al-Uqud al-Durriyya fi Manaqib Ibn Taymiyya
- Author died
- 744 AH
- Editions
- t al-Faqi · T Atayat al-Ilm
al-Uqud al-Durriyya fi Manaqib Ibn Taymiyya (The Luminous Necklaces on the Virtues of Ibn Taymiyya) is a biographical work by the Damascene Hanbali scholar Ibn Abd al-Hadi (d. 744 AH / 1343 CE), dedicated to the biography, scholarly merits, and bibliographic corpus of his teacher, Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) .
Title and Authorship
The book was authored by the traditionist and jurist Shams al-Din Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abd al-Hadi al-Maqdisi . In the opening lines, the author describes the work as a concise treatise recounting the condition, merits, and writings of Ibn Taymiyya . Early manuscript copies and historical references recorded variant forms of the title, such as al-Uqud al-Durriyya min Manaqib Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya and al-Uqud al-Durriyya fi Dhikr Ba'd Manaqib Ibn Taymiyya, while some early authorities and manuscripts referred to it descriptively by its introductory statement .
Content and Structure
The work provides a comprehensive narrative of Ibn Taymiyya’s life, incorporating documentary records, testimonies, and personal observations . Ibn Abd al-Hadi draws directly from his own time as Ibn Taymiyya's student, noting that he attended his lessons at the Hanbaliyya madrasa and at his school in al-Qassasin, where he read portions of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's al-Arba'in fi Usul al-Din under him .
The contents of the book encompass several key areas:
- Lineage and Early Life: Ibn Taymiyya's genealogy, birth in Harran, upbringing, migration to Damascus, and his early education under various masters .
- Scholarly Output: A detailed inventory of Ibn Taymiyya's major compositions, describing their volume sizes, subject matter, and textual transmission—including works such as Dar' Ta'arud al-Aql wa-l-Naql and Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyya .
- Controversies and Trials: Detailed documentation of the inquisitions and disputes faced by Ibn Taymiyya over his theological treatises, such as al-Fatwa al-Hamawiyya and al-Aqida al-Wasitiyya, as well as his legal stances on conditional divorce and travel to graves .
- Praise and Testimonials: Commendations, biographical notices, and poetic eulogies by contemporary scholars, including Abu al-Hajjaj al-Mizzi, Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, and Ibn al-Zamlakani .
Reception and Significance
al-Uqud al-Durriyya is regarded as the longest and most detailed contemporary biography of Ibn Taymiyya to survive alongside Abu Hafs al-Bazzar's al-A'lam al-Aliyya . Ibn Abd al-Hadi's teacher, the hadith master al-Mizzi, endorsed the work and penned a title inscription over it .
Subsequent historians and Hanbali biographers utilized it as a primary source for Ibn Taymiyya’s life, including Ibn Rajab in Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila, Ibn Nasir al-Din in al-Radd al-Wafir, Ibn Tulun in al-Qala'id al-Jawhariyya, Mujir al-Din al-Ulaymi in al-Manhaj al-Ahmad and al-Durr al-Mundad, and Mari ibn Yusuf al-Karmi in al-Shahada al-Zakiyya and al-Kawakib al-Durriyya .
Editions
The work was first edited and printed in 1356 AH (1938 CE) by Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi under the title al-Uqud al-Durriyya min Manaqib Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya . It was subsequently published in multiple editions, including one edited by Tal'at Fu'ad, an edition by Muhammad al-Julaynd under the title al-Intisar fi Dhikr Qami al-Mubtadi'in wa-Akhir al-Mujtahidin, and a critical edition by Ali ibn Muhammad al-Umran .
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