Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī or ''Ibn Ḥajar'' ( ar, ابن حجر العسقلاني, full name: ''Shihābud-Dīn Abul-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Nūrud-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī
al-Kināni'') (18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449 CE / 773 – 852 A.H.),
was a classic Islamic scholar and
polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
"whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of
Hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, biography, ''tafsir'', poetry, and
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
, the most valued of which being his commentary of ''
Sahih al-Bukhari'', titled ''
Fath al-Bari
''Fatḥ al-Bārī fī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī'' ( ar-at, فتح الباري, lit=Grant of the Creator) is a multi-volume commentary on the Sunni hadith collection ''Sahih al-Bukhari'', composed by Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani Shafi. Conside ...
''.
Ludwig W. Adamec
Ludwig W. Adamec (10 March 1924 – 1 January 2019) was a noted scholar on the Middle East and Afghanistan. He was a professor emeritus in the School of Middle East and North African Studies at the University of Arizona. (2009), ''Historical Dictionary of Islam'', p.136. Scarecrow Press. .
Early life
He was born in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
in 1372, the son of the
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
scholar and poet Nur ad-Din 'Ali. His parents had moved from
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, originally hailing from
Ashkelon
Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border wit ...
( ar, عَسْقَلَان, '). Both of his parents died in his infancy, and he and his sister, Sitt ar-Rakb, became wards of his father's first wife's brother, Zaki ad-Din al-Kharrubi, who enrolled Ibn Hajar in Qur'anic studies when he was five years old. Here he excelled, learning
Surah Maryam in a single day and memorising the entire Qur'an by the age of 9.
He progressed to the memorization of texts such as the abridged version of Ibn al-Hajib's work on the foundations of ''
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
''.
Education
When he accompanied al-Kharrubi to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
at the age of 12, he was considered competent to lead the ''
Tarawih
''Tarawih'' ( ar, تراويح, tarāwīḥ), also rendered in English as ''Taraweeh'', is derived from the Arabic root ر و ح related to rest and relaxation. Tarawih prayers are special Muslim prayers involving reading long portions of the ...
'' prayers during
Ramadan. When his guardian died in 1386, Ibn Hajar's education in Egypt was entrusted to
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
scholar Shams ad-Din ibn al-Qattan, who entered him in the courses given by
Sirajud-Din al-Bulqini (d. 1404) and Ibn al-Mulaqqin (d. 1402) in Shafi'i ''
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
,'' and
Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi
Al-Hafiz Zain al-Din 'Abd al-Rahim al-'Iraqi ( ar, أبو الفضل زين الدين عبد الرحيم العراقي, 1403-1325) was a renowned Kurdish Shafi'i scholar and was the foremost leading hadith scholar at his time.
Biography
He i ...
(d. 1404) in hadith, after which he travelled to
Damascus and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, to study under Shamsud-Din al-Qalqashandi (d. 1407), Badr al-Din al-Balisi (d. 1401), and Fatima bint al-Manja at-Tanukhiyya (d. 1401). After a further visit to Mecca,
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
, and
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
, he returned to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
.
Al-Suyuti said: "It is said that he drank ''
Zamzam'' water in order to reach the level of
adh-Dhahabi in memorization—which he succeeded in doing, even surpassing him."
Personal life
In 1397, at the age of twenty-five, Al-'Asqalani married the celebrated hadith expert Uns Khatun, who held ''
ijazat'' from 'Abdur-Rahim al-'Iraqi and gave public lectures to crowds of ''
'ulama''', including
as-Sakhawi.
Positions
Ibn Hajar went on to be appointed to the position of Egyptian chief-judge (''
Qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
'') several times.
Death
Ibn Hajar died after ''
'Isha''' (night prayer) on 8th
Dhul-Hijjah 852 (2 February 1449), aged 79. An estimated 50,000 people attended his funeral in Cairo, including
Sultan Sayfud-Din Jaqmaq (1373–1453 CE) and Caliph of Cairo
Al-Mustakfi II
Al-Mustakfi II (), (c. 1388 – 29 January 1451) was the twelfth Abbasid caliph of Cairo for the Mamluk Sultanate between 1441 and 1451. He died on Friday, 25 Zulhijja, 854 AH (29 January 1451).
Life
In his reign, Al-Zaher also conquered the ...
( CE).
Works
Ibn Hajar wrote approximately 150 works on hadith,
hadith terminology
Hadith terminology ( ar, مصطلح الحديث, muṣṭalaḥu l-ḥadīth) is the body of terminology in Islam which specifies the acceptability of the sayings (''hadith'') attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad by other early Islamic fig ...
