Ibn al-Muhibb al-Samit
- Died
- 789 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Ibn al-Muhibb al-Samit (712–789 AH / 1312–1387 CE) was a Syrian Hanbali hadith scholar and traditionist based in al-Salihiyyah, Damascus, known for his work on theology and hadith compilation .
Background and Education
He was Abu Bakr Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn al-Muhibb Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisi al-Salihi al-Hanbali . He also carried the nisbas al-Sa'di and al-Maqdisi, the latter in reference to his family's origin in Jerusalem . He was given the cognomen al-Samit ("the Silent") on account of his reticence and avoidance of unnecessary speech, though he reportedly disliked being addressed by this moniker .
He was born on Friday, 1 Ramadan 712 AH . His mother was Sutayt bint Nasir al-Din Dawud ibn Hamza al-Maqdisiyya, whose father was the imam of al-Masjid al-Atiq and the hadith instructor at the Diya'iyyah madrasa . Raised in a prominent scholarly family, he began attending audition sessions as an infant .
His teachers included leading scholars of his era, such as Ibn Taymiyyah, Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi, Yusuf ibn al-Zaki al-Mizzi, the judge Sulayman ibn Hamza, Isa al-Mut'im, and al-Qasim ibn Asakir . He also received narrations through his immediate family, including his father Muhibb al-Din Abd Allah, his grandfather Ahmad ibn Abd Allah, and his grand-aunt Zaynab bint al-Kamal .
Scholarly Career and Students
Ibn al-Muhibb devoted his scholarly life to the transmission and indexing of hadith literature, maintaining a textualist theological orientation aligned with the early traditionists and citing the interpretations of Ibn Taymiyyah on multiple theological points . Among his principal efforts was Tartib al-Musnad (Arrangement of the Musnad), in which he reorganized the traditions of Ahmad ibn Hanbal's Musnad alphabetically by Companions and their narrators, which later served as a primary foundation for subsequent works on the text . He also authored Sifat Rabb al-Alamin (Attributes of the Lord of the Worlds), an extensive compilation of Quranic verses, prophetic traditions, and early narrations on the divine attributes .
A substantial circle of students narrated from him and attended his teaching sessions. Among his prominent disciples were Ibn al-Jazari, Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi, Sibt Ibn al-Ajami, Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Hasan (known as Ibn Qundus), and Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ismail ibn Kathir . His last surviving direct student by direct audition was the judge Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Muflih (d. 872 AH) . Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani was among those who received general transmission licenses (ijaza) from him .
Standing and Death
He was widely praised by contemporaries and later biographers for his piety, precision, and hadith memorization. His student Ibn al-Jazari characterized him as "the seal of hadith preservers, the righteous and scrupulous imam" .
Biographers generally date his death to the year 789 AH / 1387 CE, with specific reports placing it on 5 Shawwal or in Dhu al-Qi'dah; another report states that he died in 788 AH .
Answer updated
List of Works
A comprehensive theological and hadith work on the divine attributes, dedicated to establishing the attributes of God using traditional scriptural evidence according to the methodology of Ahl al-Sunnah. The work compiles Quranic verses, prophetic hadiths with their full chains of transmission, and narrations from the Companions and early scholars, while also addressing related theological topics such as divine decree, the beatific vision of God, and the portents of the Hour.
An extensive, source-based theological work on divine attributes and creed. Its primary focus is the affirmation of God's divine attributes according to the textualist approach of early traditionists and the Salaf, relying on the Quran and authentic Prophetic traditions without figurative interpretation, negation, or anthropomorphic comparison, alongside discussions of broader theological and eschatological themes.