Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī
(
Arabic: ابن حجر العسقلاني;[a] 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449 CE / 773 – 852 A.H.), or simply Ibn Ḥajar,[4] was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of
hadith."[6] He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, biography, exegesis, poetry, and
Shafi'ijurisprudence, the most valued of which being his commentary of Sahih al-Bukhari, titled Fath al-Bari.[7] He is known by the honorific epithets Hafiz al-Asr (Hafiz of the Time), Shaykh al-Islam (Shaykh of Islam), and Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith (Leader of the Believers in Hadith).[8]
Early life
He was born in
Cairo in 1372, the son of the
Shafi'i scholar and poet Nur ad-Din 'Ali. His parents had moved from
Alexandria, originally hailing from
Ascalon (
Arabic: عَسْقَلَان, ʿAsqalān).[9] "Ibn Hajar" was the nickname of one of his ancestors, which was extended to his children and grandchildren and became his most prominent title. His father, Ali bin Muhammad Asqalani, was also a scholar, and for a while, he was the deputy of Ibn Aqeel Baha'udin, Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin Abdur Rahman Shafi'i. He was also a poet and had several diwans and was allowed to give fatwas .[10]
Both of his parents died in his infancy, and he and his sister, Sitt ar-Rakb, became wards of his father's first wife's brother, Zaki ad-Din al-Kharrubi, who enrolled Ibn Hajar in Qur'anic studies when he was five years old. Here he excelled, learning
Surah Maryam in a single day and memorising the entire Qur'an by the age of 9.[11] He progressed to the memorization of texts such as 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 ad-Din ibn al-Qattan, who entered him in the courses given by
Sirajud-Din al-Bulqini (d. 1404) and
Siraj al-Din al-Mulaqqin (d. 1402) in Shafi'i fiqh, and
Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi (d. 1404) in hadith, after which he travelled to
Damascus and
Jerusalem, to study under Shamsud-Din al-Qalqashandi (d. 1407), Badr al-Din al-Balisi (d. 1401), and Fatima bint al-Manja at-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
adh-Dhahabi in memorization—which he succeeded in doing, even surpassing him."[12]
Personal life
In 1397, at the age of twenty-five, Al-'Asqalani married the celebrated hadith expert Uns Khatun, who held ijazat from 'Abdur-Rahim al-'Iraqi and gave public lectures to crowds of 'ulama', including
as-Sakhawi.[13][14]
Positions
Ibn Hajar went on to be appointed to the position of Egyptian chief-judge (Qadi) several times. He had a scholarly rivalry with the Hanafi scholar
Badr al-Din al-Ayni.[15]
Death
Ibn Hajar died after 'Isha' (night prayer) on 8th
Dhul-Hijjah 852 (2 February 1449), aged 79. An estimated 50,000 people attended his funeral in Cairo, including
SultanSayfud-Din Jaqmaq (1373–1453 CE) and Caliph of Cairo
Al-Mustakfi II (
r. 1441–1451 CE).[7]
Fath al-Bari – ibn Hajar's commentary of
Sahih al-Bukhari's Jamiʿ al-Sahih (817/1414), completed an unfinished work begun by
ibn Rajab in the 1390s. It became the most celebrated and highly regarded work on the author. Celebrations near Cairo on its publication (Rajab 842 AH / December 1428 CE) were described by historian
Muhammad ibn Iyas (d.930 AH), as "the greatest of the age". Many of Egypt's leading dignitaries were among the crowds, ibn Hajar himself gave readings, poets gave eulogies and gold was distributed.
Jaques focuses on the most widely read of Ibn Hajar's works—the commentary on the greatest compilation of hadiths, Sahih al-Bukhari, and his history of the Mamluks—and explains how he drew on the theories, ideas, and aspirations of the preceding centuries of Islamic scholarship to project an enduring solution to the crises of his time.[17]
Merits of the Plague (بذل الماعون في أخبار الطاعون, a discussion of the
Black Death and meditations on illness and the Divine, which contains excerpts from Fatḥ al-Bārī
al-Durar al-Kāminah – a biographical dictionary of leading figures of the eighth century.
Taʿrif Ahl al-Taqdis bi Maratib al-Mawsufin bi al-Tadlis
Raf' al-isr 'an qudat Misr – a biographical dictionary of Egyptian judges. Partial French translation in Mathieu Tillier, Vie des cadis de Misr. Cairo: Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 2002.[19]
^Lewis, B.; Menage, V.L.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (1986) [1st. pub. 1971]. Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. III (H-Iram) (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 776.
ISBN9004081186.