Ibn Allan
- Died
- 1057 AH
- Born in
- Mecca
Ibn Allan (996–1057 AH / 1588–1647 CE) was a Meccan Shafi'i jurist, hadith scholar, and exegete, best known for his extensive commentaries on the works of al-Nawawi .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Muhammad Ali ibn Muhammad Allan ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Allan ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Ali ibn Mubarakshah al-Bakri al-Siddiqi al-Alawi al-Shafi'i . He traced his paternal lineage to the first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, and maternal lineage to al-Hasan ibn Ali . He was born in Mecca in 996 AH (1588 CE), was raised there, and adhered to the Ash'ari school in creed . In his youth, he memorized the Quran along with its variant readings (qira'at) and committed foundational texts across multiple Islamic sciences to memory .
Education and Teachers
Ibn Allan studied Arabic grammar with Abd al-Rahim ibn Hassan, reading with him commentaries on al-Ajrumiyya, Qawa'id al-I'rab, and the Alfiyya of Ibn Malik . Under Abd al-Malik al-Isami, he studied Qatr al-Nada, Shudhur al-Dhahab, prosody, and rhetoric . He received training in Quranic readings, hadith, Shafi'i jurisprudence, and Sufism from his uncle Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Siddiqi, as well as from the hadith scholar Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Jar Allah ibn Fahd, Sayyid Umar ibn Abd al-Rahim al-Basri, and Ubayd Allah al-Khujandi . He also obtained general transmission licenses (ijazat) for Sahih al-Bukhari and other canonical collections from visiting scholars, including Jalal al-Din al-Shirbini, al-Hasan al-Burini, Abd Allah al-Nahrawi, and the Egyptian preacher Muhammad Hijazi .
Scholarly Career and Trial
Ibn Allan commenced teaching in Mecca at the age of eighteen and began issuing legal opinions (fatwas) at twenty-four . He became known for his rapid composition, frequently drafting dedicated treatises on the spot whenever complex legal or theological questions were put to him . Among his notable linguistic contributions was Ithaf al-Fadil bil-Fiil al-Mabni li-Ghayr al-Fail, a specialized dictionary examining Arabic verbs that occur predominantly in the passive voice . His primary renown rested on his extensive multi-volume commentaries on al-Nawawi's devotional and hadith manuals, specifically Dalil al-Falihin li-Turuq Riyad al-Salihin and al-Futuhat al-Rabbaniyya ala al-Adhkar al-Nawawiyya .
During the reconstruction of the Kaaba in 1039 AH following flood damage, he recited the entirety of Sahih al-Bukhari inside the sanctuary . Near the conclusion of the reading, he entered the builders' screened enclosure inside the Kaaba and drank coffee, which led detractors to inform the Sharif of Mecca that he had turned the sacred house into a coffeehouse . The Sharif imprisoned him and intended to punish him; however, after the Sharif's palace shook during the evening prayer—an event the Sharif's minister interpreted as a sign of Ibn Allan's saintly standing—the Sharif released him, sought his pardon, and bestowed gifts upon him . Ibn Allan apologized for the oversight and subsequently composed a treatise establishing the legal permissibility of teaching inside the Kaaba .
A substantial circle of students studied under him in Mecca, including his son Ghiyath al-Din ibn Muhammad Ali, Ali ibn Muhammad al-Ayyubi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Asadi, Muhammad al-Nablawi al-Damyati, and Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ufsi al-Qudsi .
Standing and Death
Ibn Allan was regarded as one of the foremost hadith authorities of the Hijaz in the eleventh Hijri century, earning the appraisal of the scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Khiyari as "the al-Suyuti of his era" due to his hadith precision and prolific authorship . He died in Mecca in 1057 AH (1647 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Futūḥāt al-Rabbāniyyah ʿalā al-Adhkār al-Nawawiyyah (The Lordly Openings upon al-Nawawi’s Adhkar) is an extensive commentary on al-Nawawi's al-Adhkār, a manual of supplications, litanies, and practical devotions across day and night. The work explains uncommon vocabulary, legal rulings, and the spiritual meanings of invocations, while addressing textual obscurities, Shafi'i jurisprudence, and hadith authenticity.
Nashr Alwiyat al-Tashrif bil-Ilam wal-Tarif biman lahu Wilayat Imarat ma Saqat min al-Bayt al-Sharif
Nashr Alwiyat al-Tashrif bil-Ilam wal-Tarif biman lahu Wilayat Imarat ma Saqat min al-Bayt al-Sharif is a legal treatise addressing legal authority and jurisdiction over the reconstruction of the Kaaba following its partial collapse in 1039 AH. The work presents legal arguments regarding the primary obligation and ultimate prerogative of the supreme Muslim sovereign, Ottoman Sultan Murad IV, over the restoration of the structure.
Dalil al-Falihin li Turuq Riyad al-Salihin (The Guide for the Successful to the Paths of the Gardens of the Righteous) is a comprehensive commentary on al-Nawawi's hadith collection Riyad al-Salihin. Written as an explanatory guide for students, it expounds systematically upon the original text's chapter headings, Quranic verses, and prophetic traditions, offering lexical definitions, grammatical analysis, chains of transmission, and legal and spiritual rulings.
Ithaf al-Fadil bil-Fiil al-Mabni li-Ghayr al-Fail (A Gift to the Virtuous on Verbs Built for Other Than the Agent) is a specialized Arabic linguistic dictionary of passive verbs. Arranged alphabetically by root, it serves as an expanded supplement to Khayr al-Din ibn Zahirah's earlier treatise al-Manhal al-Mahul, incorporating additional entries from classical treatises on verbs and examining verbs that occur primarily or exclusively in the passive voice.