Ismail ibn Kathir (1301–1373) was an Islamic scholar and renowned commentator on the
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
.
His full name is
Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir Al-Qurashi Al-Busrawi. He was born in 1301 in Busra,
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
(hence Al-Busrawi). He was taught by Ibn Taymiyya in
DamascusDamascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and its current population is estimated at about 1,669,000...
, Syria and Abu al-Hajjaj Al-Mizzi, (d. 1373),
FiqhFiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the Sharia Islamic law—based directly on the Quran and Sunnah—that complements Shariah with evolving rulings/interpretations of Islamic jurists....
with Ibn Al Firkah,
HadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
with ‘Isa bin Al-Mutim, Ahmed bin Abi-Talib (Ibn Ash-Shahnah) (died in 730AH), Ibn Al-Hajjar (died in 730AH), the Hadith narrator of Ash-Sham (modern day Syria and surrounding areas), Baha Ad-Din Al-Qasim bin Muzaffar bin ‘Asakir (died in 723AH), Ibn Ash-Shirazi, Ishaq bin Yahya Al-Ammuddi, aka ;Afif Ad-Din, the Zahriyyah Shaykh (died in 725AH), and Muhammad bin Zarrad , .
Upon completion of his studies he obtained his first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine certain questions of
heresyHeresy is proposing some unorthodox change to an established system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established opinion of scholars of that belief such as canon. It is sometimes confused with apostasy which is disaffiliation from orthodoxy and blasphemy which is...
.
Ismail ibn Kathir (1301–1373) was an Islamic scholar and renowned commentator on the
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
.
Biography
His full name is
Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir Al-Qurashi Al-Busrawi. He was born in 1301 in Busra,
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
(hence Al-Busrawi). He was taught by Ibn Taymiyya in
DamascusDamascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and its current population is estimated at about 1,669,000...
, Syria and Abu al-Hajjaj Al-Mizzi, (d. 1373),
FiqhFiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the Sharia Islamic law—based directly on the Quran and Sunnah—that complements Shariah with evolving rulings/interpretations of Islamic jurists....
with Ibn Al Firkah,
HadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
with ‘Isa bin Al-Mutim, Ahmed bin Abi-Talib (Ibn Ash-Shahnah) (died in 730AH), Ibn Al-Hajjar (died in 730AH), the Hadith narrator of Ash-Sham (modern day Syria and surrounding areas), Baha Ad-Din Al-Qasim bin Muzaffar bin ‘Asakir (died in 723AH), Ibn Ash-Shirazi, Ishaq bin Yahya Al-Ammuddi, aka ;Afif Ad-Din, the Zahriyyah Shaykh (died in 725AH), and Muhammad bin Zarrad , .
Official positions
Upon completion of his studies he obtained his first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine certain questions of
heresyHeresy is proposing some unorthodox change to an established system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established opinion of scholars of that belief such as canon. It is sometimes confused with apostasy which is disaffiliation from orthodoxy and blasphemy which is...
. Thereafter he received various semi-official appointments, culminating in June/July 1366 with a professorial position at the Great Mosque of Damascus.
Scholastic achievements
Ibn Kathir wrote a famous commentary on the
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
named
Tafsir ibn KathirTafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim, popularly Tafsir ibn Kathir , is a classic Sunni Islam tafsir by Ibn Kathir.It is considered to be a summary of the earlier tafsir by al-Tabari, Tafsir al-Tabari...
which linked certain
HadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
, or sayings of
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
, and sayings of the
sahabaIn Islam, the ' were the companions of the Islamic prophet . This form is plural; the singular is masculine , feminine . A list of the best-known companions can be found in the List of Sahaba.- Definitions of "Companion" :...
to verses of the
Qur'an, in explanation.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir is famous all over the
Muslim worldThe term Muslim world has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Muslims, adherents of Islam. This community numbers about 1.3-1.5 billion people, roughly one-fifth of the world population. This community is spread across many different nations and ethnic...
and among
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
s in the
Western worldThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
, is one of the most widely used explanations of the
Qu'ran today.
Ibn Kathir was renowned for his great memory regarding the sayings of
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
and the entire
Qur'an. Ibn Kathir is known as a
qadiQadi is a judge ruling in accordance with the sharia, Islamic religious law. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...
, a master scholar of history, and a
mufassir (
Qur'an commentator). Ibn Kathir saw himself as a
Shafi'i scholar. This is indicated by two of his books, one of which was
Tabaqaat ah-Shafai'ah, or
The Categories of the Followers of Imam Shafi.
Later life and death
In later life, he became blind. He attributes his blindness to working late at night on the
MusnadMusnad may refer to:*South Arabian alphabet*Musnad hadith*Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal...
of
Ahmad Ibn HanbalAhmed ibn Hanbal was an important Muslim scholar and theologian born in Khorassan to a family of Arab origin He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh...
in an attempt to rearrange it topically rather than by narrator.
Ibn Kathir died in February 1373 in Damascus.
Works
- Tafsir ibn Kathir
Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim, popularly Tafsir ibn Kathir , is a classic Sunni Islam tafsir by Ibn Kathir.It is considered to be a summary of the earlier tafsir by al-Tabari, Tafsir al-Tabari...
- The Beginning and the End (Arabic
Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
: Al Bidayah wa-Nihayah or Tarikh ibn Kathir). Available on wikisource
- Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya (Ibn Kathir)
Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya is a book by Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir .It is not to be confused with the book of Ibn Hisham named Sirah Rasul Allah.-References:...
- al-Baa'ith al-Hatheeth: an abridgement of the Muqaddimah by Ibn al-Salah
Aboo 'Amr Uthman ibn Abd al-Rahman Salah al-Din al-Kurdi al-Shahrazuri, commonly known as Ibn al-Salah, was a Shafi'i hadith specialist, author of the seminal Introduction to the Science of hadith.-Education:...
in Hadith terminologyHadith terminology, , has been defined by Ahmad ibn 'Alee Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, a renowned hadith specialist, as: "knowledge of the principles by which the condition of the narrator and the narrated are determined." This means, essentially, that the body of hadith terminology serves to specify...
- Tabaqaat ah-Shafi'iah
- Talkhis al-Istighatha
- Signs Before the Day of Judgement
In Islam, Yawm al-Qiyāmah "the Day of Resurrection" or Yawm ad-Din "the Day of Judgement" is God's final assessment of humanity. al-Qiyāmah is also the name of the 75th surah of the Qur'an....
- Sins and their Punishments
- Stories of The Prophets (Qasas ul Anbiya)
External links