Sadr ad-Dën Abu'l Ḥasan ÿAlë Ibn Abë al-ûIzz () was a 14th-century Arab Muslim scholar. He was a jurist of the Hanafi school and was nicknamed QÃÂá¸Âë al-Quá¸ÂÃÂh (the Judge of Judges). He served as a qadi in Damascus and Egypt. Many who have written on his biography mentioned that he had vast knowledge, he had a high status and position, and that he was a Faqeeh (expert in Fiqh). He taught at schools and he assumed the office of judge in Damascus and then in Egypt. He is best known for authoring his magnum opus on al-Tahawi's creedal treatise Al-Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah.
According to Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Ibn Abi al-'Izz was born on 12 Dhu al-Hijjah 1331 AD/731 AH, He came from a family that had been strong supporters of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. êmad ad-Dën Aá¹Â-Ṭartusë. His grandfather, Shams ad-Dën (d. 722/1322) was a very distinguished Ḥanafë jurist and served as chief judge. And his great-grandfather, Muḥammad Ibn Abë Al-êzz, taught at the school of AlMurshidëyyÃÂh. His uncle, á¹¢adr ad-Dën SulaymÃÂn Ibn Abë Al-êzz (d. 677/1278), was also a great Ḥanafë scholar and writer, and served as chief judge in Syria and Egypt. SulaymÃÂn's descendants also distinguished themselves as judges, muftis and professors
Naturally, he had learned first from his family and seems to have completed his studies with them at an early age. Ibn QÃÂá¸Âë Shuhbah said that he started teaching at QëmÃÂzëyyÃÂh School at the age of seventeen in the year 748. This school had been built by Sarim ad-Dën QaâÂÂimaz, one of the descendants of á¹¢alÃÂḥ ad-Dën AlÃÂyyà «bë, for teaching Ḥanafë fiqh. In 771/1369, Ibn Abë Al-êzz moved to the RuknëyyÃÂh School, which was founded in 621 A.H. by Amir Rukn ad-Dën Mankuras. In 784/1382, he started teaching at the âÂÂêzzëyyÃÂh School, founded by Abà « Al-Faá¸Âl âÂÂêzz ad-Dën Aybak (d. 645/1249), replacing QÃÂá¸Âi Al-Ḥammam after the qÃÂá¸Âi's death. Along with teaching, Ibn Abë Al-âÂÂêzz also delivered sermons at the Afram Mosque (west of Aá¹£-á¹¢ÃÂliḥëyyÃÂh) founded by Amir Jamal ad-Dën Aqush Al-Afiam in 720/1320, as well as at Al-Ḥusban. Towards the end of 776/1374, he was appointed judge in Damascus in place of QÃÂá¸Âi Najm ad-Dën, his cousin, upon the latter's transfer to Egypt. But Najm ad-Dën resigned three months later and returned to his previous post in Damascus. Ibn Abë Al-êzz then took over as judge in Egypt, but he also resigned from that post after just two months. Upon returning to Damascus, he resumed teaching at QëmazëyyÃÂh and also took classes at the JawharëyyÃÂh School.
Ibn Abë Al-êzz was born and bred in a family of Ḥanafë scholars and judges. All of the schools wherein he taught were dedicated to the teaching of Ḥanafë fiqh, and the judgeship he served was also that of a Ḥanafë judge. Despite all of that, he was not a blind follower of the Ḥanafë school; in fact, he was opposed to following one imÃÂm exclusively or defending the views of one school uncritically. Absolute faith and obedience, he said, is due to the Book of AllÃÂh and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be on him). No one is above criticism; everyone's views are to be examined based on the criteria of the Qur'an and Sunnah; if they agree with them, they should be accepted; if they disagree, they are to be rejected. This is the burden of one of his tracts, Al-Ittiba. In it, he reviewed a letter which a contemporary Ḥanafë scholar, Akmal ad-Dën Muḥammad Ibn Maḥmà «d (d. 786/1384) had written, in which he had pleaded for the exclusive following of the Ḥanafë school. Besides objecting, in principle, to this point of view, Ibn Abë Al-êzz also noted his observations on various issues which the author discussed. He concluded his discussion by saying: <blockquote>The correct course for a student is to memorize AllÃÂhâÂÂs Book and ponder it. Similarly, he should memorize the aḥÃÂdëth of the Prophet (peace be on him), as much as he can, and reflect upon them. Furthermore, he should learn Arabic and grammar to the extent that he can express himself correctly and understand the Qur'ÃÂn and Sunnah well and also the writings of the Salaf. After this, he should study the views of different scholars, starting with the Companions and then those who came after them, without making any discrimination between them. When they agree on a point, he should stick to it; but when they differ, he should study all the views with an open mind and examine their arguments. Whoever AllÃÂh guides is on the right path and whoever He leaves wandering cannot see the light.