Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi
- Died
- 643 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi (569–643 AH / 1174–1245 CE) was a Damascus-based Hanbali hadith master and author, best known for his multi-volume collection al-Ahadith al-Mukhtara .
Lineage and Early Life
He was Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Ahmad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Isma'il ibn Mansur al-Sa'di al-Maqdisi al-Jamma'ili al-Dimashqi al-Salihi . He was born in al-Dayr al-Mubarak at Mount Qasiyun in Damascus in 569 AH (1174 CE), with one report placing his birth on 5 Jumada al-Akhira, while another biographical note records the year as 567 AH . In Damascus, he memorized the Quran, studied Hanbali jurisprudence, and trained under his relative Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi .
Travels and Education
Al-Maqdisi undertook extensive travels across Islamic scholarly centers to collect hadith and obtain transmission chains . He heard traditions in Damascus from Abu al-Ma'ali ibn Sabir, Abu al-Majd al-Baniyasi, Ahmad ibn al-Mawazini, and Barakat al-Khushu'i . In 595 AH, he traveled to Egypt, studying under Abu al-Qasim al-Busiri and Ismail ibn Yasin . He later journeyed to Baghdad, where he heard from Abu al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi and al-Mubarak ibn al-Ma'tush .
His travels continued east into Persia and Khurasan; he visited Hamadhan, traveled twice to Isfahan—studying under Abu Ja'far al-Saydalani and Zahir ibn Ahmad al-Thaqafi—and reached Nishapur, where he heard from al-Mu'ayyad al-Tusi . He also collected traditions in Merv from Abu al-Muzaffar ibn al-Sam'ani, in Herat from Abu Rawh Abd al-Mu'izz, and in Mecca, Aleppo, Harran, and Mosul . He received written general authorizations (ijazat) from Abu Tahir al-Silafi, Shuhda al-Katiba, and Abd al-Haqq al-Yusufi, transmitting from over five hundred teachers in total .
Teaching and Madrasa
Upon returning to Damascus, al-Maqdisi established the Dar al-Hadith al-Diya'iyyah madrasa at the foot of Mount Qasiyun adjacent to the al-Muzaffari Mosque, building parts of the structure with his own hands and endowing his library of manuscripts to it . Numerous scholars, including Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama, also added their book endowments to its holdings before the collection was plundered during the Ilkhanid raid of Ghazan in 699 AH .
Al-Maqdisi taught hadith continuously at Mount Qasiyun, transmitting to a large number of scholars . His students included Ibn Nuqta, Ibn al-Najjar, Zaki al-Din al-Birzali, Isma'il ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Khabbaz, and Abu al-Abbas ibn al-Zahiri . In his major work, al-Ahadith al-Mukhtara, he sought to gather authentic traditions suitable for legal deduction outside the two Sahih compilations, while his legal collection al-Sunan wa-al-Ahkam remained incomplete in three volumes .
Scholarly Standing
Al-Maqdisi was widely praised by contemporaries and later biographers for his precision, asceticism, and expertise in narrator criticism (jarh wa-ta'dil) . Ibn al-Najjar described him as an exacting, trustworthy authority knowledgeable in hadith and biographical conditions, noting that he had never seen anyone equal to him in scrupulousness and chaste conduct . Yusuf ibn al-Zaki al-Mizzi remarked that al-Maqdisi was more learned in hadith and biographical transmitters than Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi . Izz al-Din Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Izz stated that no traditionist of his caliber had appeared since al-Daraqutni, and Zaki al-Din al-Birzali characterized him as a trustworthy, devout mountain of learning .
Death
Al-Maqdisi died in Damascus in 643 AH (1245 CE) and was buried at the foot of Mount Qasiyun . Historical sources cite his day of death as Monday, 28 Jumada al-Akhira, though variants also record 18 or 26 Jumada al-Akhira .
Answer updated
List of Works
This specialized hadith monograph gathers the various transmission routes and related reports of the narrative in which the Prophet sat inside an enclosed garden in Medina and gave glad tidings of Paradise to Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman.
