Shams al-Din al-Safiri
- Died
- 956 AH
- Born in
- Aleppo
Shams al-Din al-Safiri (877–956 AH / 1472–1549 CE) was a Syrian Shafi'i jurist, preacher, and hadith scholar from Aleppo, best known for his homiletic commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari titled al-Majalis al-Wa'ziyya fi Sharh Ahadith Khayr al-Bariyya.
Early Life and Education
His full name was Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Din ibn Shihab al-Din al-Safiri al-Halabi al-Shafi'i. A manuscript copyist's note also lists his lineage as Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Din ibn Shihab al-Din. He was born in Aleppo in 877 AH (1472/1473 CE). During his youth in Aleppo, he met and kept company with the Sufi master Abd al-Qadir al-Dashtuti, and in his old age he associated with Shihab al-Din Antaki.
Al-Safiri received his training from many leading scholars of his day. In Aleppo, he studied diverse subjects under al-Ala' al-Mawsili and al-Badr al-Suyufi, and studied theology under al-Kamal Ibn Abi Sharif. He accompanied his teacher's brother, Ibrahim Ibn Abi Sharif, to Damascus, where he received an authorization (ijazah), and after returning to Aleppo read under him the abridgment of al-Risala al-Qushayriyya. He also studied logic under al-Bazili, arithmetic under Abu al-Fadl al-Dimashqi, and Quranic recitation commentary under Muhammad al-Dadikhi. Additionally, he took knowledge in Aleppo from the Egyptian Shafi'i chief judge Kamal al-Din al-Tawil and Mulla Khalil al-Shafi'i, and transmitted extensively from Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti. In 927 AH (1521 CE), al-Safiri traveled to Cairo, where he met Zakariyya al-Ansari and attended his funeral prayer later that year, while also meeting scholars such as Nur al-Din al-Buhayri.
Teaching Career and Students
Al-Safiri held prominent teaching appointments across Aleppo, including chairs at the Great Mosque of Aleppo, the 'Asruniyya madrasa, the Saffahiyya madrasa, and the Mosque of Taghribirdi. Among his writings was a legal treatise on the status of children in Islamic law titled Tuhfat al-Akhyar fi Hukm Atfal al-Muslimin wa-al-Kuffar.
A number of scholars studied under him or received his ijazah, including the Hanbali chief judge Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Tadafi, the historian Ibn al-Hanbali, and the Medina-based scholar of Quranic recitations Abd al-Aziz al-Miknasi.
Death
Al-Safiri died in 956 AH (1549 CE). A divergent report by Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi dates his death earlier to 939 AH (1533 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Majālis al-Waʿẓiyya fī Sharḥ Aḥādīth Khayr al-Bariyya, commonly known as Sharḥ al-Bukhārī lil-Safīrī, is a homiletic commentary on selected hadiths of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Organized into thematic admonitory sessions, the work combines scholarly linguistic and legal exegesis across Sunni jurisprudence with sermons, poetry, and ethical exhortations to inspire spiritual devotion.