Name, Attributions and Birth
He is Ahmad ibn ‘Al ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Maḥmūd ibn Aḥmad ibn Hajar al-’Asqalānī al-Shāfi‘ī al-Miṣrī al-Qāhirī
Kunyah: Abu al-Faḍl, this was the nickname given to him by his father, named after a great judge of the time, Abū Faḍl al-’Uqaylī.
Laqab: Shihāb al-Dīn. During this era, those with the name Aḥmad would be called shihāb al-Dīn and those with the name Muḥammad were called Shams al-Dīn.
More commonly known as: Ibn Ḥājar, Qāḍī al-Quḍāt and Amīr al-Mu’minīn fī al-Ḥadīth.
Born: in Cairo on the 12th of Sha’bān in 773A.H./1372C.E.[1]
His Parents
Ibn Ḥājar’s father, Nūr al-Dīn ‘Alī, was a Shāfi scholar who excelled in fiqh, Arabic, literature and poetry. He was known for his knowledge, piety, trustworthiness and exemplary moral character. He died in 777A.H. in the month of Rajab when Ibn Ḥājar was only four years old. His mother died before this, and thus his sister Sitt al-Rakb assumed the responsibility to raise him. He said regarding his sister, “هي امي بعد امي”, she was my mother after my mother.
His Education
By the age of nine Ibn Ḥājar had completed the memorisation of the Qur`ān. Ibn Ḥājar was given the honour of leading tarāwīḥ prayers at the Masjid al-Ḥarām in Makkah at the tender age of twelve.
His Family
Ibn Ḥājar had an elder brother who passed away before he was born. His brother was also a scholar, but passed away at a young age.
When Ibn Ḥājar reached the age of 25 he married Ānas Khātūn in 798A.H. She was a ḥadīth scholar and also a student of Hāfidh al-’Irāqī. His wife had four daughters.
His Teachers
Ibn Ḥājar had 573 male teachers, and 55 female teachers. Some of his more prominent teachers are listed below:
- Abū al-Hasan al-Haythami d.807
- Ibn Mulaqqin[2] d.804
- Sirāj al-Dīn al-Bulqīnī d.805
- Zayn al-Dīn al-Irāqī[3] d.806
- Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Jazari[4] d.833
- Muḥammad ibn Ya’qub bin Muḥammad al-Shīrāzī al-Fīrūzābādī, a prominent linguist author of al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ, d.817
- ‘Izz al-Dīn bin Jamā’ah al-Ḥamawī thereafter al-Miṣrī d.819
His Students
Ibn Ḥājar had many students. Some of his more famous students include:
- Imām al-Sakhāwī d.902
- Al-Biqāī d.885
- Zakariyya al-Anṣārī d.926
- Ibn Qāḍī Shuhbah d.873
- Ibn Tagrī Bardī d.874
- Qāsim Ibn Quṭlubūghā d.879
- Al-Kamāl ibn Abī Sharīf d.906
His Works
Ibn Ḥājar wrote many books. His more famous works include:
- Fatḥ al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri
- Al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr
- Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb
- Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb
- Lisān al-Mīzān
- Al-Nukat ‘ala Muqaddimah Ibn Ṣalāh
- Al-Durar al-Kāminah fī A’yāni al-Miatu al-Thāminah
- Taghlīq al-Ta’līq
- Nuzhat al-Naẓr fī Tawdīḥ Nukhbat al-Fikr
- Ta’jīl al-Manfā’ah bizawāid rijāl al-aimmat al-Arba’ah
- Inbā al-Ghumar
- Al-Dirāya[5]
His Death
Al-Hāfidh ibn Ḥājar passed away after Isha on Saturday night on the 28th of Dhul Ḥijjah[6] 852AH. He was buried in a small cemetery in Cairo. 50,000 people including the Sultan and Caliph attended his funeral. May Allāh ﷻ have mercy upon him, and reward him with the best of rewards on behalf of Islām and the Muslims.
[1] As mentioned by al-Suyūtī in Naẓm al-‘Iqyān fī a’yān al-a’yān pg. 45. Sakhāwī mentions he was born on 12th of Sha’bān (al-Jawāhir wa al-Durar, pg. 104)
[2] A prolific author, Ibn Ḥājar studied Shāfi fiqh with him
[3] Ibn Ḥājar first became his student in 786A.H. and studied under his guidance for ten years. His famous works are Dhayl ‘ala al-Mīzān, al-Alfiyya, and its commentary Fatḥ al-Mugīth.
[4] He was one of the leading shaykhs of qir’a of his era and the author of Hisn al-hasn and Ghyat al- nihya f t”abaqt al-qurr’
[5] A work of ḥadīth on the classic Ḥanafi manual al-Hidāyah
[6] There are some differences with regards to the exact date of death. Al-Sakhāwi and al-Suyūti claimed that it was on the 18th of Dhil Ḥijjah, whilst in Badā’i al-Zuhūr, Ibn Iyās says that it was on the 19th of Dhul Ḥijjah.
