Ibn al-Hanbali, Radi al-Din
- Died
- 971 AH
- Born in
- Aleppo
Radi al-Din Ibn al-Hanbali (908–971 AH / 1502–1563 CE) was a Hanafi jurist, historian, and man of letters from Aleppo, best known for his biographical dictionary Durr al-habab fi tarikh a'yan Halab ("The Pearls of Loved Ones in the History of the Notables of Aleppo").
Lineage and Early Life
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Halabi al-Qadiri al-Tadhafi was born in Aleppo in 908 AH (1502 CE). He belonged to a prominent scholarly family, and his maternal lineage connected him to the family of Ibn al-Shihnah.
Education and Career
Ibn al-Hanbali studied under several scholars, foremost among them his father, Burhan al-Din Ibrahim ibn Yusuf (d. 959 AH), as well as al-Khanajiri and Burhan al-Din al-Halabi. He traveled to Damascus, where he engaged with local scholars, and performed the Hajj pilgrimage in 954 AH.
A substantial circle of students studied under him, including Mahmud al-Bayluni, Shams al-Din ibn al-Minqar, Ahmad ibn al-Mulla, and Qadi Muhibb al-Din. A recorded detail of his working method notes that whenever he needed to cite a Quranic verse while composing his texts, he would visit his student Mahmud al-Bayluni at his madrasa in Aleppo to consult his memory for the exact wording.
Scholarly Standing and Death
Biographers characterized Ibn al-Hanbali as an accomplished scholar, hadith transmitter, and polymath across multiple disciplines, authoring more than fifty works, including his manual on hadith terminology Qafw al-athar fi safwat 'ulum al-athar. While his erudition in prose, history, and religious sciences was widely recognized, the historian Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi noted that his poetry was of modest quality.
Ibn al-Hanbali died in Aleppo in Jumada al-Ula 971 AH (1563 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
Sahm al-Alhaz fi Wahm al-Alfaz (The Arrow of Glances at the Delusion of Words) is a treatise on Arabic lexicography and linguistic corrections. It is devoted to identifying and correcting common lexical, vocalic, and grammatical solecisms made by writers, scholars, and the general public, serving as a supplement to al-Hariri's Durrat al-Ghawwas fi Awham al-Khawass.
Qafw al-Athar fi Safwat Ulum al-Athar (Tracing the Tradition in the Choice of the Sciences of Tradition) is a concise manual on hadith terminology (mustalah al-hadith). Originating from studies in 941 AH, it presents standard hadith classifications and terminology while elucidating Hanafi doctrine alongside prevailing conventions on disputed methodological issues.