# Ibn Hajar al-Haytami

Sheikhul Islam Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī al-Makkī al-Anṣārī known as Ibn Hajar al-Haytami al-Makki (Arabic: ابن حجر الهيتمي المكي) was a renowned Sunni Egyptian scholar. He was the leading jurist of the Shafi'i school of thought, a mujtahid, muhaddith, historian and theologian. He came from the Banu Sa'd tribe who settled in the Al-Sharqiah province in Egypt. Ibn Hajar was specialized in Islamic Jurisprudence and well known as a prolific writer of the Shâfi'î school. With Shihab al-Din al-Ramli, he represents the foremost resource for fatwa (legal opinion) for the entire late Shâfi‘î school.

## Biography
### Birth and education

Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī was born in 909 AH (1503 AD) in the small village Abū Haytam in western Egypt. When he was a small child, his father died and his upbringing was left to the charge of his grandfather. His grandfather was known to the locals as the "stone" because of his pious nature. The nickname came from people saying he was "silent as a stone". This was due to the fact that he seldom spoke and when he did it was greatly revered for his religious knowledge. His grandfather died, however, shortly after his father and his father's teachers Shams Dīn b. Abi'l-Hamā'il and Shams al-Dīn Muhammad al-Shanāwī became his caretakers. As a child he began his studies with the memorisation of the Qur'an and Nawawi's Minhaj. His caretaker al-Shanāwī decided that al-Haytamī should continue his elementary education at the sanctuary of Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawī in Tanta.
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami notes in his writings a beverage called qahwa developed from a tree in the Zeila region.

### Teachers

After completing his elementary education, Ibn Hajar al- Haytamī continued his schooling at al-Azhar where he studied under many noteworthy scholars, the most predominant one being Zakariyyā’ al-Ansārī. He also studied under the famous Shafi'i scholar Shihab al-Din al-Ramli.

### Migration to Mecca

Al-Haytamī performed the Hajj in the year 1527 with one of his teachers al-Bakri. It was during this trip that al-Haytamī decided to begin writing fiqh. He returned to Mecca in 1531 and stayed there a year before returning home again. During this visit al-Haytamī worked on a compilation of notes which he would later use in his authorship to write commentaries. The last time he traveled to Mecca was in 1533, this time he brought his family and decided to permanently reside there. His life dedication in Mecca began to be writing, teaching, and issuing fatwa. He authored major works in Shāfiʿī jurisprudence, hadīth, tenets of faith, education, hadīth commentary, and formal legal opinion. It was at this time he wrote his most notable work, which was called "Tuhfat al-Muhtaj bi Sharh al-Minhaj". This work was a commentary on Imam Nawawi's writing "Minhaj al-Talibin". Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī's commentary became one of the two authoritative textbooks of the Shafi’i school. He wrote many other works, some of which are listed in the "works" section of this page.

### Death

Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī died in 1566 AD/973 AH in Mecca. He was buried in the cemetery of Ma'lat.

## Views

* Regarding singing al-Haytami mentioned that some went so far as to claim the supposed consensus of ahl ul Madinah on this question.
* He was once asked about the legal status of those who criticizes Sufis: Is there an excuse for such critics? He replies in his Fatawa hadithiyya: It is incumbent upon every person endowed with mind and religion not to fall into the trap of criticizing these folk (Sufis), for it is a mortal poison, as has been witnessed of old and recently.
* Regarding logical reasoning: "Consider these words without partisanship and you will find that he…has clarified the way and established the proof to the effect that there is nothing in [logic] which is reprehensible or leads to what is reprehensible, and that it is of use in the religious sciences such as the science of the principles of religion and of jurisprudence (fiqh). The jurist have established the general principle that what is of use for the religious sciences should be respected and may not be derided, and it should be studied and taught as a fard kifaya"

