al-Almawi
- Died
- 981 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Abd al-Basit al-Almawi (907–981 AH / 1502–1573 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist, preacher, and timekeeper from Damascus, best known for his pedagogical treatise al-Muid fi Adab al-Mufid wa al-Mustafid .
Early Life and Career
Abd al-Basit ibn Sharaf al-Din Musa ibn Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Almawi was born in Damascus on 15 Rajab 907 AH . His father was an established legal witness and the resident preacher at the Hajib Mosque in the Suq Saruja quarter of Damascus, an office he had held since 857 AH .
In Muharram 921 AH, at the age of fourteen, al-Almawi delivered his first Friday sermon at the Hajib Mosque after memorizing a text dictated to him by the blind preacher Muhammad al-Darir . The assembly, which included local emirs and his father, rewarded him with a robe of honor and financial gifts . Shortly afterward, during the military conflict between the Mamluks and the Ottomans, he fled Damascus with his mother, sister, and brother-in-law to al-Qar'un, where he stayed for eight months before returning in 923 AH . Around 925 AH, his father formally ceded the preaching post of the Hajib Mosque to him .
In 938 AH, al-Almawi was appointed head of the muezzins (ra'is al-mu'adhdhinin) at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus . He also served there as an astronomical timekeeper (muwaqqit) and delivered sermons during religious assemblies and special occasions .
Scholarly Activity and Standing
Al-Almawi gained prominence in Damascus as an orator and Shafi'i legal scholar . He authored al-Iqd al-Talid fi Ikhtisar al-Durr al-Nadid (also titled al-Muid fi Adab al-Mufid wa al-Mustafid), an abridgment of the educational manual al-Durr al-nadid fi adab al-mufid wa-al-mustafid by Badr al-Din Muhammad al-Ghazzi . He also produced an abridgment of Abd al-Qadir al-Nu'aymi's biographical and architectural history of Damascene colleges and mosques, titled Mukhtasar Tanbih al-talib wa-irshad al-daris .
In biographical accounts, Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi recorded a contemporary dream narrative indicating the high esteem in which al-Almawi was held alongside his colleague Abu al-Fath al-Ustuwwani .
Death
Al-Almawi died in Damascus in Sha'ban 981 AH (1573 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Iqd al-Talid fi Ikhtisar al-Durr al-Nadid, also titled al-Muid fi Adab al-Mufid wa al-Mustafid, is a sixteenth-century pedagogical treatise that serves as an abridgment of Badr al-Din Muhammad al-Ghazzi's al-Durr al-nadid fi adab al-mufid wa-al-mustafid. Designed as a condensed manual, it addresses Islamic pedagogical principles, educational decorum, and the roles and conduct of educators, students, and jurisconsults.