Ahmad ibn Sulayman ibn Ayyub
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Ahmad ibn Sulayman ibn Ayyub (c. 257/259–347 AH / 871/873–958 CE) was a Syrian hadith scholar, judge, and jurist who served as mufti of Damascus and was recognized as the last prominent instructor of the legal school of al-Awza'i in the city .
Lineage and Background
His full name was Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Sulayman ibn Ayyub ibn Dawud ibn Abd Allah ibn Hadhlam al-Asadi al-Dimashqi, and he was widely known by the patronymic Ibn Hadhlam . His ancestor Hadhlam was originally a Christian who converted to Islam . A note in his father's handwriting recorded his birth year as either 257 AH or 259 AH .
Scholarly Career and Teaching
Ibn Hadhlam received his early training from his father, Sulayman ibn Ayyub, and studied hadith and law under prominent scholars, including the judge Bakkar ibn Qutayba, Abu Zur'ah al-Dimashqi, Yazid ibn Abd al-Samad, Sa'd ibn Muhammad al-Bayruti, and al-Hasan ibn Jarir al-Suri .
He held judicial office in Damascus, acting as deputy judge under al-Husayn ibn Harwan and Abu al-Tahir al-Dhuhli, and later presided over the judiciary of Damascus directly . He maintained a regular teaching circle at the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus where he taught the jurisprudence of al-Awza'i; Abu al-Husayn al-Razi noted that he was the last scholar to lead an active study circle dedicated to the Awza'i madhhab in the grand mosque . His transmissions were compiled in hadith notebooks, including Mashyakhat Ibn Hadhlam and a dedicated compilation of al-Awza'i's narrations (Juz' min Hadith al-Awza'i) .
Among those who transmitted hadith from him were Tammam al-Razi, Ibn Mandah, al-Husayn ibn Mu'adh al-Darani, and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Nasr . The Damascene scholar Abd al-Aziz al-Kattani evaluated him as a trustworthy, dependable, and noble authority in narration and law .
Death
Ibn Hadhlam held regular Friday dictation sessions at his residence in Damascus . His student Tammam al-Razi related that during one of these gatherings, Ibn Hadhlam recounted a dream in which he saw the Prophet ﷺ in his home flanked by Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, and the Prophet ﷺ asked him: "O Abu al-Hasan, we have longed for you; have you not longed for us?" According to Tammam, he died before the following Friday, in the middle of Shawwal 347 AH (December 958 CE) . An alternative report by Ibn Zabr dates his death to Rabi' al-Awwal 347 AH at the age of eighty-nine .
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List of Works
Mawsuat Bayt al-Maqdis wa Bilad al-Sham al-Hadithiyya (The Hadith Encyclopedia of Jerusalem and the Levant) is a specialized hadith compendium focused on gathering and critically evaluating prophetic narrations and reports concerning Jerusalem, al-Masjid al-Aqsa, and Bilad al-Sham. It aims to clarify the religious merits of Jerusalem and distinguish sound traditions from weak or spurious ones.