This hadith treatise focuses on prophetic supplications and remembrances prescribed for moments of distress, adversity, and affliction, compiling transmitted reports and invocations to be recited during hardship.
This specialized hadith-biographical monograph serves as a critical supplement and corrigenda dedicated to identifying and correcting inadvertent omissions and errors in Ibn Asakir's biographical dictionary al-Mashayikh al-nubala.
This short hadith tract belongs to the musalsalat genre, gathering five prophetic traditions transmitted through unbroken, patterned lines of transmission in which each transmitter shares a specific verbal, behavioral, or sequential attribute.
This comprehensive collection of legal hadith gathers prophetic traditions pertaining to jurisprudence and legal rulings arranged according to fiqh themes, omitting chains of transmission to facilitate memorization and study.
This work is a hadith compilation (juz') consisting of a curated selection of traditions transmitted by the ascetic Nishapuri traditionist Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn 'Abduwayh ibn Sadus al-Hudhali al-'Abdawiyi.
This short hadith tract (juz') documents narrators who transmitted directly from Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj. Rather than an exhaustive biographical dictionary, it focuses on ten specific transmitters with unbroken chains connecting back to Muslim, recording a prophetic tradition or historical report under each entry.
This hadith compilation records select narrations gathered during a scholarly journey to the Khurasanian city of Marw. It preserves prophetic traditions and scholarly reports received from local authorities and transmission sessions, capturing rare and elevated chains from the region.
This concise hadith tract (juz') is devoted to prophetic traditions, narrations of early authorities, and poetry emphasizing the duty to adhere to the Sunnah and avoid religious innovations.
This hadith tract (juz') gathers traditions transmitted by Abu Abd al-Rahman Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Muqri that coincide with the narrations in Ahmad ibn Hanbal's Musnad. Operating like a mustakhraj, it presents reports through independent chains, notes correspondences with the Musnad, points out textual variants, and notes when traditions appear in Sahih al-Bukhari.
A specialized hadith treatise (juz') that collects nine-link chains of transmission (tusa'iyyat) from Sahih Muslim. Also known as Tusa'iyyat Muslim, the work extracts narrations from Sahih Muslim whose chains contain nine transmitting intermediaries between the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Muslim.
A hadith treatise compiled on the virtues of the Quran, the merits of teaching and learning it, and the rewards prepared in Paradise for its reciters. Arranged according to the musnad methodology, it presents prophetic reports alongside critical appraisals of their transmission lines.
A hadith treatise on the religious merits of Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Forming the second part of a larger compilation on the merits of Greater Syria (Fada'il al-Sham), it compiles prophetic traditions, statements of the Companions, and early reports detailing the sacred status of Jerusalem.
A hadith treatise compiling elevated chains of transmission (asānīd ʿawālī) from the compiler's own teachers. It gathers reports from audition records where five primary hadith authorities—al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasa'i—agreed on narrating through a single shared shaykh.
A short hadith booklet (juzʾ) recording prophetic narrations received through the teacher Muhammad ibn Abi al-Makarem al-Baqubi. The collection documents these transmissions along with their complete isnads, featuring continuous chains tracing back to earlier authorities.
Manaqib Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib is a short hadith monograph (juz’) dedicated to collecting prophetic traditions and narrations regarding the merits, life, and martyrdom of the Prophet's cousin Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib.
Min Awali al-Diya al-Maqdisi: Takhrijuhu min al-Muwafaqat fi Mashayikh Ahmad is a specialized hadith tract (juzʾ) collecting narrations characterized by elevated chains of narration (ʿawālī) and concordances (muwāfaqāt) intersecting with the teachers of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
Min Hadith Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Muqri is a hadith monograph that focuses on the narrations transmitted through the hadith transmitter Abu Abd al-Rahman Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Muqri. Functioning in the manner of a mustakhraj, it brings together independent transmission routes that parallel and agree with the narrations of al-Muqri recorded in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
al-Ahadith al-Mukhtara (The Selected Hadiths) is a multi-volume hadith collection that gathers authentic narrations omitted from the canonical collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim. Arranged according to the individual Musnads of the Companions in alphabetical order, the work draws directly from heard transmissions to assemble reports that meet the standard for legal proof.
al-Muwafaqat al-Awali is a specialized hadith tract compiled to document narrations received through highly elevated chains of transmission (asānīd ‘āliyah). Also known as Muwāfaqāt al-A’immah al-Khamsah, the short collection brings together reports jointly transmitted from a single common teacher by five prominent compilers: al-Bukhari, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasa'i.
