Abu Bakr al-Dashti
- Died
- 713 AH
- Born in
- Aleppo
Abu Bakr al-Dashti (634–713 AH / 1236–1313 CE) was a Hanbali hadith transmitter, tutor, and scholar from Aleppo who was active in Damascus and Cairo, known for his treatise Jami' al-Wara' wa-Qami' al-Bida' (The Gatherer of Scrupulousness and Queller of Innovations) .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Shihab al-Din Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Qasim ibn Badran al-Anami al-Kurdi al-Dashti . He was born in Aleppo in 634 AH (1236 CE) . His uncle, the ascetic and scholar Abu Muhammad Mahmud ibn Abi al-Qasim al-Dashti, took care of his upbringing and education, ensuring that he heard hadith from prominent teachers from an early age .
Education and Transmission
Al-Dashti attended the assembly of Ja'far ibn 'Ali al-Hamdani in Damascus and heard hadith from several major authorities of his era, including Abu al-Qasim ibn Rawahah, Diya' al-Din al-Maqdisi, Ibn al-Salah, Yusuf ibn Khalil, Ibn Ya'ish, and Safiyyah al-Qurashiyyah .
He transmitted hadith extensively in both Damascus and Egypt, reciting the Musnad of Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi in Cairo . The hadith master 'Alam al-Din al-Birzali compiled a mashyakhah (catalogue of teachers) for him . Al-Dashti became a unique transmitter of high chains of narration (asānīd ‘āliyah), and numerous students took hadith from him, among them Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi and Ibn al-Khabbaz .
Career and Character
Later in life, al-Dashti was appointed as an official hadith reciter (musmi') at Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyyah in succession to Ishaq al-Saffar, and served as a tutor at the orphan school founded by the court official Zahir al-Din al-Khazin .
Biographers noted his elegant handwriting, his copying of hadith compilations, and his memorization of legal principles and poetry . He was also recorded as having suffered persistent poverty, which was associated with strictness and demandingness when transmitting texts to students .
Death
Al-Dashti died in the month of Jumada al-Akhirah in 713 AH (1313 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Jami al-Wara wa Qami al-Bida (The Gatherer of Scrupulousness and Queller of Innovations) is a treatise that refutes the practices of musical audition (sama), dancing, and associated Sufi rituals. The work argues for the prohibition of these practices, demonstrating that they constitute religious innovations and a misuse of mosques, while upholding the conduct, manners, and religious practice of the early generations (al-salaf).