Part 3

of Busra, to th e ens! of Damasc us. in the year 70 1 A. I-I . His

fa the r was a klwleeb; he died in the year 705 A. I-I. , when Ibn

Ka theer was just four years old. He was then brought li p by

his brolher, Shaikh Abdul Wahhab , from whom he learned the

fundamenta ls of Islam ic Juri sprudence.

T hen he moved to Damascus in the year 706 A. I-I ., w hen

he was s ix years o ld. T here he studied Is lamic Jurisprudence

undcr the tutelage of Shaikh Burhanuddcen Ibrah ee m Ibn

Abd ur-Ra hmnll A I-Fazari , bett er known as Ibn A I-F irkaa h

(d. 729 A. I-I .). In Damasc us he learned fro lll 'Ecsa Ibn AI-

M ut'im and from Ahmad Ibn Abi Talib. better known as

Ibn Ash-S hih nah and AI-I-Iaiiar, who livcd for more than a

hu ndred years (d. 730 A. I-I .). He a lso learned fro m AI-Qasim

Ibn ' Asak ir, f ll fro m Ibn Ash-S hccrazi, Ishaq Ibn A l-Amid i m

and Mu ha mmad Ibn Za rad. He a lso attended the lectures o f

Shaikh Jama lllddccn Yoosuf Ibn Az-Zak i A I-Mi zzi, the <Iu thor

of Tahdheeb AI-Kamal and AlmfAI-Klllub As-Siltal!. who d ied

mous historian, Abul tvjahasi n Jmnaluddeell Yoosuf Ibn Sai fudd een. bet-

ler known as Ibn Tag hri Bardi AI-AIabki Az-Z:lhiri. tho.! author of AII-

NujoulI1 A:-Za},jmh Fee Akhbori Mis,. Wal-Qultim" (S 12-874 A. I-I.)

(I) I-I e is Oaha'uddeen AI-Qasilll Ibn Mu:t_aOar Ibn 'Asakir. lie died in the

(2) I-Ie is Ishaq tbn Yahy:1At-Amidi, Ihe Sha ikh of the Zahiri movement. lie

died in the )'C:lr 725 A I-I.

IJ;Oj!/"{/I'''.I ' oJAI-l/a/i= 11m K(I /"f!(' /" 21

in the year 724 A. H. He benefited great ly from hi s assoc iation

with him and marr ied hi s daughter. I-Ie al so learnt a nd benefit ed

g reatl y from Shaikh AI-Islalll Taq iyuddeen Ibn Taimi yyah (d ,

728 A, I-I. ) with who m he kept company and who m he lo ved

dea rl y. In addition , he studied under the Shaikh. the I/afiz and

hi storian. Sha l11 suddeen Adh-D lmhabi Mul wm11lad Ibn Ahmad

Ibn Qayim<lz (d , 748 A. H.), In Egypt, he was endorsed by Abu

Moosa AI -Qarafl , AI -Husain i, Abu lFat h Ad -Dabboos i, ' Ali

Ibn ' Umar A 1Wani , Yoosuf A I-Khata ni and ot he rs,

A I-I lath Shamsuddee n Adh-Dhahabi said in AI-A lu·jal/l

AI-Mukh faSs : "(He wa s) the 11110111 , th e IIIIt/uuld;lll , the IIII!fti

(de live rer of legal ve rdi c ts) , the o utstanding sc holar o f Islami c

Juri sprude nce and la/veer: he wrote many va luable work s"·

AI-/-Iq{i:: Ibn i-I<ljar sa id in Ad-Dural' AI-Ka minah : " He worked

o n a /lOdeeth , stud ying the ir tex ts and their cha ins o f narrators

and he had a phe no mcl1<1l memory a nd was a g,!od-humored

man:' Durin g hi s life time, his written works spread throug hou t

the la nds and th e people benefi ted fro m th em a ft er hi s death ." In

As·S uyooti comm ented o n th is, say in g, " (H e was) a reli abl e

source ofahadeeth know ledge, o fth e ir aut hentic il y o r weakness.

