Sulayman al-Jamzuri

Sulayman al-Jamzuri (b. c. 1160s AH / 1750s CE, d. after 1209 AH / 1794 CE) was an Egyptian Shafi'i jurist and scholar of Quranic recitation, best known for his didactic poem on tajwid, Tuhfat al-Atfal Hidayat al-Qari ila Tajwi…+1.

Lineage and early life

He was Sulayman ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Jamzuri Hidayat al-Qari ila Tajwi…+1. His nisba derives from Jamzur, the village of his father Imta al-Fudala bi-Tarajim…+1. He was born in Tanta (historically vocalized as Tandata), Egypt, in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal in the 1160s AH Hidayat al-Qari ila Tajwi…+1. He was widely known by the Turkish honorific title al-Afandi, which was conferred upon him by his teacher Mujahid al-Ahmadi Hidayat al-Qari ila Tajwi…+1.

Education and teachers

Al-Jamzuri adhered to the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence and maintained spiritual affiliations with both the Ahmadiyya and Shadhili Sufi orders Hidayat al-Qari ila Tajwi…+1. He studied Islamic jurisprudence under numerous scholars in Tanta Hidayat al-Qari ila Tajwi…+1. In Quranic studies, he studied recitation and tajwid under the prominent scholar Nur al-Din Ali al-Mihi (d. 1204 AH), from whom he received the Ten Recitations via the pathways of Hirz al-Amani (al-Shatibiyya) and al-Durra al-Madiyya al-Tiraz al-Marqoom lil-J…+1. He was also a disciple of Sidi Mujahid al-Ahmadi Hidayat al-Qari ila Tajwi…+1.

Scholarly contribution and standing

Biographers note al-Jamzuri for his humility, gentleness toward his peers, and deep reverence for his teachers, particularly al-Mihi al-Tiraz al-Marqoom lil-J…. His primary pedagogical contribution lay in distilling foundational Quranic recitation rules into concise didactic poetry Mujam Ulum al-Quran. In 1198 AH (1784 CE), he completed his celebrated 61-verse rajaz poem Tuhfat al-Atfal wal-Ghilman fi Tajwid al-Quran ("The Gift for Children and Youths on the Rules of Quranic Recitation"), which covers fundamental tajwid topics such as the rules of nunation (nun sakina and tanwin), silent mim, and elongation (madd) Mujam al-Muallifin+1. He later composed his own explanatory commentary on the text, titled Fath al-Aqfal bi-Sharh Tuhfat al-Atfal Hidayat al-Qari ila Tajwi…+1. In Shafi'i jurisprudence, he authored al-Tiraz al-Marqum bi-Sharh al-Durr al-Manzum, a treatise addressing the rulings of congregational prayer for excused followers and latecomers al-Tiraz al-Marqoom lil-J….

Death

The precise date of al-Jamzuri's death is unrecorded in biographical dictionaries Mujam Ulum al-Quran. He was documented as alive in 1198 AH (1784 CE) upon finishing his poem, and subsequent manuscript records attest to him being alive into the early thirteenth century AH, surviving beyond 1209 AH (c. 1794 CE) and as late as 1213 AH Mujam al-Muallifin+1.