Al-Ḥumaydī
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Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Nasr Futuh ibn Abd Allah ibn Futuh ibn Humayd ibn Yasil, most commonly known as al-Humaydi Al-saboni, was an Andalusian scholar of history and
Islamic studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...
of
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
origin.


Life

Humaydi's family belonged to the Arab
Azd The Azd (Arabic: أَزْد), or Al-Azd (Arabic: ٱلْأَزْد), is an ancient Tribes of Arabia, Arabian tribe. The lands of Azd occupied an area west of Bisha and Al Bahah in what is today Saudi Arabia. Land of Azd Pre-Islamic Arabia Pre- ...
tribe from
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
. According to the ''
Encyclopedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Islamic world. It is considered to be the standard ...
'', his father was born in al-Rusafa, a suburb of
Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...
. Due to civil strife at the time, Humaydi's father moved to the island of
Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
, where Humaydi was born in c. 1029AD.
William Montgomery Watt William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909 – 24 October 2006) was a Scottish historian and orientalist. An Anglican priest, Watt served as Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh from 1964 to 1979 and was also a prom ...
and Pierre Chacha, ''A History of Islamic Spain'', pg. 133.
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
:
Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...
, 2001.
While in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, Humaydi was a student of
Ibn 'Abd al-Barr Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Abū ʿUmar al-Namarī al-Andalusī al-Qurṭubī al-Mālikī, commonly known as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr ()
and both a student and friend of
Ibn Hazm Ibn Hazm (; November 994 – 15 August 1064) was an Andalusian Muslim polymath, historian, traditionist, jurist, philosopher, and theologian, born in the Córdoban Caliphate, present-day Spain. Described as one of the strictest hadith interpre ...
, from whom Humaydi took his
Zahiri The Zahiri school or Zahirism is a school of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was named after Dawud al-Zahiri and flourished in Spain during the Caliphate of Córdoba under the leadership of Ibn Hazm. It was also followed by the majo ...
te views in Muslim
jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...
.Fierro, pg. 73. Due to persecution of Zahirites in
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 ...
by the rival
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 ...
tes at the time, Humaydi fled from Spain for good in 1056. Initially, he went to
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 ...
and performed the Muslim
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
before traveling to
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and
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 ...
to pursue
Hadith studies Hadith studies is the academic study of hadith, a literature typically thought in Islamic religion to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Muhammad as transmitted through chains of narrators. A major area of inter ...
. Like many scholars of that field, Humaydi frequently worked with manuscripts written in different eras and was thus an outstanding scholar in the fields of
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
,
Arabic grammar Arabic grammar () is the grammar of the Arabic language. Arabic is a Semitic languages, Semitic language and its grammar has many similarities with the Semitic languages#Grammar, grammar of other Semitic languages. Classical Arabic and Modern St ...
and
lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretical le ...
as well.
Maribel Fierro María Isabel Fierro Bello (born 1956) is a researcher on Middle Eastern studies at the Spanish National Research Council's humanities branch in Madrid, Spain.Kees Versteegh Cornelis Henricus Maria "Kees" Versteegh (; born 1947) is a Dutch academic linguist. He served as a professor of Islamic studies and the Arabic language at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands until April 2011. Versteegh graduated fro ...
and Joas Wagemakers. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2011.
Eventually, Humaydi settled down 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 ...
, where the Zahirite rite had once been the official law of the land. While not enjoying state sponsorship, his views did receive tolerance as opposed to the outright persecution from which Humaydi had escaped. He died in the city in 1095.


Works

Humaydi was famous for his biography of the notables of Islamic Spain, entitled ''Jadhwat al-muqtabis fī tārīkh ʻulamāʼ al-Andalus (جذوة المقتبس فى ذكر ولاة الاندلس )'' . He composed the book while in Baghdad on request of his friends, writing entirely from memory without any other written sources. The book is considered the earliest primary source to mention
Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi Abū al-Qāsim Khalaf ibn al-'Abbās al-Zahrāwī al-Ansari (;‎ c. 936–1013), popularly known as al-Zahrawi (), Latinised as Albucasis or Abulcasis (from Arabic ''Abū al-Qāsim''), was an Arab physician, surgeon and chemist from al-And ...
, and an important primary source for the life of
Ziryab Abu al-Hasan 'Ali Ibn Nafi (; 789– 857), commonly known as Ziryab, was a singer, oud and lute player, composer, poet, and teacher. He lived and worked in what is now Iraq, Northern Africa and Andalusia during the medieval Islamic period. He ...
. Humaydi's historical works are one of the main Arabic primary sources on the Pisan–Genoese expeditions to
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
in the early 11th century, largely considered precursors to the
Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
. In the field of hadith, Humaydi is credited with inventing the genre of combining multiple independent books of hadith into bound collections, a style of cataloging which would gain even more popularity in the 12th century. His books on hadith are also considered significant to modern attempts at critical reevaluations, especially ''al-Jamʻ bayna al-Ṣaḥīḥayn (الجمع بين الصحيحين)'' his combination between the two most important canonical works,
Sahih al-Bukhari () is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar al-Bukhari () in the format, the work is valued by Sunni Muslims, alongside , as the most authentic after the Qur'an. Al-Bukhari organized the bo ...
and
Sahih Muslim () is the second hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj () in the format, the work is valued by Sunnis, alongside , as the most important source for Islamic religion after the Q ...
. al-Jamʻ bayna al-Ṣaḥīḥayn , pg. 73.


Edited works

*''al-Dhahab al-masbuk fi wa'z al-muluk''. Eds.
Abu Abd al-Rahman Ibn Aqil al-Zahiri Muhammad bin Umar bin Abd al-Rahman bin Abd Allah al-Aqil, better known as Abu Abd al-Rahman Ibn Aqil al-Zahiri, is a Saudi Arabian polymath. He has, at various times, been referred to as a theologian, jurist, historian, ethnographer, geographer, ...
and Dr. Abd al-Halim Uways.
Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...
: Dar Alam al-Kutub, 1982. 235 pages. Kings and rulers.
Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor The Selangor Islamic University (UIS; ) is a private university located in Bandar Seri Putra, Bangi, Selangor. The university was formerly a university college, before upgraded to a full-fledged university on 13 October 2022. The Sultan of Se ...

Title: الذهب المسبوك في وعظ الملوك / Abi 'Abdu'Llah Muhammad Abi Nasr al-Humaydi ; edited by Abu 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Aqil al-Zahiri and Dr. 'Abd al-Halim 'Uways
.
*''El Tafsir al-gharib ma fi al-Sahihayn de el Humaydi''. Ed. Z.M.S. 'Abd al-'Aziz (PhD dissertation).
Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...
, 1989. Based on a 1995 reprint of Humaydi's original from Maktabat al-Sunna in
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 ...
.


Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humaydi 1020s births 1095 deaths 11th-century people from al-Andalus 11th-century Arab people 11th-century jurists 11th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Azd Hadith compilers Hadith scholars People from Mallorca Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Zahiris