al-Khali
- Died
- 492 AH
- Born in
- Egypt
Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Khali (405–492 AH / 1014–1099 CE) was an Egyptian Shafi'i jurist and hadith master who served as the leading traditionist (musnid) of Egypt in his era . He is best known for his twenty-part hadith compendium al-Khilaiyyat (also known as al-Fawaid al-Khila'iyyah) .
Early life and education
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad was born in Egypt at the beginning of 405 AH (1014 CE) to a family tracing its origins to Mosul . He was also addressed with the kunya Abu al-Husayn in some biographical accounts . His cognomen, al-Khali (or al-Khila'i), was derived from the trade in robes of honor (khila') to the rulers and notables of Egypt . His father, Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn (d. 448 AH / 1056 CE), was himself a Shafi'i jurist who brought his son to study under senior scholars from an early age, thereby securing him elevated chains of transmission .
Al-Khali studied under several prominent traditionists in Egypt, including Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar ibn al-Nahhas, Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hajj al-Ishbili, Abu Sa'd al-Malini, Abu al-Khasib al-Husayb ibn Abd Allah, Abu Abd Allah ibn Nazif al-Farra, and Ismail ibn Raja al-Adib .
Career and seclusion
Al-Khali was appointed to a judicial post in Egypt—or according to another report, in Apamea (Famiyah)—but he served as judge for only a single day before voluntarily resigning from the office . Following his resignation, he withdrew entirely from public life and took up residence in seclusion in the Qarafa cemetery outside Cairo, leading to his occasional designation as al-Qarafi .
During his years in the Qarafa, he devoted himself to worship and teaching . Popular lore recorded by later biographers attributed various miracles to him, such as adjudicating disputes among the jinn, causing his burial place in the Qarafa to be referred to as the tomb of the "Judge of the Jinn and Men" .
Scholarly standing and students
Al-Khali was regarded as the principal hadith authority of Egypt following the death of Abu Ishaq al-Habbal, possessing exceptionally high chains of transmission . His twenty-part collection of sound and rare traditions, al-Fawaid al-muntaqat al-hisan min al-sihah wal-gharaib (popularly known as al-Khila'iyyat), was compiled and extracted from his auditory transmissions by Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Shirazi . In Shafi'i jurisprudence, he authored al-Mughni bayn al-bast wal-ikhtisar .
A substantial number of visiting and local scholars studied under him, including Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, Abu Ali al-Sadafi (known as Ibn Sukkarah), Abu Abd Allah al-Humaydi, Muhammad ibn Tahir al-Maqdisi, and Abu al-Fath Sultan ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisi . His long-time attendant, Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Rifa'a al-Sa'di (d. 561 AH / 1166 CE), was the last surviving narrator to transmit directly from him .
Death
Al-Khali died in the Qarafa in Dhu al-Hijjah 492 AH (1099 CE) at the age of eighty-eight . Accounts vary regarding the exact day: one report records his death on 18 Dhu al-Hijjah, while another places it on 26 Dhu al-Hijjah .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Fawaid al-Muntaqat al-Hisan lil-Khulai (also known as al-Khulaiyat, in the transmission of al-Saadi) is a collection of hadiths comprising selected sound (sihah) and rare (ghara'ib) traditions extracted from auditory transmissions.
al-Sadis min al-Khulaiyat (The Sixth Part of the Khula‘iyyat) is the sixth fascicle (juz’) of al-Fawa’id al-muntaqah al-hisan min al-sihah wa-l-ghara’ib, a classical collection of hadiths and traditions.
Hadith Sufyan ibn Uyayna Riwayat al-Khula'i is a short hadith compilation (juz') containing traditions of the Meccan traditionist Sufyan ibn Uyayna (d. 198 AH / 814 CE), selected from hadith transmissions (fawa'id).
al-Rabi‘ min al-Khula‘iyyat (The Fourth Part of al-Khala‘iyyat), formally titled al-Juz’ al-Rabi‘ min al-Fawa’id al-muntaqah al-hisan min al-sihah wa-l-ghara’ib (The Fourth Part of Selected Fine Traditions from Authentic and Solitary Hadiths), is a hadith tract compiled (takhrij) by Ahmad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn al-Shirazi.
al-Thani min al-Khulaiyat (The Second Part of the Khala'iyyat) is a hadith fascicle (juz') constituting the second part of the broader hadith compilation formally titled al-Fawa'id al-muntaqat al-hisan min al-sihah al-ghara'ib (Selected Fine Benefits from Sound and Rare Narrations).
This work is a hadith fascicle forming the thirteenth installment of the twenty-part collection al-Fawa'id al-Khila'iyyat (also titled al-Fawa'id al-Muntaqat al-Hisan min al-Sihah wal-Ghara'ib). The parent compilation brings together selected sound (sahih) and rare (gharib) narrations along with scholarly benefits (fawa'id) received from Egyptian teachers.
This work is the ninth fascicle of al-Fawa'id al-muntaqah al-hisan min al-sihah wa-l-ghara'ib, a twenty-part hadith compilation. It presents a sequence of prophetic traditions and biographical transmissions supplied with their complete chains of audition, incorporating both sound and rare narrations.
This work is a hadith tract representing the seventh installment of the twenty-part collection al-Fawa’id al-muntaqah al-hisan min al-sihah wa-al-ghara’ib (The Selected, Fine Benefits from Sound and Rare Transmissions). It gathers sound and rare prophetic traditions and scholarly benefits recorded with their transmission chains.
