Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi
- Died
- 842 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi (777–842 AH / 1375–1438 CE) was a Syrian Shafi'i hadith scholar, historian, and biographer based in Damascus, known for works such as Tawdih al-Mushtabah (Clarification of Ambiguous Names) and al-Radd al-Wafir (The Abundant Rebuttal) .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Shams al-Din Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Mujahid ibn Yusuf ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn 'Ali al-Qaysi al-Dimashqi al-Shafi'i . His family originated from Hama . He was born in Damascus during the first ten days of Muharram 777 AH (1375 CE), with another report placing his birth in the middle of that month . Raised in Damascus, he memorized the Quran and multiple introductory texts in his youth before dedicating himself to the study of prophetic tradition .
Education and Career
Ibn Nasir al-Din studied under local scholars in Damascus and visiting authorities, and he traveled in pursuit of hadith to Baalbek, Aleppo, and Mecca . His Damascus teachers included Abu Bakr ibn al-Muhibb al-Samit, Badr al-Din ibn Qawwam, 'Ala' al-Din Ibn al-Majd (the preacher of 'Ayn Tarma), Jamal al-Din al-Ba'li (known as Ibn al-Shara'ihi), Ibn al-Dhahabi, Ibn Hijji, and Ibn al-Hasbani . He studied alongside Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, with both reading hadith to each other, and he obtained written authorizations (ijazat) from Egyptian scholars including Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi, Siraj al-Din Ibn al-Mulaqqin, and Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini .
In 837 AH, Ibn Nasir al-Din was appointed head teacher (mashyakha) at Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyya in Damascus . In addition to teaching, he delivered formal sermons and engaged in critical hadith scholarship, particularly the vocalization and disambiguation of biographical transmitters in Tawdih al-Mushtabah and historical refutations such as al-Radd al-Wafir, which defended the legitimacy of applying the title Shaykh al-Islam to Ibn Taymiyya and received commendation from Ibn Hajar .
Standing
Contemporary and later historians recognized Ibn Nasir al-Din as the premier hadith master of the Levant in his era. Al-Maqrizi described him as the undisputed hadith master of the Syrian lands, noting that no equivalent successor followed him in the region . Burhan al-Din al-Halabi commended his erudition, modest deportment, and status as the hadith scholar of Damascus, while Muhibb al-Din Ibn Nasr Allah stated that no one in the Levant equaled or approached him in the discipline of hadith .
Death
Ibn Nasir al-Din died in Rabi' al-Thani 842 AH (1438 CE) at the age of sixty-five . Accounts report that he traveled with a group to partition land in an outlying village near Damascus, where the local inhabitants poisoned them . Specific dates given for his death include Friday morning, 27 Rabi' al-Thani; Friday night, 16 Rabi' al-Thani; and 16 Rajab . He was buried in Damascus at the Bab al-Faradis cemetery, with reports mentioning his burial in the al-'Uqayba cemetery beside his father .
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List of Works
This specialized hadith treatise is dedicated to the prophetic pulpit (minbar) and the traditions associated with it. It compiles, analyzes, and contextualizes hadiths and historical reports concerning the pulpit of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and related events, including the weeping of the palm trunk upon which the Prophet leaned before the pulpit was constructed. The work employs critical hadith methodology by comparing chains of transmission and identifying textual variants.
This hadith treatise is dedicated to the critical examination and transmission of a celebrated narration concerning travel in pursuit of prophetic traditions. It focuses on the report regarding the Companion Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah, who undertook a one-month journey to hear a single hadith on retribution and the Day of Judgment directly from the Companion 'Abd Allah ibn Unays, documenting and evaluating its various transmission paths.
This specialized hadith treatise is structured around a numerical motif centered on the number six. It compiles six prophetic traditions addressing six distinct thematic meanings, transmitted via lines of six narrators through six hadith masters selected from among the teachers of the authors of the six canonical books of Hadith, with six links intervening between the author and the original narrators.
This short devotional and scholarly treatise was composed to mark the formal concluding gathering upon finishing the reading and instruction of al-Qadi Iyad's Kitab al-Shifa bi-Ta'rif Huquq al-Mustafa. It covers the biography, writings, and poetry of al-Qadi Iyad, praises his text, discusses prophetic preeminence and intercession on the Day of Resurrection, and includes an original closing poem in veneration of the Prophet ﷺ.
This biographical monograph and academic dictation is dedicated to the biography of As'as ibn Salamah al-Tamimi al-Basri (Abu Sufrah). It addresses his reports and his classification within transmitter dictionaries, focusing on the question of whether he was a Companion or a Successor whose narrations are mursal.
Salwat al-Kaib bi Wafat al-Habib is a treatise focusing on the demise of the Prophet Muhammad and drawing comfort and moral lessons from that event. It is designed to offer solace to believers facing bereavement and affliction by recalling the Prophet's passing as an example for cultivating patience and steadfastness.
Tanwir al-Fikra bi-Hadith Bahz ibn Hakim is a hadith treatise examining the narration transmitted through Bahz ibn Hakim on good companionship and social conduct (husn al-ishra). Originating as an analytical dictation session and monograph, it evaluates the chain of transmission and textual implications of the report.
al-Ahadith al-Arbaun al-Mutabayyina al-Asanid wal-Mutun is a specialized hadith collection belonging to the forty-hadith (arba'iniyyat) genre. It brings together forty traditions drawn directly from the compiler's own transmissions, specifically selecting entries with mutually distinct chains of narration (isnads) and distinct textual contents.
al-Radd al-Wafir is a biographical and polemical treatise composed to defend Ibn Taymiyya and validate the honorific title Shaykh al-Islam bestowed upon him. It gathers testimonies and statements from leading Sunni scholars across all four legal schools to refute claims that declaring Ibn Taymiyya Shaykh al-Islam constituted unbelief.
Tawdih al-Mushtabah is a biographical reference dictionary serving as an exhaustive commentary, expansion, and correction of al-Dhahabi's onomastic work al-Mushtabah fi al-rijal. It resolves ambiguous names, lineages, titles, and kunyas by describing their exact spelling and vocalization in words to prevent scribal corruption.