Ibn al-Attar
- Died
- 724 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Ibn al-Attar (654–724 AH / 1256–1324 CE) was a Syrian Shafi'i jurist, traditionist, and mufti in Damascus, best known as the foremost disciple and biographer of al-Nawawi and the author of Tuhfat al-Talibin fi Tarjamat al-Imam Muhyi al-Din .
Early life and education
He was Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Dawud ibn Salman ibn Sulayman, styled Ala al-Din Abu al-Hasan . He was born in Damascus on the day of Eid al-Fitr in 654 AH (1256 CE) into a family where his father, Muwaffaq al-Din, worked as a perfumer (attar) and his grandfather was a physician .
Ibn al-Attar memorized the Quran in his youth and became closely attached to al-Nawawi from around 670 AH until the latter's death in 676 AH . Under al-Nawawi, he studied jurisprudence, studied works such as Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi's al-Tanbih, transcribed and collated manuscripts of his master's treatises, and was authorized by al-Nawawi to correct scribal slips in his works . Due to this close discipleship and his deep familiarity with al-Nawawi's teachings and lifestyle, contemporaries nicknamed him Mukhtasar al-Nawawi ("the Abridgment of al-Nawawi") or simply al-Mukhtasar .
Beyond Damascus, his pursuit of hadith took him to Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Nablus, and Cairo, where he received narrations from more than two hundred teachers . Among his principal instructors were Ibn Malik in Arabic grammar, Ibn Daqiq al-Id in jurisprudence, and Ahmad ibn Abd al-Da'im, Isma'il ibn Abi al-Yusr, and Ahmad ibn Isa al-Abarquhi in hadith transmission .
Career and later life
In 694 AH, Ibn al-Attar was appointed head (shaykh) of the prestigious Dar al-Hadith al-Nuriyya in Damascus, a position he retained for thirty years until his death . He also taught at the al-Qusiyya school within the Umayyad Mosque and at the al-Ilmiyya school . In 701 AH, he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on one side; for the remaining two decades of his life he was carried to his teaching sessions in a litter (mihaffa) and wrote with his left hand .
Ibn al-Attar contributed to legal literature by compiling and arranging his master's legal responsa on the chapters of jurisprudence, and he composed al-Idda fi Sharh al-Umda, a legal commentary expanding upon Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi's Umdat al-Ahkam . Numerous scholars attended his circles and transmitted through him, notably his foster brother al-Dhahabi—who compiled a biographical index (Mu'jam) of his teachers—alongside Alam al-Din al-Birzali, Kamal al-Din Ibn al-Zamalkani, Abu Ishaq al-Tanukhi, and Ibn al-Majd .
Standing and controversies
Ibn al-Attar was regarded by his contemporaries as an ascetic and pious scholar dedicated to worship and enjoining good, though al-Dhahabi noted a degree of sharpness in his temperament . He also faced professional critiques: in Dhu al-Qa'da 704 AH, a circle of scholars led by Shams al-Din Ibn al-Naqib lodged a complaint before the judicial authorities arguing that certain fatwas issued by Ibn al-Attar exhibited confusion and departed from established Shafi'i doctrine . Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani similarly recorded that while he commanded a loyal following among the devout, he was not considered by his peers to match the leading juristic theorists of his generation; on one occasion when he was brought to an assembly of senior jurists in his litter, Ibn al-Zamalkani remarked that the assembly required top scholars rather than pious figures .
Death
Ibn al-Attar died on Monday, 1 Dhu al-Hijjah 724 AH (1324 CE) in Damascus . His funeral prayer was performed at the Umayyad Mosque, and he was buried at the foot of Mount Qasiyun . His post at Dar al-Hadith al-Nuriyya passed to Alam al-Din al-Birzali .
Answer updated
List of Works
Tuhfat al-Talibin fi Tarjamat al-Imam Muhyi al-Din (The Gift to Seekers on the Biography of Imam Muhyi al-Din) is a biographical monograph dedicated to the life, virtues, personal habits, asceticism, and scholarship of Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi. It offers a firsthand account of his scholarly regimen, details his completed and unfinished treatises, and records personal anecdotes.
al-I'tiqad al-Khalis min al-Shakk wal-Intiqad (The Pure Creed Free from Doubt and Criticism) is a concise theological treatise on Sunni creed aligned with the traditionalist methodology and the consensus of early Muslim scholars. It addresses core doctrinal matters such as the divine names and attributes, the uncreated nature of the Quran, and rulings concerning apostasy and theological transgressions, substantiating its positions with texts from the Quran, prophetic traditions, and reports from early authorities.
Majlis min Hadith Ibn al-Attar (A Session from the Hadith of Ibn al-Attar), also cited as Majlis min 'Awali Ibn al-Attar, is a short hadith tract comprising a single gathering of ten numbered reports and transmissions. It documents select narrations featuring elevated chains of transmission with exceptionally short paths to early hadith compilers and foundational authorities, including prophetic traditions alongside historical narratives and ethical poetry.
al-Idda fi Sharh al-Umda fi Ahadith al-Ahkam (The Equipment in Explaining "The Pillar" of Legal Hadiths) is a multi-volume legal hadith commentary on Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi's Umdat al-Ahkam. For each narration, the commentary provides biographical accounts of the narrators, lexical analysis of rare terms, general textual meanings, and the derivation of jurisprudential and legal-theoretical rulings.