Wali al-Din al-'Iraqi
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Walī al-Dīn al-'Irāqī | |
|---|---|
ولي الدين العراقي | |
| Title | Wali al-Din Al-Ḥāfiẓ |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 4 October 1361 |
| Died | 5 August 1423 (aged 63) |
| Era | Mamluk period |
| Region | Egypt |
| Main interest(s) | Hadith sciences, Islamic jurisprudence, Legal theory, Tafsir, Arabic |
| Occupation | Scholar, Qadi, Traditionist, Jurist, Legal theorist, Quran exegete, Linguist |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi'i |
| Creed | Ash'ari[1] |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced | |
Walī al-Dīn Abū Zur'ah Aḥmad ibn 'Abd al-Raḥīm Arabic: ولي الدين أبو زُرعة أحمد بن عبد الرحيم, more commonly known as Walī al-Dīn al-'Irāqī Arabic: ولي الدين العراقي or sometimes Ibn al-'Irāqī Arabic: ابن العراقي; 723-804 AH/ 1323–1401 CE) was a Sunni Egyptian scholar and a prominent figure in the intellectual life of the medieval Islamic world. A multidisciplinary scholar, he specialized in Shafi'i jurisprudence, legal theory, hadith sciences, Quran exegesis, and Arabic language.[2][3] Renowned for his meticulous scholarship and rigorous research, he was widely regarded as one of the leading ḥadīth authorities of his era.[4][5] He was the son of Zain al-Din al-Iraqi.[6]
Birth
He was born at dawn on Monday, the third day of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year 762 AH (4 October 1361 CE) in Cairo.[7]
Education
is father, Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī, was a well-known hadith scholar of his time. His mother, Umm Aḥmad ʿĀʾisha al-ʿAlāʾī, was also a woman interested in hadith; in 765 (1364), she accompanied her husband when he travelled to Damascus for study and benefited from the hadith scholars there. Ibn al-ʿIrāqī first studied under his father, and later under scholars such as Abū'l-Ḥaram Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Qalānisī, ʿIzz al-Dīn Ibn Jamāʿa, and Ibn Nubāta al-Miṣrī. His father took him to Damascus when he was three years old, ensuring that he attended the lessons of hadith scholars such as Abū’l-Maḥāsin al-Ḥusaynī, Ibn Rāfiʿ, and Sittu'l-ʿArab. From there, his father brought him to Jerusalem, where he received ijāzas from the leading scholars of Damascus. When Ibn al-ʿIrāqī returned to Cairo, he began memorizing the Quran and various texts from different disciplines. He benefited from scholars such as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr al-Subkī, Nāṣir al-Dīn Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Ḥarāwī, Juwairiya bint Aḥmad al-Hakkāriyya, and Jamāl al-Dīn ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAlī al-Bājī.[5]
In 768 (1367), he travelled with his father to Hejaz. In Medina he heard hadith from Badr al-Dīn Ibn Farḥūn, and in Mecca from Bahāʾ al-Dīn Ibn Aqīl, Umm al-Ḥasan Fāṭima bint Aḥmad al-Kharāzī, and Abū'l-Faḍl Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Numayrī. After 780 (1378), he made a second journey to Damascus with his brother-in-law and teacher Nūr al-Dīn al-Haythamī, benefiting from various scholars there. Having trained himself in various sciences especially hadith, jurisprudence (fiqh), and legal theory (usul al-fiqh).[5] He wrote comparative notes (ṭibāq), recorded names meticulously, and read to the leading scholars who heard his recitation. He continued to rise in rank due to his sharp intelligence until he excelled and distinguished himself.[8]
Teachers
His most important teachers include:[8]
Scholarly life
Career
Ibn al-ʿIrāqī was both a legal and hadith instructor in Cairo. He held teaching posts in hadith at the Kāmiliyya Dār al-Ḥadīth, Qānibayhiyya Qarāsunguriyya, and the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, and in Shafi'i jurisprudence at the Jamāliyya al-Nāṣiriyya and Fāḍiliyya madrasases.[9] His father revived the tradition of hadith-dictation circles following a long hiatus, Ibn al-ʿIrāqī continued them after his father's death, beginning in Shawwāl 810 (March 1408), and dictated hadith in more than six hundred sessions. From the early 790s (1388) onward, over a span of twenty years, he served at various times as deputy judge (qāḍī nāʾib) in place of Aḥmad b. ʿĪsā al-Karakī, and he also held the judgeship of Manūfiyya. During this period, he additionally assumed the office of haykh al-shuyūkh at the Jamāliyya al-Nāṣiriyya Madrasa. Following the death of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Bulqīnī, he was appointed by Sultan Sayf al-Din Tatar as the chief judge (Qadi al-Qudat) of Egypt on 15 Shawwāl 824 (13 October 1421). His companion Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī occasionally served as his deputy during this tenure, which lasted thirteen months and twenty-one days. His dismissal—after being accused before the Mamluk Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf Sayf al-Dīn Barsbāy by several individuals, including some of his own students—caused him great distress.[8]
Students
He taught many students, including most notably:[5]
- Ibn al-Humām
- Taqī al-Dīn al-Fāsī
- Sharaf al-Din al-Munāwī
- Ṣāliḥ b. ʿUmar al-Bulqīnī
- Al-Shumunnī
Death
He died in Cairo on Thursday, the seventeenth of the month of Sha'bān in the year 826 AH (5 August 1423 CE). He was sixty-three years and eight months old. As Ibn Hajar mentions, the cause of his death was that he assumed the position of judge after Qāḍī Jalāl al-Dīn al-Balqīnī. He held the office for a year and a quarter, administering it well, with chastity, integrity, and firmness in religion, until some members of the state became hostile toward him, and he was removed from the position. This distressed him greatly, and his temperament became disturbed until he died of illness in the abdomen, as a martyr, on Thursday. He was buried beside his father's grave in the desert outside the city.[8]
Legacy
Ibn al-ʿIrāqī's student Taqī al-Dīn al-Fāsī stated that his teacher was a scholar well-versed in issues of jurisprudence, legal theory, Qur’anic exegesis, and the Arabic language, and that he issued accurate legal verdicts. Scholars such as Ibn Ḥajar, Ibn Taghrībirdī, and al-Dāwūdī noted that he was also distinguished by his prodigious memory and exceptional intellect, and that he was regarded as one of the most capable hadith masters (ḥuffāẓ) of his age. Shortly before his death, when Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī was asked which hadith masters he was leaving behind, he listed in order: Ibn Ḥajar, Ibn al-ʿIrāqī, and Nūr al-Dīn al-Haythami. In this, one discerns a clear indication of Ibn al-ʿIrāqī's full scholarly ripeness and his preeminent expertise in the science of ḥadīth. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī remarked that Ibn al-ʿIrāqī was known for his uncompromising stance in defending the truth and for his amiable nature that allowed him to get along with everyone. Ibn Taghrībirdī highlighted his modest and pleasant personality.[5]
