Saints and Tombs of Cairo

Qadi Bakkar ibn Qutayba

Bakkar ibn Qutayba was a Hanafi jurist and hadith scholar born in Basra in 182 AH (798 CE), who studied law under Hilal ibn Yahya, a pupil of Abu Yusuf. He was appointed chief judge (qadi) of Egypt by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil in 246 AH (860 CE) and held the office for more than twenty years. When the Tulunid ruler Ahmad ibn Tulun demanded that he endorse the removal of the heir al-Muwaffaq from the caliphal succession, Bakkar refused and was imprisoned, yet he continued to transmit hadith even from his cell. He died in Cairo in 270 AH (884 CE), roughly forty days after Ibn Tulun's death, and his tomb in the Qarafa Cemetery of Cairo remains a site of visitation. Among his students was the great Hanafi scholar Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi. Sources: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi ("Bekkâr b. Kuteybe"; "Tolunoğulları"); Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-a'yan.

KahireDied 270 AHView

Ali Abu'l-Wafa

Ali ibn Muhammad Wafa (Ali Wafa al-Shādhilī, d. 807/1405) was the son of Muhammad Wafa, founder of the Wafā'iyya order, and was himself a Sufi master and poet. Born in Cairo in 759/1358, he was only a small child when his father died and assumed leadership of the order in adulthood. In his final years he made his house in the Rawda district of Cairo the center of the order, leading Friday prayers for his disciples and giving them private discourses. Known for his Divan and works such as al-Waṣāyā and Mafātīḥ al-khazāʾin al-ʿaliyya, he is regarded as a powerful mystical poet whose verses were compared to those of Ibn al-Fāriḍ; the doctrine of the seal of sainthood and the cyclical theory he developed with his father are seen as turning points in the Akbarian tradition. Like his father he was buried in the shrine-mosque of the Sādāt al-Wafā'iyya in Cairo. Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi ("Ali Vefâ eş-Şâzelî"), Richard McGregor, Sanctity and Mysticism in Medieval Egypt (SUNY Press, 2004).

KahireDied 807 AHView

Sayyida Aisha bint Ja'far al-Sadiq

Sayyida Aisha is, according to popular tradition, a daughter of the sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq and a member of the Prophet's family descended from Ali; she is said to have died in 145 AH (762 CE). Her tomb lies in the Mosque and Mausoleum of Sayyida Aisha near Salah al-Din Square in Islamic Cairo, one of the most visited shrines in that district. The site began as a small domed shrine over her grave; Saladin later added an adjoining madrasa, and the present mosque was rebuilt in 1971. Note transparently: the TDV Islamic Encyclopedia's article on Ja'far al-Sadiq does not list a daughter named Aisha among his children, so the shrine's attribution rests on popular tradition — a common feature of Cairo's maqams of the Prophet's family, whose attributions are frequently disputed. Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi "Ca'fer es-Sâdık"; English Wikipedia "Sayeda Aisha Mosque"; Wikidata Q12204252; Egypt State Information Service.

KahireDied 145 AHView

Yusuf al-Ajami al-Kurani

Abu'l-Mahasin Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Abdullah ibn Umar al-Ajami al-Kurani (al-Gurani) was a great Sufi shaykh renowned for his asceticism, scrupulousness, and piety. He is remembered as the one who revived the path of Junayd al-Baghdadi in Egypt after it had faded, and his order's chain of transmission connects to the Zayniyya and Suhrawardiyya. He secluded himself in a retreat within the Qarafa (Imam al-Shafi'i) Cemetery of Cairo, established numerous lodges, trained many deputies, and authored a treatise on the method of dhikr titled 'Rayhanat al-qulub fi al-tawassul ila al-mahbub'. He died in Cairo in the month of Jumada al-Ula 768 AH (1367 CE) and was buried at his lodge in the Qarafa Cemetery, where his tomb remains a site of visitation. Sources: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi ("Zeyniyye"; "Sühreverdiyye"); al-Sha'rani, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra.

KahireDied 768 AHView

Sayyida Fatima al-Nabawiyya

Sayyida Fatima al-Nabawiyya was a daughter of al-Husayn ibn Ali and a member of the Prophet's family. She was esteemed as a scholar of jurisprudence and hadith and, because she took orphans into her care, was known as "the mother of orphans." Her shrine (mashhad) stands in the El-Darb El-Ahmar quarter of Cairo, in an alley bearing her name; it was established by Amir Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda and later renovated by Abbas Pasha. As is common with maqams of the Prophet's family, whether this is an actual grave or only a commemorative station, and even her date of death, are disputed and not settled by the sources (differing years such as 110 and 145 AH are cited). It remains one of the most venerated visitation sites of the Prophet's family in Cairo's spiritual geography. Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (Ahl al-Bayt / Cairo shrines); Arabic Wikipedia "السيدة فاطمة النبوية"; Mazarat Misr.

