Jar Allah Ibn Fahd al-Makki

Jar Allah Ibn Fahd al-Makki (891–954 AH / 1486–1547 CE) was a Meccan Shafi'i hadith scholar and historian from the prominent Ibn Fahd scholarly family, best known for his Meccan chronicle Nayl al-Muna bi-Dhayl Bulugh al-Qura Mujam al-Muallifin+1.

Lineage and Early Life

His full name was Muhammad ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Hashimi al-Makki al-Shafi'i, surnamed Muhibb al-Din, with the kunya Abu al-Fadl, though he was best known by the name Jar Allah al-Daw al-Lami li-Ahl al-…+1. His family traced its lineage back to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib Sullam al-Wusul ila Tabaq…+1. The family had previously lived in Asfun in Upper Egypt before settling in Mecca in or around the early eighth century AH Nayl al-Muna bi-Dhayl Bul…. His mother was Kamaliyyah, and he was the maternal grandson of his father's paternal uncle Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Fahd al-Daw al-Lami li-Ahl al-…. Jar Allah was born in Mecca on the night of Saturday, 20 Rajab 891 AH / 1486 CE, and grew up there under the care of his parents al-Daw al-Lami li-Ahl al-…+1.

Education and Travels

Jar Allah began receiving transmission at an early age. When he was four years old, he was brought to the sessions of Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi during the latter's fourth residence in Mecca, hearing hadith directly from his recitation as well as through his father's reading al-Daw al-Lami li-Ahl al-…. He also attended sessions under Muhibb al-Din al-Tabari, hearing the conclusion of Sahih Muslim, the Thulathiyyat of al-Bukhari, and parts of the Tusa'iyyat of Izz al-Din Ibn Jama'ah al-Daw al-Lami li-Ahl al-…. He studied under his father, Izz al-Din Abd al-Aziz ibn Fahd, and received scholarly authorizations (ijazat) from figures such as Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, Abd al-Ghani al-Bisati, and 'A'ishah bint Ibn Abd al-Hadi al-Daw al-Lami li-Ahl al-…+1.

Jar Allah traveled beyond the Hijaz, visiting Egypt and the Levant al-Alam lil-Zirikli. In Cairo in 923 AH, he studied under the Shafi'i scholar Zayn al-Din Abd al-Haqq al-Sunbati, and he also read hadith with Muhibb al-Din Ibn Aja al-Halabi Fihris al-Faharis+1.

Scholarly Standing and Historiography

Jar Allah represented the fourth generation in a succession of Meccan traditionists and historians from the Banu Fahd family who specialized in hadith transmission and local history, following his great-grandfather Taqi al-Din, his grandfather Najm al-Din, and his father Izz al-Din Nayl al-Muna bi-Dhayl Bul….

As a historian, he continued the family project of chronicling the history of Mecca. His grandfather Najm al-Din had authored Ithaf al-Wara, and his father Izz al-Din had written its first continuation, Bulugh al-Qura. Jar Allah authored a second continuation, Nayl al-Muna bi-Dhayl Bulugh al-Qura li-Takmilat Ithaf al-Wara (Attaining Desires by Continuing Bulugh al-Qura to Complete Ithaf al-Wara), documenting the political, social, economic, cultural, and administrative life of Mecca in a day-by-day annalistic form from Dhu al-Hijjah 923 AH through Jumada al-Thaniyah 949 AH Nayl al-Muna bi-Dhayl Bul…. He also compiled a biographical dictionary of his teachers and transmitters titled Nawafeh al-Nafh al-Miski bi-Mu'jam Jar Allah Ibn Fahd al-Makki (The Fragrant Breezes of Musk Concerning the Biographical Dictionary of Jar Allah Ibn Fahd al-Makki) Fihris al-Faharis+1. Among those who transmitted from him were the Meccan jurist Ali ibn Jar Allah ibn Zahirah and his relative Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qadir ibn Fahd Fihris al-Faharis.

Death

Jar Allah Ibn Fahd died in Mecca in 954 AH / 1547 CE Mujam al-Muallifin+1.