Dhikr al-Musafaha is a thematic hadith monograph devoted to prophetic traditions, narrations, and etiquette concerning the practice and virtues of handshaking upon meeting.
Bulghat al-Talib al-Hathith fi Sahih Awali al-Hadith is a hadith compilation functioning as a mashyakha extracted from the transmissions of Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudamah. It gathers authentic traditions with elevated chains of transmission heard from his teachers, noting the brevity and height of the chains compared to standard compilations.
al-Ruwat al-Arbaat Ashar is a specialized hadith treatise that gathers reports transmitted through fourteen traditionists named Abd Allah from the generation of al-Bukhari, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, or their teachers. Operating similarly to a mustakhraj, it presents continuous chains of transmission up to each transmitter while noting corresponding extractions in canonical works.
Ikhtisas al-Quran bi-Awdihi ila al-Rahim al-Rahman is a theological treatise devoted to defending and documenting traditional reports concerning the return and lifting of the Quran to God at the end of time.
Fada'il al-A'mal is an abridged hadith compilation dedicated to devotional merits and righteous acts. It gathers prophetic traditions detailing the spiritual virtues and rewards of various acts of worship, arranged topically into devotional sections while omitting full chains of transmission for practical conciseness.
Sifat al-Janna (The Description of Paradise) is a hadith treatise compiled with connected chains of transmission (musnad). It is dedicated to prophetic reports and narrations describing Paradise and its delights.
al-Nahy 'an Sabb al-Ashab (The Prohibition of Reviling the Companions) is a concise hadith treatise devoted to compiling prophetic traditions and scholarly reports condemning the defamation of the Prophet's Companions. The work documents narrated texts alongside chains of audition heard in scholarly centers such as Baghdad, organizing the material under thematic headings alongside historical accounts of retribution against detractors.
Sifat al-Nabi wa Ajza Ukhra (The Description of the Prophet and Other Hadith Tracts) is a compilation of five specialized hadith notebooks (ajza') gathering selections excerpted from earlier traditionists and their transmission lines. Its contents include selections from the hadith of Abu Nasr al-Ukbari, Abu Bakr al-Nasibi, Khaythama al-Atrabulusi, and Anbasa ibn Sa'id, as well as a tract detailing the physical description, noble character, and conduct of the Prophet Muhammad.
al-Muntaqa min Masmuat Marw (The Selection from What Was Heard in Merv) is a hadith compilation gathering selected prophetic traditions, chains of narration, and reports recorded during a scholarly journey to Merv in Khurasan. In addition to prophetic hadiths transmitted through chains received in Merv and neighboring cities such as Bukhara, the collection incorporates historical accounts and poetic verses recited by local teachers.
al-Ziyadat ala Kitab al-Kabair lil-Bardiji (Additions to al-Bardiji's Book of Major Sins) is a hadith supplement compiled to augment the early monograph on major sins by Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Harun al-Bardiji (d. 301 AH). Composed as marginal notes and supplementary narrations, it expands upon the transmission routes and traditions recorded in the base text.
Kitab al-Amrad wal-Kaffarat wal-Tibb wal-Ruqyat, also known as al-Tibb al-Nabawi (Prophetic Medicine), is a hadith treatise on medicine, sickness, and spiritual healing. It gathers prophetic traditions concerning medical treatment and reports from well-known compilations, beginning with traditions on how illnesses serve as expiations that elevate spiritual ranks and erase sins before addressing remedies and incantations.
Sifat al-Jannah (The Description of Paradise) is a specialized hadith work detailing prophetic traditions and transmitted reports concerning Paradise, its attributes, and its delights. The compilation organizes eschatological reports topically, frequently assessing chain authenticity and hadith gradings.