Muhibb al-Din al-Tabari
- Died
- 694 AH
- Born in
- Mecca
Muhibb al-Din al-Tabari (615–694 AH / 1218–1295 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar based in Mecca, regarded as the leading hadith authority of the Hijaz and known for his biographical and legal compilations al-Riyad al-Nadra fi Manaqib al-Ashara and Dhakhair al-Uqba fi Manaqib Dhawi al-Qurba.
Life and education
His full lineage is Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Tabari al-Makki, bearing the primary kunya Abu al-Abbas, with Abu Ja'far and Abu Muhammad also reported. He was born in Mecca in Jumada al-Akhira 615 AH (with specific reports giving Thursday, 27 Jumada al-Akhira, or 25 Jumada al-Akhira in his own handwriting; alternative birth years of 611 AH and 616 AH are also recorded).
He was raised in Mecca, where he began his studies in hadith under prominent scholars, including Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Muqayyir, Abu al-Hasan ibn al-Jummayzi, Shu'ayb al-Za'farani, Sharaf al-Din Abu al-Fadl al-Mursi, and his father's paternal uncles Taqi al-Din Ali and Ya'qub ibn Abi Bakr al-Tabari. He traveled to Qus in Upper Egypt to study Shafi'i jurisprudence under Majd al-Din al-Qushayri.
Al-Tabari served as the head scholar of the Sacred Sanctuary (Shaykh al-Haram) in Mecca, where he issued legal rulings and taught. The Rasulid sultan of Yemen, al-Malik al-Muzaffar, invited him to his court, where al-Tabari spent time reciting hadith and presenting his comprehensive multi-volume legal collection al-Ahkam al-Kubra; during his stay in Yemen, he composed verses expressing his longing to return to Mecca.
Among his notable students were Sharaf al-Din al-Dimyati, al-Birzali, Ibn al-Attar, and Ibn al-Khabbaz, as well as his son Jamal al-Din Muhammad and his grandson Najm al-Din. He also granted written transmission licenses (ijazat) to later scholars, including Ibn Rushayd al-Fihri.
Scholarly standing and reception
Biographers characterized al-Tabari as an ascetic and devout scholar who led the Shafi'i jurists and hadith scholars of the Hijaz in his generation. In his evaluation of al-Tabari's extensive legal compilation al-Ahkam al-Mabsuta, Ibn Kathir praised his broad scope and compilation of authentic (sahih) and good (hasan) traditions, while observing that he occasionally incorporated weak narrations without alerting the reader to their weakness.
Death
Al-Tabari died in Mecca in Jumada al-Akhira 694 AH (1295 CE). His son Jamal al-Din Muhammad, who served as judge of Mecca, died only days before him.
Answer updated
List of Works
Dhakhair al-Uqba fi Manaqib Dhawi al-Qurba (The Treasures of the Hereafter Regarding the Merits of the Kinfolk) is a biographical and hadith compilation dedicated to the virtues, rights, and individual merits of the family and relatives of the Prophet Muhammad.
al-Riyad al-Nadra fi Manaqib al-Ashara (The Verdant Gardens on the Merits of the Ten), also known as al-Riyad al-Nadra fi Fada'il al-Ashara, is a biographical compilation devoted to the collective and individual virtues, distinctions, and merits of the ten companions promised Paradise.
Khulasat Siyar Sayyid al-Bashar (The Epitome of the Biography of the Master of Mankind), also recorded as Khulasat al-Ibar fi Siyar Sayyid al-Bashar, is a concise biographical work that summarizes the life, attributes, relations, and material world of the Prophet Muhammad.