al-Haddad al-Mahdawi
- Died
- 485 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu al-Hasan al-Haddad al-Mahdawi (d. after 497 AH / 1104 CE) was an Ifriqiyan scholar of Quranic readings, grammarian, and poet from Mahdia, known for his grammatical primer al-Ishara and his treatise Hasr Harf al-Zha .
Life and Education
His full name was Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Thabit al-Khawlani al-Mahdawi, and he was known as al-Haddad or Ibn al-Haddad . He was based in Mahdia, where he taught Arabic grammar and enjoyed high esteem and honor from the Zirid emir Tamim ibn al-Mu'izz .
Al-Haddad traveled to al-Andalus to advance his studies in Quranic recitation, receiving the variant readings from the prominent students of Abu Amr al-Dani, including Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn Najah, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Dawsh, and Abu al-Hasan Yahya ibn Ibrahim al-Lawati al-Mursi (known as Ibn al-Bayyar) .
Teaching and Standing
Al-Haddad instructed numerous scholars who traveled through or resided in Mahdia. The Andalusian jurist Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi heard from him during his stay in Mahdia . Other students included Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Raja' al-Balawi al-Balansi, as well as Abd al-Mun'im ibn Yahya ibn al-Khalluf al-Gharnati, who studied under him in 485 AH (1092 CE) and characterized him as an accomplished master, reciter, and poet . Abu al-Qasim al-Labli also studied with him in Mahdia in 497 AH (1104 CE) while journeying to the East .
His scholarly contributions include al-Ishara, an introductory work on Arabic grammar on which he also composed an explanatory commentary, and Hasr Harf al-Zha, a specialized monograph cataloging the letter za to distinguish it from dad . He was recorded as living as late as 497 AH (1104 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Hasr Harf al-Zha is a specialized Arabic linguistic treatise composed as part of the tradition of works distinguishing between the letters dad and zha. Belonging to the lexicographical and phonetic genre known as Kutub al-Dad wa-l-Za, the work addresses the confusion between the two phonemes in pronunciation and writing by cataloging authentic occurrences of the letter zha.