Ibn al-Najjar

12th-century Islamic scholar

Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd b. al-Ḥasan b. Hibatallāh b. Maḥāsin al-Baghdādī, Muḥibb al-Dīn Ibn al-Najjār, commonly known as Ibn al-Najjār (Arabic: ابن النجار), was a Baghdadi Sunni scholar of the late Abbasid era.^[2] He is regarded as the leading Shafi'i muhaddith of his age and the leading authority on biographical history as well.^[3][4] He was the senior pupil of Ibn al-Dubaythi.^[5]

Biography

Early life

Ibn al - Najjār was born in Baghdad in the year of 578 AH/1183 CE.^[6] Born into a modest family, he was son of the leader carpenter of the Dar al-Khilafah located in the Abbasid Palace of Baghdad. His father died when he was eight and his older brother Ali began raising him instead. Ali was a textile seller who had knowledge in calculation of inheritance, anecdotes, and history. Ibn al-Najjār studied the Hadith and the Qur'an with scholars of Baghdad.^[2]

Education

When he was twenty-eight, he travelled to the Hejaz (Mecca & Medina), the Levant, Egypt, Khurasan, Herat, and Nishapur, studying with sheikhs.^[7] Ibn al-Najjar had over 3000 teachers with 400 of his teachers being women.^[8] He was heard in every city he stayed in, and established himself as the worlds most famous memorizer.^[9]

Then he returned to Baghdad and studied history. He left for Isfahan for about a year (620 AH/1223 CE), then made the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, then moved to Egypt, then returned to Baghdad.^[7]

Career

After more than 20 years of travelling, he became the director of the newly founded Al-Mustansiriya School which was opened in Baghdad in the year (630 AH/1233 AD). In this new institution, he would teach the science of hadith and was known for his humility, piety, and good delivery. He held the post until his death.^[7][6]

Death

His death was on Tuesday, the fifth of Shaban of the year (643 AH = 1246 AD). Prayers were offered over him in the Nizamiyya school, and a large crowd witnessed his funeral. He was buried in the martyrs cemetery in Bab Harb, Baghdad.^[7]

Works

History

• A [Useful] Extract from the continuation of the Ta'rikh Baghdad (al-Mustafad min Dhayl Ta'rikh Baghdad), is his magnum opus coming in 30 volumes which is an appendix to the "History of Baghdad" by Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi.^[10]
• Nuzha al-Wari fi Akhbar Umm al-Qura, a history compilation of Mecca.
• Al-Durrah al-Thaminah fi Akhbar al-Madinah, a history compilation of Medina.
• Manaqib Al-Shafi’i, a biography of Imam Shafi'i

Hadith

• Al-Qamar Al-Munir fi Al-Musnad Al-Kabir, in which he mentioned the Companions and the narrators, and what each of them had from the hadith.
• Kanz Al-Ayyam fi Ma’rifat Al-Sunan and Al-Ahkam
• The Different and Al-Moatalif, appendix to Ibn Makula
• The previous and the later
• The agreement and the intersection
• The book of titles
• The approach of injury in the knowledge of the companions
• Al-Kafi in the names of men
• Attribution of hadiths to fathers and countries
• Kitab Awaliah
• Kitab Mu’jam, the dictionary of his sheikhs (narrators).
• Paradise of the beholders in the knowledge of the followers
• Perfection in the knowledge of men

Literature

• Anwar Al-Zahr in the beauties of the poets of the era
• Al-Azhar fi types of poetry
• Nuzhat al-Tarf fi Akhbar Ahl al-Darf
• Gharar al-Fawa’id full of six volumes
• The only consolation
• Telling the longing about the news of lovers
• Nashwar Al-Muhadara

See also

• List of Ash'aris

References

1. Munt, Harry; Henry, Thomas; Munt, Robert (31 July 2014). The Holy City of Medina Sacred Space in Early Islamic Arabia. Cambridge University Press. p. 88. ISBN 9781107042131.
2. Van Renterghem, Vanessa (2015). "Ibn al-Najjār, Muḥibb al-Dīn". Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_30957.
3. Caesar, Farah (1964). "Ibn-al-Najjār: A Neglected Arabic Historian". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 84.No3: 220–230. doi:10.2307/596555.
4. van Donzel, E.J. (17 January 2022). Islamic Desk Reference Compiled from The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill. p. 158. ISBN 9789004505056.
5. Knysh, Alexander D. (1999). Ibn ʻArabi in the Later Islamic Tradition The Making of a Polemical Image in Medieval Islam. State University of New York Press. pp. 29–287. ISBN 9780791439685.
6. Isabel Toral, Jens Scheiner (25 July 2022). Baghdād - From Its Beginnings to the 14th Century. Brill. p. 801. ISBN 9789004513372.
7. "Biography of Ibn al-Najjar". islamstory.com (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 31 May 2024.
8. Nadwi, Akram (2006). Al-Muḥaddithāt - The Women Scholars in Islam. Interface Publications. ISBN 9780955454523.
9. Ibn al-Futi. Summary of the Complex of Arts in the Dictionary of Nicknames. Part V. Translation 707. Lahore Edition in Pakistan
10. Mustafa Azmi, Muhammad (2002). Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature. Islamic Book Trust. p. 161. ISBN 9789839154276.