al-Nabulsi, Abu al-Muzaffar
- Died
- 671 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Abu al-Muzaffar al-Nabulsi (603–671 AH / 1206–1272 CE) was a Shafi'i hadith scholar, transmitter, and poet of Damascus who served as the head teacher of the Dar al-Hadith al-Nuriyya.
Name and Early Life
He was Sharaf al-Din Abu al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn al-Hasan ibn Badr ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Mufarraj ibn Bakkar al-Nabulsi, often referred to as Ibn al-Nabulsi or al-Sharaf ibn al-Nabulsi. His family hailed originally from Nablus, but he was born, raised, and lived throughout his career in Damascus. He was born in Damascus on 13 Muharram 603 AH. In his early childhood, his relative, the traditionist Zayn al-Din Khalid ibn Yusuf al-Nabulsi, secured formal transmission licenses (ijazahs) for him from prominent elders, including Abu al-Fath al-Mandani and Abu Hafs Ibn Tabarzadh.
Education and Scholarly Career
Al-Nabulsi studied widely in Damascus under scholars such as Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn al-Bann, Abu al-Majd al-Qazwini, Abu al-Qasim ibn Sasra, and the hadith master Diya' al-Din al-Maqdisi. He subsequently traveled to Baghdad, where he heard hadith from teachers including Abd al-Salam al-Dahiri, Umar ibn Karam al-Dinawari, Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Qati'i, and Shihab al-Din Abu Hafs Umar al-Suhrawardi, under whom he studied Kitab al-Ma'arif and from whom he received the Sufi cloak. He also pursued studies and narrated in Aleppo, Cairo, and Alexandria.
He was later appointed to the directorship (mashyakha) of Dar al-Hadith al-Nuriyya in Damascus. A considerable number of students studied under him and transmitted his narrations, including Abd al-Mu'min ibn Khalaf al-Dimyati, Ali ibn Ahmad ibn al-Khabbaz, Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Attar, Sayf al-Din al-Dawadari, and Alam al-Din al-Birzali.
Standing and Poetry
Biographers describe al-Nabulsi as a reliable and discerning hadith master who copied manuscripts extensively both for himself and professionally, noted for an attractive and recognized handwriting style and strong religious devotion. He compiled his own hadith extractions (takharij), including the five-part collection al-Muwafaqat (also cited as al-Muwafayat). In addition to his scholarship in hadith, he composed refined poetry.
Death
Al-Nabulsi died on Monday night, 11 Muharram 671 AH (August 1272 CE), at the age of sixty-eight, and was buried the following day at his home at the foot of Mount Qasyun outside Damascus. Another report recorded in al-Daris places his death in Dhu al-Qi'da of that year.
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Ahadith al-Sitta al-Iraqiyya (lit. 'The Six Iraqi Hadiths') is a hadith treatise and concise booklet (juz') compiled from narrations and chains connected to Iraqi transmitters, representing a specialized hadith extraction (takharīj).