Ahmad Ibn Hajar Al Haytam Al Makk - ( m.

974)
14 June 2012, 10:42 am
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Posted by at-tawhid.net

This is the Imam Shihab Ud Din A h mad Ibn Mu h ammad Ibn Mu h ammad
Ibn Ali Ibn H ajar Al Haytami Al Makki, known as Ibn H ajar Al Haytami. He
was one of the leading specialists of H Adith and jurists of his time and an
Imam in Ta s awwuf. He was the ultimate reference of the Madh-hab Shafi'i in
his time as were the Imams Al Juwayni, An Nawawi, Ar Ramli or Zakariyya Al
An 's Ari respevtives their eras, and a High Representative of the Ash'arism
And Sunnism in general.
He was born in 909 AH, two years before the death of the Imam Jalal Ud Din
As SUYU t at Abu Haytham, a village in western Egyptian. His father
Mu h ammad died while still young while his grandfather Mu h ammad Ibn Ali
was still alive.His education was then taken over by the two masters of his
father, ie Imams Mu hammad Ibn Abil As sarawi H am- he and his disciple
Shams Ud Din A h mad Shannw Ash (Allah have mercy on them). Ash
Shaykh Shannw sent especially learn Qur n in its entirety in the city
of t year t . Following this, he was admitted in 924 to the Ka'bat Ul'Im of Al
Azhar University. He was then under the tutelage of the disciples of Shaykh
Ash Shannawi and in collaboration with the other honorable pupils of the
scholars of Al-Azhar.

Thus he studied with many famous students of the Emir of the Faithful in the
Science of H Adith A h mad Ibn H ajar Al 'Asqalani (Allah have mercy on him),
the most famous contste had no one we nicknamed Ash Shaykh Ul Islam,
Imam Al Zakariyya Al An 's Ari. Al Imam Ibn H ajar al Haytami said in this
regard: "Whenever I met Al Q d Zakariyya, he asked for me: " May
Allah give you a deep understanding of religion. ". " He also studied
with another senior representative of the Madh-hab Shafi'i, Imam Al Shihab
Ud Din Ar Ramli as well as to Imams' Abd UlH aqq As sinba t , Na s tR Ud Din
A t T ablaw, Taj Ul 'Arifin Abul H asan Al Bakri, Ibn Shihab Ud Din Al Najjar
An H anbal, Shams Ud Din Al Laqqn, Shams Ud Din Al H has tt ABI and
many others. And it was after all these years of study with great scholars
that he became Mufti and began to deliver fatawa according to the Madh-hab
Shafiite in the year 929. In addition to this he also became a true Master in
the fields of Tafsir, Kalam, the foundations of jurisprudence, mathematics,
grammar, logic and rhetoric. Moreover, he possessed an excellent memory
for which he was famous even during his lifetime.
In 932 Shaykh Ash Shannawi advised him to marry. Imam al-Haytami replied
that he was poor and therefore could not afford to marry. But Ash Shannawi,
having so much love for his disciple, insisted and told him that the proposal

was for his niece, and he offered him enough to pay the dowry. Thus Imam
Ibn H ajar Al Haytami married the niece of his Shaykh and could start a
family.

He then went to Mecca in 933 AH, with his Shaykh Abul H asan Al Bakri. He
stayed there for a year. During this time, he wanted to write a jurisprudence
treated according to the Madh-hab Shafi'i but renounced it after a dream he
had when he saw the Imam Al H ARITH Al Mu h Asibi (that Allah commended
him for writing another type of book. Al-Imam Al Haytami thus accepted this
request with joy and began to write the book requested. He says elsewhere
about this event: " It reminds me of a dream I had seen when I was
still a student. I saw a beautiful woman who showed me her belly
and said: " Write the red text and explanation below in black. "I was
somewhat bewildered with such a dream, but a scientist interpreted
it favorably, saying: " Your writings and your works are famous
worldwide after going unnoticed for some time. " After that, I
started to write the commentary Al Irshd. "
When he returned to Mecca, he then began to write an abstract of Matn Raw
Ur d ahand commentary as well as a compendium of Al Jawahir , Al
Minhaj and Al Anwar .In 937, he returned to Mecca to accomplish the
pilgrimage, accompanied by his family and Shaykh Al Bakri. He brought with
him his work on Ar Raw d ah and added additional notes with the words of
eminent scholars of Yemen that he met.
When he had finished his pilgrimage and compiled the words of the Yemenite
scholars to complete his work, he returned to Egypt and the scholars who
saw this book were subjugated by the beauty and richness that it
contained. They gave him great importance and admired this work to the
point of asking for copies in order to benefit from it and to teach it to their
respective pupils. However, before being able to satisfy their request, an
envious and jealous person stole his book and never returned to work. This
terribly afflicted Imam Al-Haytami, who knew that he had lost both months of
work, but also a great deal of rich teachings that would have benefited many
people. He handed over his affair to Allah, full of tawakkul, and then waited
patiently to obtain the satisfaction of Allah (Exalted be He).
Following this terrible disappointment, he returned to Mecca in 940 and
remained there until his death. In this noble city favorable to erudition and
meditation, he devoted himself to dhikr, to writing, to teaching and to the
issuing of fatawa. During this period, his popularity never ceased to grow