,
biographical evaluation
Biographical evaluation ( ar, عِلْمُ الرِّجال, ʿilm al-rijāl; literally meaning'' 'Knowledge of Men' , ''but more commonly understood as the ''Science of Narrators)'' refers to a discipline of Islamic religious studies within ha ...
, history,
tafsir
Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...
, poetry and
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
.
*''
Fath al-Bari
''Fatḥ al-Bārī fī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī'' ( ar-at, فتح الباري, lit=Grant of the Creator) is a multi-volume commentary on the Sunni hadith collection ''Sahih al-Bukhari'', composed by Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani Shafi. Conside ...
'' – ibn Hajar's commentary of
Sahih al-Bukhari's ''Jamiʿ al-Sahih'' (817/1414), completed an unfinished work begun by
ibn Rajab
Imam Abd Al-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Rajab (736-795 AH/1335–1393 CE), best known as ''Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali'' and also ''Ibn Rajab'', which was a nickname he inherited from his grandfather who was born in the month of Rajab, was a Muslim scholar.
B ...
in the 1390s. It became the most celebrated and highly regarded work on the author. Celebrations near Cairo on its publication (Rajab 842 AH / December 1428 CE) were described by historian
Muhammad ibn Iyas (d.930 AH), as "the greatest of the age". Many of Egypt's leading dignitaries were among the crowds, ibn Hajar himself gave readings, poets gave eulogies and gold was distributed.
*''
al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba'' – the most comprehensive dictionary of the
Companions of the Prophet.
* ''Merits of the Plague'' (, a discussion of the
Black Death and meditations on illness and the Divine, which contains excerpts from ''Fatḥ al-Bārī''
*''al-Durar al-Kāminah'' – a biographical dictionary of leading figures of the eighth century.
*''
al-Kamal fi Asma' al-Rijal'' – an abbreviation of ''Tahdhib al-Kamal'', the encyclopedia of hadith narrators by
Jamal al-Din al-Mizzi
*''Taqrib al-Tahdhib'' – the abridgement of ''Tahthib al-Tahthib.''
*''Ta'jil al-Manfa'ah'' – biographies of the narrators of the
''Musnads'' of the four Imams, not found in ''at-Tahthib.''
*''
Bulugh al-Maram'' – on hadith used in Shafi'i fiqh.
*''Nata'ij al-Afkar fi Takhrij Ahadith al-Adhkar''
*''
Lisan al-Mizan'' – a reworking of ''Mizan al-'Itidal'' by
al-Dhahabi
Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī (), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348) was an Islamic historia ...
, which in turn is a reworking of an earlier work.
*''Talkhis al-Habir fi Takhrij al-Rafiʿi al-Kabir''
*''al-Diraya fi Takhrij Ahadith al-Hidaya''
*''Taghliq al-Taʿliq ʿala Sahih al-Bukhari''
*''Risala Tadhkirat al-Athar''
*''al-Matalib al-ʿAliya bi
Zawa'id al-Masanid al-Thamaniya''
*''Nukhbat al-Fikar'' along with his explanation of it entitled ''Nuzhah al-Nathr'' in hadith terminology
*''al-Nukat ala Kitab ibn al-Salah'' – commentary of the
''Muqaddimah'' of ibn al-Salah
*''al-Qawl al-Musaddad fi Musnad Ahmad'' a discussion of
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
of disputed
authenticity in the
''Musnad'' of Ahmad
*''Silsilat al-Dhahab''
*''Taʿrif Ahl al-Taqdis bi Maratib al-Mawsufin bi al-Tadlis''
*''
Raf' al-isr 'an qudat Misr'' – a biographical dictionary of Egyptian judges. Partial French translation in Mathieu Tillier, ''Vie des cadis de Misr''. Cairo: Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 2002.
See also
*
List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
The list of Ash'aris and Maturidis includes prominent adherents of the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of thought. The Ash'aris are a doctrinal school of thought named after Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, and the Maturidi school is named for Abu Mans ...
*
Nur al-Din Ali ibn Da'ud al-Jawhari al-Sayrafi, a student of his
References
External links
Biodata at MuslimScholars.infoBooks by Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani
1372 births
1449 deaths
14th-century Arabs
15th-century Arabs
Asharis
Shafi'is
Hadith scholars
Shaykh al-Islāms
Sunni Muslim scholars
Sunni imams
Shafi'i fiqh scholars
14th-century Egyptian judges
Egyptian imams
Scholars from the Mamluk Sultanate
15th-century Egyptian judges
15th-century writers
Biographical evaluation scholars
Critics of Ibn Arabi