Jamal al-Din al-Matri
- Died
- 741 AH
- Born in
- Medina
Jamal al-Din al-Matri (671–741 AH / 1272–1340 CE) was a Medinan jurist, hadith scholar, and historian, best known for his historical and topographical work on Medina, al-Ta'rif bi-ma Anasat al-Hijra min Ma'alim Dar al-Hijra (Identification of the Landmarks of the Abode of Emigration Forgotten by Time) .
Lineage and Early Life
He was Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalaf (also read as Khulayf) ibn Isa ibn Assas (or Abbas) ibn Yusuf ibn Ali ibn Uthman, carrying the kunya Abu Abd Allah and the honorific Jamal al-Din . His lineage is traced with the nisbas al-Ansari, al-Sa'di, al-Abbadi, al-Khazraji, and al-Madani . The nisba al-Matri stems from the Egyptian town of al-Matariyya, where his grandfather Khalaf had settled after leaving Mount Sinai (al-Tur), before his father Ahmad subsequently moved to Medina .
Al-Matri was born in Medina in 671 AH (1272 CE); alternative reports place his birth in 673 AH or 676 AH, the latter preferred by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani based on a note in his son's handwriting . He was raised and educated in Medina, where he inherited expertise in the calculation of prayer times (al-mawaqit) from his father .
Education and Career
Al-Matri studied with several prominent scholars of his era, narrating hadith from Abu al-Yumn Abd al-Samad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Asakir, Sharaf al-Din al-Dimyati, Ali ibn Ahmad al-Ghirafi, Muhammad ibn al-Qutb al-Qastallani, Abd al-Salam ibn Muhammad ibn Mazru', Abd Allah ibn Imran al-Sukkari, Ahmad ibn Ishaq al-Abarquhi, al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Zafir al-Maliki, and al-Izz al-Fariqi . He transmitted hadith in both Mecca and Medina .
In Medina, he attained prominent administrative and religious positions, serving as chief muezzin of the Prophet's Mosque, deputy judge (na'ib al-qada'), imam, and preacher (khatib) .
Scholarly Standing and Death
Al-Matri was recognized for his broad mastery of Islamic jurisprudence, hadith, and local history, and was commended for his virtuous character . His treatise al-Ta'rif bi-ma Anasat al-Hijra min Ma'alim Dar al-Hijra became an essential reference for the topography and sacred landmarks of Medina, utilized extensively by later chroniclers of the city .
He died in Medina in 741 AH (1340 CE)—though one account gives Jumada al-Ula 740 AH—and was buried in the cemetery of al-Baqi' .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Tarif bima Anasat al-Hijra min Maalim Dar al-Hijra is a fourteenth-century topographical and historical treatise on the city of Medina. It documents the city's sacred sites, historic mosques, wells, and topographies, focusing especially on historic landmarks and boundaries that had fallen into obscurity or ruin over time.