Ibrahim al-Saqqa
- Died
- 1298 AH
- Born in
- Cairo
Ibrahim al-Saqqa (1212/1213–1298 AH / 1797/1798–1881 CE) was an Egyptian Shafi'i jurist, exegete, and long-serving preacher at al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo.
Early life and education
Burhan al-Din Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ali ibn Hasan al-Saqqa traced his family roots to the village of Shubra Bakhum in the Menoufia region. His father relocated to Cairo, where al-Saqqa was born in Harat al-Duwaydari (historically known as Harat Kutama) in late 1212 AH (1798 CE), with another report placing his birth in 1213 AH (1797 CE). He memorized the Quran in a primary school (kuttab) until 1222 AH, then dedicated two years to Quranic recitation (tajwid).
In 1224 AH, he began attending scholarly circles at al-Azhar, pursuing advanced disciplines and textual study until he completed his initial cycle of studies in 1234 AH (with another account mentioning 1243 AH), when he began teaching. Even after starting his own instruction, he continued studying major treatises under senior scholars. Among his most prominent teachers were Thu'aylab al-Fashni (d. 1239 AH), Ahmad al-Damhuji (d. 1246 AH), Abd al-Wahhab al-Bakhati, Ahmad al-Sha'rani, and Muhammad ibn al-Annabi, who granted him an ijaza in Sha'ban 1242 AH after al-Saqqa read most of Sahih al-Bukhari with him.
Teaching and public career
Al-Saqqa rose to prominence as a lecturer at al-Azhar, where leadership in teaching eventually devolved upon him and his classes drew multiple generations of scholars. He was appointed the official Friday preacher (khatib) of al-Azhar Mosque, an office he held for over twenty years. When he traveled to Mecca for the pilgrimage, he delivered sermons at al-Masjid al-Haram. He collected his own orations in a published anthology titled Ghayat al-umniyya fi al-khutab al-manbariyya ("The Ultimate Desire in Pulpit Sermons").
In jurisprudence and theology, al-Saqqa composed several works, including a two-volume supercommentary on Ibrahim al-Bajuri's commentary on the creed of Muhammad al-Siba'i. He also embarked on an extensive supercommentary on Irshad al-aql al-salim, the Quranic exegesis by Abu al-Saud al-Amadi, though he left it incomplete before reaching the end of the Quran.
Standing and students
Al-Saqqa was widely regarded by contemporaries as a leading Shafi'i authority in Egypt and the Levant. Following the death of the rector Ibrahim al-Bajuri, peers considered al-Saqqa qualified for the rectorship of al-Azhar, though the position was ultimately conferred on another scholar.
Virtually every prominent scholar of that era at al-Azhar studied under al-Saqqa directly or through his students. Among his notable students were three future rectors of al-Azhar: Muhammad al-Inbabi, Salim al-Bishri, and Abd al-Rahman al-Shirbini, alongside the Maliki jurist Muhammad Ilaysh, the Syrian biographer Abd al-Razzaq al-Bitar, Yusuf al-Nabhani, his own son Muhammad Imam al-Saqqa, and his maternal grandson Hasan al-Saqqa.
Later years and death
In his advanced age, al-Saqqa was afflicted by recurrent illnesses that forced him to stay home and relinquish regular preaching duties at al-Azhar, which were then assumed by his grandson Hasan al-Saqqa. Al-Bitar, who visited him in Cairo in 1280 AH, noted that al-Saqqa rarely left his house due to his frail health and regular medical treatments. Al-Saqqa died in Cairo in 1298 AH (1881 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
This work is a portion of an extensive Quranic supercommentary on Irshad al-Aql al-Salim ila Mazaya al-Kitab al-Karim by Abu al-Saud al-Amadi. It provides an exposition and refined drafting of Abu al-Saud's exegesis, engaging extensively with syntax, divergent grammatical opinions, rhetorical and legal points, prophetic hadiths, variant readings, and poetic citations while drawing heavily on al-Kashshaf by al-Zamakhshari and Anwar al-Tanzil by al-Baydawi.