Ibn Hajar Asqalani

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Full name	Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Born	773 A.H.
Died	852 A.H.^[1]
Era	Medieval era
Region	Egyptian scholar
School	Shafi'i

For other uses, see Ibn Hajar.

Al-Haafidh Shihabuddin Abu'l-Fadl Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad, better known as Ibn Hajar due to the fame of his forefathers, al-Asqalani due to his origin (Arabic: ابن حجر العسقلاني‎) (February 18, 1372 - d. February 2, 1448, 852 A.H.^[1]), was a medieval Shafiite Sunni scholar of Islam who represents the entire realm of the Sunni world in the field of Hadith.

1 Early life
2 Education
3 Personal life
4 Positions
5 Death
6 Works
7 References
8 External links

Early life

He was born in Cairo in 1372, the son of the Shafi'i scholar and poet Nur al-Din 'Ali. Both of his parents died in his infancy, and he and his sister, Sitt al-Rakb, became wards of his father's first wife's brother, Zaki al-Din al-Kharrubi, who enrolled Ibn Hajar in Qur'anic studies when he was five. Here he excelled, learning Surah Maryam in a single day, and progressing to the memorization of texts such as the Quran, then the abridged version of Ibn al-Hajib's work on the foundations of fiqh.

Education

When he accompanied al-Kharrubi to Mecca at the age of 12, he was considered competent to lead the Tarawih prayers during Ramadan. When his guardian died in 1386, Ibn Hajar's education in Egypt was entrusted to hadith scholar Shams al-Din ibn al-Qattan, who entered him in the courses given by al-Bulqini (d. 1404) and Ibn al-Mulaqqin (d. 1402) in Shafi'i fiqh, and Hafiz al-Iraqi (d. 1404) in hadith, after which he travelled to Damascus and Jerusalem, to study under Shams al-Din al-Qalqashandi (d. 1407), Badr al-Din al-Balisi (d. 1401), and Fatima bint al-Manja al-Tanukhiyya (d. 1401). After a further visit to Mecca, Medina, and Yemen, he returned to Egypt.

Al-Suyuti said: "It is said that he drank Zamzam water in order to reach the level of al-Dhahabi in memorization, which he succeeded in doing, even surpassing him."^[2]

Personal life

In 1397, at the age of twenty-five, he married Anas Khatun, who was a hadith expert in her own right, holding ijazas from Hafiz al-Iraqi. She gave celebrated public lectures to crowds of ulema, including al-Sakhawi.

Positions

Ibn Hajar went on to be appointed to the position of Egyptian chief-judge (Qadi) several times.

Death

Ibn Hajar died after Isha prayers on February 2, 1449 at the age of seventy-nine. His funeral in Cairo was attended by an estimated fifty thousand people, including the sultan and the caliph.

Works

Ibn Hajar authored more than fifty works on hadith, hadith terminology, biographical evaluation, history, Quranic exegesis , poetry and Shafi'i jurisprudence.

Fath al-Bari - considered the most prominent and reliable commentary on al-Bukhari's Jami` al-Sahih: In 1414 (817 A.H.), Ibn Hajar commenced the enormous task of assembling his commentary on Sahih Bukhari. Ibn Rajab had begun to write a huge commentary on Sahih Bukhari in the 1390s with the title of Fath al-Bari, thus Ibn Hajar decided to name his own commentary with the same title, Fath al-Bari, which in time became the most valued commentary of Sahih Bukhari. When it was finished, in December 1428 (Rajab 842 A.H.), a celebration was held near Cairo, attended by the ulema, judges, and leading Egyptian personalities. Ibn Hajar read the final pages of his work, after which poets recited eulogies and gold was distributed. It was, according to historian Ibn Iyaas d. 930 A.H., 'the greatest celebration of the age in Egypt.'
al-Durar al-Kamina - a biographical dictionary of leading figures of the eighth century.
Tahdhib al-Tahdhib - an abbreviation of Tahdhib al-Kamal, the encyclopedia of hadith narrators by Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman 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 al-Tahthib.
al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba - the most comprehensive dictionary of the Companions.
Bulugh al-Maram min adillat al-ahkam - 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.
Talkhis al-Habir fi Takhrij al-Rafi`i al-Kabir
al-Diraya fi Takhrij Ahadith al-Hidaya
Taghliq al-Ta`liq `ala Sahih al-Bukhari
Risala Tadhkirat al-Athar
al-Matalib al-`Aliya 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 of disputed authenticity in the Musnad of Ahmad
Silsilat al-Dhahab
Ta`rif Ahl al-Taqdis bi Maratib al-Mawsufin bi al-Tadlis

References

^ ^a ^b USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts
^ Thail Tabaqaat al-Huffaath, pg. 251.

External links

Arabic Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Ibn Hajar

Ibn Hajar Asqalani