Al-Suyuti
Encyclopedia
Jalaluddin Al-Suyuti (c. 1445–1505 AD) also known as Ibn al-Kutub (son of books) was an Egyptian
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...

 writer, religious scholar, juristic expert and teacher whose works deal with a wide variety of subjects in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic theology. He was precocious and was already a teacher in 1462. In 1486, he was appointed to a chair in the mosque of Baybars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...

 in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

. He adhered to the Shafi'i
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...

 Madhab and is one of the latter-day authorities of the Shafi'i School, considered to be one of the Ashabun-Nazzar (Assessors) whose degree of Ijtihad
Ijtihad
Ijtihad is the making of a decision in Islamic law by personal effort , independently of any school of jurisprudence . as opposed to taqlid, copying or obeying without question....

 is agreed upon.

Name, lineage and birth

His full name was Abu al-Fadl 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti. Al-Suyuti is an ascription to a town in Upper Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 called Asyut
Asyut
Asyut is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt; the ancient city of the same name is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city is at .- Etymology :...

. One of his grandfathers built a school there and donated money to it. His father, Al-Kamaal, was born there in Asyut, so that is why Jalàl al-Din ascribes himself to that town. Both his grandfathers were men of leadership and prestige and his father was a Jurist of the Shafi'i
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...

 Madhhab
Madhhab
is a Muslim school of law or fiqh . In the first 150 years of Islam, there were many such "schools". In fact, several of the Sahābah, or contemporary "companions" of Muhammad, are credited with founding their own...

, as Al-Suyuti stated in Husn-ul-Muhaadarah. When his father died, Al-Kamaal Ibn Al-Hamaam, a Hanafi
Hanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...

 jurist, was one of the people that his father left Al-Suyuti entrusted to.

He was born in the month
Month
A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which was first used and invented in Mesopotamia, as a natural period related to the motion of the Moon; month and Moon are cognates. The traditional concept arose with the cycle of moon phases; such months are synodic months and last approximately...

 of Rajab
Rajab
Rajab is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of Rajaba is "to respect", of which Rajab is a derivative.This month is regarded as one of the four sacred months in Islam in which battles are prohibited...

 849H [1445 AD] in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 (Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

), and was raised as an orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...

 after his father died while he was only 5 years old. He memorized the entire Qur'an when he was barely eight. Then he went on to memorize Al-Umdah
Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi
Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi is a classical Sunni Islamic scholar and a prominent Hadith master.-Works:He is the author of many famous works, including :*al-Kamal fi Asma' al-Rijal *Umdat al-Ahkam -References:...

 and Minhaaj Al-Fiqh wal-Usool and Alfiyyah Ibn Malik. He began to engross himself in religious knowledge starting from 864H, at the age of 15.

Education

He took knowledge of Fiqh
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....

 and Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar is the grammar of the Arabic language. Arabic is a Semitic language and its grammar has many similarities with the grammar of other Semitic languages....

 from a large number of teachers. He studied the laws of inheritance
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...

 at the hands of the great scholar, who was the most knowledgeable in this subject during his time, Shaikh Shihaab-ud-Deen Al-Shaar Masaahee, who lived to a very old age. He studied his explanation of Al-Majmoo under him.

He accompanied 'Ilm al-Din al-Balqini studying Fiqh
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....

 under him until he died. Ilm-ud-Deen Al-Balqeenee, authorized him to teach and give fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...

 in 876H. Likewise, he accompanied Shaikh Sharaf-ud-Deen Al-Manaawee and benefited from him in the fields of Fiqh
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....

 and Tafsir
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...

.

Al-Suyuti moved on to study under Al-Manawee after the death of Ilm-ud-Deen Al-Balqeenee in 878H. Ironically, Sharaf Al-Deen Al-Manaawee was the grandfather of Abdur-Ra'oof Al-Manaawee, the scholar that wrote the work Faid-ul-Qadeer, which was an explanation of As-Suyuti's Al-Jaami'-us-Sagheer.

He studied the sciences of Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

 and the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 under the Imam, Taqee-ud-Deen Al-Shumnee Al-Hanafi, who wrote some eulogies for him. He also attended the gatherings of the great scholar, Al-Kaafeejee, for the length of fourteen years and learned from him the subjects of Tafsir
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...

, Usul al-fiqh
Usul al-fiqh
Uṣūl al-fiqh is the study of the origins, sources, and principles upon which Islamic jurisprudence is based. In the narrow sense, it simply refers to the question of what are the sources of Islamic law...

, and Ma'aanee. And he received ijazah
Ijazah
An ijazah is a certificate used primarily by Sunni Muslims to indicate that one has been authorized by a higher authority to transmit a certain subject or text of Islamic knowledge...

, religious authorization, from him. He also benefited from the classes of Saif-ud-Deen Al-Hanafi
Hanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...

 on Tafsir
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...

 and Balaghah, eloquence.

The number of teachers from whom he received ijazah
Ijazah
An ijazah is a certificate used primarily by Sunni Muslims to indicate that one has been authorized by a higher authority to transmit a certain subject or text of Islamic knowledge...

, religious authorization, studied under and heard from reaches one hundred and fifty shaykhs, as has been compiled by both himself and his student after him, Al-Dawudi, who arranged them in alphabetical order.

In his book Husn-ul-Muhaadarah, Al-Suyuti gives the number of teachers who narrated to him from those he heard from and those who gave him the ijazah
Ijazah
An ijazah is a certificate used primarily by Sunni Muslims to indicate that one has been authorized by a higher authority to transmit a certain subject or text of Islamic knowledge...

, saying: "As for my teachers who narrated to me, whom I heard from and who gave me the religious authorization, ijazah
Ijazah
An ijazah is a certificate used primarily by Sunni Muslims to indicate that one has been authorized by a higher authority to transmit a certain subject or text of Islamic knowledge...