KahireView

Abdullah ibn Abd al-Hakam

Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Abd al-Hakam ibn A'yan al-Misri al-Maliki was born in 150 AH (767 CE) in Alexandria and became the foremost Maliki jurist of Egypt. Having received Imam Malik's law and legal methodology from three great Egyptian scholars — Ibn al-Qasim, Ibn Wahb, and Ashhab al-Qaysi — he succeeded Ashhab as the leading mufti of the Maliki school in Egypt. He authored a biography of the caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz and three legal compendia (al-Mukhtasar al-kabir with some 18,000 issues, al-awsat, and al-saghir), and was the patriarch of the family that produced the historian Ibn Abd al-Hakam through his sons Muhammad, Abd al-Rahman, Abd al-Hakam, and Sa'd. He died in Ramadan 214 AH (November 829 CE) in Cairo and was buried beside the grave of Imam al-Shafi'i in the Qarafa cemetery (Ibn Hibban gives 213 AH). Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi "İbn Abdülhakem, Abdullah" (vol. 19, pp. 276–277); Qadi Iyad, Tartib al-madarik.

KahireDied 214 AHView

Ibn al-Qasim (Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim al-Utaqi)

Abu Abd Allah Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim al-Utaqi, known as Ibn al-Qasim, was among the foremost jurists of the Maliki school and the closest students of Imam Malik. He kept the company of Malik in Medina for roughly twenty years, learning fiqh directly from him until Malik's death. His transmission of the Muwatta is regarded as the soundest, and his teachings and legal opinions were later compiled by Sahnun into al-Mudawwana al-kubra, which became the foundational source of Maliki jurisprudence after the Muwatta. He died in Egypt on 9 Safar 191 AH (25 December 806 CE), shortly after returning from the Hajj, and was buried in the al-Qarafa al-Sughra cemetery in Cairo. Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi "İbnülkasım"; English Wikipedia "Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim al-Utaqi".

KahireDied 191 AHView

Ashhab al-Qaysi (Ashhab ibn Abd al-Aziz)

Abu Amr Ashhab ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Qaysi was a student of Imam Malik and, after Ibn al-Qasim, was recognized as the leading authority of the Maliki school in Egypt. He studied under some twenty hadith scholars including Malik ibn Anas, al-Layth ibn Sa'd, Ibn Wahb, and Sufyan ibn Uyayna, while scholars such as Sahnun, al-Harith ibn Miskin, and Ibn al-Mawwaz learned fiqh and hadith from him. He was considered a reliable transmitter of Malik's narrations, and his legal opinions were cited as evidence in Maliki works written during and after his lifetime. Having briefly served as a scribe in Egypt's land-tax administration and known for his generosity, he died in Cairo on 22 Sha'ban 204 AH (11 February 820 CE) and was buried in the al-Qarafa al-Sughra cemetery near the tomb of Ibn al-Qasim. Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi "Eşheb el-Kaysî"; Wikidata Q12179848.

KahireDied 204 AHView

Zakariyya al-Ansari

Abu Yahya Zayn al-Din Zakariyya ibn Muhammad al-Ansari al-Khazraji was born around 823/1420 in the town of Sunayka in the Sharqiyya province of Egypt and became the foremost Shafi'i jurist and Qur'an exegete of his era. He studied under more than 150 scholars, including Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, al-Bulqini, Ibn al-Humam and al-Mahalli, served as head teacher at al-Azhar, and held the office of Shafi'i chief judge (qadi al-qudat) from 886/1481. He authored over fifty works in jurisprudence, exegesis, hadith, Sufism and Arabic grammar, and his students included Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, al-Shirbini and al-Sha'rani. He died in Cairo on 3 Dhu al-Hijja 926 (14 November 1520) and was buried in the Qarafa cemetery (Cairo necropolis) near the tomb of Imam al-Shafi'i. Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi "Zekeriyyâ el-Ensârî"; English Wikipedia "Zakariyya al-Ansari"; Wikidata Q4117458.

