Death of Ibn Daqiq al-Id

# Death of Ibn Daqiq al-Id

Taqi ad-Din Abu al-Fath Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Wahb al-Qushayri, known as Ibn Daqiq al-Id (625-702 AH / 1228-1302 CE), was one of the foremost hadith scholars and jurists of the seventh century AH. A master of both the Shafi'i and Maliki schools of law, a brilliant legal theorist, and an authority on hadith criticism, he was regarded by contemporaries and successors as the Mujaddid (renewer) of Islam for the seventh century AH.

Life

Ibn Daqiq al-Id was born in Yanbu (on the Red Sea coast of Arabia) in 625 AH (1228 CE). His family settled in Egypt, and he received his education there, studying under major scholars of the Shafi'i and Maliki schools. He was particularly noted for his mastery of usul al-fiqh (the principles of Islamic jurisprudence) and of hadith sciences.

He spent much of his career in Cairo, where he eventually rose to serve as chief judge (qadi) of Egypt under the Mamluk Sultan. He died in Cairo in 702 AH (January 1302 CE) at approximately 77 years of age.

His name "Ibn Daqiq al-Id" means "Son of the Fine Flour of the Festival" — a name referring to a fine quality of flour used in festival cooking, by which his father was known.

Ihkam al-Ahkam Sharh Umdat al-Ahkam

Ibn Daqiq al-Id's most celebrated work is Ihkam al-Ahkam Sharh Umdat al-Ahkam (The Perfecting of Rulings: Commentary on the Pillar of Rulings). Umdat al-Ahkam is a collection of hadiths compiled by Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi (d. 600 AH) — hadiths agreed upon by both Bukhari and Muslim (i.e., the most reliably authenticated hadiths) on legal topics. Ibn Daqiq al-Id's commentary subjects each hadith to exhaustive analysis: examining the chain of transmission, analyzing the Arabic text linguistically, deriving the legal rulings from the hadith, and surveying the positions of different schools on disputed questions.

The resulting work became a standard reference in Islamic hadith and legal studies, valued for the precision and depth of its analysis.

Al-Iqtiraḥ fi Bayan al-Iṣtilah

His al-Iqtirah fi Bayan al-Istilah is a work on the technical terminology of hadith science, explaining the precise meanings of the terms used by hadith scholars to evaluate chains of transmission. It is notable for its analytical precision and became an authoritative reference in the field.

Sharh al-Arbayin al-Nawawiyya

He also wrote a commentary on Imam al-Nawawi's famous Forty Hadiths, providing legal and spiritual commentary on one of the most widely read collections in Islamic devotional literature.

Mujaddid Recognition

Several later scholars, including al-Suyuti, identified Ibn Daqiq al-Id as the Mujaddid of the seventh century AH (700 AH corresponds to 1301 CE). The concept of tajdid (renewal) is based on a hadith stating that Allah sends a renewer of the religion at the beginning of every century. The Mujaddid is understood to be a scholar who revives and clarifies Islamic knowledge and practice at a time of decline or confusion.

Whether or not one accepts this specific claim, Ibn Daqiq al-Id's recognition reflects the high esteem in which he was held by the scholarly community of his time and afterward.

Legacy

Ibn Daqiq al-Id's Ihkam al-Ahkam remains a foundational text in the study of hadith-based fiqh. His analytical approach — combining technical hadith criticism with careful legal reasoning — represents the mature Sunni scholarly tradition at its most rigorous.

He worked during the period following the Mongol destruction of Baghdad (656 AH / 1258 CE), when Egypt under the Mamluks had become the new center of Sunni scholarship. His career contributed to making Cairo one of the great centers of Islamic learning.

Sources

• Ibn Daqiq al-Id, Ihkam al-Ahkam Sharh Umdat al-Ahkam
• al-Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala
• al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra
• Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wal-Nihaya