Abū ʿAlī Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Fīrruh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥayyūn ibn Sukkara al-Ṣadafī al-Saraqusṭī ( – June/July 1120), usually known as Abū ʿAlī al-Ṣadafī or Ibn Sukkara, was a Muslim scholar from

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

(Spain). A native of

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, al-Ṣadafī was educated in Zaragoza,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

before setting out in 1088 on a '' riḥla fī ṭalab al-ʿilm'' ('journey in search of knowledge') and a Ḥajj (pilgrimage). He visited

Mahdia Mahdia ( ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 76,513 inhabitants, south of Monastir, Tunisia, Monastir and southeast of Sousse. Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as w ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Baṣra Basra () is a port city in southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq border at the north-easternmost extent ...

, Anbār, Wāsiṭ,

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and Tinnīs. He stayed for five years in

Baghdād Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. He returned to al-Andalus in 1096 and settled in

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

. Al-Ṣadafī was a renowned expert in ''

qirāʾāt In Islam, (pl. ; ) refers to the ways or fashions that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, is recited. More technically, the term designates the different linguistic, lexical, phonetic, morphological and syntactical forms permitted with rec ...

'' (Qurʾānic readings) and ''

ḥadīth Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

'' (Islamic traditions). He married a daughter of Abū ʿImrān Mūsā ibn Saʿāda and his library passed to his inlaws on his death. He had only one daughter,

Fāṭima Fatima bint Muhammad (; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and ...

. In 1111, he was acclaimed as ''

qāḍī A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

'' (judge) of Murcia by its populace. After exposing the injustice and inefficiency of the

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

system, he tendered his resignation in a letter addressed to the Emir ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf, which is preserved. His resignation was initially declined before being accepted. He lievd in Játiva for a time before volunteering for the army. He died at the

battle of Cutanda The Battle of Cutanda took place in June 1120 between the forces of Alfonso I the Battler and an army led by Almoravid general Ibrahim ibn Yusuf occurring in a place called Cutanda, near Calamocha (Teruel), in which the Almoravid army was defea ...

in 1120 and was reckoned a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

by his disciples and biographers. The date of the battle is given variously as 17 or 24 June or 16 July. Al-Ṣadafī wrote only a few works and none have survived to this day. Five works are attributed to him. Four of these concern ''ḥadīth'' and may have been little more than compilations of traditions. His most cited work is ''Subāʿiyyāt''. He wrote one legal work, a commentary on the

Shāfiʿī The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionist al ...

jurisprudence of .

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{refend 1060s births 1120 deaths People from Zaragoza 11th-century writers from al-Andalus 12th-century writers from al-Andalus People of the Reconquista