Fully titled al-Juz al-Thamin Ashar min al-Fawa'id al-muntaqah al-hisan al-sihah wa-l-ghara'ib, this hadith tract constitutes the eighteenth fascicle of the twenty-part compendium al-Fawa'id al-Khula'iyyat. It records selected authentic and rare prophetic traditions alongside scholarly benefits, preserved with their complete chains of transmission.
This work is a hadith tract comprising the eighth fascicle of the twenty-part collection al-Fawa'id al-muntaqat al-hisan min al-sihah wa-al-ghara'ib (Selected Fine Benefits from Sound and Rare Traditions), known collectively as al-Khula‘iyyat. It gathers elevated hadiths, rare transmissions, and scholarly benefits recorded with their transmission chains.
al-Thalith min al-Khulaiyat (The Third Part of al-Khula‘iyyat) is a hadith fascicle from a twenty-part collection of elevated narrations formally entitled al-Fawa'id al-muntaqat al-hisan al-sihah wa-l-ghara'ib. Recorded with full transmission chains linking to classical authorities, the traditions in this third part focus predominantly on the legal rulings, descriptions, and proper etiquette of ritual prayer.
al-Fawaid al-Hisan al-Sihah wa al-Gharaib, commonly known as al-Khila‘iyyat or Fawa’id al-Khila‘i, is a twenty-part hadith compendium. Structured across twenty parts extracted from audition records, the work compiles prophetic hadiths accompanied by full chains of transmission alongside non-prophetic traditions, literary reports, and poetic verses.
al-Khamis min al-Khulaiyat is the fifth part of al-Khulaʿiyyat, a twenty-part collection of sound, rare, and high-ranking hadith narrations preserved with complete chains of transmission. The texts in this volume cover diverse subjects, including legal rulings on domestic etiquette, inheritance, and voluntary prayers, as well as traditions concerning the narrative of Moses and al-Khadir.
al-Ishrun min al-Khulaiyyat, also titled al-Fawa'id al-Ishrun and al-Fawa'id al-Muntaqah al-Hisan min al-Sihah wa-al-Ghara'ib, is a twenty-part collection of hadith transmissions and audition records. Divided into twenty distinct parts, it compiles Prophetic traditions, rare narrations, scholarly anecdotes, and historical and literary reports preserved with elevated transmission chains.
al-Sabi‘ al-‘Ashar min al-Khula‘iyyat is an individual hadith booklet that constitutes the seventeenth part of the twenty-part collection al-Fawa’id al-muntaqah al-hisan al-sihah wa-al-ghara’ib. It brings together selected sound traditions, rare variants, and elevated transmission chains derived from auditory records and regional authorities.
This individual hadith booklet (juzʾ) constitutes the fifteenth section of the twenty-part hadith collection al-Fawāʾid al-munaqqāt al-ḥisān min al-ṣiḥāḥ wa-al-gharāʾib (popularly known as the Khulaʿiyyāt). Extracted and organized from auditory transmissions, it records prophetic traditions and reports along with their chains of transmission, beginning with a narration concerning the rewards of fasting Ramadan and prayer on the Night of Decree and spanning numbered traditions through report 720.
This specialized hadith tract comprises the eleventh section of the twenty-part collection al-Fawa'id al-muntaqat al-hisan min al-sihah wa-al-ghara'ib (Selected Fine Benefits of Sound and Solitary Reports). Extracted from auditory records and transmissions, it compiles sound reports and rare chains, documenting prophetic traditions and narrations on ritual and legal topics such as the Fear Prayer, as well as eschatological reports concerning the Basin.
This hadith treatise contains the sixteenth fascicle of the twenty-part collection formally titled al-Fawa'id al-muntaqat al-hisan al-sihah wa-l-ghara'ib (Selected Fine Traditions, Sound and Rare). It presents a selection of prophetic traditions and historical reports recorded with their full chains of transmission, covering topics such as prescribed prayer, marital regulations, funeral rulings, ethical exhortations, virtues of lands and tribes, and early events of the Prophetic mission.
This hadith booklet (juz') forms the nineteenth installment of the twenty-part compilation al-Fawa'id al-Muntaqat al-Hisan al-Sihah wa-al-Ghara'ib (Selected Fine Traditions, Sound and Rare), also known as al-Khila'iyyat. It records transmitted prophetic traditions along with their complete chains of transmission, including narrations on topics such as permissible envy regarding wealth and the recitation of the Quran.
This opening fascicle is the first part of the twenty-part hadith collection al-Fawa’id al-muntaqat al-hisan min al-sihah wa-l-ghara’ib (The Selected, Fine Benefits from Sound and Rare Narrations), commonly known as al-Khula'iyyat. Arranged from heard transmissions into twenty distinct booklets, it presents authentic and rare (ghara'ib) hadith narrations alongside their full chains of transmission.
This hadith fascicle constitutes the fourteenth part of al-Khula'iyyat, a twenty-part collection formally titled al-Fawa'id al-muntaqah al-hisan min al-sihah wa-al-ghara'ib. It compiles elevated and rare narrations, sound traditions, and uncommon textual variants.
Commonly known as al-Khulaiyat and formally titled al-Fawa'id al-muntaqah al-hisan min al-sihah wa-al-ghara'ib, this twenty-part hadith collection comprises thematic booklets drawn from auditions of hadith masters. Alongside prophetic traditions with complete chains of transmission, it incorporates scholarly anecdotes, historical reports, and poetic verses.
This work is the twelfth fascicle of the twenty-part hadith collection al-Fawa’id al-muntaqat al-hisan al-sihah wa-l-ghara’ib, also known as al-Khaliyyat. It gathers elevated chains of transmission, sound reports, and rare narrations.