Zakariyah Ansari.

As for the Malikis we have Qarafi, Sahnun, Imam Abu al-Wahid Muhammad Ibn Rushd, who greatly contributed to the field of Comparative Fiqh with his masterpiece al-Bidayat al-Mujtahed. One could mention Qadi Iyad who definetly contributed to the field of understanding and loving the Messenger, .

Important figures for the Hanafis include Sarakhsi, Quduri and Marghinani.
For the Hanbalis, Khallal, Ibn Qudama, Muflih etc.

In the science of Ihsan,

The first one that is really never acknowledged is sayyidina Imam Ja'far al-Sadeq, who was from the Salaf and who wrote a magnificent Sufi tafsir of the Quran. That brings us to Sulami (to whom we owe for the survival of many parts of the Tafsir) who contributed greatly to the field. Another one is Imam Abdul Karim al-Qushayri, Imam Junayd al-Baghdadi, Tayfur Abu Yazid al-Bastami, Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari (al-Hikam etc), his teacher Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi, his teacher, Shaykh Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Shathili, and his teacher the great sayyidina Abdus Salam ibn Mashish. Follows of the tariqa Shathilia, Imam Jazuli (author of the Dala'il al-Khayrat), the Mujaddid of the Shathili tariqa sayyidina al-Arabi al-Darqawi. Other notable mentions include Abdul Karim al-Sammani, Abdul Ghani al-Nablusi etc.

[sudoku]

Shaykh Abdul Qaadir Jeelani (rah)

Just reading a few of his writings will show anyone how far sighted he was,

[Abu_Tamim]

Imam Sufyan al-Thawri, Hadhrat Ibrahim bin Adham, Imam Hasan al-Basri, Imam Badr al-Din al-’Ayni, Imam al-Nasafi, Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Hafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Hafiz al-Sakhawi, Hafiz al-Iraqi, Imam Ibn al-Salah... [may Allah shower his blessings and mercy over all of them]

Please tell me if any of those are not 'enjoying mainstream acceptance'...

Ibn Qayyim does not enjoy mainstream acceptance. His unrestricted acceptance is only among the Salafees for whom he is an Imaam. Although our scholars have benefited from some of his books, we differ in many, many things from him and his teacher Shaykh Ibn Taymiyya. Incidentally 'Ali Miyan Nadwi was very fond of his Zaad al Ma'ad as far as I know. Wa salaam.