al-Mardawi

Ala ad-Din Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Sulayman al-Mardawi (d. 1480 CE / 885 AH) was a leading Hanbali jurist of the Mamluk period, born in Mardah near Nablus in Palestine. He settled in Damascus where he became the foremost authority on Hanbali jurisprudence in his time. Al-Mardawi devoted his scholarly career to systematizing and clarifying the Hanbali school's legal positions, earning him the title of the school's great verifier (muhaqqiq).

His magnum opus is al-Insaf fi Ma'rifat ar-Rajih min al-Khilaf (The Fair Judgment in Knowing the Preponderant View among the Differences), a monumental work that meticulously examines every juristic issue in Hanbali fiqh and identifies the strongest position within the school. This work became indispensable for later Hanbali scholars seeking to determine the relied-upon opinions. He also authored at-Tanqih al-Mushbi fi Tahrir al-Ahkam, a refined summary of Hanbali legal rulings.

Al-Mardawi's methodology of carefully weighing different positions within the madhhab and identifying the most authoritative view set the standard for later Hanbali scholarship. His works served as the foundation upon which later Hanbali scholars such as al-Hajjawi and al-Buhuti built their own contributions. He passed away in Damascus and is regarded as one of the most important Hanbali jurists of the post-classical period.