al-Balqini
- Died
- 868 AH
- Born in
- Cairo
Abu al-Baqa' Salih ibn Umar al-Balqini (791–868 AH / 1389–1464 CE; another report gives 790 AH) was an Egyptian Shafi'i chief judge, jurist, and legal authority . He is known for legal writings such as Tuhfat al-Amin fi man yuqbal qawluhu bila yamin (The Gift of the Trustworthy on Those Whose Word Is Accepted Without an Oath) .
Name, Lineage, and Early Life
He was Salih ibn Umar ibn Raslan ibn Nasir ibn Salih ibn Shihab al-Din al-Kinani al-Asqalani al-Balqini al-Misri al-Qahiri al-Shafi'i, titled 'Alam al-Din and carrying the kunyas Abu al-Baqa', Abu al-Tuqa, and Abu al-Naqa . He was widely known as Ibn al-Balqini . His nisba derives from Balqina, a locality near Banha north of Cairo, while his ancestral roots traced back to Asqalan .
He was raised in an influential scholarly family; his father was the Shafi'i jurist Siraj al-Din al-Balqini (d. 805 AH), and his brothers included Jalal al-Din al-Balqini (d. 824 AH) and Badr al-Din Muhammad (d. 791 AH) . Most biographers report that he was born on the eve of Monday, 3 Jumada al-Ula 791 AH, though Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani recorded his birth in 790 AH . In his youth, he studied under his father, reciting before him works such as the Dala'il of Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi .
Judicial Career and Offices
Al-Balqini was appointed chief judge (qadi al-qudah) of the Shafi'is in Egypt on multiple occasions across several decades . Following the death of his brother Jalal al-Din in 824 AH, his name was put forward alongside others for the chief judgeship before Wali al-Din al-Iraqi was selected . He later held the office during the reign of al-Ashraf Barsbay, who dismissed him in 827 AH, and he was subsequently reappointed in 833 AH, 840 AH, and 850 AH, frequently alternating in the post with Ibn Hajar . His final appointment to the Shafi'i judgeship came when he replaced Yahya al-Munawi . In addition to the judiciary, he was active in teaching, issuing legal opinions (ifta'), preaching, and narrating hadith .
Standing and Scholarly Activity
Al-Balqini was regarded as a leading legal authority of his era. Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti described him as the standard-bearer of the Shafi'i school in his time across Iraq, the Hijaz, the Levant, and Egypt . Al-Sakhawi noted his strong memory, quick apprehension, eloquence, and authoritative demeanor, adding that he commanded great respect and did not fear sultans or emirs . Al-Sakhawi attended his lectures, received authorization (ijazah) from him to teach and issue fatwas, and had some of his own writings commended by him .
His legal and scholarly output included al-Tajarrud wa-l-ihtimam bi-jam' fatawa al-walid Shaykh al-Islam, in which he gathered the legal verdicts of his father , and a commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari titled al-Ghayth al-jari 'ala Sahih al-Bukhari .
Death
Al-Balqini died in 868 AH (1464 CE), shortly after his final reinstatement to the Shafi'i chief judgeship in Cairo .
Answer updated
List of Works
Tuhfat al-Amin fi man yuqbal qawluhu bila yamin is a legal treatise in Shafi'i jurisprudence addressing legal cases in which a trustee or claimant's statement is accepted without requiring an oath. It compiles selected legal applications across various chapters of jurisprudence where this procedural requirement is waived, serving as a reference for jurists to review and study.