SirÃÂj al-Dën Abà « Ḥafá¹£ ÿUmar b. ÿAlë b. Aḥmad al-ShÃÂfiÿë al-Miá¹£rë (), commonly known as Ibn al-Muláqqin (; 723-804 AH/ 1323âÂÂ1401 CE), was a Sunni Egyptian scholar. He is considered one of the greatest Shafi'i jurisconsult and hadith scholar of his time. He gained renown for his voluminous scholarship on hadith and Islamic jurisprudence, while also distinguishing himself as a theologian, historian, and linguist. His remarkable productivity made him the most prolific scholar of his era, with writings spanning numerous disciplines.
Ibn al-Muláqqin's father, Nur al-Din Ali (d. 724/1324), was an Andalusian scholar from the village of Wadi Ash (Guadix) in the province of Granada, celebrated for his expertise in Arabic grammar (nahw). He later relocated to West Africa (Bilad al-Takrur), where he taught the Quran until he had accumulated enough income to immigrate to Cairo. Ibn al-Muláqqin belonged to the lineage of the Ansar from Medina who settled in al-Andalus after the conquest.
He was born 723 A.H., which corresponds to the year 1323 C.E in Cairo. A year later his father died and his mother married a close friend of her late husband named ÿêsàal-Maghribë, who taught the Qur'an (mulaqqin) at the Ibn Tulun Mosque. It was through this stepfather that he came to be known as Ibn al-Muláqqin. However, he personally preferred the name Ibn al-Nahwi, in tribute to his father, and disliked being referred to as Ibn al-Muláqqin.
Ibn al-Muláqqin completed his Qur'anic recitation and memorization under his stepfather, studied Maliki jurisprudence, and memorized Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi's Umdat al-Ahkam. Later, under the instruction of Izz al-Din Ibn Jama'a, he shifted to the Shafi'i school and memorized al-Nawawi's Minhaj al-Talibin. He studied Arabic, jurisprudence, and Qur'anic recitation with notable scholars in Cairo. He himself states that he listened to 1,000 sections of hadith. He travelled to Cairo, Alexandria, Aleppo, Damascus, Jerusalem, Hejaz (Mecca & Medina) and Yemen studying under numerous scholars.
He studied under the prominent scholars of his time:
Ibn al-Muláqqin earned his livelihood as a professional scholar, though the specifics of his official appointments remain somewhat unclear. He served as a Shafi'i judge (qadi) in EgyptâÂÂs eastern district (al-Sharqiyya) and as a deputy (na'ib) to the chief Shafi'i judge in Cairo. He also taught Shafi'i jurisprudence at the mausoleum of al-Salih, the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt from 637/1240 to 647/1249, held several preaching posts including one at the al-Hakim mosque, and briefly worked at the Dar al-Hadith in the Kamiliyya madrasa. However, the pinnacle of his careerâÂÂthe chief Shafi'i judgeship of EgyptâÂÂremained out of reach. His attempts to secure this position through his friendship with the future Sultan Barquq led to serious difficulties when rival scholars conspired against him, culminating in his brief imprisonment in the autumn of 780/1378.
He produced numerous scholars and some of his famous students include:
Ibn al-Muláqqin had a passion for writing and absolutely loved books. By the end of his life, he wrote and accumulated a huge collection but lost them due to a fire breaking out which severely broke him down mentally and leaving him despondent and isolated. Ibn Hajar wrote that âÂÂIbn Muláqqin was of sound mind before his books burned, but afterwards his son had to hide him.â He died on a Friday evening on the 15th of October in the year of 1401. He was buried in the Sufi cemetery near his father outside of the Bab al-Nasr, in Cairo.
Ibn al-Muláqqin was a practising Sufi who transmitted the khirqa (a cloak placed on the head from master to disciple which indicates a spiritual lineage of Sufi tradition) and Ibn al-Muláqqin claimed to have met the famous immortal saint called Al-Khadir on two occasions.
Although Ibn al-Muláqqin was widely respected for his personal character and for producing numerous commentaries and abridgements of legal and hadith works that were considered accessible and well-structured, his prolific output drew significant criticism as well. Some scholars argued that the sheer volume of his writings compromised their quality. The Syrian chronicler Ibn Hijji (d. 816/1413) went so far as to accuse him of careless scholarship and even plagiarism, while other Syrian scholars dismissed him as âÂÂa copyist prone to frequent mistakes.â Although such allegations were shut down by many major scholars of his time and those that came after him had defended his honour.
Ibn al-Muláqqin's prodigious literary output earned him the distinction of being regarded as "one of the three marvels of his age." In this esteemed trio, SirÃÂj al-Dën al-Bulqënë (d. 805/1403) was celebrated as the greatest Shafi'i jurist, Zayn al-Dën al-âÂÂIrÃÂqë (d. 806/1404) as the greatest hadith scholar, and Ibn al-Mulaqqin as the most prolific author.
His teacher SalÃÂh al-Dën al-ÿAlÃÂþë said:
<blockquote>âÂÂHe was the Shaykh al-IslÃÂm, most knowledgeable of the scholars, honour of the FuqahÃÂþ and the Muhaddithën and pride of the virtuous. He excelled in Fiqh and Hadëth.âÂÂ</blockquote>
Ibn al-Muláqqin stated that God had granted him a deep and sincere love for the legal sciences, particularly the science of Hadith, to which he devoted the majority of his scholarly efforts. This passion for learning is reflected in his extraordinary literary output. He is reported to have authored around three hundred distinct works, although the majority of them have not survived. His notable works include: