Muhammad ibn Salim al-Majlisi
- Died
- 1302 AH
- Born in
- -
Muhammad ibn Salim al-Majlisi (d. 1302 AH / 1884–1885 CE) was a Mauritanian Maliki jurist and scholar, renowned for his monumental legal commentary Lawami al-Durar fi Hatk Astar al-Mukhtasar.
Lineage and Background
His full paternal lineage is Muhammad ibn Muhammad Salim ibn Muhammad Sa'id ibn Muhammad ibn 'Umar Abi al-Sayyid ibn Abi Bakr ibn 'Ali ibn Yamghadash ibn Wadi'at Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Yaft ibn Yadar ibn Ibrahim al-Majlisi al-'Alawi al-Fatimi al-Hasani al-Idrisi. Through his mother, Hafsah bint Muhammad ibn Knanbar, his maternal ancestry traces back to Mawlay 'Amir Abi al-Siba' and through him to Idris II (al-Idris al-Asghar) and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. In doctrinal affiliation, he identified as an Ash'ari theologian adhering to the Maliki legal school.
Education and Transmission
Al-Majlisi received his legal education within the traditional Mauritanian scholarly network. Among his direct teachers in jurisprudence was Ahmad Babu al-Siddiqi, who linked him through chains of transmission to earlier Western Islamic authorities such as al-Amin ibn al-Mukhtar al-Ya'qubi and 'Ali al-Ajhuri.
Standing and Scholarly Contribution
Al-Majlisi was widely revered among the scholars of the Shinqit region for his rigorous scrupulousness and erudition. When scholars in western Mauritania proposed the ideal scholar as possessing the Arabic of Muhammad ibn al-Talabah, the legal mastery of al-Judud ibn Uktushni, the acumen of Muhammad Mahmud ibn Hubb Allah, the auxiliary sciences of Muhannad Babah ibn 'Ubayd, and the piety of Muhammad ibn Muhammad Salim, the prominent scholar Shaykh Sidiyya al-Kabir commented: "Al-Majlisi won," recognizing his preeminence in spiritual scrupulousness.
The Mauritanian scholar Muhammad al-Mami lauded him in verse for unveiling the obscure complexities of Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Jundi's Mukhtasar. His commentary, Lawami' al-Durar fi Hatk Astar al-Mukhtasar, became an extensive reference work across the region, noted by Ahmad ibn al-Amin al-Shinqiti as spanning ten large volumes and deeply influencing generations of Maliki jurists. In Hadith, he composed al-Nahr al-Jari, a fourteen-volume commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari.
Death
Al-Majlisi died in 1302 AH (1884–1885 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
Lawami al-Durar fi Hatk Astar al-Mukhtasar (The Brilliant Pearls in Unveiling the Mukhtasar) is an extensive commentary on Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Jundi's Maliki legal manual Mukhtasar Khalil. Serving as an exhaustive reference in Maliki jurisprudence, the work unpacks the concise and dense wording of Khalil's text, treating subjects ranging from acts of worship to transactional law.