Zayn al-Din Ibn al-Muwaffaq
- Died
- 615 AH
- Born in
- -
Zayn al-Din Ibn al-Muwaffaq (d. 615 AH / 1218 CE) was an Egyptian Shafi'i jurist, preacher, and the author of Murshid al-Zuwar ila Qubur al-Abrar, a foundational topographical guide to the shrines and cemeteries of Cairo.
Identity and Family
His full name is recorded as Muwaffaq al-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Haram Makki ibn Uthman al-Shari'i al-Shafi'i, tracing his lineage to the Companion Sa'd ibn Ubadah al-Ansari. In scholarly literature and manuscript copies, he is also referred to as Zayn al-Din Uthman ibn al-Muwaffaq, Muwaffaq al-Din ibn Uthman, Abd al-Rahman al-Muwaffaq, and Ibn Uthman. He belonged to an established family of scholars; his father, the jurist Abu al-Haram Makki, was known by the epithet "al-Shafi'i al-Saghir" (the Younger Shafi'i), and his brother was the jurist Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Mun'im, also called Abu al-Barakat.
Scholarly Life and Standing
Standard biographical dictionaries preserved few details regarding his life, noting primarily that he was a jurist who practiced preaching, composed poetry, and maintained a close friendship with the hadith scholar Abd al-Azim al-Mundhiri. Among his prominent contemporaries were Ibn Khallikan, the Sufi poet Umar Ibn al-Farid, Abu al-Qasim al-Shatibi, and the Ayyubid vizier al-Qadi al-Fadil.
He is primarily recognized for Murshid al-Zuwar ila Qubur al-Abrar (Guide for Visitors to the Graves of the Pious), also titled al-Durr al-Munazzam fi Ziyarat al-Jabal al-Muqattam, which detailed the burial places and biographies of figures interred across Mount al-Muqattam and the Greater and Lesser Qarafa cemeteries. He also authored a work on comparative jurisprudence entitled Ghayat al-Mudarrisin bi-l-Mashariq wa-l-Magharib fi al-Arba'ah Madhahib (The Ultimate Aim of Teachers in the East and West on the Four Schools of Law). His biographical and topographical surveys were widely cited by subsequent Egyptian chroniclers, including Ibn al-Zayyat in al-Kawakib al-Sayyarah, Ibn Taghribirdi in al-Nujum al-Zahirah, and al-Maqrizi in al-Mawa'iz wa-l-I'tibar.
Death
Ibn al-Muwaffaq died on 24 Rajab 615 AH (1218 CE). He was buried in Cairo at the family plot, Turbat Bani Uthman, next to his father and brother.
Answer updated
List of Works
Murshid al-Zuwar ila Qubur al-Abrar (Guide for Visitors to the Graves of the Pious), also titled al-Durr al-Munazzam fi Ziyarat al-Jabal al-Muqattam, is a topographical and biographical guide to the shrines and cemeteries of Cairo. It provides a historical survey and pilgrimage guide to the tombs situated across Mount al-Muqattam and the Greater and Lesser Qarafa cemeteries, covering the period from the Muslim conquest of Egypt through the Ayyubid era.