Al-Bā'ūnī is an Arabic family name (or '' nisba'') most famously denoting the prominent dynasty of scholars and jurists descending from Nāṣir b. Khalīfa b. Faradj al-Nāṣirī al-Bā'unī al-Shāfi'ī, who began life as a weaver in the village of Bā'ūn (or Bā'ūna) in

Hauran The Hauran (; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, to the northeast by the al-Safa field, to the east and south by the Harrat ...

. Leaving around 750/1349 for

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

, Nāṣir had the following prominent descendants before the dynasty disappears from the historical record:W. A. S. Khalidi, 'Al-Bā'ūnī', in ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam'', new edition by H. A. R. Gibb and others (Leiden: Brill, 1960-2009), I 1109-10. * Nāṣir ** Ismā'īl (who became a

sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

and deputy

qadi 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 ...

in Nazareth) ** Aḥmad (b. Nazareth c. 751/1350, d. Damascus 816/1413). He 'was at various times the Friday preacher at the al-Aqṣá Mosque in Jerusalem, the Friday preacher at the

Umayyad Mosque The Umayyad Mosque (; ), also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. Its religious importance stems from the eschatological reports ...

in Damascus, the

Shafi‘i 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 ...

judge of Damascus and, for two months, of Egypt, as well'.Th. Emil Homerin, 'Living Love: The Mystical Writings of ʿĀ’ishah al-Bāʿūniyyah (d. 922/1516)', ''Mamluk Studies Review'', 7 (2003), 211-34 (p. 211); http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_VII-1_2003-Homerin_pp211-234.pdf. Aḥmad became ''shaykh al-shuyūkh'' under Sultan Barqūq (r. 784–801/1382–99), 'but he fell from royal grace for refusing to lend the sultan funds from religious endowments. Aḥmad wrote a commentary on the Quran and a poem on proper religious belief, and was considered an excellent preacher'. *** Ibrāhīm (b. Safed 777/1375, d. Damascus 870/1464×65; inter alia, deputy

of Damascus;

khatib In Islam, a khatib or khateeb ( ''khaṭīb'') is a person who delivers the sermon (''khuṭbah'') (literally "narration"), during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers. The ''khateeb'' is usually the prayer leader (''imam''), but the two roles can ...

of the

and the

Al-Aqsa Mosque The Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel is the main congregational mosque or Musalla, prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also n ...

; ''nāẓir al-ḥaramayn'' (supervisor of the Muslim holy places of Jerusalem and Hebron); and teacher of

Al-Sakhawi Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sakhāwī (, 1428/831 AH – 1497/902 AH) was a reputable Shafi‘i Muslim hadith scholar and historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an ...

). 'His fine literary abilities won him the title "Master of Literature in the Land of Syria".'Th. Emil Homerin, 'Living Love: The Mystical Writings of ʿĀ’ishah al-Bāʿūniyyah (d. 922/1516)', ''Mamluk Studies Review'', 7 (2003), 211-34 (p. 212); http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_VII-1_2003-Homerin_pp211-234.pdf. *** Muḥammad (b. Damascus 780/1378, d. Damascus 871/1466;

of the

) *** Yūsuf (b. Jerusalem 805/1402, d. Damascus 880/1475;

in Safed, Tripoli, Aleppo, and Damascus, 'fondly remembered as one of the best Shafi‘i judges of Damascus') Yusuf had at least five sons. His most prominent children were: **** 'A'isha (b. Damascus, d. Damascus 922/1516; possibly the most prolific female writer of the Middle Ages) **** Aḥmad (d. 910/1505; poet) **** Muḥammad (d. 916/1510; poet) The family is noted for its interest in Islamic mysticism and Sufism; 'many members of the Bū'ūnī family ... were buried in a family plot adjacent to the zāwiyah of the Sufi master Abū Bakr ibn Dūwūd (d. 806/1403). This strongly suggests their attachment to this Sufi and his descendants, who were affiliated with the Urmawī branch of the Qādirīyah order'. Several of the family's female members, including

'A'isha al-Ba'uniyya ʿĀʾishah bint Yūsuf al-Bāʿūniyyah (, died the sixteenth day of Dhū al-Qa‘dah, 922/1517) was a Sufi master and poet. She is one of few medieval female Islamic mystics to have recorded their own views in writing, and she "probably comp ...

, married members of another prominent Damascus family, Ibn Naqīb al-Ashrāf, who were noted for being descendants of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

.Th. Emil Homerin, 'Living Love: The Mystical Writings of ʿĀ’ishah al-Bāʿūniyyah (d. 922/1516)', ''Mamluk Studies Review'', 7 (2003), 211-34 (pp. 214-15); http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_VII-1_2003-Homerin_pp211-234.pdf.

References

{{reflist Sharia judges