Sidi Mahrez ben Khalaf or Abu Mohamed Mahrez ben Khalaf ben Zayn ( ar, سيدي محرز بن خلف; 951–1022) was a Tunisian
Wali
A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...
, scholar of the
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
school of jurisprudence and a
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 ...
. He is considered to be the patron-saint of the city of
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
.
Life
He was born in
Ariana
Ariana was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia and the Indus River, comprising the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire that covered the ...
to a father of Arab origin who traced his lineage to
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...
. He studied in
Kairouan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by th ...
and then in
Fatimid
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dy ...
-
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 Mediter ...
and became a teacher of Maliki jurisprudence upon his return. At the age of 57, he left his home-town (Ariana) and went into seclusion in
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
. In c. 1014 he settled in Tunis, in a house in
Bab Souika
, demolition_date=1861, coordinates=
Bab Souika ( ar, باب سويقة) is one of the gates of the medina of Tunis.
It was demolished in 1861. Its situation was between Bab El Khadra and Bab Saadoun
Bab Saadoun ( ar, باب سعدون) is on ...
, which would become his mausoleum and later the
Sidi Mahrez Mosque
Sidi Mahrez Mosque, also known as Mohamed Bey El Mouradi Mosque, is a mosque in Tunis, Tunisia. It is an official historical monument.
Localization
This mosque is located in Medina area of the city.
History
It was built by Mohamed Bey El Mour ...
.
[« Sidi Mahrez, pour toujours », ''La Presse de Tunisie'', 17 septembre 2007]
He proposed to his teacher
Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani
Ibn Abī Zayd () (922–996), fully Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Zayd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Nafzawī ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawanī, was a Maliki scholar from Kairouan in Tunisia and was also an active proponent of Ash'ari thought.Herbert J ...
(922 – 996 CE) to write a
aqidah
''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means " creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology.
''Aqidah'' go beyond concise state ...
and
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 book, and his proposal was concretised under the title ''
Risala fiqhiya''.
See also
*
Abu Imran al-Fasi
Abu Imran Musa ibn Isa ibn abi hajj (or hajjaj) al-Fasi () (also simply known as Abu Imran al-Fasi; born between 975 and 978, died 8 June 1039) was a Moroccan Maliki ''faqīh'' born at Fez to a Berber or Arab family whose ''nisba'' is impossible t ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahrez
Tunisian jurists
Tunisian judges
Tunisian Maliki scholars
951 births
1022 deaths
People from Tunis
People from Aryanah
10th-century people of Ifriqiya
11th-century people of Ifriqiya
Tunisian expatriates in Egypt
Muslim scholars of Islamic jurisprudence
11th-century Arabs
10th-century Arabs