Abd al-Wahid al-Ruyani
- Died
- 502 AH
- Born in
- Tabaristan
Abd al-Wahid al-Ruyani (415–502 AH / 1025–1108 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist, traditionist, and judge from Tabaristan, best known for his vast compendium of substantive law, Bahr al-Madhhab ("The Sea of the School") .
Early life and education
Abu al-Mahasin Abd al-Wahid ibn Ismail ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ruyani al-Tabari was born in Dhu al-Hijjah 415 AH in the district of Ruyan in Tabaristan . He was often accorded the honorific Fakhr al-Islam ("Pride of Islam") . He received his initial legal training from his father and his grandfather, Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ruyani .
Al-Ruyani traveled widely across the central and eastern Islamic lands in pursuit of hadith and jurisprudence, studying in Bukhara, Ghazna, Merv, Nishapur, Mayyafariqin, Rayy, and Isfahan, and visiting Baghdad . Among his prominent teachers were Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Tabari, Abu Uthman al-Sabuni, Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Balkhi, Abd al-Samad ibn Abi Nasr al-Asimi, and Muhammad ibn Bayan al-Kazaruni .
Career and scholarly standing
Al-Ruyani served as the judge (qadi) of Tabaristan and Ruyan, built a madrasa in Amul, and was held in high regard by the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk and contemporary rulers . His mastery of Shafi'i doctrine became proverbial; he famously remarked that if the books of al-Shafi'i were ever burned, he could dictate them entirely from memory . The prominent scholar of Rayy, al-Imad Muhammad ibn Abi Sa'd, referred to him as "the Shafi'i of his age" .
Beyond Bahr al-madhhab, which ranks among the most voluminous references of Shafi'i legal branches (furu'), he authored several influential manuals, including al-Kafi and Hilyat al-mu'min . Numerous scholars transmitted hadith and law from him, including Abu Tahir al-Silafi, Ismail ibn Muhammad al-Taymi, Zahir al-Shahhami, Abu al-Futuh al-Ta'i, and his grandson Hibat Allah ibn Sa'd .
Death
Al-Ruyani was assassinated on Friday, 11 Muharram 502 AH (with another report placing it in 501 AH) in the Great Mosque of Amul . He was attacked and killed in the morning hours by Isma'ili assailants immediately after concluding a public dictation session (majlis imla'), dying as a martyr .
Answer updated
List of Works
Bahr al-Madhhab (Bahr al-Madhhab fi Furu' Madhhab al-Imam al-Shafi'i) is an encyclopedic manual of Shafi'i substantive law (furu'). The work compiles and evaluates transmitted doctrines, variant opinions (awjuh), and rare legal determinations across jurisprudence to serve as a unified reference that facilitates the retrieval of recorded legal opinions and establishes the soundest positions (al-asahh).