Ibn Sasri

Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Sasri (c. 535–626 AH / c. 1140–1228 CE) was a Syrian hadith transmitter, Shafi'i jurist, and certified notary (‘adl) based in Damascus, best known for the teacher catalog Mashyakhat Ibn Sasri Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Lineage and Early Life

His full name was al-Husayn ibn Abi al-Ghana'im Hibat Allah ibn Mahfuz ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Sasri al-Taghlibi al-Raba'i al-Baladi al-Dimashqi, carrying the honorific title Shams al-Din and known as Musnid al-Sham Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1. His family traced its origins to the town of Balad, but he was born and raised in Damascus Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1. He grew up in an established scholarly household renowned for hadith transmission, legal uprightness, and trustworthiness; his father, grandfather, and brother Abu al-Mawahib al-Hasan ibn Sasri were all active traditionists Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1. Sources date his birth to before 540 AH, with some specifying the 530s AH and others citing 540 AH Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Education and Teachers

Ibn Sasri received his early education in Damascus, studying hadith directly under his father Hibat Allah, his grandfather Mahfuz, his maternal grandfather Abu al-Makarim ibn Hilal, and the renowned historian Ibn Asakir Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1. Among his other Damascene teachers were Abu al-Qasim ibn al-Bunn, Nasr ibn Muqatil al-Susi, Hamza ibn Karus, and Ali ibn Asakir al-Maqdisi Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

He journeyed alongside his brother Abu al-Mawahib to Aleppo, where he studied with Abu Talib Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Ajami, Ahmad ibn Abi al-Wafa al-Baghdadi, Abu al-Mafakhir Abd al-Ghafur ibn Luqman al-Kardari, and Abu al-Makarim Muhammad ibn Abi Jarada Bughyat al-Talab fi Tarik…. In Mecca, he heard transmissions from Abu Hanifa Muhammad ibn Ubayd Allah al-Khatibi Siyar Aalam al-Nubala. He also secured written transmission licenses (ijaza) from distant scholars, including the grammarian Ibn al-Shajari, Abd al-Malik al-Karukhi, and Abu Bakr ibn al-Zaghuni from Baghdad Bughyat al-Talab fi Tarik…. The traditionist al-Birzali compiled his extensive network of authorities into a single-volume dictionary titled Mashyakhat Ibn Sasri, from which selections were later extracted as Ahadith Muntakhaba min Mashyakhat Ibn Sasri Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Students and Transmission

Having achieved high transmission chains (isnad), Ibn Sasri became a prominent hadith authority in Damascus and taught widely Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1. Those who heard and transmitted hadith from him include the historian Ibn al-Adim, Abu Salih Ismail ibn Hibat Allah ibn al-Adim, Isa ibn Sulayman al-Ru'ayni, and Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ismail ibn al-Anmati Bughyat al-Talab fi Tarik…+1.

Death

Ibn Sasri died on the morning of Saturday, 23 Muharram 626 AH (December 1228 CE) in Damascus, though one family report transmitted by Sharaf al-Din places the death in early Muharram of that year Bughyat al-Talab fi Tarik…+1. The funeral prayer was performed for him at the Umayyad Mosque after the afternoon prayer and outside Damascus, and he was buried on the same day at the foot of Mount Qasiyun Bughyat al-Talab fi Tarik…+1.