Rizq Allah al-Tamimi
- Died
- 488 AH
- Born in
- Baghdad
Abu Muhammad Rizq Allah al-Tamimi (400 or 401–488 AH / 1009 or 1010–1095 CE) was a Baghdadi Hanbali jurist, preacher, hadith transmitter, and Quran reciter who served as the leading Hanbali scholar and elder of Iraq in his era .
Lineage and Early Life
His full lineage is given as Rizq Allah ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Harith ibn Asad ibn al-Layth ibn Sulayman ibn al-Aswad ibn Sufyan ibn Yazid ibn Ukaynah ibn al-Haytham ibn Abd Allah al-Tamimi . His maternal grandfather was the Quranic scholar Abu al-Qasim Hibat Allah ibn Salamah . His family claimed that his ancestor Abd Allah, formerly named Abd al-Lat before converting, was dispatched by the Prophet ﷺ to al-Yamamah and Bahrain .
Accounts vary regarding his birth year: he reportedly stated to Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Salamah al-Ruhani that he was born in 396 AH , whereas Muhammad ibn al-Farra recorded it as 400 AH or 401 AH, and Abd al-Wahhab ibn al-Mubarak gave 400 AH .
Education and Scholarly Career
Al-Tamimi studied the Quran under Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Umar al-Hammami in 417 AH and recited Surat al-Baqarah to Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Khaffaf, a student of Ibn Mujahid . In Hanbali jurisprudence, he trained under his father Abu al-Faraj Abd al-Wahhab, his uncle Abu al-Fadl Abd al-Wahid, and Qadi Abu Ali ibn Abi Musa al-Hashimi . He heard hadith from his father and uncle, as well as Abu Umar Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad ibn Mahdi al-Farisi, Abu Ali Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Bardani, Abu al-Husayn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Bishran, and Abu al-Husayn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mutayyam al-Wa'iz .
He taught Quranic recitation, law, and hadith in Baghdad and became renowned for his preaching assemblies and knowledge of theological discourse (kalam) and legal theory (usul) . In 458 AH, he traveled as an emissary to Hamadhan and Isfahan, where he dictated hadith sessions (amali) . Among his writings in substantive law was Sharh al-Irshad ("Commentary on the Guidance") .
Numerous scholars studied under him or narrated from him, including Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Sadafi, Abu al-Karam al-Shahrazuri, Muhammad ibn al-Khadir al-Mahwali, and Abu al-Fath ibn al-Batti, his last direct transmitter in Baghdad, as well as Abu Tahir al-Silafi by general license (ijazah) . His sons, Abu al-Fadl Abd al-Wahhab and Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Wahid, were also scholars and preachers .
Standing
Contemporary and later biographers praised his erudition, eloquence, and dignified presence. The hadith scholar Muhammad ibn Nasir described him by the honorific Jamal al-Islam ("the Beauty of Islam") and considered him a source of pride for Iraq and the wider Muslim world . Al-Sadafi remarked that he met no one equal to him in Baghdad, praising his virtue and complete mastery . Abu al-Fadl ibn Attaf al-Mawsili praised him as having the finest tongue and clearest exposition among those he met in Baghdad, noting his expertise in theological matters and his truthfulness .
Death
Al-Tamimi died on the night preceding Tuesday, 15 Jumada al-Ula 488 AH, at the age of eighty-eight . He was initially buried the following morning in his residence at Bab al-Maratib in Baghdad, with his eldest son Abd al-Wahhab leading the funeral prayer . In Jumada al-Akhirah 491 AH, upon the death of his son Abd al-Wahhab, his body was exhumed and reinterred at the cemetery of Bab Harb beside the tomb of Ahmad ibn Hanbal .
Answer updated
List of Works
Masmuat Abi Muhammad Rizq Allah al-Tamimi is a hadith tract (juzʾ) compiling prophetic traditions and narrations received through direct audition or reading with teachers in Baghdad. The collection spans various ritual, theological, and ethical subjects, alongside non-prophetic reports, wisdom sayings, and supplications.