al-Tibi
- Died
- 743 AH
- Born in
- -
Sharaf al-Din al-Tibi (d. 743 AH / 1342 CE) was an Islamic scholar of Quranic exegesis, hadith, Arabic rhetoric, and theology, best known for his supercommentary on al-Zamakhshari's al-Kashshaf and his commentary on Mishkat al-Masabih .
Biography and scholarly activity
His full name is Abu Muhammad al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Tibi; his name is also recorded as al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad, and in some sources as al-Hasan . His nisba derives from Tib, a town situated between Wasit and Khuzestan . In the early part of his life, he possessed substantial wealth acquired through inheritance and trade, but he spent it steadily on charitable causes until he became impoverished toward the end of his life .
Al-Tibi studied under Abu Hafs Umar al-Suhrawardi, transmitting from him in his writings . He noted that prior to commencing his work on Quranic exegesis, he saw the Prophet ﷺ in a dream offering him a cup of milk, from which he drank . He dedicated himself to teaching students without seeking financial compensation, providing them with material aid and lending his valuable books to residents of his own city as well as visitors from other regions . He advised his student Wali al-Din al-Khatib al-Tabrizi to compile and expand al-Baghawi's collection Masabih al-Sunna, resulting in the widely circulated hadith collection Mishkat al-Masabih, which al-Tibi subsequently explicated .
Standing and scholarship
Biographers described al-Tibi as a scholar distinguished by humility, generosity, modesty, and piety, noting that he consistently attended congregational prayers day and night, in summer and winter, even as his eyesight deteriorated in his later years . He was noted for his defense of Sunni theology and his refutations of philosophical and Mu'tazilite doctrines, seeking to expose their theological shortcomings during an era when such views held sway in parts of the Islamic world .
His scholarly contribution spanned rhetoric, hadith commentary, and exegesis. He authored al-Tibyan fi al-Bayan, a treatise on Arabic rhetoric and semantics, accompanied by his own commentary . His extensive supercommentary on al-Kashshaf, titled Futuh al-Ghayb fi al-Kashf 'an Qina' al-Rayb, was widely celebrated for demonstrating that the rhetorical subtleties of the Quran align with Sunni orthodoxy rather than Mu'tazilite theology . In hadith, his commentary al-Kashif 'an Haqaiq al-Sunan was the earliest and one of the most influential commentaries on Mishkat al-Masabih, serving as a primary reference for later hadith commentators such as Mulla Ali al-Qari and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani .
Death
Toward the end of his life, al-Tibi organized a major teaching assembly for reading Sahih al-Bukhari, structuring his daily routine around Quranic exegesis from early morning until noon, followed by hadith transmission until the afternoon prayer . On the day of his death, he concluded his morning exegesis lesson and proceeded to the hadith gathering, entering a mosque near his home; after performing supererogatory prayers while seated, he sat waiting for the call to the obligatory prayer and died facing the qibla . His death occurred on Tuesday, 13 Sha'ban 743 AH (a variant report gives 23 Sha'ban) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Al-Kashif 'an Haqaiq al-Sunan (The Revealer of the Realities of the Prophetic Traditions), commonly known as Sharh al-Mishkat lil-Tibi, is a multi-volume Arabic hadith commentary on al-Tabrizi's collection Mishkat al-Masabih (The Niche of Lamps). The work resolves textual difficulties, clarifies obscure vocabulary and grammar, and explores subtle points of meaning and rhetoric across the collection's narrations.
Al-Khulasa fi Marifat al-Hadith (The Epitome in the Knowledge of Hadith) is a manual on hadith terminology and sciences. Synthesizing earlier core references on the subject for students and transmitters of tradition, the work is organized into an introduction, core divisions, and a conclusion.
Futuh al-Ghayb fi al-Kashf 'an Qina' al-Rayb (The Openings of the Unseen in Unveiling the Mask of Doubt), widely known as Hashiyat al-Tibi 'ala al-Kashshaf, is an extensive Arabic supercommentary on al-Zamakhshari's Quranic commentary al-Kashshaf. It clarifies obscure grammatical constructions, evaluates divergent interpretations, and critically engages with al-Zamakhshari's theological positions.