Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī was born in 909 AH (1503 AD) in the small village Abū Haytam in western Egypt.[2] 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.[2] His caretaker al-Shanāwī decided that al-Haytamī should continue his elementary education at the sanctuary of Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawī in Tanta.[2]
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami notes in his writings a beverage called qahwa developed from a tree in the Zeila region.[9]
Teachers
After completing his elementary education, Ibn Hajar al- Haytamī continued his schooling at al-Azhar[2] where he studied under many noteworthy scholars, the most predominant one being Zakariyyā’ al-Ansārī.[2] He also studied under the famous Shafi'i scholar Shihab al-Din al-Ramli.[2]
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.[10] 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.[11] He was buried in the cemetery of Ma'lat.[12]
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.[13]
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"[11]
^Sayyid Rami Al Rifai (3 July 2015). The Islamic Journal From Islamic Civilisation To The Heart Of Islam, Ihsan, Human Perfection. Sunnah Muakada. p. 37.
^ abcdefghijklmnAaron Spevack, The Archetypal Sunni Scholar: Law, Theology, and Mysticism in the Synthesis of Al-Bajuri, p 77. State University of New York Press, 1 October 2014. ISBN143845371X
^Jalaluddin Rakhmat, Ilman F. Rakhmat (2003). Dahulukan akhlak di atas fikih. Muthahhari Press. p. 33.
^Badi, Jamal A. (29 July 2016). Commentary on the Forty Hadith of Imam Al-Nawawi - Timeless Prophetic Gems of Guidance and Wisdom. Lulu.com. p. 117. ISBN9781365293962.
^ abArendonk, C. van; Schacht, J.. "Ibn Ḥad̲j̲ar al-Haytamī." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online, 2014. Reference. 16 November 2014
^Ghaly, Mohammad, "Writings on Disability in Islam: The 16th-Century Polemic on Ibn Fahd’s al-Nukat al-Zirâf", Arab Studies Journal, George Washington University, Fall 2005/Spring 2006, vol. XIII no. 2/vol. XIV no. 1, pp. 9- XIII no. 2/vol. XIV no. 1, pp. 9–38.
^J. Schacht and C. van Arendonk, "Ibn Hajar al-Haytami" in Encyclopedia of Islam, vol. III, p. 779.
^Houtsma, M. Th.; Wensinck, A. J.; Arnold, T. W.; Heffening, W.; Lévi-Provençal, E., eds. (1993). "Ḳawah". First Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. IV. E.J. Brill. p. 631. ISBN978-90-04-09790-2. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
^Sālim ibn ʿAbdullah ibn Saʿd ibn Samīr al-Haḍramī al-Shāfiʿī (8 September 2014). Safinah Safinat al-Naja' - The Ship of Salvation: A classic manual of Islāmic Doctrine and Jurisprudence In English with Arabic text, commentary and appendices. Translated by Ustaz Abdullah Muhammad al-Marbuqi. S19 Design. p. 105. ISBN9789671221815.
^ abEl-Rouayheb, Khaled. "Sunni Islamic Scholars on the Status of Logic, 1500–1800". Islamic Law and Society 11 (2004), p 217.