</blockquote>Ibn Abë Al-êzz was very critical of the practice of establishing schools and colleges and dedicating them to the study of a particular school of fiqh. It then became the duty of the teachers, he observed, to defend each and every view of that school. The students, too, developed the same attitude and bias. Unfortunately, most of the donors whose contributions led to the establishment of those schools had little knowledge and would explicitly leave conditions in their wills or deeds that would restrict the free exercise of intellect and open pursuit of knowledge. Ibn Abë Al-êzz was of the opinion that such conditions should not be honored since they violate the spirit of the Qur'an and Sunnah. It was against some similar conditions that the Prophet (peace be on him) once said, âÂÂWhat has happened to the people that they come up with conditions that are not mentioned in the Book of AllÃÂh! Know that all the conditions not found in the Book of AllÃÂh, even if they be a hundred conditions, are absolutely null and void.â Ibn Abë Al-êzz also denounced the practice that restricted judges to making rulings only according to a particular fiqh. The tradition, too, of appointing four imams, one from each school of fiqh, to lead the prayer in the House of AllÃÂh at Makkah, he stated, should be discontinued. There should be, he argued, one imÃÂm, and everyone, irrespective of the fiqh school he followed, should pray behind him
Ibn Abi al-Izz's sharh on al-Tahawi's creedal treatise al-Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah was controversial in some aspects among contemporary Maturidi judges, who summoned him to court due to his censure of Ibn Aybuk Damashqi's poem. The following will discuss several criticisms.
In the year 784/1382, âÂÂAlë Ibn Aybak (d. 801/1398-9), a regular poet of Damascus, wrote an ode in praise of the Prophet (peace be on him) in the same meter in which the famous ode âÂÂBÃÂnat SuâÂÂÃÂdâ was written by KaâÂÂb Ibn Zuhayr. It was a poem that received general appreciation. It happened that Ibn Abë Al-âÂÂêzz read it and wrote a letter to the poet stating his appreciation of the literary aspect of the ode. In a separate paper, however, he also noted down his remarks about some of its ideas. Some people objected to this note and raised their voices against Ibn Abë Al-âÂÂêzz. Ibn Aybak referred the note to some jurists who objected to Ibn Abë Al-IzzâÂÂs remarks. The case was brought to the Sultan, who formed a council of scholars and jurists belonging to the different schools and asked for their opinion. The council held many sessions during which it questioned Ibn Abë Al-êzz and discussed the issue at length. At the end of the fifth session, the council, led by a Shafi'ë judge, convicted Ibn Abë Al-êzz for his views, consigned him to jail, removed him from his post, and fined him. The fine was later withdrawn but he had to spend fourteen months in jail.
The Shafi'i scholar, al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, mentions those contemporaries who refuted Ibn Abi al-Izz when he was summoned to court to defend the matter of his creed; <blockquote>"He was among the most virtuous people. He suffered an ordeal that was caused by Ali ibn Aybak, the poet, who wrote a Qaseedah Nabawiyah that he opposed."</blockquote>In all there were eight issues on which Ibn Abë Al-êzz was convicted. He was accused, for example, of believing that angels are better than prophets. He discussed this issue at length in this Commentary. He opened his discussion of this topic with the following words: <blockquote>"People have debated the question as to which is superior: angels or human beings that are pious. It is said that the Ahl As-Sunnah believe that pious men, or at least the prophets among them, are superior to the angels. The Mu'tazëlah, on the contrary, believe in the superiority of the angels. This opinion is also held by a group of the Ahl As-Sunnah and the á¹¢à «fës. As for the AshâÂÂarës, some have no opinion on this issue and others are inclined to believe in the superiority of the angels. ShiâÂÂÃÂh scholars say that all the imams are superior to the angels, and exalted some categories of men over some categories of angels, and viceversa. However, no one worth mention has said that the angels are superior to some prophets rather than others."</blockquote>He then goes on to say:<blockquote>âÂÂI was very reluctant to discuss this issue, for it does not avail much and is quite insignificant... Moreover, the Shaykh [Aá¹Â-ṬaḥÃÂwë] has not touched upon it, either negatively or positively. Probably he deliberately refrained from entering into its discussion. Imam Abà « Ḥanëfah, too, kept silent when he was asked about it... Our duty is only to believe in the angels and the prophets. We are not required to believe that one of them is superior to the other. Had it been a duty, there must have been some text to guide us on this issue.