Ali ibn Khalifa al-Masakini
- Died
- 1172 AH
- Born in
- -
Ali ibn Khalifa al-Masakini (1080–1172 AH / 1669–1758 CE) was a Tunisian Maliki jurist, hadith scholar, and Sufi from Msaken, best known for his register of scholarly transmissions (Fihrisa) and his didactic poem on theology, al-Riyad al-Khalifiyyah.
Early life and education
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Khalifa al-Husayni al-Sharif al-Masakini—his father's name often vocalized in the diminutive form, Khulayfa—was born in 1080 AH (1669 CE) in the town of Msaken in the Sahel region of Tunisia. He began his religious training under Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Nuri at his zawiya in Sfax, studying with him for five years and receiving a general license (ijaza) for all his transmissions and chains of authority.
In 1101 AH (1689–1690 CE), al-Masakini traveled to Egypt to continue his studies at al-Azhar. There, he studied Maliki jurisprudence, hadith, and Arabic grammar under leading scholars, including Muhammad al-Kharashi, Ibrahim al-Shabrakhiti—who granted him an ijaza in the two Sahih collections and Mukhtasar Khalil—Ibrahim al-Fayyumi, Ahmad al-Nafrawi, Ahmad al-Laqqani, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Baqi al-Zurqani. He also studied hadith with Khalil al-Laqqani, rhetoric with Ahmad ibn al-Faqih al-Shafi'i and Abd al-Ra'uf al-Bashbishi, Quranic recitations with Ahmad al-Baqari, and inheritance law (fara'id) through the treatise al-Tilimsaniyyah under Ahmad al-Jumayli.
Teaching and zawiya
After returning to Msaken, al-Masakini founded a zawiya in 1104 AH (1692–1693 CE), as recorded on a marble inscription at the site, though an alternate report attributes its founding to his father. The institution developed into an active center for students of the Quran and hadith, and al-Masakini planted and endowed extensive olive groves to provide for its upkeep. When visitors found him working in his groves after a rainfall and questioned his physical labor, he remarked that three things had been made beloved to him: planting crops, attending scholarly lessons, and love of God.
Al-Masakini taught across several disciplines, including jurisprudence, legal theory, Quranic exegesis, and theology. He composed al-Riyad al-Khalifiyyah, a versified work on Islamic creed (tawhid) that was later commented upon by the Egyptian scholar Ahmad al-Damanhuri. He also recorded his scholarly lineages, transmissions, and licenses across Tunisia and Egypt in his Fihrisa.
Students and death
A large cohort of scholars studied under al-Masakini. Among his prominent students were his son Abu al-Abbas Ahmad, his cousin Abu al-Abbas Ahmad al-Saghir, the mufti Muhammad al-Hiddah al-Susi, the chief mufti of Tunis Qasim al-Mahjub, the timekeeper Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman al-Ghannushi, Husayn al-Halwani, and the judge Ahmad ibn Latif.
Al-Masakini died in 1172 AH (1758–1759 CE) at an advanced age.
Answer updated
List of Works
Fihrisat Ali ibn Khalifa al-Masakini is a register of scholarly transmissions (fihrisa). The work documents education, scholarly licenses (ijāzāt), and chains of transmission (asānīd) received from teachers across Tunisia and Egypt, recording authorities and chains for major texts across various Islamic disciplines such as hadith, Maliki jurisprudence, grammar, rhetoric, Quranic recitations, and inheritance law.