Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi
- Died
- 600 AH
- Born in
- Jammain
Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi (541–600 AH / 1146–1203 CE) was a Palestinian-born Hanbali jurist and leading hadith traditionist of the Levant and Egypt, celebrated for fundamental reference works including al-Kamal fi Asma al-Rijal and Umdat al-Ahkam .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Taqi al-Din Abu Muhammad Abd al-Ghani ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Ali ibn Surur ibn Rafi ibn Hasan (or Husayn) ibn Ja'far al-Jamma'ili al-Maqdisi al-Dimashqi al-Salihi . He was born in the village of Jamma'il in the district of Nablus, near Jerusalem, in Rabi' al-Akhar 541 AH (with alternative reports giving 543 AH or 544 AH) . He was four months older than his maternal cousin and lifelong peer, the jurist Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama .
In 551 AH, his family migrated from Palestine to Damascus to escape the Crusader expansion . They first resided near the mosque of Abu Salih outside the Eastern Gate (Bab Sharqi) before relocating to the slopes of Mount Qasyun, where their settlement established the suburb of al-Salihiyya .
Education and Travels
In Damascus, he memorized the Quran and studied under Abu al-Makarim ibn Hilal, Abu al-Ma'ali ibn Sabir, and Muhammad ibn Hamza al-Qurashi . In 561 AH (or 560 AH), he traveled with Ibn Qudama to Baghdad, where they stayed at the madrasa of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani for approximately forty to fifty days before al-Jilani's death . They remained in Baghdad for four years, studying Hanbali jurisprudence and dialectics under Ibn al-Manni, alongside hadith transmission under Ibn al-Batti, Hibat Allah ibn al-Daqqaq, Abu Zur'a al-Maqdisi, and Ahmad ibn al-Muqarrib al-Karkhi .
He subsequently embarked on extensive travels to broaden his transmission network. He went to Alexandria in 566 AH and again around 570 AH, studying extensively for three years under Abu Tahir al-Silafi, from whom he transcribed hundreds of quires . In Cairo, he learned from the grammarian Ibn Barri; in Hamadhan, he heard Abu al-Ala al-Hamadhani and Abd al-Razzaq al-Qurmani; in Isfahan, he studied under Abu Musa al-Madini and Abu Sa'd al-Sa'igh; and in Mosul, he heard the preacher Abu al-Fadl al-Tusi .
Scholarly Activity and Students
Upon returning to Damascus, he dedicated himself to hadith dictation, verification, and writing . He composed al-Kamal fi Asma' al-Rijal, pioneering the comprehensive biographical evaluation of all transmitters across the Six Books, and assembled Umdat al-Ahkam, which collected agreed-upon legal traditions from Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim . He also authored the theological treatise al-Iqtisad fi al-I'tiqad, summarizing the traditionalist creed through scriptural texts .
His transmission circles drew a wide range of students. Among the most prominent were his nephew Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi, Ahmad ibn Abd al-Da'im al-Maqdisi, and Abd al-Hadi ibn Abd al-Karim al-Qaysi . His three scholar sons—Izz al-Din Abu al-Fath Muhammad, Jamal al-Din Abu Musa Abd Allah, and Abu Sulayman Abd al-Rahman—also narrated from him .
Controversies and Trials
Throughout his travels and teaching career, he faced several doctrinal and factional disputes. In Mosul, reading from al-Uqayli's al-Du'afa' incited local scholars who took offense at entries concerning Abu Hanifa; he was temporarily imprisoned before being released . In Isfahan, his critical remarks on Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani's Ma'rifat al-Sahaba provoked the influential Khujandi family, forcing him into hiding .
His major trial unfolded in Damascus over theological affirmations regarding the divine attributes and the uncreated nature of the Quran . Opposing jurists accused him of anthropomorphism (tajsim) and held a formal assembly in the citadel before state officials . Though several figures declared his execution permissible, intercession by sympathetic emirs secured his departure to Egypt instead . In Egypt, similar accusations followed him; after a brief seven-night house arrest ordered by al-Kamil, opponents sought a decree from the vizier Safi al-Din ibn Shukr to banish him to the Maghrib, but he died before the order arrived .
Standing
He was widely recognized as the premier hadith memorizer of his era. Taj al-Din al-Kindi remarked that no traditionist equaled him since al-Daraqutni, while Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi described him as the "commander of the faithful in hadith" (amir al-mu'minin fi al-hadith) . Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama noted his strict commitment to enjoining right and forbidding wrong .
Death
He fell severely ill in Cairo in Rabi' al-Awwal 600 AH, losing mobility for sixteen days . He died on Monday, 23 Rabi' al-Awwal 600 AH (with another transmission giving 24 Rabi' al-Awwal), aged fifty-nine . He was buried the following day in the cemetery of al-Qarafa opposite the tomb of Abu Amr ibn Marzuq .
Answer updated
List of Works
Akhbar al-Salah (Traditions of Prayer) is a hadith treatise on the virtues, obligations, and supererogatory forms of ritual prayer. It collects prophetic traditions and early reports arranged around the merits and practices of prayer, recording narrations with chains of transmission.
al-Tawakkul wa Su'al Allah (Reliance upon God and Supplicating Him) is a concise hadith tract (juzʾ) focusing on trust in God, reliance upon Him alone, and the ethics of supplication and detachment from created beings. It comprises fifty-three transmitted texts arranged consecutively without formal subheadings, bringing together prophetic traditions, reports of earlier prophets, sayings of the Companions and early ascetics, and devotional poetry.
