Yusuf ibn Majid ibn Abi al-Majd al-Maqdisi
- Died
- 783 AH
- Born in
- -
Yusuf ibn Majid ibn Abi al-Majd al-Maqdisi (d. 783 AH / 1381 CE) was a Hanbali jurist and traditionist from Marda, best known for his legal hadith collection al-Muqarrar 'ala Abwab al-Muharrar.
Name and Education
His full lineage is Jamal al-Din Abu al-Abbas Yusuf ibn Majid ibn Abi al-Majd ibn Abd al-Khaliq al-Mardawi al-Maqdisi al-Hanbali; he is also titled Wali al-Din in some biographical records. He studied and transmitted hadith from several prominent authorities of his era, including al-Hajjar, Ibn al-Radi, al-Sharaf ibn al-Hafiz, and Ibn al-Shahna. He accompanied Ibn Taymiyya and became deeply influenced by his scholarship and methodology, devoting substantial attention to his works.
Adherence to Ibn Taymiyya and Trials
Al-Mardawi was an ardent champion of Ibn Taymiyya's doctrinal and legal positions, persevering in issuing rulings in accordance with them, particularly on contested matters of divorce (talaq). Because of his public defense of these legal opinions, he was subjected to repeated inquisitorial trials and was imprisoned, yet he refused to recant his positions. His commitment was noted for its fervor; upon learning that the scholar Ibn al-Misri (referred to as Baha' al-Din or Shihab al-Din) was criticizing Ibn Taymiyya during a lecture in the congregational mosque, al-Mardawi confronted him, struck him by hand, and publicly humiliated him.
Scholarly Contributions
Al-Mardawi was recognized as an accomplished jurist and mufti within the Hanbali school. In legal literature, he contributed a supercommentary titled al-Nihaya fi Tashih al-Furu' to Ibn Muflih's foundational Hanbali treatise Kitab al-Furu'. He also composed al-Muqarrar 'ala Abwab al-Muharrar, in which he gathered and documented the evidentiary legal hadiths aligned with the topical arrangement of Majd al-Din Ibn Taymiyya's legal manual al-Muharrar fi al-Fiqh. Assessing his legal writing, Ibn Abd al-Hadi noted that al-Mardawi recorded extensive divergent opinions, and that while his jurisprudence contained fine observations, it also included certain errors and frequently cited disputes using the disjunctive phrasing "or" (aw).
Death
Al-Mardawi died on 19 Safar 783 AH (15 May 1381 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Muqarrar 'ala Abwab al-Muharrar is a compendium of legal hadiths (ahadith al-ahkam). It arranges evidentiary prophetic traditions according to the chapter headings of al-Muharrar, a Hanbali legal manual by Majd al-Din Abu al-Barakat Ibn Taymiyya, providing the scriptural proofs that correspond to each legal chapter.