Al-Quda'i
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Muḥammad ibn Salāma al-Quḍā'ī (died 454/1062) was a Shafi'i Sunni judge, preacher and historian in the Fatimid Caliphate of
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
. He was of Iranian origin. Al-Quḍā'ī is known as the author of a seven important works and several others, most important of which are ''Light in the Heavens'' and ''The Treasury of Virtues'', which are collections of sermons,
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 ...
s, sayings and other transmitted teachings of
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
and of
Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
, respectively. One of his original manuscripts has been preserved, a prophetic biography.


Career

Al-Quḍā'ī was a scribe in the chancery under the vizier
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Jarjara'i Abu’l-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Jarjarāʾī was a Fatimid official of Iraqi origin, who served as the Fatimid vizier from 1027 until his death on 27 March 1045. As his '' nisba'' shows, he came from the locality of Jarjaraya, south of Baghda ...
(died 1045). Born in
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
, he was the scribe, some say deputy, of the vizier. He was in the chancery at the same time as the scholar
al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi Al-Mu'ayyad fid-din Abu Nasr Hibat Allah b. Abi 'Imran Musa b. Da'ud ash-Shirazi (c. 1000 CE/390 AH – 1078 CE/470 AH) was an 11th-century Isma'ili scholar, philosopher-poet, preacher and theologian of Persian origin. He served the Fatimid C ...
(died 1078). He served under the Fatimids as a judge over the Sunni population. He performed the Hajj in 1053. In 1055, he made a journey to Byzantium as emissary of the caliph. He earned great respect for his scholarship, particularly regarding
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 ...
, and many hadith works include him as one of their transmitters. The Shafiʿi jurist
Abu Tahir al-Silafi Abū Ṭāhir al-Silafī ( ar, أبو طاهر السلفي; born Isfahan in 472 AH/1079 CE, died Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest c ...
(died 1180) said of him, "His fame absolves me from lengthy expositions... he is counted among the trustworthy and reliable transmitters." According to his student Ali ibn Makula, "He was a master of many different sciences... I do not know anyone in Egypt who approaches his stature."


Work

Apart from his work on
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
, al-Quḍā'ī also wrote a terse history of the prophets and caliphs. He said in the introduction that he had observed brevity, but that it was "amply sufficient for entertainment and conversation." In some cases, his history of a caliph would give little more than a short character sketch, the names of his wives and children, and names of officials during his rule. Al-Quḍā'ī's history of the FatimidsMS Pococke 270, Bodleian Library, Oxford was used by
al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...
and others in later works. His description of
Fustat Fusṭāṭ ( ar, الفُسطاط ''al-Fusṭāṭ''), also Al-Fusṭāṭ and Fosṭāṭ, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, and the historical centre of modern Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by t ...
before its decline and ruin after his death was a key resource for
al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...
in understanding the former topography of the city. He also wrote a pamphlet that contained some of the best-known
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 ...
laws. His book of the parables and teachings of the Prophet, a ''
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 ...
'' collection, was widely read. Four
Morisco Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open ...
versions from Spain are known, three from Almonacid. One is in Arabic, one only in
aljamiado ''Aljamiado'' (; ; ar, عَجَمِيَة trans. ''ʿajamiyah'' ) or ''Aljamía'' texts are manuscripts that use the Arabic script for transcribing European languages, especially Romance languages such as Mozarabic, Aragonese, Portuguese, Sp ...
and two are bilingual. His work on the Prophet's life has not been examined. It was the basis for a work by Shīrawayh al-Daylamī that was criticized by ibn Taymiyyah for fanciful and adulatory statements about Muhammad, which indicates that the work by al-Quḍā'ī was also concerned more with the Prophet as an exemplary man than as a religious and political leader.


Bibliography

His recorded works include: *The Blazing Star - a collection of sayings ascribed to Muhammad *A Treasury of Virtues - a collection of saying by
Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
*Al-Qudai's History - prophets and caliphs up to the caliph al-Zahir *The merits of al-Shāfi'ī - on the founder of the legal school (lost) *Compendium of Teachers - list of hadith sources used by al-Quḍā'ī (lost) *A topography of Cairo *Qu'ran Commentary (lost) *The Preacher's Pearl and the Worshiper's Treasure (possible authorship) *Details of Reports and Gardens of Lessons - wisdom sayings (possible authorship)


References

Citations Sources * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Qudai 1062 deaths Year of birth unknown 11th-century Egyptian historians 11th-century Iranian historians Egyptian people of Iranian descent