Muhammad Zabara
- Died
- 1381 AH
- Born in
- Sanaa
Muhammad Zabara (1301–1381 AH / 1884–1961 CE) was a Yemeni historian and scholar from Sanaa, best known for his biographical dictionaries of Yemen, including Nayl al-watar and Nashr al-arf .
Life and career
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya Zabara al-Hasani was born and raised in Sanaa, where he lived throughout his life . During the reign of Imam Yahya, he held official standing and served as the commander of the Sa'id Palace (Amir al-Qasr al-Sa'id) in Sanaa . He died in Sanaa in 1381 AH (1961 CE) .
Scholarly activity and transmission
Zabara was deeply engaged in recording the history and biographies of Yemeni scholars, dignitaries, and imams across multiple centuries . Among his major biographical works is Nayl al-watar min tarajim rijal al-Yaman fi al-qarn al-thalith 'ashar ("Attaining the Desired Object in the Biographies of the Men of Yemen in the Thirteenth Century"), a two-volume biographical dictionary covering notable thirteenth-century AH figures, as well as the two-volume collection Nashr al-arf li-nubala' al-Yaman ba'd al-alf ("Spreading the Fragrance of the Nobles of Yemen after the Year 1000") . He also compiled a biographical appendix supplementing figures omitted by al-Shawkani .
In the transmission of knowledge, Zabara received general licenses of narration (ijazat) from his own teachers as well as from prominent scholars in Egypt, Mecca, and Baghdad . He subsequently transmitted these narrations and granted broad licenses to contemporary students of knowledge, including the Yemeni jurist Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Amrani .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Mulhaq al-Tabi lil-Badr al-Tali bi-Mahasin man Bad al-Qarn al-Sabi is a biographical dictionary serving as an appendix to Muhammad ibn Ali al-Shawkani's al-Badr al-Tali bi-Mahasin man Bad al-Qarn al-Sabi. Its purpose is to supply biographical entries for notable Yemeni figures active between the end of the seventh century AH and the middle of the twelfth century AH whom al-Shawkani omitted.