Muhammad 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Munāwi (also Al-Manāwi) (), was a renowned

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

scholar of the

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

. He was a prominent

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 traditionis ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

, hadith specialist,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, and mystic. He is considered one of the most greatest

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

scholars and prolific writers of his time. He authored a celebrated and classical work titled ''

Fayd al-Qadir () is a multi-volume commentary on al-Suyuti's hadith collection titled ''Al-Jami' al-Saghir''. Fayd al-Qadir is an exhaustive commentary by al-Munawi. Considered his most popular work, it is a very popular book amongst Sunnis. Description The ...

''. He was the paternal great grandson of

Shaykh al-Islam Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning " elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim scholar. Though this title generally refers to men, there are also a small number of ...

Sharaf al-Din al-Munawi Sharaf may refer to: People * Sharaf (name), list of people with the name Places * Sharaf, Kermanshah, Iran * Bostan Rud Sharaf, Iran * Sharaf, part of Sanaa Governorate Other uses * ''Sharaf'' is part of the honor codes of the Bedouin * ''Sh ...

and was a famous disciple of Al-Sha'rani.

Name and Origin

The title "Al-Munawi" originated from the village of Munayt or Munāw, an area of

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 ...

where his ancestors settled around the 7th or 12th century after their departure from

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 ...

.”

Biography

Al-Munawī was born in the city of

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 ...

in the year of 952 AH/1545 CE and was a member of was a member of prestigious family well-known for their knowledge and piety. His family members were all scholars, and he was raised in a home full of information. He first started learning under his father Tajul 'Arifin. Before entering puberty, he memorised the Qur'an as well as other valuable texts in Shafi'i

Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

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 ...

, Arabic syntax, and Seerah. He was made a very young hafiz and Al-Sha'rani inducted him into

Tasawwuf 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 ...

. Following his passing, he made contact with several groups, including the brotherhood of Halwatiyya. After a few religious services, he withdrew from society to compose. Then he went back to the outside world to teach at the University of Aliyya, where his extremely high calibre of instruction attracted the most illustrious academics of the day and caused some to make him so envious that he was certainly poisoned. He managed to get away, but he soon gave up teaching and began dictating his works to one of his sons, Taj al-Din Muhammad, who was now too frail to write them down. He died in the year 1031 AH/1621 CE.

Teachers

He studied some of the greatest scholars of his day: * Al-Sha'rani * Shams al-Din al-Ramli * Nurud Din ‘Ali ibn Ghanim Al Maqdisi * Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Ali, Najm Al Ghayti * Abul Hasan, Muhammad Al Bakri As Siddiqi who was an expert

Mufassir Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...

(exegete)

Students

Among his students were the following: * ‘Ali Al Ajhuri * Ahmad ibn ‘Isa Shihabud Din Al Kalbi * His son, Zaynul ‘Abidin who also memorised the Quran at the age of 7.

Works

Al-Munawi was a prolific writer who wrote over 100 works including: *'' Fayd al-Qadir Sharh al-Jami` al-Saghir'', a commentary of

Al-Jami' al-Saghir Al-Jami' as-Saghir (, ') is a Sunni hadith collection authored by the Islamic scholar Jalaluddin al-Suyuti (1445 – 1505 CE/ 849 - 911 H). Description Contents As-Saghir is a non-primary hadith work which contains 10,031 hadith. Al-Suyuti extr ...

by Imam al-Suyuti. *''Sharh Nukhbah al-Fikar'', a commentary of Nukhbah al-Fikar by

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...

. *''Sharh al-Tirmidhi'', a commentary of

Sunan al-Tirmidhi ''Sunan al-Tirmidhi'' () is the fourth hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Islamic scholar al-Tirmidhi in (250–270 AH). Title The full title of the compilation is (). It is shortened to , , , or . The t ...

Al-Tirmidhi Muhammad ibn Isa al-Tirmidhi (; 824 – 9 October 892 CE / 209–279 AH), often referred to as Imām at-Termezī/Tirmidhī, was an Islamic scholar, and collector of hadith from Termez (early Khorasan and in present-day Uzbekistan). He w ...

*''Futuhat Subhaniyyah fi Sharh al-Alfiyyah al-Iraqi'', a commentary of Alfiyyah al-Hadith by

Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi Al-Hafiz Zain al-Din 'Abd al-Rahim al-'Iraqi (, 1403-1325) was a renowned Kurdish Shafi'i scholar and was the foremost leading hadith scholar at his time. Biography He is called: Al-Iraqi, relative to Iraq, because his origin is Kurdish, from a ...

. *''Al-Kawakib al-Durriyya fi Tarajim al-Sufiyya'' ("The Glittering Stars in the Biographies of the Sufis"), a biographical dictionary. *'' Ithâf al-mubra bi-l-'ulûm al-'ashra'' ("The Poluiche offered to the Ten Sciences") *''Kunuz al-Haqayiq fi al-Hadith'' ("Treasures of Facts in the Hadith") *''Al-Nukhbat fi Fadayil Ahl Al-Bayt'' ("The Elite in the Virtues of Aal al-Bayt") *''Al-Lali al-Jawhariat fi Sharh Hikam al-'Ata'iyah'', an explanation of Hikam al-'Ata'iyah by

Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari Tāj al-Dīn Abū'l-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Hussein ibn ʿAṭā Allāh al-Judhami al-Iskandarī al-Shādhilī was an Egyptian Malikite jurist, muhaddith and the th ...

References