o f the va rious sources {i·om whi ch they we re repo rted and of

th ei r ,-(ial and th eir strength or weakness .. . "

The re no wn cd hi storia n, Abul -Maha sin Jamaluddee n Yoosuf

Ibn Sai fudd ce n, better know n as Ibn Tag hri Bardi AI-Hanali

sa id in hi s book AI-Mw i/wl As-Sofi JIIal. MustCllvjcl Bo'd 11 1-

Wqli; " (I-Ie wa s) th e Shaikh, th e 1111(1111, the 1110s1 erudi te.

'Imaduddecn Abul-Fid a' ... hc was constuntl y occupied and

tireless in writin g, compilin g. ca tegoriz ing, studying, narrating

aJwdeefh a nd autho ring. He possessed huge know ledge of

( I ) Sec: Ad· DillYII' AI-KlIlII;lIah Fee A '\"(/1/ AI-Mi"oh 11111T/wl/I;II(lh ( 1/2 18).

22 Biography ojAI·f{aji= Ihll KCllhee,.

/wdeelh, la/seer, Islami c Juri sprudence, Arabic language and

othe r subjec ts. He delivered lega l verdicts and he cont inued to

I-Ie was renow ned for his ability to correct and revise and he

was ack now ledged as a leading historian , schola r or Iwdeelll

a nd uifseer and it was he who sa id,

'The days pass liS by. olle after allolhel:

Ollly driving 01110 the appointed times. while the eye watches,

Alld ,hal YOlllh which has galle wil/nel'er re/llm,

While this irrifCllil1g old age remain". "

T he number of studen ts who heard from Ibn Katheer and

reported fro m him is great; they include A I-Hafiz 'A lauddeen

Ibn I-l ijji Ash-Shafi ' i - Ill ay A II'lh have me rcy on him - who

said of him : " He had memorized more Iwe/eelll texts than

a ny other schol ar of our acqu ain tance and he waS th e most

knowledgea ble of th em regarding the authe nti ca ti on and

d isparageme nt ofm:Jfratio ns and the ir rijal. Hi s contemporaries

a nd his teac hers a ll acknowledged thi s. Every time I me t him I

gained some be nefit from him."

Ibn AI-' Imad AIHanbali said in his book, 'Slwdlw/"{/t Adh-

DalUlb Fee Akllbari M(1/1 Dlwlwb: "(He was) the great Hafiz,

' Imaduddeen ; he memorized At-Taubeeh and presented it in

the year 7 18 A. I-I. a nd he memo ri zed Mllklltasar Ibll A/· I·lajib.

He had a phenomena l mc mory an d se ldom forgot anyth ing. He

had good understa ndi ng and was a scholar of Arab ic language

who wrote average poe try." Ibn Ha beeb said o r him: " He

hea rd (from the scholars), he collected and authored and he

Biography oJAIlIafi= Ibn Katheer 23

delighted th e ca rs o flli s listeners with hi s words, I-Ie taught and

he benefited (hi s li stenc rs) and th e pages of hi s lega l verd icts

spread throughout the lands and he became famous for hi s

acc uracy and hi s writing .md edit ing skill s,"

His Writings, Including Detailed Works and

I, Tt~f~·eer AI-Qllr 'an AI-'A zeem (Ex planation o f the Nobl e

Qu r ' an), (1) which is one of his most important work s, It

is con sidered to be one of the best book s o r taf \'eer whose

au thor depended primaril y for th e interpretation o r the

Verses or the Nobl e Book 0 11 the alwdeetli of the Messen ge r

o f All ah (sail Allallll 'alaiM wa a/ilii wa sallalll), It was

ordain ed by A llah that thi s grea t vo lume should becomc

accept ed and spread throughou t the Muslim lands.

