al-Ajluni
- Died
- 1162 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu al-Fida' Ismail ibn Muhammad al-Ajluni (1087–1162 AH / 1676–1749 CE) was a Shafi'i hadith scholar, Quranic exegete, and grammarian based in Damascus, best known for his compilation of circulated traditions, Kashf al-Khafa' .
Lineage and Early Life
His full lineage is Ismail ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Hadi ibn Abd al-Ghani al-Jarrahi al-Ajluni al-Dimashqi . His nisba al-Jarrahi is traced to the Companion Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah . He was born in Ajlun in 1087 AH—though another record gives his birth in 1078 AH—and was raised in Damascus, where he pursued his education and spent the remainder of his life . He studied under several prominent scholars, including Abu al-Mawahib al-Hanbali, the Hanbali mufti of Damascus, as well as Muhammad al-Kamili and Ilyas al-Kurdi .
Teaching and Career
Al-Ajluni held prominent teaching posts in Damascus, delivering hadith lectures under the central dome of the Umayyad Mosque and teaching at the mosque of Bani al-Safarjalani . A vast circle of students attended his public and private lessons . Among those who studied under him were Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ibbaji, Abd al-Wahhab al-Suwari, and the father of the biographer Muhammad Khalil al-Muradi .
Scholarly Standing
Regarded as the foremost hadith authority of the Levant in his era, al-Ajluni was recognized for his broad erudition in the hadith sciences, Arabic linguistics, and Quranic exegesis . Contemporary and later biographical accounts characterized him as devout, humble, patient in poverty, and committed to regular nocturnal worship while abstaining from idle speech . The Damascene scholar Sa'id al-Samman lauded him as the seal of the religious authorities of his time .
Beyond his dictionary of popular hadiths, Kashf al-Khafa', al-Ajluni authored an extensive commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari titled al-Fayd al-Jari, which reached the expedition against Banu Qurayza in draft form before remaining unfinished, as well as Hilyat Ahl al-Fadl wa-al-Kamal, a record detailing his scholarly transmissions and teachers .
Death
Al-Ajluni died in Damascus in the month of Muharram 1162 AH (1749 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Kashf al-Khafa wa-Muzil al-Ilbas ‘amma Ishtahara min al-Ahadith ‘ala Alsinat al-Nas is a reference work dedicated to popular and circulated hadiths. Arranged alphabetically like a dictionary across 3,281 numbered entries, the compilation verifies and classifies sayings, proverbs, and traditions commonly repeated among scholars and the public. It examines their authenticity under hadith transmitter criticism standards, distinguishing sound, good, weak, and fabricated traditions while identifying non-Prophetic maxims and scholars' statements mistaken for hadith.