Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi
- Died
- 1061 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi (977–1061 AH / 1570–1651 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist, hadith scholar, and historian based in Damascus, best known for his biographical dictionary of tenth-century figures, al-Kawakib al-Saira bi-Ayan al-Mia al-Ashira ("The Orbiting Planets among the Notables of the Tenth Century") .
Lineage and early life
He was Abu al-Makarim (and Abu al-Su'ud) Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Mufarrij ibn Badr al-'Amiri al-Ghazzi al-Dimashqi al-Shafi'i, tracing his lineage back to 'Amir ibn Lu'ayy . He was born in Damascus at midday on Wednesday, 11 Sha'ban 977 AH, though another report records the date as 21 Sha'ban 977 AH .
His father was the Shafi'i scholar Badr al-Din al-Ghazzi (d. 984 AH), who recorded his birth and prayed for him to become a righteous, practicing scholar . Raised under his father's tutelage until the age of six, he recited the shorter chapters of the Quran to him, and on Eid al-Fitr in the year of his father's death, he read the opening of Surah al-Baqarah before him .
Education and career
Al-Ghazzi pursued his studies under several prominent scholars in Damascus, including Shihab al-Din al-'Ithawi, Zayn al-Din Umar ibn Sultan (the Hanafi mufti), Yahya al-'Ammari, 'Uthman al-Yamani, and Muhibb al-Din al-Hanafi . Al-'Ithawi granted him authorization to issue legal responsa (ifta) . He was also affiliated with the Qadiri Sufi order, following the spiritual lineage of his family .
He subsequently took up teaching and recitation circles in Damascus, lecturing at the Shamiyyah and 'Umariyyah madrasas . His students included Muhammad Amin al-Muhibbi, Shams al-Din al-Babili, and Najm al-Din al-Faradi (Muhammad Yahya al-Halabi) .
Scholarly standing
Al-Ghazzi came to be regarded as the leading hadith scholar (muhaddith) and chief authority on transmission (musnid) in Damascus and the Levant, distinguished by his elevated chains of transmission (uluww al-isnad) that connected later generations of Levantine scholars back to classical authorities through his father and Zakariyya al-Ansari .
In addition to his biographical dictionary of the tenth century, he authored Lutf al-samar wa-qatf al-thamar, which documented the first generation of eleventh-century notables, and composed Husn al-Tanabbuh lima warada fi al-Tashabbuh, an encyclopedic ethical treatise examining religious and moral emulation .
Death
Al-Ghazzi died in Damascus in 1061 AH (1651 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Husn al-Tanabbuh lima warada fi al-Tashabbuh is an extensive encyclopedic work on religious and moral imitation (tashabbuh). It synthesizes Quranic exegesis, Hadith, Shafi'i jurisprudence, ethical guidance, and homiletics to delineate who Muslims are commanded to emulate and who they are prohibited from imitating.
Itqan ma yahsun min al-akhbar al-daira ala al-alsun is a reference work on popular and commonly circulating sayings and hadiths. It critically assesses statements widely repeated among the populace and attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, drawing together material from earlier compilations along with additional circulating reports.
al-Kawakib al-Saira bi-Ayan al-Mia al-Ashira is a major biographical dictionary documenting prominent figures who died during the tenth century of the Islamic calendar. It covers scholars, notables, officials, and Sufis across Damascus, Aleppo, the Levant, Cairo, Mecca, Medina, and the Ottoman imperial court.