Ibn Qadi Ajlun

Abu Bakr ibn Qadi Ajlun (841–928 AH / 1437–1522 CE) was a Syrian Shafi'i jurist who held the scholarly leadership of the Shafi'i school in Damascus during the late Mamluk period al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1.

Lineage and Early Life

His full name was Taqi al-Din Abu Bakr ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Sharaf (also vocalized as Musharraf) ibn Mansur ibn Mahmud ibn Tawfiq ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Zura'i al-Dimashqi Nazm al-Uqyan fi Ayan al-…+1. He bore the kunya Abu al-Sidq—recorded in some sources as Abu al-Safa—and the title Taqi al-Din al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. He belonged to a prominent scholarly household originally hailing from Izra' (Zura') in the Hauran, whose family members were known by the cognomen Ibn Qadi Ajlun after an ancestor who served as deputy judge in Ajlun al-Daw al-Lami li-Ahl al-…+1.

Born in Damascus in 841 AH (1437/1438 CE), he was raised there and studied jurisprudence under the scholars of the city, excelling in Shafi'i law Nazm al-Uqyan fi Ayan al-…+1.

Scholarly Career and Public Life

Ibn Qadi Ajlun attained prominence as the foremost Shafi'i jurist in Damascus, with the leadership of the school in Syria devolving upon him al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. He delivered well-attended lectures in Damascus at venues such as the Umayyad Mosque and the al-Nasiriyya madrasa, as well as in Cairo during his travels there al-Daris fi Tarikh al-Mad…+1. He was noted among later jurists for his expansive command and citation of legal transmissions (ikthar al-naql wal-istihdar) Al-Ghaya fi Ikhtisar al-N…. His students included Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Qari Minhat al-Bari bi Sharh S….

Ibn Qadi Ajlun authored legal works including I'lam al-Nabih bi-ma Zada 'ala al-Minhaj min al-Hawi wa-l-Bahja wa-l-Tanbih (Informing the Discerned on the Additions to al-Minhaj from al-Hawi, al-Bahja, and al-Tanbih) al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. He also penned al-Kanz al-Akbar fi al-Amr bi-l-Ma'ruf wa-l-Nahy 'an al-Munkar (The Greatest Treasure on Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong), a treatise he concluded in 894 AH to address the legal status of an alleged tomb in Damascus al-Kanz al-Akbar fi al-Am….

Controversies and Trials

Ibn Qadi Ajlun was known for stern denunciation of any Sufi practices that diverged from the outward requirements of Islamic law al-Alam lil-Zirikli. When the scholar Burhan al-Din al-Biqa'i arrived in Damascus, Ibn Qadi Ajlun initially received him with hospitality and respect; however, when al-Biqa'i wrote against the statement of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali that "there is nothing in possibility more wondrous than what is" (laysa fi al-imkan abda' mimma kan), Ibn Qadi Ajlun broke with him in defense of al-Ghazali, turning away from al-Biqa'i along with his students al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha….

During the reign of Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri, Ibn Qadi Ajlun underwent a severe trial arising from a legal dispute over the tomb of Ibn Muhibb al-Din al-Aslami, in which his fatwa conflicted with that of his nephew and student, Kamal al-Din ibn Hamza Shadharat al-Dhahab fi Ak…. Both scholars were summoned to Cairo; during the affair, Ibn Qadi Ajlun suffered major financial loss and had to sell most of his books Shadharat al-Dhahab fi Ak…. The dispute was ultimately settled in favor of his fatwa, resulting in the reconstruction of the demolished tomb, after which he returned to Damascus alongside his son Najm al-Din Muhammad, who was appointed Shafi'i Chief Judge there Shadharat al-Dhahab fi Ak….

Later Life and Death

Ibn Qadi Ajlun lost his eyesight toward the end of his life al-Alam lil-Zirikli. He died in Damascus in the forenoon of Monday, 11 Ramadan 928 AH (1522 CE), and was buried in the cemetery of Bab al-Saghir within his family's burial enclosure al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1.