Sidi Mahrez ben Khalaf or Abu Mohamed Mahrez ben Khalaf ben Zayn ( ar, سيدي محرز بن خلف; 951–1022) was a Tunisian

Wali A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by t ...

, scholar of the

Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primar ...

school of jurisprudence and a

Qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a ''sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minor ...

. He is considered to be the patron-saint of the city of

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

Life

He was born in Ariana to a father of Arab origin who traced his lineage to

Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honori ...

. He studied in

Kairouan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by t ...

and then in

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muh ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

and became a teacher of Maliki jurisprudence upon his return. At the age of 57, he left his home-town (Ariana) and went into seclusion in

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...

. In c. 1014 he settled in Tunis, in a house in Bab Souika, which would become his mausoleum and later the Sidi Mahrez Mosque.« Sidi Mahrez, pour toujours », ''La Presse de Tunisie'', 17 septembre 2007
He proposed to his teacher

Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani Ibn Abī Zayd () (922–996), fully Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Zayd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Nafzawī ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawanī, was a Maliki scholar from Kairouan in Tunisia and was also an active proponent of Ash'ari thought.Herbert J ...

(922 – 996 CE) to write a

aqidah ''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means " creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology. ''Aqidah'' go beyond concise state ...

and

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...

education book, and his proposal was concretised under the title ''

Risala fiqhiya Al-Risalah al-Fiqhiyyah ( ar, الرسالة الفقهية) is a Aqidah and Maliki fiqh book written by Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (922 – 996 CE) for learning Islam in North Africa. Presentation The book “Ar-Risala” is a Mukhtasar in Ma ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahrez Tunisian jurists Tunisian judges Tunisian Maliki scholars 951 births 1022 deaths People from Tunis People from Aryanah 10th-century people of Ifriqiya 11th-century people of Ifriqiya Tunisian expatriates in Egypt Muslim scholars of Islamic jurisprudence 11th-century Arabs 10th-century Arabs

Life

See also

References