al-Yunini, Sharaf al-Din
- Died
- 701 AH
- Born in
- Baalbek
Sharaf al-Din al-Yunini (621–701 AH / 1224–1301 CE) was a Syrian Hanbali hadith scholar from Baalbek, best known for producing the canonical collation and critical recension of Sahih al-Bukhari known as al-Nuskha al-Yuniniyya.
Lineage and Early Life
He was Abu al-Husayn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Yunini al-Ba'labakki al-Hanbali. His lineage traces back to al-Husayn ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. He was born in Baalbek on 11 Rajab 621 AH into a family renowned for religious learning and hadith scholarship. His father, Taqi al-Din Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Yunini (d. 658 AH), was a prominent Hanbali jurist and hadith specialist.
Education and Hadith Transmission
Al-Yunini studied under numerous prominent scholars of his era, hearing hadith from al-Zaki al-Mundhiri, al-Rashid al-'Attar, al-Zubaydi, al-Irbili, Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam, Ja'far ibn 'Ali al-Hamdani, and Baha' al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisi. His transmissions and authorities were later compiled in a dedicated registry titled Mashayakhat Sharaf al-Din al-Yunini, extracted by Muhammad ibn Abi al-Fath (also cited as Muhammad ibn Abi al-Fadl) al-Ba'labakki.
In Damascus, al-Yunini held seventy-one reading sessions to collate and verify Sahih al-Bukhari against major authoritative exemplars, including copies transmitted through Abu Dharr al-Harawi, al-Asili, Ibn 'Asakir, and Abu al-Waqt al-Sijzi. The sessions were attended by the grammarian Ibn Malik, who verified the grammatical accuracy and vocalization of variant readings while hearing the text from al-Yunini, inspiring Ibn Malik's work Shawahid al-Tawdih wa-l-Tashih. Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi noted that al-Yunini collated and read Sahih al-Bukhari eleven times in a single year. This recension became the standard East Mediterranean reference for the text and served as the primary basis for al-Qastallani's commentary Irshad al-Sari.
Students and Standing
A substantial cohort of scholars studied under al-Yunini, including al-Dhahabi—who accompanied him for over seventy days—Alam al-Din al-Birzali, Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Khawlan al-Ba'labakki, 'Ali ibn Harun al-Turkmani, 'Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Ba'labakki, Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Khuzi, and his son Muhyi al-Din 'Abd al-Qadir al-Yunini.
Al-Birzali praised him as a venerable, dignified, and well-spoken scholar possessing broad virtue and widespread acceptance. Al-Dhahabi highlighted his mastery of hadith transmission principles, texts, and isnads, as well as his deep familiarity with Arabic lexicography.
Death
Al-Yunini died in 701 AH (1301 CE). Al-Dhahabi referred to him in his biographical entries as "the martyr" (al-shahid).
Answer updated
List of Works
Mashayakhat Sharaf al-Din al-Yunini (The Teacher Registry of Sharaf al-Din al-Yunini) is a hadith compilation documenting the authorities and narrations of Sharaf al-Din al-Yunini. The collection arranges transmitted hadiths systematically under each of his respective teachers.