al-Radi al-Ghazzi
- Died
- 864 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
al-Radi al-Ghazzi (811–864 AH / 1409–1459 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist, biographer, and deputy judge in Damascus, best known for his biographical work Bahjat al-Nazirin ila Tarajim al-Muta'akhkhirin min al-Shafi'iyya al-Bari'in .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Abu al-Barakat Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Badr al-Ghazzi al-Amiri al-Shafi'i, titled Radi al-Din . He belonged to the prominent scholarly al-Ghazzi family, whose progenitor migrated from Gaza to Damascus . His father, Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Ghazzi (d. 822 AH), was a recognized Shafi'i jurist and mufti in Damascus . Al-Radi al-Ghazzi was born in Damascus on 16 Ramadan 811 AH .
Education and Career
Al-Radi al-Ghazzi pursued his studies in Damascus and Cairo, mastering jurisprudence and history . In Damascus, he taught, issued legal opinions, and served as a deputy judge (na'ib fi al-qada') .
As a historian and biographer, he authored Bahjat al-Nazirin ila Tarajim al-Muta'akhkhirin min al-Shafi'iyya al-Bari'in (The Delight of Onlookers Regarding Biographies of Later Eminent Shafi'is), which he completed in 842 AH; the historian al-Sakhawi examined the work with him in Damascus . He also composed a historical biography of the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Jaqmaq titled Sirat al-Malik al-Zahir Jaqmaq .
Death
Al-Radi al-Ghazzi died in Damascus on Thursday, the first of Rabi' al-Awwal 864 AH . Following the noon prayer, funeral prayers were performed for him at the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus and subsequently at the Tankiz Mosque . In accordance with his final bequest, he was buried in the Sufiyya Cemetery (maqbarat al-Sufiyya) near the feet of Shihab al-Din Ibn Nashwan . He was survived by his two-year-old son, Radi al-Din Muhammad (d. 935 AH), whom he placed under the guardianship of Zayn al-Din Khattab al-Ghazzawi .
Answer updated
List of Works
Bahjat al-Nazirin ila Tarajim al-Mutaakhirin min al-Shafiiyya al-Bariin is a concise biographical dictionary of Shafi'i scholars and authorities of the ninth Islamic century. The work focuses on figures whose deaths occurred during that era, documenting teachers, contemporaries, and scholars across the Hejaz, Damascus, and Cairo.