Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sakhāwī (, 1428/831 AH – 1497/902 AH) was a reputable
Shafi‘i
The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionist ...
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
scholar and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
who was born in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
. ''Al-Sakhawi'' refers to the village of Sakha in Egypt, where his relatives belonged. He was a prolific writer that excelled in the knowledge of ''
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
,'' ''
tafsir
Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...
,'' literature, and history. His work was also anthropological. For example, in Egypt he recorded the marital history of 500
women
A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl.
Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
, the largest
sample on marriage in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, and found that at least a third of all women in the
Mamluk Sultanate
The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks ...
of Egypt and the
Bilad al-Sham
Bilad al-Sham (), often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates. It roughly corresponded with the Byzantine Diocese of the East, con ...
married more than once, with many marrying three or more times. According to al-Sakhawi, as many as three out of ten marriages in 15th century
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
ended in divorce.
His proficiency in hadith has its influences trace back heavily on his Shaykh al-Hafiz,
ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...
. He died in
Medina
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
.
Works
About Hadith
* Al-Jawāhir al-Mukallalah fī al-Aḥādīth al-Musalsalah ''(The Crowned Jewels in the Narrated Chains of Prophetic Traditions)''
* Al-Ghāyah fī Sharḥ al-Hidāyah fī ʿIlm al-Riwāyah li-Ibn al-Jazarī ''(The Ultimate Guide in the Explanation of Al-Hidayah in the Science of Narration by
Ibn al-Jazari
Abu al-Khayr Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Yusuf al-Jazari (, 26 November 1350 – 2 December 1429), also known as Ibn al-Jazari () was one of the prominent scholars of the 15th century and is considered one of the g ...
)''
* Sharḥ al-Taqrīb wa al-Taysīr li-Maʿrifat al-Bashīr wa al-Nadhīr lil-Nawawī ''(Explanation of Al-Taqrib and Al-Taysir for Knowing the Bearer of Glad Tidings and Warnings by
Al-Nawawi
Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (; (631A.H-676A.H) (October 1230–21 December 1277) was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar. Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), ''Historical Dictionary of Islam'', pp.238-239. Scarecrow Press. . Al-Nawawi died at ...
)''
* Sharḥ al-Shamāʾil al-Nabawiyyah li-Al-Tirmidhī ''(Commentary on
Shama'il al-Muhammadiyya
''Ash-Shama'il al-Muhammadiyya'' () is a collection of hadiths compiled by the 9th-century scholar al-Tirmidhi regarding the intricate details of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's life including his appearance, his belongings, his manners, and much ...
by
Al-Tirmidhi
Muhammad ibn Isa al-Tirmidhi (; 824 – 9 October 892 CE / 209–279 AH), often referred to as Imām at-Termezī/Tirmidhī, was an Islamic scholar, and collector of hadith from Termez (early Khorasan and in present-day Uzbekistan). He w ...
)''
* Al-Tuḥfah al-Manīfah fīmā Waqaʿa min Ḥadīth Abī Ḥanīfah ''(The Glorious Gift Regarding the Hadiths Attributed to
Abu Hanifa
Abu Hanifa (; September 699 CE – 767 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, ascetic,Pakatchi, Ahmad and Umar, Suheyl, "Abū Ḥanīfa", in: ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'', Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. and epony ...
)''
* Al-Tawḍīḥ al-Abhar li-Tadhkirat Ibn al-Mulaqqin fī ʿIlm al-Athar ''(The Clear Elucidation of
Ibn al-Mulaqqin
Sirāj al-Dīn Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar b. ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-Shāfiʿī al-Miṣrī (), commonly known as Ibn al-Mulaqqin (723–804/1323–1401), was a Sunni Egyptian scholar of Andalusian origin who was considered one of the greatest Shafi'i ju ...
’s Treatise on the Science of Prophetic Traditions)''
* Fatḥ al-Mughīth bi-Sharḥ Alfiyyat al-Ḥadīth ''(The Enlightening Opening: Commentary on the Thousand Verses on Hadith)''
* Al-Qawl al-Badīʿ fī Faḍl al-Ṣalāh ʿalā al-Ḥabīb al-Shafīʿ ''(The Radiant Discourse on the Virtue of Sending Blessings upon the Prophet)''
* Al-Maqāṣid al-Ḥasanah fī al-Aḥādīth al-Mushtahirah ʿalā al-Alsinah ''(The Noble Objectives Regarding Widely Known Hadiths)''
About History and Biographies
* Al-Ḍawʾ al-Lāmiʿ fī Aʿyān al-Qarn al-Tāsiʿ ''(The Radiant Light on the Notables of the Ninth Century)''
* Al-Tibr al-Masbūk fī Dhayl al-Sulūk ''(The Cast Gold: A Supplement to "Al-Suluk" by
Al-Maqrizi
Al-Maqrīzī (, full name Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī, ; 1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian historian and biographer during the Mamluk era, known for his interest in the Fat ...
)''
* Buġyat al-ʿUlamāʾ wa al-Ruwāt fī Akhbār al-Quḍāt
* Al-Iʿlān bi al-Tawbīkh li-man Dhamm Ahl al-Tawārīkh ''(The Announcement of Rebuke to Those Who Condemn Historians)''
* Al-Jawāhir wa al-Durar fī Tarjamat Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Ḥajar ''(The Jewels and Pearls: A Biography of
Shaykh al-Islam
Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning " elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim scholar. Though this title generally refers to men, there are also a small number of ...
Ibn Hajar Ibn Hajar may refer to:
*Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1372–1449), Shafi'i and Hadith scholar
*Ibn Hajar al-Haytami
Sheikhul Islam Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī al-Makkī al-Anṣārī kn ...
)''
Others
* ''Al-Tuhfah al-latifah fi Tarikh al-Madinah al-Sharifah'' (التحفة اللطيفة في تاريخ المدينة الشريفة): About Madinah al-Munawwara.
* ''Ashratu Sa'ah'' (Signs of the Day of Judgment) – which has been recently reprinted with 'Tahqiq' by Muhammad al-'Aqeel.
* ''Al-riḥlah al-Ḥalabīyah wa tarājimihā'' (الرحلة الحلبية وتراجمها)
* ''Al-riḥlah al-Makkīyah'' (الرحلة المكية)
* ''Al-riḥlah al-Sakandarīyah'' (الرحلة السكندرية)
* ''Al-baladaniyat al-ʻalīyāt'' (البلدنيات العليات): A book where he recorded the names of 80 towns he visited and took knowledge from its scholars.
* ''Bughyat al-rāwī bi-man akhadha ʻanhu al-Sakhawi'' (بغية الراوي بمن أخذ عنه السخاوي) or ''Al-imtinān bi-shuyūkh Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Rahman'' (الامتنان بشيوخ محمد بن عبد الرحمن): A dictionary that lists the names of all his teachers.
See also
*
List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
Asharis
Shafi'is
Hadith scholars
Sunni imams
Egyptian imams
15th-century Egyptian historians
Egyptian historians of Islam
Egyptian theologians
15th-century jurists
1428 births
1497 deaths
Critics of Ibn Arabi
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