Abu al-Qasim al-Qazwini
- Died
- 699 AH
- Born in
- Tabriz
Abu al-Qasim al-Qazwini (653–699 AH / 1255–1300 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist and scholar from Tabriz, known for his work Mukhtasar Shu'ab al-Iman (Abridgment of the Branches of Faith).
Identity and Early Life
His full name was 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Karkhi al-Tamimi al-Qazwini. He carried the honorific title Imam al-Din and was addressed by the designation Qadi al-Qudat (chief judge). In addition to the kunya Abu al-Qasim, biographers also recorded his kunya as Abu al-Ma'ali and Abu Ja'far. He was born in Tabriz in 653 AH (1255 CE).
Scholarly Contributions and Standing
Al-Qazwini was trained in Shafi'i jurisprudence and was also noted for his expertise in Arabic prosody. Biographers described him as well-proportioned in physique, corpulent, humble, and endowed with comprehensive virtues.
His best-known work is Mukhtasar Shu'ab al-Iman, an abridgment of Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi's extensive hadith compilation on faith, which he composed in response to repeated inquiries from Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Mizzi regarding the exact enumeration of the branches of faith. In this work, al-Qazwini organized seventy-seven distinct branches as concise headings supported by Quranic verses and sound hadiths, occasionally supplying additional verses, reports, or verses of poetry not present in al-Bayhaqi's original. In prosody, he wrote Sharh al-Durrah al-Faridah, an exposition on the poetic meter treatise of al-Sawi.
Journey to Egypt and Death
In 699 AH, al-Qazwini relocated to Egypt during the general flight (jafl) of populations. He fell ill during the journey and died in Cairo one week after his arrival, in Rabi' al-Akhir 699 AH (1300 CE), having not yet reached old age.
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List of Works
Mukhtasar Shu'ab al-Iman (The Abridgment of the Branches of Faith) is a concise theological and ethical treatise that abridges Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi's expansive work Shu'ab al-Iman. It organizes scattered material into seventy-seven distinct branches of faith presented as essential points, pairing each branch with evidence from the Quran or authentic prophetic hadiths.