2, AI-Sic/ayah Wan-Nihayah (Th e Beg inn ing and the End ):

Thi s is a hi ghl y estimabl e book and scholars through the

limes have benefited fro 111 it and it has passed through the

hand s of researc hers in eve ry corn er o f th e la rge Islami c

world. In it he spoke o f Earthl y affairs, beginning with

the sta rt of c reation, touchin g on the li ves of th e Proph ets

(alaihimllss-salalll was-salam) a nd speakin g in depth and

at grea t length abo ut the life story of th e Messe nge r o f A ll ah

(sail Alla/1II 'a/aihi Il'a aliM wa sallam ) and reco rdin g in

benefi cial depth the peri od Ihat follow ed th e Prophet's life.

from the era o f th e ri ghtl y-guided Cal iph s and e ndi ng in the

year 767 A.I-I. , w ith a desc ripti on of the trial s that would

appea r befo re the Hour,

( I) Popularly known as T(lf~eer 1/)11 Kmheer.

24 lJiography ofA I-I/a/i;: /1m K(I(ilel'r

3. At-Takllleel J\tfa'ri/a1i Ath-Thiqat IVal-Alfajaheel (The

Comp le te Book o f Cril icism and Prai se, and Know ledge

of lhe Trus tworthy Reporte rs and the Unknow il Repo rters).

There is a versio n or it in Dar Al-Ku lub A l-Misriyyah,

No. 24227, w h ich is in Iwo vo lumes, b ut it is incomplete.

( II comb ines Kila/) Ar-Tahdheeb and AI-Meezal1, which

4. Jallli' AI-Masaneed Was-SII/ um AI-I-Iadi Li-Aqwol/I Sl/iUI/1

(The Comb ined Musl1ad\· and the SIIIIOII Wh ich G uide to

the Mosl Precioll s S/II/OI/); Ihis is said 10 be o ne of Ibn

Katheer 's fi nes t works in the fi e ld of" fweleetll and it is one

or lhe lasl books that he wrote, though nol the very las t one.

He died before comp leting it - may A ll ah have mercy on

him. In iI, he combined the IIIIIS/Wc/S of Imam Ahmad, AI-

Bazza r, Abu Ya'la and Ibn Abi Shaibah with the Six Books.

5. TabaqOl Ash-ShaJi'iy)'ah (The Leve ls orthe Shan'; Schola rs).

A n evenhanded es tima tion orthe Shafi ' i scholars, including

a descriptio n o f the v irtues of' Imam Ash-Slwfi'i.

6. Takhreej Ahadeelh Adillah AI-7t:lllbeeh Fee Fiqh Ash-

Shaji'~'lyah (Takhreej of the Alladeelh or "Adillah ;1(-

lClllbeeh" in Shafi'i Juris prud ence).

7. Takhreej Ahadeelh MukJlfasar Ibll AI-f·lajib (Takhreej or

th e Ahadeeth in Ihe original ve rsion o f Mukllfasar Ibl1 AI-

I-Iajib); this was publi shed recently with an authentication

by AI-Kubaisi and publi s hed in Makka h.

8. Sfwrh Saheeh AI-Bukfwri ( Exp la nation of Saheeh A/-

Bllklwri); unfortunately, it is incomplete.

( J ) The Si ,, Books: Solwell Aj.IJIlk/wri. SaheelJ MI/slim. SIIIIWI ,.,hi /)UlI'OOC/,

5111/(111 ;/f-Tirmidhi. SIIII{III 11m Mojal! and 51111(111 All-Nasa 'i.

/lioJ,!mphy ofII I-I/a/i= 1/111 Kalileer 25

9. AI-Ahkalll AI-KI/bra (The Major Rul ings); sadly, he did 110t

co mp lete it, reac hi ng as f~l r as the topi c of J-/qy.

10. Iklllisar 'UloulII AI-I-Iadeeth (An Abbrevia ted Book on the

Sc ience of I-Iadeeth); it was published in Makkah in the yea r

1358 A. I-I., with an authen ti cation by Shaikh Muhammad