Muḥammad ibn Salāma al-Quḍā'ī (died 454/1062) was a Shafi'i Sunni judge, preacher and historian in the

Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, i ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. He was of Iranian origin. Al-Quḍā'ī is known as the author of a seven important works and several others, most important of which are ''Light in the Heavens'' and ''The Treasury of Virtues'', which are collections of sermons,

hadith 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 ...

s, sayings and other transmitted teachings 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 ...

and of Ali, respectively. One of his original manuscripts has been preserved, a

prophetic biography In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divin ...

Career

Al-Quḍā'ī was a scribe in the chancery under the vizier Ali ibn Ahmad al-Jarjara'i (died 1045). Born in

Baghdad 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 was the scribe, some say deputy, of the vizier. He was in the chancery at the same time as the scholar

al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi Al-Mu'ayyad fid-din Abu Nasr Hibat Allah b. Abi 'Imran Musa b. Da'ud ash-Shirazi (c. 1000 CE/390 AH – 1078 Common Era, CE/470 AH) was an 11th-century Isma'ili scholar, philosopher-poet, preacher and theologian of Persian people, Persian origi ...

(died 1078). He served under the Fatimids as a judge over the Sunni population. He performed the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

in 1053. In 1055, he made a journey to

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

as emissary of the caliph. He earned great respect for his scholarship, particularly regarding

, and many hadith works include him as one of their transmitters. The Shafiʿi jurist Abu Tahir al-Silafi (died 1180) said of him, "His fame absolves me from lengthy expositions... he is counted among the trustworthy and reliable transmitters." According to his student Ali ibn Makula, "He was a master of many different sciences... I do not know anyone in Egypt who approaches his stature."

Work

Apart from his work on

, al-Quḍā'ī also wrote a terse history of the prophets and caliphs. He said in the introduction that he had observed brevity, but that it was "amply sufficient for entertainment and conversation." In some cases, his history of a caliph would give little more than a short character sketch, the names of his wives and children, and names of officials during his rule. Al-Quḍā'ī's history of the FatimidsMS Pococke 270, Bodleian Library, Oxford was used by

al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī (, full name Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī, ; 1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian historian and biographer during the Mamluk era, known for his interest in the Fat ...

and others in later works. His description of

Fustat Fustat (), also Fostat, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, though it has been integrated into Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by the Rashidun Muslim general 'Amr ibn al-'As immediately after the Mus ...

before its decline and ruin after his death was a key resource for

in understanding the former topography of the city. He also wrote a pamphlet that contained some of the best-known

Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...

laws. His book of the parables and teachings of the Prophet, a ''

'' collection, was widely read. Four

Morisco ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable Mus ...

versions from Spain are known, three from Almonacid. One is in Arabic, one only in

aljamiado '' Castillian translations in Aljamiado script above each line of Arabic Quranic text. file:Aljamiado.png">Aljamiado text by Mancebo de Arévalo. c. 16th century. ''Poema de Yuçuf'' ''Aljamiado'' (; ; trans. ''ʿajamiyah'' ) or ''Aljamía ...

and two are bilingual. His work on the Prophet's life has not been examined. It was the basis for a work by Shīrawayh al-Daylamī that was criticized by

ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...

for fanciful and adulatory statements about Muhammad, which indicates that the work by al-Quḍā'ī was also concerned more with the Prophet as an exemplary man than as a religious and political leader.

Bibliography

His recorded works include: *The Blazing Star - a collection of sayings ascribed to Muhammad *A Treasury of Virtues - a collection of saying by Ali *Al-Qudai's History - prophets and caliphs up to the caliph al-Zahir *The merits of al-Shāfi'ī - on the founder of the legal school (lost) *Compendium of Teachers - list of hadith sources used by al-Quḍā'ī (lost) *A topography of Cairo *Qu'ran Commentary (lost) *The Preacher's Pearl and the Worshiper's Treasure (possible authorship) *Details of Reports and Gardens of Lessons - wisdom sayings (possible authorship)

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Qudai 1062 deaths Year of birth unknown 11th-century Egyptian historians 11th-century Iranian historians Egyptian people of Iranian descent