with people and his writings were increasingly prolific. He wrote such a
comment from Al d h of Imam An Nawawi, two comments Kitab Ul
Irshd of Imam Al Muqri respectively named Al Imdad F Sharpm It
Irshd and Fat h Ul Jawwad Bi Shar pm It Irshd and his sublime Shar h Ul
'Ubbwhere he gathered together the opinions of the Madh-hab scrutinizing
them, commenting and explaining the overriding opinion. He solved many
problems on many legal issues and encompassed all of his Madh-hab books
previously written.Later, he wrote an even more prestigious book he is his
masterwork titled You h fat Ul Mu h Taj Li Shar pm It Minhaj , which is a
commentary of Minhaj U t T libn of Imam An Nawawi , In four volumes. This
book literally represents a summit of Shfi'ite scholarship. Such was the
answer of Allah (may He be exalted) the loss of his Shar pm Ur Raw d ah .
He wrote many other books like his famous Fatwas Ul H adthiyyah and
another sum of fatawa entitled Fatwas Ul Kubr it Fiqhiyyah . This is also
in his Fataawa UlH adthiyyah he said: " Innovative is one whose faith
differs from the faith of Ahl Sunnah Us. And faith of Ahl Us Sunnah
is the faith of Abul H asan Al Ash'ari, Abul Man s ur Al Maturidi and
those who followed them. The one who introduces something that is
not approved by Islm becomes in fact a man of bid'a. " And there also
said: " Whoever denies, rejects or disapproves the Sufis, Allah will
not make its beneficial knowledge. "
He also wrote a book about the attributes of the Messenger of Allah (as The
Hi and Peace of Allah be upon him) called Ashraf Ul Wasa Ila it Fahm Ish
Shama it , another on the merits of Imam Abu h Anifah called Khairat
Ul h ISAN F Manaqib Abi h Anifah an Nu'man , a review of 40 h Adith of Imam
an Nawawi entitled Fat h Ul Mubin Sharpm It Arb'n an Nawawiyyah , a
commentary on the Qasidat Ul Hamziyyah of Imam Al Bu s IRI entitled Minat
Ul Makkiyyah F Shar h Hamziyyat He Bu s riyyah , a commentary Mishkat Ul
Ma s ABI h of Imam a t T abrz titled Fat h Ul Ilah Shar h Al Mishkh , and as
a commentary on the Muqaddimah of Imam Al H a d Rami entitledMinhaj Ul
Qawm F Masa it ta'lim it where it said: "Know that Al Qarafi and
others reported Ash Shafi'i, Malik, a h mad and Abu h Anifah (Allah
be pleased) that those who say [about Allah] He is in one direction
or that He is a body committed disbelief. And they are right in
that. "
He also wrote a letter of advice to governors called Na s h at Ul Muluk , a
book on Sufism and the fundamentals of belief and Muslim jurisprudence
titled At Ta'ruf Fil A s Layn At Ta Wa s awwuf a book on the prohibition of the
use of listening and musical instruments entitled Kaff Ur Ra'a 'Min
Mu h arramt It Lahw As Sam Wa' , a book about the Imam al Mahdi (may

Allah the anhu) entitled Qawl It Mukhta s ar F 'Alamat Al Mahdi It

Munta z ar , a compilation of protections against invocations of demons
called Dhikr Ul Athar It Wridah Fil Adhkar It Lati Ta h rusu Q iluh Min
Kayd It Jinn and Many other works equally profitable.

He also wrote a reference book in refutation of Shi'ism titled S aw'iq Ul

Mu h riqah F Ar Radd Ala Ahl it Bid'a Wa Az Zandaqah , in which he exposes
their errors and refutes the point by point with Brio. Also, he refuted
brilliantly innovated Ibn Taymiyyah in his opinion prohibiting visiting the
grave of the Messenger of Allah (as The Hi and Peace of Allah be upon him)
through a beautiful book called Jawhar Ul Muna zz am F It Ziyarat Qabr In
Nabiyy It Mukarram .
He also trained many disciples among which are especially Ash Shaykh 'Abd
Ur Rah Mn Ibn' Umar Ibn A h mad Al 'Amudi, the great specialist' Ilm
Ul H Adith Jamal Ud Din Al Hindi, scholar Imam Abu As Sa'adat and Ash
Shaykh Burhan Ibn Ahdab (may Allah have mercy on them).

It was after a life dedicated entirely to Islam that Imam A h mad Ibn H ajar Al
Haytami was recalled by his Lord in 974 AH in Mecca. He was buried in the
famous cemetery of that city, Al Mu'aa'a, alongside the Companion of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and Caliph Sayyidun
'Abdu Llh Ibn Az Zubayr And his father). Later, some of his companions saw
him in a dream and asked him, " What does it're then happened? " He
said to everyone: " We are now in 'Illiyn. "
May Allah grant him His Eternal Accreciation and illumine his grave, and be
able to benefit from his knowledge and follow his steps. Allahumma Amin.