Taqi al-Din al-Balabakki
- Died
- 768 AH
- Born in
- Baalbek
Taqi al-Din al-Balabakki (701–768 AH / 1302–1366 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist, hadith scholar, and judge from Baalbek who held judicial offices in Baalbek, Homs, and Tripoli.
Name and Early Life
His full name was Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Isa ibn Mahmud (also recorded as Muhammad) ibn Abd al-Dayf (or Abd al-Latif) ibn Abi Abd Allah al-Ansari al-Shafi'i al-Ba'labakki, and he was commonly known as Taqi al-Din Ibn al-Majd. He was born in Baalbek in the month of Rajab 701 AH. Both he and his father served as judges in Baalbek.
Education and Scholarly Career
He began his formal audition of hadith as a child around 706 AH. He studied jurisprudence under his father, Mu'in al-Din, and received hadith transmissions from teachers including Muhammad ibn Sharaf (or Ibn Musharraf), Isa al-Mut'im, Qadi Sulayman, Abu Bakr ibn Abd al-Da'im, Ismail ibn Maktum, and Sitt al-Wuzara' bint Umar ibn al-Munajja. He became proficient in Shafi'i jurisprudence, memorized names of narrators, practiced disputation, and engaged in preaching, teaching, and issuing legal rulings. He also engaged in commercial trade, travelling to Baghdad and Egypt.
Students compiled a mashyakha (teachers' catalog) for him. Among those who narrated hadith from him were Abu al-Mahasin al-Husayni, Abu Muhammad ibn al-Sharayhi, and Imad al-Din Ismail ibn Bardis.
Public Offices and Reception
He was appointed judge of Baalbek, and later succeeded his father as judge of Tripoli. After being dismissed from Tripoli, he went to Egypt and subsequently returned to Baalbek to teach at the Nuriyya madrasa after experiencing financial loss. When he was reinstated to the judgeship of Baalbek, local residents sought his removal, but the chief judge Taqi al-Din al-Subki did not consent to their demands. He retained the post until Rabi' al-Awwal 763 AH, when he was transferred to Homs; two months later he was returned to Baalbek before being dismissed from both the judgeship and his teaching post.
Ibn Kathir noted his broad knowledge across various disciplines and his substantial wealth. Ibn Habib described him as an eloquent speaker and skilled debater in public assemblies. Ibn Fahd praised him as one of the firmly grounded scholars and established hadith masters. Conversely, al-Dhahabi recorded reservations regarding his conduct in office, and al-Husayni commented that his conduct was not praised.
Death
He died in Baalbek in 768 AH. Ibn Fahd places his death on either the 13th or 17th of al-Muharram 768 AH, whereas another report dates it to Dhu al-Hijja of the same year.
Answer updated
List of Works
Hadith al-Taqi ibn al-Majd is a specialized Hadith collection (juzʾ hadithi) containing transmissions narrated by the Shafiʿi jurist and judge Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿIsa al-Baʿlabakki, known as Taqi al-Din ibn al-Majd. The work consists of traditions extracted and arranged directly from his highest-linked hearings so that they could be transmitted to students of Hadith.