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Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani

Type Figure Region Egypt Time 1372–1449 Also known as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani、Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani、Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Hajar、ابن حجر العسقلاني、Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1372–1449) was one of the most outstanding hadith scholars and Shafi'i jurists of the Mamluk era, born in Cairo in 1372.

Timeline

  1. 1372–1390Cairo · EgyptIbn Hajar was born in Cairo to a Shafi'i scholar and poet father, orphaned at four and raised by his uncle. In the 1370s he systematically studied hadith, jurisprudence, and Arabic in Cairo madrasas, standing out for his remarkable memory and analytical ability.
  2. 1390–1410Hejaz (Mecca, Medina) · HejazIn his youth Ibn Hajar traveled to the Hejaz, Syria, and elsewhere to seek teachers, obtaining hadith transmissions from several masters and beginning to write on biographical science and hadith terminology. His speed of writing and rigorous scholarship quickly earned him the reputation of 'Hafiz al-Asr' (Memorizer of the Age) in Mamluk scholarly circles.
  3. 1410–1449Cairo · EgyptIbn Hajar wrote some 150 works in his lifetime, of which Fath al-Bari, his authoritative commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, is regarded as a summative achievement in hadith studies. He served several times as chief judge (qadi al-qudat) of Egypt, with disciples across the Islamic world, and died in Cairo in 1449.

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