â </blockquote>However, he does enter into a discussion, cites the arguments of those who exalt the angels and of those who exalt the prophets and then concludes, <blockquote>âÂÂIn short, this is an unimportant issue and that is why most of the writers on the subject have not discussed it; and Abà « Ḥanëfah kept silent concerning it, as we have said before.âÂÂ</blockquote>The second issue concerning which he was accused dealt with the possibility of the prophetsâ committing minor sins. All scholars of Islam are agreed that the prophets committed no mistakes with respect to communicating to their people what God revealed to them. Similarly, they are agreed that prophets did not commit grave sins. But they differ on the question of whether prophets may commit a small sin sometimes. Ibn Abë Al-êzz has not discussed this issue in his Commentary. In the note which he wrote on the ode of Ibn Aybak, he upheld the possibility of prophets sometimes committing minor sins by mistake. It seems that those who indicted him even negated this possibility. If that was the case, they were going against the majority opinion. The Athari scholar Ibn TaymëyyÃÂh wrote: "The view that the prophets do not commit grave sins and that they may commit small sins is the view of most scholars of IslÃÂm and most of their followers. One can say that this is the view of the majority of the theologians." Abà « Al-Ḥassan Al-Amidë has noted that this is the view of the majority of the Ash'arë theologians as well as the majority of the scholars of Qur'anic exegesis, ḥadëth and fiqh. What has come down from the Salaf, the imams, the Companions, the Successors and their successors, is not different from this view.
QÃÂá¸Âi âÂÂAyaá¸Â, the famous AshâÂÂarë theologian and MÃÂlikë jurist, wrote in his renowned work, Ash-Shifa. <blockquote>As for small sins, a group of the Salaf as well as others uphold its possibility. This is also the view of Abà « JaâÂÂfar Aá¹Â-Ṭabarë and other scholars of fiqh, ḥadëth and kalÃÂm... Another group has refrained from saying anything positive on this issue. Rationally, it cannot be ruled out that they might commit small sins, but as for textual sources, there is nothing definitive either way. A third group of jurists and theologians uphold their absolute infallibility.</blockquote>It seems that those who indicted Ibn Abë Al-êzz on this issue belonged to this third group. The other points on which Ibn Abë Al-êzz was indicted were problems such as whether it is correct to say, âÂÂThe Prophet is sufficient for me,â âÂÂProphet, intercede on my behalf,â or âÂÂHad the Prophet not been created, the heavens would not have been brought into being.â Concerning the first statement, Ibn Abë Al-êzz seems to have been inspired by what Ibn AlQayyëm wrote on this issue in ZÃÂd al-MaâÂÂÃÂd. The second point has been taken up in the Commentary under the discussion of intercession. As for the third statement, Ibn Abë Al-êzz pointed out that such statements can only be made on the basis of textual sources, and since there were no relevant texts, one should refrain from making such statements.
Some time after Ibn Abë Al-êzz was released from prison, one of his well-wishers pleaded with the emir, Sayf ad-Dën Balghuk Ibn 'Abdullah An-Nasërë, to reinstate him in his position and to restore his stipend. The emir agreed and issued the relevant orders. Ibn Abë Al-êzz resumed teaching at JawharëyyÃÂh and delivered sermons in the Mosque of Afram in the month of Rabiâ al-Awwal in 791/1389.
But this occupation proved to be short-lived; he died in the month of Dhul-QiâÂÂdah the following year, 792/1390, and was buried in the cemetery of Qasiyun.
Besides the Commentary, which was his magnum opus, he wrote many books, including:
In At-Tanbih âÂÂala Mushkilat al-Hidayah, he is said to have discussed some of the difficult issues of the famous work of Ḥanafë fiqh, Al-Hidayah by Abà « Bakr Burhan ad-Dën âÂÂAlë Al-Marghinarë (d. 593/1197). No manuscript of this book seems to be extant at the present time. Another tract, Siḥḥat alIqtiá¸Âaâ bi al-Mukhalif, was written to defend the practice of offering prayers behind an imÃÂm of a different school. A manuscript of this tract is preserved in the Tatwan Library in Morocco, and a photocopy of it may also be found in the library of the Theologian ḤammÃÂd Al-Aná¹£ÃÂri of Madinah. He also authored another book which is no longer present, An-Nà «r alLamiâ fë ma yuâÂÂmalu bihë fë al-Jami The title implies that the book is about what one should do in the Mosque of Banà « Umayyah in Damascus.