Hadith al-Ifk (The Narrative of the Slander) is a specialized hadith monograph (juz' hadithi) that gathers the transmission paths and text variants of the narration concerning the slander against Aisha bint Abi Bakr. It documents the lengthy prophetic report across multiple routes with varied wordings, textual additions, and critical commentary.
Manaqib al-Nisa al-Sahabiyat (Virtues of the Female Companions) is a short hadith treatise that collects traditional narrations on the valor and virtues of early Muslim women. The preserved text features reports documented with their chains of transmission, specifically dedicated to the actions and steadfastness of female companions such as Safiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib and Nusayba bint Ka'b.
Zawaj Abi al-As bi Zaynab bint Rasul Allah is a specialized hadith monograph (juz') that brings together transmitted reports concerning the companion Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi and his marriage to Zaynab bint Muhammad, the eldest daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. Arranged as an uninterrupted sequence of eighteen narrations with full chains of transmission, it covers his lineage, family ties, captivity, conversion, and marital history.
Fada'il Shahr Ramadan (The Virtues of the Month of Ramadan) is a short hadith tractate (juz') that gathers prophetic traditions and early narrations on the spiritual standing, merits, and acts of devotion associated with the month of Ramadan.
al-Thani min al-Misbah fi Uyun al-Sihah (The Second [Part] of the Lamp Concerning the Springs of Authentic Hadiths) is an individual hadith booklet (juzʾ) forming the second part dedicated to the unique narrations of Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (afrād Muslim) within the larger forty-eight-part hadith project al-Misbah fi Uyun al-Ahadith al-Sihah.
Akhbar al-Dajjal (Reports Concerning the Antichrist) is a specialized hadith monograph that collects prophetic traditions and early narrations concerning the False Messiah (al-Masih al-Dajjal).
al-Misbah fi Uyun al-Sihah is a hadith work comprising traditions from the two foundational collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, organized across forty-eight parts as an extraction (mustakhraj) documented with personal chains of transmission.
al-Thani min Fada'il 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (The Second Part of the Virtues of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab) is a hadith monograph that constitutes the surviving second part (juz') of a collection dedicated to traditions and historical reports regarding the life and virtues of the second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Dhikr al-Nar is a hadith treatise dedicated to eschatological traditions concerning the Day of Judgment, reckoning, and the descriptions and terrors of Hellfire.
al-Tawhid is a theological treatise dedicated to setting forth and clarifying the creed of the early generations of Muslims (al-salaf al-salih).
al-Ashir min al-Misbah fi Uyun al-Sihah is a specialized hadith treatise constituting the tenth part of the broader compendium al-Misbah fi Uyun al-Ahadith al-Sihah. It focuses on traditions unique to the collection of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (Ifrad Muslim).
al-Targhib fi al-Dua wa al-Hath Alayhi is a hadith tract devoted to prophetic traditions and early narrations on the merit, etiquette, and importance of supplication (dua).
Ahadith al-Shi'r is a specialized hadith monograph that collects prophetic traditions and reports relating to poetry and its recitation.
al-Kamal fi Asma al-Rijal (The Perfection in the Names of Transmitters) is a biographical dictionary that gathers the transmitters of the six canonical Hadith collections. It is the earliest biographical compendium dedicated exclusively to all narrators mentioned across these six canonical texts.
Ahadith al-Jamaeili (Ahadith al-Jama'ili) is a hadith compendium gathering narrations transmitted through personal chains of transmission.
Aqidat al-Hafiz Taqi al-Din Abd al-Ghani ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Maqdisi (The Creed of al-Hafiz Taqi al-Din Abd al-Ghani ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Maqdisi) is a concise theological treatise setting forth traditionalist Sunni creed.
Tahrim al-Qatl wa Tazimuhu (The Prohibition and Enormity of Killing) is a hadith treatise addressing the prohibition and gravity of unlawful homicide.
Umdat al-Ahkam al-Kubra is a legal hadith collection compiling hadiths related to Islamic legal rulings arranged according to the topics of jurisprudence.
al-Iqtisad fi al-I'tiqad (Moderation in Creed) is a concise theological treatise articulating the creed of early Sunni traditionists (Ahl al-Sunna wa-al-Jama'a) through direct textual citations of the Quran and the Sunnah.
Nihayat al-Murad min Kalam Khayr al-Ibad (The Ultimate Aim from the Speech of the Best of Servants) is an extensive hadith compilation devoted to legal traditions (sunan), arranged with complete chains of transmission.
Umdat al-Ahkam min Kalam Khayr al-Anam (The Reliance of Rulings from the Words of the Best of Mankind) is a legal hadith collection that brings together foundational legal traditions agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
al-Amr bil-Ma'ruf wal-Nahy 'an al-Munkar (Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil) is a thematic hadith monograph gathering prophetic traditions and early reports that address the communal obligation, virtues, and etiquettes of moral accountability and the correction of wrongdoing in Islamic law.
Umdat al-Ahkam ('Umdat al-Ahkam min Kalam Khayr al-Anam) is a classical collection of legal hadiths (ahadith al-ahkam) focusing on traditions mutually agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim across standard jurisprudential topics.