Ibn Maslama al-Umawi
- Died
- 650 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Ibn Maslama al-Umawi (d. 650 AH / 1252 CE) was a Damascene hadith transmitter and centenarian authority (musnid) known for his transmissions from Iraqi and Syrian scholars, recorded in a specialized mashyakha compiled for him.
Lineage and Scholarly Background
His full name was Rashid al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abi al-Fath al-Mufarraj ibn Ali ibn al-Mufarraj ibn Amr (also given as Umar) ibn al-Khadir ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Maslama al-Umawi al-Dimashqi. Some records add Abd al-Aziz into the ancestral chain. He belonged to a Damascene family associated with hadith scholarship; his sister, Umm al-Fityan Jahma bint al-Mufarraj, and his brother's grandson, Najm al-Din Abd al-Rahim ibn Yahya ibn Maslama, were also active transmitters.
In Damascus, he heard hadith directly from Ibn Asakir. He also held high-ranking transmission credentials through written authorizations (ijaza) granted to him by prominent Baghdadi and Iraqi scholars, including Abu al-Fath ibn al-Batti, the calligrapher and transmitter Shuhdah bint Ahmad al-Ibri, Yahya ibn Thabit ibn Bundar al-Baqqal, and Hibat Allah ibn al-Hasan al-Daqqaq.
Transmission and Standing
Ibn Maslama was regarded by contemporary scholars as an upright, trustworthy, and reliable transmitter (adl thiqa amin) whose audition was sound. The hadith master Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Birzali al-Ishbili compiled his Baghdadi narrations into a three-volume collection titled al-Mashyakha al-Baghdadiyya (also known as Mashyakhat Abi al-Abbas).
Ibn Maslama held teaching and audition sessions at his residence near al-Rahba in Damascus across several decades, with recorded reading certificates spanning from 605 AH through 643 AH, 648 AH, and early 650 AH. Numerous students and scholars studied and transmitted under him, including Abd al-Mu'min ibn Khalaf al-Dimyati, Khalid ibn Yusuf al-Nabulsi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Umayya al-Abdari, and Nafis al-Din Ismail ibn Muhammad al-Harrani.
Death
Ibn Maslama died in Damascus in the month of Dhu al-Qa'da 650 AH (January 1253 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Mashyakha al-Baghdadiyya is a hadith collection that records the Baghdadi teachers of the hadith transmitter Rashid al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Mufarraj ibn Maslama al-Umawi. The work gathers transmissions received through written authorization from scholars residing in Baghdad and Iraq, with letters of authorization dated around 559 AH. Organized around individual teachers, each entry presents a narration with its full chain, cross-references tracing reports to canonical collections, and biographical notices detailing scholarly proficiencies and burial places.