al-Ashmuni, al-Muqri
- Died
- 1100 AH
- Born in
- -
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ashmuni (d. c. 1100 AH / 1688 CE) was an Egyptian Shafi'i jurist and Quranic reciter best known for his treatise on Quranic pausing and resuming, Manar al-Huda fi Bayan al-Waqf wal-Ibtida (The Beacon of Guidance in Explaining Pausing and Resuming) .
Identity and Background
His full genealogy is recorded as Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Ashmuni al-Shafi'i, and he is also referred to concisely as Ahmad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Ashmuni . He flourished during the eleventh century AH (seventeenth century CE) in Egypt . Specific biographical details regarding his early life, education, and teachers are scarcely documented in classical biographical compendia . Because of this scarcity, when the Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi press published his work in 1934 CE, the publisher erroneously attributed it to the earlier grammarian Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Ashmuni (d. early 10th century AH) before later biographical registers clarified the distinction .
Scholarly Standing
Al-Ashmuni was recognized as both a jurist (faqih) and a Quranic reciter (muqri') . His primary contribution lies in the science of Quranic pauses and starts (waqf wal-ibtida'), where his Manar al-Huda is regarded as one of the prominent later treatises in the field, synthesizing and summarizing the core rulings and conclusions of numerous earlier authorities . Beyond his work in Quranic recitation, he authored al-Qawl al-Matin fi Bayan Umur al-Din (The Firm Statement in Explaining Matters of Religion) on creed and theology .
Death
Al-Ashmuni died around 1100 AH (1688 CE), with another report placing his death after 1099 AH .
Answer updated
List of Works
Manar al-Huda fi Bayan al-Waqf wal-Ibtida (The Beacon of Guidance in Explaining Pausing and Resuming) is a comprehensive treatise on Quranic pausing and resuming (waqf wal-ibtida'). It addresses the rules and places of pausing and beginning during Quranic recitation, aligning pause choices with grammar, morphology, syntax, rhetoric, and commentary (tafsir) to preserve correct linguistic structure and proper theological meaning. This edition features the editorial work of Abd al-Rahim al-Tarhuni, an instructor of recitation and tajwid at al-Azhar.
Manar al-Huda fi Bayan al-Waqf wal-Ibtida (The Lighthouse of Guidance in Explaining Pausing and Resuming) is a treatise on the science of Quranic pausing and starting (al-waqf wal-ibtida). It examines where a reciter should pause and properly resume recitation, correlating pauses with the requirements of Quranic commentary (tafsir), syntax, morphology, and semantic clarity. In standard printed editions, the text is published alongside al-Maqsad li-Talkhis ma fi al-Murshid, an epitome summarizing al-Murshid fi al-Waqf wal-Ibtida by Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sa'id al-Umani.