al-Izz Ibn Fahd al-Makki
- Died
- 920 AH
- Born in
- Mecca
al-Izz Ibn Fahd al-Makki (850–920 AH / 1447–1514 CE) was a Meccan Shafi'i hadith scholar and historian from the prominent Banu Fahd scholarly family, known for his historical chronicles of Mecca such as Ghayat al-maram bi-akhbar saltanat al-balad al-haram .
Lineage and Family Background
He was Abd al-Aziz ibn Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Fahd, tracing his descent to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib . He was known as Izz al-Din and bore the kunyas Abu al-Khayr and Abu Faris .
He was born in Mecca during the final third of the night of Saturday, 26 Shawwal 850 AH . His father was the historian and hadith scholar Najm al-Din Umar ibn Fahd, his grandfather was the hadith master Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Fahd, and his mother was Aisha bint al-Afif Abd Allah al-Ajami . His brother Yahya died in 885 AH . His children included Jar Allah Muhammad ibn Fahd, Yahya Ghars al-Din, Abu al-Tahir, Abd al-Qadir, Umm Hani Sa'ada, and Fatima .
Education and Travels
During his early youth in Mecca, he memorized the Quran, al-Arba'un al-Nawawiyya, Ibn al-Muqri's al-Irshad, Ibn Malik's Alfiyya, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Nukhbat al-fikar, al-Tuhfa al-wardiyya, and al-Ajurrumiyya, reciting them before his father and grandfather . His father procured an ijaza for him from scholars including Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and had him study under Abu Bakr al-Maraghi, al-Zayn al-Asyuti, and al-Burhan al-Zamzami .
He subsequently embarked on extensive travels for study, visiting Medina, Jerusalem, Gaza, Nablus, Damascus and its Salihiyya quarter, Baalbek, Hama, and Aleppo, before returning to Mecca . In 875 AH he returned to Cairo, where he studied al-Irshad under Zakariyya al-Ansari and al-Sharaf Abd al-Haqq al-Sunbati . In Cairo, he closely attended Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi, reading hadith texts under him, attending his dictation assemblies, and occasionally acting as the assembly's reader or scribe . During a later journey to Damascus, he studied under Zayn al-Din Khattab and al-Muhibb al-Basrawi, and attended the lectures of Ibn Qadi Ajlun . He documented his teachers in a biographical compilation, Mu'jam al-shuyukh, which encompassed around one thousand individuals .
Scholarly Standing and Transmission
Later biographical sources praised his precision and extensive travels; Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi described him as an imam, hadith master, exacting traveler, and model scholar . As a historian of the Hijaz, he continued his father's annalistic history in his work Bulugh al-qura fi dhayl ithaf al-wara, recording daily and monthly events in Mecca from 885 AH onward .
He transmitted hadith and historical texts to a number of students, most notably his son Jar Allah ibn Fahd, who continued his historical chronicling, and the Syrian historian and traditionist Ibn Tulun al-Dimashqi .
Death
He died in Mecca in 920 AH (1514/1515 CE) . Other biographical accounts place his death in 921 AH or 922 AH .
Answer updated
List of Works
Bulugh al-Qura fi Dhayl Ithaf al-Wara bi Akhbar Umm al-Qura is a chronicle of Mecca that provides a daily and monthly record of the city's historical, religious, social, and political events across nearly thirty-seven years. Conceived as a direct continuation to the annalistic history Ithaf al-Wara bi-Akhbar Umm al-Qura, it documents Meccan affairs chronologically from Ramadan 885 AH until Jumada al-Ula 922 AH, aiming to record the city's occurrences and heritage, revive its landmarks, and clarify unknown aspects of its history.