Ibn al-Dib al-Shaybani
- Died
- 944 AH
- Born in
- Zabid
Ibn al-Dib al-Shaybani (866–944 AH / 1461–1537 CE) was a Yemeni hadith scholar, historian, and Shafi'i jurist from Zabid . He is best known for his hadith compendium Taysir al-Wusul ila Jami al-Usul and his historical chronicles of Yemen .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Wajih al-Din Abu al-Faraj Abd al-Rahman ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Ahmad ibn Umar al-Shaybani al-Abdari al-Zabidi al-Shafi'i; he was also called by the kunyas Abu Muhammad and Abu Abd Allah . His ancestral lineage traced through Banu Shayban back to Rabiah and Adnan . The sobriquet al-Dib (meaning "the white" in the Nubian language) originally belonged to his ancestor Ali ibn Yusuf, after a Nubian servant used the word to refer to him as a child, and the title remained attached to his descendants .
He was born on Thursday afternoon, 4 Muharram 866 AH (October 1461 CE), at his father's house in Zabid . His father left the city late in the year of his birth and he never met him, so he was raised in the care of his maternal grandfather, the Shafi'i scholar Ismail ibn Muhammad ibn Mubariz .
Education and Teachers
In Zabid, he memorized the Quran and studied the seven recitations under his maternal uncle, Abu al-Naja . He also studied Arabic grammar, Shafi'i jurisprudence, inheritance law, arithmetic, algebra, and geometry with his uncle and with Ibrahim ibn Jamman . He studied hadith and Quranic exegesis under Zayn al-Din Ahmad al-Sharji .
He performed the pilgrimage to Mecca several times, beginning in 883 AH, and attended the lessons of scholars in the Hijaz . In Mecca, he studied under the historian and hadith master Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi, reading works such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Bulugh al-Maram under his guidance .
Scholarly Career and Students
Ibn al-Dib gained wide renown across Yemen, particularly for his mastery in hadith and historical transmission . The Tahirid ruler Sultan Amir ibn Abd al-Wahhab held him in high esteem and appointed him to teaching chairs in Zabid . He documented regional history in his chronicle Bughyat al-Mustafid fi Akhbar Madinat Zabid and composed Qurrat al-Uyun bi-Akhbar al-Yaman al-Maymun, dedicating substantial attention to Tahirid rule and later lamenting the Sultan's death in verse after his fall in 923 AH . His hadith summary, Taysir al-Wusul ila Jami al-Usul, served as a condensed reference of the primary hadith collections that circulated widely among students .
Numerous scholars studied under him, including the Meccan historian Jar Allah ibn Fahd, who visited Yemen and heard from him in 914 AH, and the Yemeni jurist Abd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad . His student al-Tahir ibn al-Husayn al-Ahdal was noted as the last to narrate from him via direct audition .
Death
Ibn al-Dib died on Friday morning, 26 Rajab 944 AH (December 1537 CE); a letter cited by Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi recorded the date as 27 Rajab . His funeral prayer was performed at the Asha'irah Mosque in Zabid, and he was buried in the Bab Siham cemetery near the tomb dome of Ismail al-Jabarti . His son Ali succeeded him in his hadith teaching post at the Great Mosque of Zabid .
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List of Works
Mukaffirat al-Dhunub wa Mujibat al-Jannah ("Expiators of Sins and Requisites of Paradise") is a hadith treatise focused on acts of devotion that expiate sins and lead to salvation. Recorded in classical biographical and bibliographical dictionaries under the full title Ghayat al-Matlub wa-A'zam al-Minnah fima Yaghfiru Allahu bihi al-Dhunub wa-Yujibu al-Jannah, the compilation brings together traditions concerning divine forgiveness and the means of attaining Paradise.
Bughyat al-Irba fi Ma'rifat Ahkam al-Hisba ("The Fulfillment of Desire in Knowing the Rules of Market and Public Morality Inspection") is a legal treatise outlining the principles, jurisdictions, and practical rulings governing the office of hisba (enjoining good and forbidding wrong) in Islamic law. Structured as a concise manual for those assuming public administrative office, it clarifies the legal rights, duties, and limits of the market and public morality inspector (muhtasib).