Muhammad Aqila
- Died
- 1150 AH
- Born in
- Mecca
Muhammad Aqila (d. 1150 AH / 1737 CE) was a Hanafi scholar of hadith, Quranic sciences, and history based in Mecca, best known for his compendium on Quranic sciences al-Ziyada wal-Ihsan fi Ulum al-Quran and his hadith collection al-Fawaid al-Jalila fi Musalsalat Ibn Aqila.
Lineage and Early Life
He was Jamal al-Din Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Sa'id ibn Mas'ud al-Makki al-Hanafi, commonly known as Ibn Aqila (and also surnamed al-Zahir), after his father who was known as Aqila. He was born and raised in Mecca, where he pursued his initial religious education across various traditional disciplines.
Education and Sufi Affiliation
In Mecca and the Hijaz, Aqila studied under leading traditionists and scholars of his era. Among his prominent teachers were Abd Allah ibn Salim al-Basri, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Nakhli, Hasan ibn Ali al-Ujaymi, Taj al-Din ibn Ahmad al-Dahhan al-Makki, Mulla Ilyas ibn Ibrahim al-Kurani, Husayn ibn Abd al-Rahim al-Makki, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Banna al-Dimyati (known as Ibn Abd al-Ghani), and Muhammad Abu al-Mawahib ibn Abd al-Baqi al-Hanbali.
Aqila was also affiliated with Sufism; he received the recitation of dhikr from Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali al-Ahmadi and Sayyid Abd Allah ibn Ali Bahusayn al-Saqqaf, was granted a written authorization (ijaza) by Sayyid Ali ibn Abd Allah al-Aydarus who was residing in Surat in India, and received the Qadiri cloak (khirqah) from Shaykh Qasim ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi.
Teaching, Travels, and Transmission
Aqila traveled north to Syria and entered Aleppo, where local scholars and visiting students attended his circles. In Aleppo, the Hanbali jurist Abd al-Rahman al-Ba'li read under him most of Sahih al-Bukhari as well as pattern-chained transmissions. Aqila also granted transmission licenses to notable regional figures, including the Aleppine scholar Qasim ibn Ali al-Bakrajji.
A wide circle of scholars transmitted hadith through his chains, among them Shah Wali Allah al-Dahlawi, Ali ibn Ahmad al-Sa'idi al-Adawi (later rector of al-Azhar), Muhammad Sa'id al-Suwaydi al-Baghdadi, and Abd al-Khaliq ibn Abi Bakr al-Mizjaji.
Scholarly Standing and Death
Aqila was recognized as a prolific traditionist (musnid) and polymath. In the field of Quranic sciences, he composed al-Ziyada wal-Ihsan fi Ulum al-Quran, in which he refined and expanded upon Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran, dividing the field into 154 distinct branches. He also documented his scholarly authorities and narrations in his transmission register (thabat), entitled al-Mawahib al-Jazila fi Marwiyyat al-Faqir Muhammad ibn Ahmad Aqila.
Aqila died in 1150 AH (1737 CE) in Mecca.
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Fawaid al-Jalila fi Musalsalat Ibn Aqila is a specialized collection of forty pattern-chained hadiths (musalsalat). The work brings together forty pattern-chained narrations that were transmitted along with the physical or verbal mannerisms associated with each report.
al-Ziyada wal-Ihsan fi Ulum al-Quran is a comprehensive encyclopedic compendium on Quranic sciences. Composed as an expansion, refinement, and restructuring of Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran, it arranges the discipline into 154 distinct types of Quranic sciences, breaking down condensed subjects into independent branches and adding overlooked topics.