al-Qalansi
- Died
- 521 AH
- Born in
- Wasit
Abu al-Izz al-Qalansi (435–521 AH / 1043–1127 CE) was an Iraqi scholar of Quranic recitations based in Wasit, best known for his ten-recitation manual Irshad al-Mubtadi wa-Tadhkirat al-Muntahi .
Lineage and Education
His full name was Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Bundar ibn Mundhir al-Wasiti al-Qalansi, with his lineage given in some sources as Muhammad ibn Husayn ibn Ali ibn Bundar . He was born in Wasit in 435 AH .
Al-Qalansi studied the canonical and non-canonical Quranic recitations under Abu Ali Ghulam al-Harras, who had traveled widely before visiting Wasit, and read the recitation compendium al-Kamil with its author, Abu al-Qasim al-Hudhali . In 461 AH, he traveled to Baghdad, where he heard hadith and reports from Abu Ja'far ibn al-Musallima, Ibn al-Ma'mun (recorded as Abd al-Samad or Abu al-Ghana'im), and Abu al-Husayn ibn al-Muhtadi bi-Llah . He also visited the village of Awana to complete a recitation of the reading of Asim under Muhammad ibn al-Abbas al-Awani .
Teaching and Standing
Al-Qalansi established a major teaching circle in Wasit, where students traveled to study under him from various regions . Among his prominent students were Sibt al-Khayyat, Abu al-Fath al-Mubarak ibn Zurayq al-Haddad, Ali ibn Asakir al-Bata'ihi, Ali ibn al-Muzaffar al-Khatib, and Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Mansur ibn al-Baqillani .
Biographers described him as an expert in the variant readings, their underlying grammatical and phonological justifications (ilal), and their transmission paths (turuq), noting the elevation of his chains of transmission (uluww al-isnad) . Khamis al-Hawzi stated that he was an eminent authority in the Quranic sciences who possessed accurate transmission, neat handwriting, and a discerning grasp of what he transmitted .
His handbook on the ten recitations, Irshad al-Mubtadi wa-Tadhkirat al-Muntahi, attained widespread authority in Iraq; Ibn al-Jazari observed that Iraqi scholars relied upon it in the same manner that scholars of other lands relied upon Abu Amr al-Dani's al-Taysir . He also authored a more extensive reference on the subject titled al-Kifaya al-Kubra .
Criticisms and Creedal Position
Abd al-Wahhab al-Anmati criticized al-Qalansi and accused him of Rafidism . In response, Abu Sa'd al-Sam'ani cited verses composed by al-Qalansi affirming the merit of the Companions, in which he expressed love for Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Uthman ibn Affan, declaring that whoever claims allegiance to Ali ibn Abi Talib while showing enmity toward the other caliphs is a heretic .
Other traditionalists raised specific criticisms regarding his transmission records: the hadith master Ibn Nasir alleged that al-Qalansi had retroactively inserted his name into an audition certificate (sama') for a treatise on pronoun suffixes by Ibn Abi Hashim from Abu Ali ibn al-Banna . Abu Bakr al-Mufid likewise recounted that al-Qalansi once certified that an unskilled youth had read well (jawwada), quipping upon inquiry that the youth had merely provided fine gold (jawwada al-dhahab) .
Death
Al-Qalansi died in Wasit in the month of Shawwal, 521 AH (1127 CE), at the age of eighty-five .
Answer updated
List of Works
Irshad al-Mubtadi wa-Tadhkirat al-Muntahi fi al-Qiraat al-Ashr (Guidance for the Beginner and Reminder for the Advanced in the Ten Recitations) is a classical manual on Quranic readings. It serves as a comprehensive reference documenting the ten canonical recitations along with their various transmission lines and variants, outlining the traditions preserved across the Hejaz, the Levant, and Iraq.
Irshad al-Mubtadi wa Tadhkirat al-Muntahi fi al-Qiraat al-Ashr (Guide for the Beginner and Reminder for the Advanced in the Ten Readings), also known as al-Ashara al-Saghira, is a manual on the ten canonical Quranic readings. It compiles the transmissions and transmission paths (turuq) of the ten readings, covering readers across the Hejaz, the Levant, and Iraq.