Death of al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam

# Death of al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam

Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Salam al-Sulami (577-660 AH / 1181-1262 CE), universally known as al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam or Sultan al-Ulama (the Sultan of the Scholars), was one of the most eminent Shafi'i scholars and jurists of the medieval Islamic world. His fearless defense of Islamic principles against political authority, his comprehensive work on the objectives of the Sharia, and his refusal to compromise his scholarly independence even under threat made him one of the most admired figures in the history of Islamic scholarship.

Life

Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam was born in Damascus in 577 AH (1181 CE), the same year as Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi's great victory at the Horns of Hattin. He studied in Damascus and then traveled to Baghdad to study under the greatest scholars of his time. He returned to Damascus, where he taught and issued legal opinions (fatwas) for decades.

His later career took him to Egypt, where he became the chief judge (qadi) and the Friday preacher at al-Azhar mosque. He died in Cairo in 660 AH (1262 CE) at approximately 80 years of age — less than four years after the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 656 AH (1258 CE).

Confronting the Ayyubid Sultan

Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam's most famous act of scholarly courage came during a dispute with the Ayyubid Sultan al-Salih Ismail of Damascus, who had allied with the Crusaders against his rival the Sultan of Egypt. Al-Salih Ismail permitted Crusader forces to purchase weapons from Muslim merchants in Damascus — a transaction that the Crusaders would use in military operations against Muslims.

Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam issued a fatwa forbidding this commerce as contrary to Islamic law. When the Sultan ignored him, al-Izz publicly attacked the ruler in his Friday sermon. He was removed from his position and effectively expelled from Damascus.

He moved to Egypt, where the Ayyubid Sultan al-Salih Ayyub welcomed him and appointed him to important positions. However, the incident demonstrated his willingness to confront political authority at personal cost — the defining characteristic that earned him the title Sultan al-Ulama.

Selling Mamluk Commanders at Auction

A second famous episode illustrates al-Izz's approach to upholding Islamic law regardless of political consequences. When the Mamluk commanders who had served as soldiers and military governors were manumitted (freed from slave status) and rose to political power, al-Izz questioned the legal status of land grants (iqta') given to them when they were technically still slaves. Under Islamic law, a slave cannot own property, so the grants were invalid.

To regularize the situation, al-Izz decreed that the former Mamluk commanders must be sold at public auction, with the proceeds going to the state treasury, after which they could legitimately hold their iqta' grants as free men. The Mamluk commanders were furious at this humiliating legal fiction, but al-Izz refused to modify his ruling. The Mamluk Sultan Aybak ultimately complied with the procedure.

This episode is frequently cited as evidence of the independence of Islamic legal scholars from political power — and of the willingness of at least some jurists to enforce that independence even when it antagonized the most powerful men in the state.

Intellectual Contributions

Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam's most lasting intellectual contribution is his work on the objectives (maqasid) of Islamic law:

Qawa'id al-Ahkam fi Masalih al-Anam (The Rules of Legal Rulings for the Interests of Mankind). This foundational work analyzed Islamic legal rulings in terms of the interests they serve and the harms they prevent. He developed a systematic account of how the Sharia protects human welfare in all its dimensions — religious, intellectual, bodily, property, and lineage — and how jurists should weigh competing interests in novel situations.

This work anticipates and helps establish the maqasid al-Sharia (objectives of the Sharia) approach that became increasingly important in later Islamic jurisprudence, particularly in the work of al-Shatibi (d. 790 AH) and modern scholars seeking to apply Islamic law to contemporary situations.

al-Fawa'id fi Mushkil al-Quran — on difficult passages in the Quran.

Bidayat al-Sul fi Tafzil al-Rasul — on the virtues of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Death and Legacy

Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam died in Cairo in 660 AH (January 1262 CE), just over three years after witnessing the catastrophe of the Mongol sack of Baghdad. He was buried in the Qarafa cemetery in Cairo, and his grave is still visited.

His legacy was profound on several levels. His fearless scholarship set a model for Islamic judicial independence. His jurisprudential work on the maqasid became a foundational reference. His students — who included major scholars of the subsequent generation — transmitted both his knowledge and his spirit of principled independence.

The Egyptian Mamluk scholar al-Suyuti listed him among the scholars who performed individual renewal (tajdid) of the Islamic sciences.

Sources

• Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam, Qawa'id al-Ahkam fi Masalih al-Anam
• al-Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala
• al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra
• Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Ayan wa-Anba Abna al-Zaman
• Iyad Khalid al-Tabba, introduction to edition of Qawa'id al-Ahkam