Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad

Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad (539–632 AH / 1145–1234 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist, judge, and historian from Mosul who served as the army judge under Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi and later as the chief judge of Aleppo Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1. He is best known for his historical biography of the Sultan, al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya wa al-Mahasin al-Yusufiyya (The Sultanic Rarities and the Virtues of Yusuf) Mujam al-Muallifin.

Lineage and Early Life

He was Yusuf ibn Rafi' ibn Tamim ibn 'Utba ibn Muhammad ibn 'Attab al-Asadi, originally from Aleppo but born and raised in Mosul Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1. He was born on the night of Wednesday, 10 Ramadan 539 AH Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1. His father died when he was young, and he was raised by his maternal uncles, the Banu Shaddad; he became known after his maternal grandfather, Shaddad al-Uns al-Jalil bi-Tarikh…. He originally bore the kunya Abu al-'Izz before adopting Abu al-Mahasin al-Uns al-Jalil bi-Tarikh….

In Mosul, he memorized the Quran and studied Arabic and Quranic recitations under Abu Bakr Yahya ibn Sa'dun al-Qurtubi, remaining in his company for eleven years Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1. He heard hadith in Mosul and Baghdad from scholars including Shuhda al-Katiba, Siraj al-Din Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Jubba'i, and As'ad ibn al-Shahrazuri Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1. He served as a repetitor (mu'id) at the Nizamiyya madrasa in Baghdad and taught at the madrasa of al-Kamal al-Shahrazuri in Mosul Mujam al-Muallifin.

Service Under the Ayyubids

After completing the pilgrimage in 583 AH and visiting Jerusalem, Hebron, and Damascus, he met Sultan Salah al-Din and presented him with a treatise he had authored on the virtues of jihad Majallat al-Muqtabas+1. He entered Salah al-Din's service at the beginning of Jumada al-Ula 584 AH, and the Sultan appointed him army judge (qadi al-'askar) and judge of Jerusalem Mujam al-Muallifin+1. He accompanied Salah al-Din during his military campaigns and was present at his death in Damascus in 589 AH al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya …+1.

Following the Sultan's death, Ibn Shaddad worked to reconcile Salah al-Din's sons Majallat al-Muqtabas. He joined the service of al-Malik al-Zahir Ghazi in Aleppo, who appointed him chief judge and administrator of religious endowments (awqaf) Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1. During the minority of al-Malik al-'Aziz, Ibn Shaddad directed state affairs in conjunction with the atabeg Shihab al-Din Toghril Majallat al-Muqtabas. In Aleppo, he used his extensive wealth and land grants to establish a Shafi'i madrasa and an adjacent Dar al-Hadith Mujam al-Muallifin+1.

Scholarly Standing and Students

Biographers compared Ibn Shaddad to Abu Yusuf in terms of his pervasive authority and extensive wealth al-Aqd al-Mudhahhab fi Ta…+1. In addition to his biography of Salah al-Din, he composed legal and hadith works, including Dala'il al-Ahkam (Proofs of Legal Rulings) Mujam al-Muallifin+1.

He transmitted hadith in Egypt, Damascus, and Aleppo Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1. Among his notable students were the historian Kamal al-Din Ibn al-'Adim, the biographer Ibn Khallikan, al-Zaki al-Mundhiri, Shihab al-Din al-Qusi, and al-Shihab al-Abarquhi, with Taqi al-Din Sulayman al-Hanbali receiving an authorization (ijaza) from him Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1.

Death

Ibn Shaddad died in Aleppo at the time of the noon prayer call on Wednesday, 14 Safar 632 AH Mujam al-Muallifin+1. His deputy, Zayn al-Din Abu Muhammad 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Asadi, led the funeral prayer at the Great Mosque after the afternoon prayer, and he was buried in the mausoleum he had constructed between his madrasa and the Dar al-Hadith Bughyat al-Talab fi Tarik….