Ibn Daqiq al-Id

Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Wahb ibn Daqiq al-Id (625-702 AH / 1228-1302 CE) was a leading Shafii and Maliki jurist, hadith scholar, and one of the most respected scholars of his era. Born in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, he grew up in Qus in Upper Egypt and studied under the leading scholars of Egypt and the Hejaz. He mastered both the Shafii and Maliki schools, achieving the rank of mujtahid in both, which was extremely rare.

Ibn Daqiq al-Id's most famous work is Ihkam al-Ahkam Sharh Umdat al-Ahkam, a penetrating commentary on the hadith collection of Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi that draws on evidence from both the Shafii and Maliki traditions. This work demonstrates his exceptional ability to analyze hadith from both a legal and critical perspective. He also authored al-Imam fi Marifat Ahadith al-Ahkam (on hadith related to legal rulings) and al-Iqtirah fi Bayan al-Istilah (on hadith terminology). He served as chief judge and held the prestigious teaching position at the Dar al-Hadith al-Kamiliyyah in Cairo.

Ibn Daqiq al-Id was considered the mujaddid (renewer) of the seventh Islamic century by many scholars. He was known for his independent reasoning, precision in hadith criticism, and unwillingness to follow any school blindly where the evidence pointed elsewhere. He died in Cairo in 702 AH (1302 CE). His scholarly method, combining deep fiqh knowledge with rigorous hadith analysis, set a standard for later scholars.