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Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī

Savant

Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī is considered one of the greatest hadith specialists in the history of Islam. His contemporaries gave him the title of “Amīr al-Muʾminīn fī al-Ḥadīth”, the Emir of believers in the science of hadith. Born in Cairo in 773 AH (1372), he died there in 852 AH (1449). His family was from Ascalon, Palestine, hence his name al-ʿAsqalānī. An orphan passionate about science Ibn Ḥajar lost both his parents while he was still a child. He is looked after by a tutor, the trader Zakī al-Dīn al-Kharrūbī, who oversees his education. He memorized the Quran at the age of nine, then many basic texts in fiqh, grammar and hadith. He accompanied his tutor to Mecca, where he continued his studies. He was first interested in literature and poetry, then devoted himself entirely to hadith from around the age of twenty. His masters He studied with the greatest scholars of his time, including: Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī, master of hadith, who particularly encouraged him; Sirāj al-Dīn al-Bulqīnī, great Shafiʿite jurist; Ibn al-Mulaqqin, prolific jurist and traditionist. He traveled to study in Egypt, Hejaz, Yemen and Syria, and collected hadiths from hundreds of masters. Fatḥ al-Bārī His most famous work is Fatḥ al-Bārī bi-Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, an immense commentary on the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī. He worked there for about twenty-five years. For each hadith, he explains: transmission chains and transmitters; the different versions of the text; word meaning and language issues; legal and theological teachings; the link between the hadith and the title of the chapter chosen by al-Bukhārī. When he completed this work, a great celebration was organized in Cairo, in the presence of scholars and notables of the city. Since then, Fatḥ al-Bārī has been considered the reference commentary on the Ṣaḥīḥ. A prolific author Ibn Ḥajar left more than one hundred and fifty works. Among the most important: Bulūgh al-Marām min Adillat al-Aḥkām, collection of hadiths which form the basis of legal rules; Al-Iṣāba fī Tamyīz al-Ṣaḥāba, biographical dictionary of the Companions; Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb and Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, on the transmitters of the hadith; Lisan al-Mīzān, on the criticized transmitters; Nukhbat al-Fikar, a small, well-studied treatise on hadith terminology; Al-Durar al-Kāmina, biographies of personalities from the 8th century AH. A judge and a teacher Ibn Ḥajar held the position of supreme Shafiʿite judge (qāḍī al-quḍāt) of Egypt on several occasions, under the Mamluk sultans. He taught in major institutions in Cairo and was a preacher at the al-Azhar mosque and the ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ mosque. Among his many students, the best known is Shams al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī, who wrote his biography. His death Ibn Ḥajar died in Cairo in dhū al-ḥijja 852 AH (February 1449). His funeral brought together a considerable crowd, including the sultan and the city's great scholars. Things to remember Ibn Ḥajar was a scholar of immense erudition, in the service of the Sunnah. His Fatḥ al-Bārī remains today the essential gateway to understanding the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī, and his Bulūgh al-Marām accompanies students of fiqh around the world. Image credit: Tomb of Ibn Ḥajar, Cairo. Fouad GM, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.