Abū Abd-Allah Najm al-Dīn Aḥmad bin Ḥamdān bin Shabīb bin Ḥamdān al-Ḥarrānī al-Ḥanbalī (
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: أبو عبد الله نجم الدِّين أحمد بن حمدان بن شبيب بن حمدان الحراني الحنبلي) commonly known as Ibn Hamdan—was a
Hanbalite Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
scholar and judge (1206–1295). Ibn Hamdan was born and raised in
Harran
Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale.
...
and later in his life went on trips to
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 ...
,
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, later settling 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 ...
. Ibn Hamdan was appointed judge in Cairo and he lived there until his death in 1295.
Ibn Hamdan was highly skilled in jurisprudence and is considered one of the Imams of the
Hanbalite school of
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 ...
. He was also highly knowledgeable in the fields of the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
,
Sunnah
is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
,
algebra
Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...
and
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
. Ibn Hamdan was also a
Mufti
A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...
and a teacher.
Teachers
Abd-al-Qadir al-Rahawi, Fakhr al-Din ibn Taymiyah, Yousuf al-Sakakini al-Harrani, Abu-Bakr bin Nasir al-Harrani, Sulama bin Sadaqa, Nasih al-Din bin Jumay', Abu-Ali al-Iwqi, Ibn-Sabbah, Ibn-Ghassa, Ibn-Ruzbah, Ibn-Siddiq al-Harrani, Nasih al-Din bin Abi-al-Fahm, Shams al-Din al-Munja, Ibn-Salama al-Najjar, Ibn Khalil,
Majd al-Din ibn Taymiyah.
Students
Ibn Abi-Bakr al-Harbi, Sayf al-Din al-Nablusi,
Sharaf al-Din al-Dimyati, Sa'd al-Din al-Harthi, Ibn al-Haddad al-Amidi, Zain al-Din bin Habib, Ibn Jubara al-Maqdisi, Ibn Mas'ud al-Harthi,
Fath al-Din bin Sayid al-Nas, Qutb al-Din Abd-al-Karim, 'Alam al-Din al-Birzali,
Jamal al-Din al-Mizzi
Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf ibn al-Zakī ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yūsuf ibn ʻAbd al-Malik ibn Yūsuf al-Kalbī al-Quḍā'ī al-Mizzī, (), also called Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abī al-Ḥajjāj, was a Syrian muhaddith and the foremost `Ilm ...
, Badr al-Din bin al-Habbal, Sanqar al-Hawashi, Ibn abi-al-Qasim al-Farqi, Ibn abi-al-Haram al-Qalansi.
Publications
* Nihayat al-Mubtadi'in fi Usul al-Deen
* Al-Ri'aya al-Kubra
* Al-Ri'aya al-Sughra
* Sifat al-Mufti wa-al-Mustafti
* Muqaddima fi Usul al-Din
* Jami' al-Funun wa-Salwat al-Mahzun
Notes
: Uncle of
Taqi ad-Din Ibn Taymiyyah (brother of Shihabuddin Ibn Taymiyyah).
[Arikewuyo, Ahmed Nafiu. "A Comparative Study of al-Ghazali's and Ibn Taymiyyah's Views on Sufism." International Journal of Islamic Thought 17 (2020): 15-24.]
: Father of Fakr al-din Ibn Taymiyyah, grandfather of
Taqi ad-Din.
References
{{Hanbali scholars
Hanbalis
13th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
People from Harran
1206 births
1295 deaths