Fihrisat Ali ibn Khalifa al-Masakini

Fihrisat Ali ibn Khalifa al-Masakini is a register of scholarly transmissions (fihrisa) compiled by the Tunisian Maliki jurist and Sufi Ali ibn Khalifa al-Masakini (1080–1172 AH / 1669–1758 CE; another source records his death in 1178 AH at ninety-two years of age) Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T…+1. The work documents his education, scholarly licenses (ijāzāt), and chains of transmission (asānīd) received from his teachers across Tunisia and Egypt Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy….

Background and Author

Ali ibn Khalifa al-Husayni al-Sharif was born in the town of Msaken in the coastal Sahel region of Tunisia Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T…. He initially studied in Sfax at the zāwiya of Ali al-Nuri, remaining with him for five years and receiving a general license covering all of al-Nuri's transmissions and chains Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1.

In 1101 AH, during the late eleventh century, al-Masakini traveled to Egypt to pursue his studies at al-Azhar Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1. While there, he transcribed a copy of his teacher Ibrahim al-Shubrakhiti's commentary on Mukhtasar Khalil and collated it against the original text with the author prior to al-Shubrakhiti suffering from hemiplegia Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1. After completing his studies, al-Masakini returned to Msaken, where he established olive groves as an endowment and taught various Islamic disciplines at his father's zāwiya Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T….

Content and Scholarly Chains

The Fihrisa compiles the authorities from whom al-Masakini received transmission licenses and enumerates his chains for major texts across various disciplines Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1. In addition to Ali al-Nuri, it records his Egyptian instructors and what he read with them, including:

• In hadith, Maliki jurisprudence, and grammar: Muhammad al-Khurashi, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Baqi al-Zurqani, Ibrahim al-Shubrakhiti (who licensed him in Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and Mukhtasar Khalil), Ibrahim al-Fayyumi, Ahmad al-Nafrawi, and Ahmad al-Laqqani Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1.
• In hadith and rhetoric (maʿānī and bayān): Khalil al-Laqqani, Ahmad ibn al-Faqih al-Shafi'i, and Abd al-Ra'uf al-Bishbishi al-Shafi'i Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T….
• In Quranic recitations (qirāʾāt): Ahmad al-Baqari Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T….
• In inheritance law (farāʾiḍ): Ahmad al-Jumayli, specifically for the text of al-Tilimsāniyya Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T….

The text documents specific jurisprudential transmissions, such as his chain for Mukhtasar Khalil running through Ali al-Ujhuri back to Khalil ibn Ishaq and ultimately to Malik ibn Anas, where al-Masakini also identifies Shams al-Din al-Bisati among the teachers of Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Tata'i Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1.

Transmission and Reception

The contents and chains recorded in al-Masakini's Fihrisa were passed down to later generations through his students in Msaken Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1. His cousin and student, Ahmad ibn al-Hajj al-Saghir al-Masakini, transmitted it and compiled his own fihrisa based partly on it Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1. The transmission line continued through Muhammad ibn al-Hajj Ali al-Udhari to Muhammad al-Qazzah al-Masakini, who granted licenses containing the material found in the fihrisas of both Ali ibn Khalifa and Ahmad al-Saghir Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1.

Scholars such as Muhammad Makki ibn Azzuz and Ali Bil'id received authorization through this chain Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyy…+1. The work was preserved in manuscript form and was later prepared and edited for publication in Tunisia Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T….