Ibn Raslan

Ibn Raslan (c. 773/775–844 AH / 1371/1373–1441 CE) was a Palestinian Shafi'i jurist, hadith scholar, and ascetic based in Ramla and Jerusalem Mujam al-Muallifin+1. He is best known for his legal didactic poem Safwat al-Zubad and his extensive commentary on Sunan Abi Dawud Nayl al-Amal fi Dhayl al-…+1.

Background and education

His full name was Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Hasan ibn Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Ali ibn Raslan (also spelled Arslan) al-Ramli al-Maqdisi Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud li-…+1. Sources trace his lineage to the Arab tribe of Kinana, while an alternate report connects him to the Nu'ayr Arabs Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud li-…. He was born in Ramla around 773 or 775 AH (with other reports citing 753, 755, or 777 AH) and was raised there Hadiyat al-Arifin Asma al…+1. His father, a merchant, initially placed him in a textile shop, but Ibn Raslan neglected the trade to immerse himself in reading; seeing the financial losses, his father permitted him to pursue studies full-time Unwan al-Zaman bi-Tarajim….

He memorized the Quran by the age of ten Mujam Hufaz al-Quran Abr …. In Ramla, he studied Arabic grammar with a visiting North African scholar, paying a quarter of a dirham per line to study Ibn Malik's Alfiyya Unwan al-Zaman bi-Tarajim…+1. He acquired jurisprudence and inheritance law from Shams al-Din al-Qalqashandi and Ibn al-Ha'im in Jerusalem, heard hadith from Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini and Ibn al-Ala'i, and read the majority of Sahih al-Bukhari with Jalal al-Din al-Bulqini, who granted him formal authorization to issue fatwas al-Uns al-Jalil bi-Tarikh…+1. In Sufism, he associated with Muhammad al-Qadiri al-Salihi al-Dimashqi Bahjat al-Nazirin ila Tar….

Scholarly life and asceticism

Ibn Raslan was appointed to teach at the al-Khassakiyya madrasa in Ramla and taught at the city's central mosque in the al-Bashqardi quarter for an extended period al-Uns al-Jalil bi-Tarikh…. He eventually abandoned administrative teaching and the issuing of fatwas to devote himself to worship and seclusion al-Uns al-Jalil bi-Tarikh…+1. He frequently garrisoned at coastal ribat stations, building a watchtower on the coast at Jaffa Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1. In his later years, after 830 AH, he relocated to Jerusalem and took up residence at the al-Khataniyya hospice behind the qibla of al-Aqsa Mosque Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1. He was noted for avoiding official patronage, refusing an offer from Amir Husam al-Din to direct a newly renovated madrasa in Jerusalem and declining funds sent to him for distribution Mujam Hufaz al-Quran Abr ….

Many students studied under him; he had a practice of assigning distinctive kunyas to his companions, such as Abu Tahir, Abu Madyan, and Abu Talha al-Uns al-Jalil bi-Tarikh…. When al-Radi al-Ghazzi visited Jerusalem in 838 AH, Ibn Raslan shared his legal writings with him and instructed him to teach his students at al-Aqsa Mosque Bahjat al-Nazirin ila Tar…. Ibn Raslan composed works across several disciplines, most prominently Safwat al-Zubad, a versification of Shafi'i jurisprudence that became widely memorized and taught, and an expansive multi-volume commentary on Sunan Abi Dawud al-Uns al-Jalil bi-Tarikh…+1.

Death

Ibn Raslan fell ill and suffered a relapse before dying in Jerusalem in Sha'ban 844 AH (January 1441 CE), with reports placing his death on 14 Sha'ban or during the second half of the month at around seventy-one years of age Mujam al-Muallifin+1. He was buried outside the city in the Mamilla cemetery to the west of Jerusalem Bahjat al-Nazirin ila Tar….