## Works

Part of a series on :
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Rock carved with al-'Aqida al-Murshida by Ibn Tumart :
Background :
Sunni Islam
Kullabiyya
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Eminent scholars
3rd AH/9th AD
Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324/936)
Ibn Khafif (d. 371/982)
4th AH/10th AD
Al-Baqillani (d. 403/1013)
Ibn Furak (d. 406/1015)
Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini (d. 418/1027)
'Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi (d. 429/1037)
Abu 'Imran al-Fasi (d. 430/1038-9)
Abu Dharr al-Harawi (d. 434/1043)
Al-Mawardi (d. 450/1058)
Al-Bayhaqi (d. 458/1066)
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 463/1071)
Al-Qushayri (d. 465/1072)
Abu al-Walid al-Baji (d. 474/1081)
Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi (d. 476/1083)
Al-Juwayni (d. 478/1085)
5th AH/11th AD
Al-Raghib al-Isfahani (d. 502/1108)
Al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111)
Abu al-Qasim al-Ansari (d. 511 or 512/1117-19)
Ibn 'Aqil (d. 513/1119)
Ibn Rushd al-Jadd (d. 520/1126)
Al-Mazari (d. 536/1141)
Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (d. 543/1148)
Al-Qadi 'Iyad (d. 544/1149)
Al-Shahrastani (d. 548/1153)
Ibn 'Asakir (d. 571/1176)
Ahmad al-Rifa'i (d. 578/1182)
6th AH/12th AD
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606/1209)
Ibn al-Athir (d. 630/ 1233)
Sayf al-Din al-Amidi (d. 631/1233)
Ibn al-Hajib (d. 646/1248)
'Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam (d. 660/1262)
Al-Qurtubi (d. 671/1272)
Al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277)
Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi (d. 684/1285)
Al-Baydawi (d. c. 685/1286)
Ibn al-Nafis (d. 687/1288)
7th AH/13th AD
Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (d. 702/1302)
Ibn 'Ata' Allah (d. 709/1309)
Safi al-Din al-Hindi (d. 715/1315)
Ibn Juzayy (d. 741/1340)
Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati (d. 745/1344)
Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 756/1355)
'Adud al-Din al-'Iji (d. 757/1355)
Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771/1370)
Shams al-Din al-Kirmani (d. 786/1384)
Al-Taftazani (d. 793/1390)
Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi (d. 794/1392)
8th AH/14th AD
Ibn 'Arafa (d. 803/1401)
Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini (d. 805/1405)
Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi (d. 806/1404)
Nur al-Din al-Haythami (d. 807/1404-5)
Ibn Khaldun (d. 808/1406)
Al-Sharif al-Jurjani (d. 816/1413)
Ibn al-Jazari (d. 833/1429)
Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852/1449)
Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (d. 864/1459)
'Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi (d. 875/1470)
Ahmad Zarruq (d. 899/1493)
9th AH/15th AD
Al-Sakhawi (d. 902/1497)
Jalal al-Din al-Dawani (d. 907/1501 or 908/1502)
Al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505)
Al-Qastallani (d. 923/1517)
Zakariyya al-Ansari (d. 926/1520)
Al-Sha'rani (d. 973/1565)
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974/1567)
Al-Khatib al-Shirbini (d. 977/1570)
10th AH/16th AD
Ibn 'Ashir (d. 1040/1631)
Ahmad al-Maqqari (d. 1041/1632)
Ibrahim al-Laqqani (d. 1041/1631)
Muhammad Mayyara (d. 1072/1662)
11th AH/17th AD
Al-Hasan al-Yusi (d. 1102/1691)
Muhammad al-Zurqani (d. 1122/1710)
'Abdallah ibn 'Alawi al-Haddad (d. 1132/1720)
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (d. 1176/1762)
12th AH/18th AD
Ahmad al-Dardir (d. 1204/1786)
Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba (d. 1224/1809)
Ibn Kiran (d. 1227/1812)
Ahmad al-Tijani (d. 1230/1815)
Ibrahim al-Bajuri (d. 1276/1859-60)
Muhammad 'Ilish (d. 1299/1882)
13th AH/19th AD
Ahmad Zayni Dahlan (d. 1304/1886)
Yusuf al-Nabhani (d. 1350/1931)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (d. 1379/1960)
Muhammad al-'Arabi al-Tabbani (d. 1390/1970)
Muhammad al-Tahir ibn 'Ashur (d. 1393/1973)
14th AH/20th AD
Muhammad Mitwalli al-Sha'rawi (d. 1419/1998)
Muhammad 'Alawi al-Maliki (d. 1425/2004)
'Abdullah al-Harari (d. 1429/2008)
Nuh al-Qudah (d. 1432/2010)
Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti (d. 1434/2013)
Wahbah al-Zuhayli (d. 1436/2015)
Muhammad 'Ali al-Sabuni (d. 1442/2021) :
Theological works
Istihsan al-Khawd fi 'Ilm al-Kalam
Mujarrad Maqalat al-Ash'ari
Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari
Al-'Aqida al-Tahawiyya
Sharh al-'Aqa'id al-Nasafiyya
Al-Insaf
Al-Irshad
Al-Iqtisad
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Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
Islamic Education Movement
International Islamic University Malaysia :
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