Ibn Abd al-Malik al-Marrakushi
- Died
- 703 AH
- Born in
- Marrakesh
Ibn Abd al-Malik al-Marrakushi (634–703 AH / 1237–1303 CE) was a Maghribi Maliki jurist, judge, traditionist, and biographical historian from Marrakesh . He is best known for his extensive biographical dictionary al-Dhayl wa-l-Takmila li-Kitabay al-Mawsul wa-l-Sila (The Supplement and Completion to the Books of al-Mawsul and al-Sila) .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'id al-Ansari al-Awsi al-Marrakushi . He was born in Marrakesh during the night of Sunday, 10 Dhu al-Qa'da 634 AH (July 1237 CE), into a notable family descended from the Aws branch of the Ansar . His father was an esteemed figure of religious learning and piety in the city .
Education and Career
He studied under more than fifty scholars across Marrakesh and other centers . Among his most prominent direct teachers were the Almohad chancery official and scholar Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Ru'ayni, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Hisham, Abu al-Walid ibn Ufayr, Abu Zakariyya ibn Abi Atiq—under whom he recited the seven canonical Quranic readings—and Abu al-Qasim al-Balawi . He also received a general scholarly authorization (ijaza) from the Andalusian biographer Abu Ja'far ibn al-Zubayr .
He served for a period as judge of Marrakesh, but was subsequently dismissed from the office . Biographers noted that his sharp temperament contributed to disagreements that led to his removal .
Among those who transmitted from him were his son Abu Abd Allah Muhammad, the traveler and scholar Abu al-Qasim al-Qasim ibn Yusuf al-Tujibi, Abu Hafs ibn Safwan, and Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Musa al-Matmati .
Scholarly Standing
Scholars praised him as an exacting critic of hadith chains, an expert prosopographer, and an accomplished man of letters and grammarian . His primary reputation rests on al-Dhayl wa-l-Takmila, an extensive nine-volume biographical compendium arranged in Eastern alphabetical order that supplemented and continued the works of Ibn al-Faradi and Ibn Bashkuwal on Andalusian and Maghribi figures . He also compiled a work combining the commentaries of Ibn al-Qattan and Ibn al-Mawwaq on the legal collection al-Ahkam by Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbili .
Later historians, such as Ibn Idhari and Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib, relied on his historical notices and biographical data, especially concerning the Almohad period .
Death
Ibn Abd al-Malik died in late Muharram 703 AH (September 1303 CE) in New Tlemcen (al-Mansura), outside Tlemcen, while staying at the royal encampment during the Marinid siege of the city led by Sultan Yusuf ibn Ya'qub . He was buried there . A divergent report by Ahmad al-Wansharisi states that he was killed in 704 AH, while other biographical entries mistakenly list his death year as 743 AH due to confusion with the death of his son .
Answer updated
List of Works
This work is the fifth volume of the multi-volume biographical dictionary al-Dhayl wa-l-Takmila li-Kitabay al-Mawsul wa-l-Sila. Serving as a continuation and supplement to earlier compendia of Andalusian and Maghribi scholars by Ibn al-Faradi and Ibn Bashkuwal, it documents the lineages, teachers, students, transmissions, writings, and historical notices of figures omitted by predecessors as well as later scholars, organized strictly according to the Eastern Arabic alphabetical sequence.
This multi-volume biographical dictionary serves as both a continuation and a critical supplement to the earlier Andalusian biographical dictionaries of Ibn al-Faradi and Ibn Bashkuwal. It documents scholars and visitors of al-Andalus from later periods while completing entries omitted by earlier biographers, offering comprehensive profiles of jurists, traditionists, judges, and literary figures alongside historical digressions, literary selections, and linguistic analyses arranged in Eastern alphabetical order.