Yusuf Afandi Zada al-Amasi
- Died
- 1167 AH
- Born in
- -
Yusuf Afandi Zada al-Amasi (1085–1167 AH / 1674–1754 CE) was an Ottoman Hanafi scholar of Qur'anic recitation, hadith, and Quranic exegesis, best known for his extensive commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, titled Najah al-Qari.
Background and Education
His full name was Abu Muhammad 'Abdullah Hilmi ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Rumi al-Islambuli al-Amasi, commonly referred to as Yusuf Afandi Zada, Yusuf Zada, or 'Abdullah Hilmi. While some biographical dictionaries record his great-grandfather as 'Abd al-Mannan, his own transmitted chains of authority record the name as 'Abd al-Rahman. He was born in Amasya in 1085 AH (1674 CE; another report gives 1086 AH).
He began his early education under his father, Muhammad ibn Yusuf, studying foundational texts and reading the Qur'an according to the various canonical transmissions through standard manuals such as al-Shatibiyya, Abu 'Amr al-Dani's al-Taysir, and Ibn al-Jazari's Tayyibat al-Nashr. He subsequently studied hadith under Qara Khalil (Khalil ibn Hasan al-Birkili, d. 1123 AH), with whom he read Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Nukhbat al-Fikar and portions of Sahih al-Bukhari, and studied Qur'anic recitations under 'Ali al-Mansuri (d. 1134 AH), the chief reciter of Istanbul. He also studied under Sulayman al-Fadil ibn Ahmad (d. 1134 AH), the shaykh of Hagia Sophia.
Scholarly Standing and Career
He was widely acknowledged as a leading authority in the Qur'anic reading traditions, earning the titles Ra'is al-Qurra' and Shaykh al-Qurra' (Chief of Reciters) across the Ottoman lands. He also engaged in theology, preaching, and logic, and composed verse in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. In Istanbul, he established ties with the Ottoman sultans Ahmed III and Mahmud I, both of whom held him in high esteem.
Numerous students studied under him, including Ahmad al-Rashidi, who took the ten recitations from him, and Muhammad al-Amin ibn Yusuf al-Antali. Scholars from Egypt, the Hijaz, Syria, and India sought his teaching licenses (ijazas), particularly in the science of Qur'anic recitation. Among his writings in recitation was al-I'tilaf fi Wujuh al-Ikhtilaf, and in hadith he authored an unfinished multi-volume commentary on Sahih Muslim titled 'Inayat al-Mun'im alongside his major commentary Najah al-Qari.
Death
He died in Istanbul in 1167 AH (1754 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
Najah al-Qari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari – Kitab al-Janaiz is the funeral section of an expansive multi-volume commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari. It covers the entirety of al-Bukhari's chapters on funeral rites, death, and burial practices, following the original sequence and chapter headings while examining textual variations, transmission chains, and comparative legal jurisprudence.