al-Tahtawi
- Died
- 1231 AH
- Born in
- Tahta
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahtawi (d. 1231 AH / 1816 CE) was an Egyptian Hanafi jurist and the Hanafi mufti of Cairo, best known for his legal supercommentaries on al-Durr al-Mukhtar and Maraqi al-Falah .
Early life and education
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Tahtawi traced his ancestry to Sayyid Muhammad al-Dawqati (al-Tuqadi) . His father was of Turkish (Rumi) origin and had settled in Upper Egypt after being appointed judge in Tahta, near Asyut, where he married a noblewoman (sharifa) who bore him Ahmad, his brother Isma'il, and a daughter . After memorizing the Quran and studying the basics of Arabic grammar in his hometown, al-Tahtawi relocated to Cairo in 1181 AH as a youth to pursue higher education at al-Azhar .
At al-Azhar, he studied Hanafi jurisprudence under scholars such as Ahmad al-Hamaqi, al-Maqdisi, Ibrahim al-Hariri, Mustafa al-Ta'i, and Abd al-Rahman al-Urayshi . He read al-Durr al-Mukhtar under al-Urayshi until the chapter on sales; when al-Urayshi traveled to Istanbul in 1183 AH on an official mission for Ali Bey, al-Tahtawi completed the text under Hasan al-Jabarti . He also studied the legal primer Nur al-Idah under Hasan al-Jabarti alongside the latter's son, the historian Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, on account of the elder al-Jabarti's elevated chain of transmission . In hadith, he received transmission through both auditions and formal authorizations (ijazat) from teachers including Hasan al-Jiddawi, Muhammad al-Amir (al-Amir al-Kabir), and Ali al-Sa'idi al-Adawi .
Scholarly career and leadership
Al-Tahtawi resided in Cairo's al-Saliba district, where he taught at the Shaykhuniyya Madrasa, drawing local notables and students, before moving to al-Madrasa al-Ayniyya . Following the death of Ibrahim al-Hariri, he succeeded him as head of the Hanafi scholars (mashyakhat al-Hanafiyya) and served as Hanafi mufti in Cairo . Although he was temporarily removed from the post by rival scholars, he was subsequently reinstated and retained the leadership until his death .
His legal legacy rested primarily on his extensive glosses on standard Hanafi texts, most notably his four-volume supercommentary on al-Durr al-Mukhtar and his supercommentary on Maraqi al-Falah, both of which gained wide acceptance among late Hanafi jurists .
Death
Al-Tahtawi died in Cairo on 15 Rajab 1231 AH (1816 CE) . He was buried near the domed shrine of the classical Hanafi jurist Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi, having obtained permission for his burial there during his lifetime from Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, who then oversaw the shrine .
Answer updated
List of Works
Hashiyat al-Tahtawi ala Maraqi al-Falah Sharh Nur al-Idah is an Islamic legal supercommentary (hashiya) in Hanafi jurisprudence. It provides glosses and explanatory annotations on Maraqi al-Falah, which is Hasan ibn Ammar al-Shurunbulali's commentary on his own foundational legal primer, Nur al-Idah. Following the framework of the base text, the work addresses Hanafi legal rulings governing acts of ritual worship (ibadat).