Muhammad Khalil al-Muradi
- Died
- 1206 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Muhammad Khalil al-Muradi (1173–1206 AH / 1760–1791 CE) was a Syrian Hanafi jurist, historian, and mufti of Damascus, best known for his biographical dictionary Silk al-Durar fi Ayan al-Qarn al-Thani Ashar.
Lineage and Early Life
His full lineage is Abu al-Fadl Muhammad Khalil ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad Murad al-Husayni al-Muradi. Tracing his family origins to Bukhara, he was born and raised in Damascus in 1173 AH (1760 CE). He was affiliated with the Hanafi school of jurisprudence and the Naqshbandi Sufi order. His father, Ali al-Muradi, was also a prominent scholar, poet, and writer who had held the Hanafi muftiship of Damascus.
Public Offices and Scholarly Career
Al-Muradi attained major scholarly and civic positions in Damascus. He was appointed to the post of Hanafi mufti of Damascus in 1192 AH and was subsequently named the syndic of the nobility (naqib al-ashraf) of the city in 1200 AH. He engaged in mutual transmission of hadith (tadbij) with contemporary scholars, including Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Uqayli al-Halabi.
Al-Muradi gained significant recognition as a historian through his four-volume biographical compilation Silk al-Durar fi Ayan al-Qarn al-Thani Ashar (The String of Pearls Concerning the Notables of the Twelfth Century), which documented prominent contemporaries of the twelfth Islamic century. He also compiled institutional histories, including Urf al-Basham fi-man Waliya Fatwa Dimashq al-Sham, which recorded the biographies of the Hanafi muftis of Damascus beginning from the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Selim.
Departure and Death
In 1205 AH, events arose in Damascus that compelled al-Muradi to depart for Aleppo. He remained in Aleppo until his death there in 1206 AH (1791 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
Silk al-Durar fi Ayan al-Qarn al-Thani Ashar (The String of Pearls Concerning the Notables of the Twelfth Century) is a four-volume biographical dictionary. It records the lives of prominent scholars, jurists, poets, state officials, and notables who lived or died during the twelfth Islamic century (18th century CE).