Ibn al-Rassam
- Died
- 844 AH
- Born in
- Hama
Ibn al-Rassam (d. 844 AH / 1441 CE) was a Syrian Hanbali jurist, hadith scholar, and judge from Hama, known for his judicial appointments across the Levant and his compilation al-Arba'in min al-Ahadith al-Nabawiyya ("The Forty Prophetic Hadiths") .
Name and Background
He was Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Ismail al-Hamawi al-Hanbali al-Qadiri, commonly known as Ibn al-Rassam . He was born in Hama; one account dates his birth to 763 AH (1362 CE) , while others state he was born in 793 AH . His father was an artisan noted among the pious worshippers of his locality .
Education and Career
Ibn al-Rassam received his early training in Hama and traveled in his youth across Egypt and Syria to study hadith under prominent scholars of his era . Among his principal teachers was the Hanbali master Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali .
In addition to teaching and delivering well-attended public sermons, Ibn al-Rassam was appointed to several judicial posts in the Levant, serving as the Hanbali chief judge of Aleppo as well as presiding over the judiciary in Hama and Tripoli . Drawing upon his travels, he compiled al-Arba'in min al-Ahadith al-Nabawiyya 'an Arba'in min Mashayikh al-Islam Marwiyya ("The Forty Prophetic Hadiths Transmitted from Forty Masters of Islam"), in which he transmitted one tradition from each of forty scholars, and authored the four-volume work 'Iqd al-Durar wa-l-La'ali fi Fadail al-Shuhur wa-l-Ayyam wa-l-Layali on the merits of religious months, days, and nights .
Death
Ibn al-Rassam died in 844 AH (1441 CE); other reports place his death in 845 AH or 870 AH . Sources differ regarding his place of death, recording that he died either in Aleppo while serving as its judge or in Hama toward the end of his judicial tenure there .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Arba‘in min al-Ahadith al-Nabawiyya (The Forty Prophetic Hadiths), fully titled al-Arba‘in min al-Ahadith al-Nabawiyya ‘an Arba‘in min Mashayikh al-Islam Marwiyya (The Forty Prophetic Hadiths Transmitted from Forty Masters of Islam), is a hadith compilation adhering to the forty-hadith genre. It records forty prophetic traditions with full transmission chains, selecting one tradition from each of forty prominent scholars to serve as an accessible reference for students of hadith.