, then they are many. I have mentioned them in the lexicon I have compiled about them, and I counted them to number about 150."

As-Suyuti traveled to Sham
Sham
Sham, a word found in Arabic, English and Chinese, may refer to:-Arabic use:* Sham, or Alsahm, the Arabic name for the star Alpha Sagittae* Sham, , al-Sham, or Bilad al-Sham, endonym of the region bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea, usually known as the Levant or Greater Syria, comprising...

, Hijaz, Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, and settled down towards the end of his life in his homeland of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

.

Death

Al-Suyuti withdrew from the people and remained in his house, busying himself with knowledge, research and writing until he caught a sickness that lasted for seven days, ending in his death. This happened in Jumada al-awwal
Jumada al-awwal
Jumada al-awwal is the fifth month in the Islamic calendar.We can also find the alternative spelling Jumada al-Ula.The origin of the word is as follows: the word Jumda, from which the name of the month is derived, is used to denote dry parched land: land devoid of rain, and hence denote the dry...

, 911 AH.

Career

Al-Suyuti held various positions in his lifetime such as that of teacher of the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 in 866H, he was authorized to give fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...

 in 876H and he taught and dictated hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

 at the University
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 of Ibn Tuloon.

He was a prolific writer, and a well-known author of the latter times. He has left behind at least a book in every branch of Islamic science that include both short monographs of few pages and tomes spanning volumes. Some of his books are also first of their kind – and standards for those that were written after. Many of his books are published; they are easily and widely available.

The first book he wrote was Sharh Al-Isti'aadha wal-Basmalah in 866H, when he was seventeen years old.

Ibn Ímād writes: "Most of his works become world famous right in his lifetime. His ability to write was phenomenal. His student Dawudi says: "I was with the Shaykh Suyuti once, and he wrote three volumes on that day. He used to dictate annotations on ĥadīth, and answer my objections at the same time. He was the most knowledgeable scholar in his time of the ĥadīth and associated sciences, knowledge of the narrators including the uncommon ones, the text of the hadith matn, its chain of narrators isnad, the derivation of ruling from hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

. He has himself told me, that he had memorized a hundred thousand hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

."[23]

Students

The most famous of Al-Suyuti's students and it is possible to say the most outstanding student of As-Suyuti was the Imam, the historian, Al-Dawudi (died 945H) – author of the book Tabaqaat Al-Mufassireen
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...

 and other works. Then there was his other student, the famous historian, Ibn Iyaas, author of the book Badaa'i-uz-Zuhoor (died 930H).

Some other of his students were the Imam, the Haafidh Ibn Tuloon Al-Hanafi
Hanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...

 (died 935H), author of the three Fahaaris, indexes as well as many other works and the Imam Al-Shi'raanee, author of the book Al-Tabaqaat (died 973H).

Works

His books and treatises have been counted to number almost 500 works altogether. Suyuti listed 283 of his own works in Husn al-Muhađarah. Some of the more famous works he produced were:
  • The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Qur’an (Al-Itqān fi ‘Ulum Al-Qur’an)
  • Tafsir al-Jalalayn
    Tafsir al-Jalalayn
    Tafsīr al-Jalālayn is a classical Sunni tafsir of the Qur'an, composed first by Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli in 1459 and then completed by his student Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti in 1505, thus its name. It is recognised as one of the most popular exegeses of the Qur'an today, due to its simple style and...

     (Arabic:تفسير الجلالين)
  • Al-Jaami' al-Kabîr (Arabic: الجامع الكبير)
  • Al-Jaami' al-Saghîr (Arabic: الجامع الصغير)
  • Dur al-Manthur
    Dur al-Manthur
    Al-Durr Al-Manthur Fi Tafsir Bil-Ma'thur , The Scattered Pearls: Intertextual Exegesis, is an authoritatve Sunni tafsir , written by the prominent Imam Jalal al-Din al- Suyuti d. 911H...

     (Arabic: درالمنثور) in tafsir
    Tafsir
    Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...

  • Alfiyyah al-Hadith
  • Tadrib al-Rawi (Arabic: تدريب الراوي) both in hadith terminology
    Hadith terminology
    Hadith terminology is the body of terminology which specify the acceptability of the narrations, hadith, attributed to the Islamic Prophet, Muhammad, as well as other early figures of religious significance...

  • History of the Caliphs
    History of the Caliphs (book)
    History of the Caliphs is a famous book written by Suyuti, the classic Sunni scholar, published in English in 1881 in Calcutta and republished in English at Oriental Press in 1970.-External links:**...

     (Arabic:Tarikh al-khulafa)
  • The Khalifas who took the right way
    The Khalifas who took the right way (book)
    The History of the Khalifahs who took the right way is a partial translation of Tarikh al-Khulafa – History of the Caliphs a classical work that presents authentic hadith in relation to the Caliphate and the early "Rightly Guided Caliphs" and biographies of all of the subsequent caliphs of Islam up...

     (Arabic Al-Khulafah Ar-Rashidun)
  • Tabaqat al-huffaz an appendix to al-Dhahabi
    Al-Dhahabi
    Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn `Uthman ibn Qaymaz ibn `Abd Allah, Shams al-Din Abu `Abd Allah al-Turkmani al-Diyarbakri al-Fariqi al-Dimashqi al-Dhahabi al-Shafi`i , known as Al-Dhahabi , a Shafi'i Muhaddith and historian of Islam.-Biography:...

    's Tadhkirat al-huffaz
  • Nuzhat al-julasāʼ fī ashʻār al-nisāʼ
  • Khasaais-e-Kubra which mentions the miracles of Muhammad (linguistics).

External links

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