: ''For the Egyptian encyclopedist see Shihab al-Din abu 'l-Abbas Ahmad ben Ali ben Ahmad Abd Allah al-Qalqashandi.'' Shihab al-Din abu l-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Mohammed ibn Mohammed ibn Ahmed ibn Ali ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi'l-'Afiyya al-Miknasi az-Zanati (), known simply as Ahmad ibn al-Qadi or Ibn al-Qadi (1552/15531616), was a Moroccan

polygraph A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked ...

. He was the leading writer from

Ahmad al-Mansur Ahmad al-Mansur ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد المنصور, Ahmad Abu al-Abbas al-Mansur, also al-Mansur al-Dahabbi (the Golden), ar, أحمد المنصور الذهبي; and Ahmed al-Mansour; 1549 in Fes – 25 August 1603, Fes) was t ...

's court in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

next to

Abd al-Aziz al-Fishtali Abd al-Aziz al-Fishtali () (15491621), fully Abu Faris 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Sanhaji al-Fishtali was a Moroccan writer, head of the chancery (''wazīr ''al''-ḳalam ''al''-aʿlā''), official historiographer and official poet ...

. He was also a renowned judge and mathematician.See entry 'Shihab al-din Abu l-‘Abbas' in ''Encyclopædia Britannica France''

Biography

Ahmad ibn al-Qadi was born in

Fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

in 1552/1553. His family was called the Ibn al-Qadi, a Berber family that belonged to the

Miknasa The Miknasa (Berber: ''Imeknasen'') was a Zenata Berber tribe in Morocco and Algeria. The Miknasa Berbers historically populated the Aurès and are part of the Dharisa tribe belonging to Botr who descended from Madghis, coming from the Aures mount ...

tribe, a tribe of the

Zenata The Zenata ( Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic. Etymology ''Iznaten ( ...

confederation. Their ancestor was the Miknasi tribal chief, Musa ibn Abi al-Afiya. Several members of this family were established in Fez and

Meknes Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th c ...

. The Ibn al-qadi family gave birth to distinguished people, who, during the previous centuries, had held high political or religious offices and had become famous as islamic scholars. Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi studied with Abd al-Wahid al-Sijilmasi, the famous Moroccan mufti and

Ahmad Baba al Massufi Aḥmad Bābā al-Timbuktī (), full name Abū al-Abbās Aḥmad ibn Aḥmad ibn Aḥmad ibn Umar ibn Muhammad Aqit al-Takrūrī Al-Massufi al-Timbuktī (1556 – 1627 CE, 963 – 1036 H), was a Sanhaja Berber writer, scholar, and politi ...

. The jurisdiction of

Salé Salé ( ar, سلا, salā, ; ber, ⵙⵍⴰ, sla) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Founded in about 1030 by the Banu Ifran, ...

was assigned to him. At the age of 34 he undertook a journey to the east, but his ship was captured by Christian pirates. Ibn al-Qadi spent eleven months in captivity and was released thanks to sultan

who paid as ransom the equivalent of 20 thousand ounces of gold.

Works

A number of Ibn al-Qadi's scholarly works survive, including two collections of biographies of great documentary value: *''Al-Muntaqa al-maqsur 'ala ma'athir al-khilafat Abi al-Abbas al-Mansur''; his primary work, a panegyric of al-Mansur's great character that qualify him the rightful caliph of Islam. *''Jadwat al Iqtibas Fi-man halla min al'alam madinata fas'' ('The Torch of learning in the recollection of the most influential notables of the city of

') *''Dhīl wafayāt al-'ayān al-musamā<>'' ()Dhīl wafayāt al-'ayān al-musamā <>l
/ref> Appendix to obituaries of the notable names.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibn Qadi, Ahmad 1550s births 1616 deaths 16th-century Berber people 17th-century Berber people 16th-century Moroccan historians 17th-century Moroccan historians 16th-century Moroccan poets 17th-century Moroccan poets Berber historians Berber poets Berber writers Miknasa Moroccan mathematicians People from Fez, Morocco