Izz al-Din al-Husayni
- Died
- 695 AH
- Born in
- Cairo
Izz al-Din al-Husayni (636–695 AH / 1238–1295 CE) was an Egyptian Shafi'i hadith scholar, historian, and syndic of the Prophetic descendants (Naqib al-Ashraf), best known for his biographical dictionary Silat al-Takmila li-Wafayat al-Naqala .
Lineage and Background
His full name was Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Sharif al-Alawi al-Husayni . He was bore the honorific 'Izz al-Din, and his kunya is recorded as Abu al-Qasim as well as Abu al-Abbas . Although his family originated from Aleppo—leading to his appellation as al-Halabi or Ibn al-Halabi—he was born and raised in Egypt in 636 AH .
Education and Scholarly Career
Al-Husayni studied hadith extensively under several prominent scholars of his era, foremost among them al-Mundhiri, from whom he heard a vast amount of material . His other teachers included Fakhr al-Qudat Ibn al-Jayyab, al-Rashid al-Attar, Abd al-Ghani ibn Banin, and al-Kamal al-Darir . He also received teaching authorizations (ijaza) from scholars such as Ibn Rawah, Sibt, and al-Salih al-Mudlaji .
In addition to his academic pursuits, al-Husayni held the public office of syndic of the descendants of the Prophet (Naqib al-Ashraf or Naqib al-Nuqaba) in Egypt .
Scholarly Contributions and Standing
Biographers characterized al-Husayni as a discerning hadith transmitter and memorizer who possessed precision, deep understanding, and sound methodology in hadith extraction . Among his writings was a collection of elevated eight-link transmissions titled al-Ahadith al-Thumaniyyat .
His major historical contribution was Silat al-Takmila li-Wafayat al-Naqala (The Continuation of the Supplement to the Obits of Transmitters), composed as a direct continuation (dhayl) to al-Mundhiri's biographical work al-Takmila li-Wafayat al-Naqala . Following al-Mundhiri's rigorous chronological method by year, month, and day of death, al-Husayni documented the lives, teachers, transmissions, and burials of scholars and transmitters, beginning from 640 or 641 AH and continuing down to 675 AH . His work became a recognized reference for later historians, and Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Aybak al-Dimyati subsequently wrote a supplement to it titled Tatimmat Silat al-Takmila .
Death
Al-Husayni died in Egypt in 695 AH (1295–1296 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Silat al-Takmila li-Wafayat al-Naqala is a biographical dictionary compiled as a direct continuation (dhayl) to al-Takmila li-Wafayat al-Naqala by al-Mundhiri. Arranged chronologically by year and month of death, it records biographical entries for scholars, hadith transmitters, and notable figures of the seventh century Hijri, covering deaths from 641 AH (or 640 AH) through 675 AH.