KahireDied 926 AHView

Al-'Izz ibn 'Abd al-Salam

Abu Muhammad 'Izz al-Din 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd al-Salam al-Sulami al-Dimashqi, born in Damascus in 577 AH (1181 CE), was a leading Shafi'i jurist, Qur'anic exegete and theologian. He earned the honorifics "Sultan al-'Ulama" (Sultan of the Scholars) and "Shaykh al-Islam", the former bestowed by his student Ibn Daqiq al-'Id. After teaching at the Umayyad Mosque and the Aziziyya Madrasa in Damascus, he moved to Egypt, where he served as a judge, taught at the Salihiyya Madrasa, and preached at the Mosque of 'Amr ibn al-'As. He authored around forty works on jurisprudence, legal theory, exegesis and theology, and was renowned for his courageous stance against innovations and unjust rule. He died in Cairo on 9 Jumada al-Ula 660 AH (1 April 1262 CE) and was buried in the Qarafa Cemetery. Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi "İzzeddin b. Abdüsselâm"; English Wikipedia "Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam"; Wikidata.

KahireDied 660 AHView

Muhammad Wafa

Muhammad Wafa (d. 765/1363) was a Sufi born in Alexandria who founded the Wafā'iyya branch of the Shādhiliyya order. After a period in Akhmim in Upper Egypt he settled in Cairo, guiding disciples from the Rawda (Manyal) district on the Nile. Together with his son Ali he developed a cyclical theory of history and a doctrine of the seal of sainthood (khatm al-awliyā') that brought the Akbarian tradition of Ibn 'Arabī into the Shādhilī framework, marking the order's chief departure from mainstream Shādhiliyya. He was buried in the shrine-mosque of the Sādāt al-Wafā'iyya at the foot of the Muqattam near the mausoleum of Imam al-Shāfi'ī, which became the burial complex of the Wafā family and the center of the order. Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi ("Ali Vefâ eş-Şâzelî", "Vefâiyye"), Richard McGregor, Sanctity and Mysticism in Medieval Egypt (SUNY Press, 2004).

KahireDied 765 AHView

Sayyida Nafisa

Daughter of Hasan b. Zayd, grandson of Hasan b. Ali; a lady of the Prophet's household (Ahl al-Bayt), deeply devout and living a life of renunciation, whose tomb is among the most visited in Cairo. Her full name is al-Sayyida Nafisa bint al-Hasan b. Zayd b. al-Hasan b. Ali b. Abi Talib ; she is known by the epithets al-Tahira and al-Hurra al-taqiyya . She was born in Mecca in 145 (762) and grew up there and in Medina, where her father served as governor. The source notes that it may be surmised she suffered great hardship at the threshold of girlhood, when her father was dismissed by the caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur on a charge of attempted rebellion, imprisoned, and his property confiscated. When she came of age she married Ishaq al-Mu'taman , son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq; she had by him a son named Qasim and a daughter named Umm Kulthum, but these children did not continue her line. According to a strong report she went with her husband Ishaq to Cairo (Fustat) in 201 (816-17) and lived there until her death. A great crowd of the people of Fustat came out to meet her; for some months she stayed as a guest in the house of Jamal al-Din Abd Allah b. Jassas. During this time both Egyptians and people from other lands all but vied with one another to visit her. As her visitors multiplied and a great press arose in the quarter where she lived, the governor of Egypt, Ubayd Allah b. al-Sari b. al-Hakam, assigned her a large house of his in the quarter where her tomb stands today and limited visits to two days a week. It appears that she possessed considerable learning in Qur'anic exegesis, hadith and Sufism. The source attributes the great interest and love shown to her through history to her descent from the Prophet and to her being a very pious woman who lived a life of renunciation. It is related that she ate very little, slept little, prayed and fasted much, made the pilgrimage thirty times, and had a grave dug inside her house into which she would at times descend to worship. For this reason she is counted among the descendants of Ali who are given a special place in the Sufi biographical works. She died in Ramadan 208 (January 824). Although her husband wished to take her body to Medina, at the wish of the people she was buried in the house where she had lived in Fustat. Her Circle of Influence — Foremost among her visitors were Sufis and scholars such as Bishr al-Hafi , Ahmad b. Hanbal and Imam al-Shafi'i . According to the sources, Imam al-Shafi'i visited Nafisa often when he went to Egypt and learned hadith from her; when al-Shafi'i died, his bier was brought to her house so that she too could pray the funeral prayer over him. Her visitors increased still further after her death. Ibn Taghribirdi says that her fame spread in the East and the West. Her Tomb and Complex — After her burial in her house in Fustat, a tomb was built over her grave by the governor of Egypt, Ubayd Allah b. al-Sari b. al-Hakam. In later periods the tomb was repaired many times and, with new buildings added beside it, turned into a complex. The chief works of building were carried out in 532 (1138) by the Fatimid caliph al-Hafiz li-Din Allah, in 693 (1294) by the Mamluk sultan Muhammad b. Qalawun, and in 1170 (1757) by the Ottoman governor Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa. Today, besides a mosque, there are various buildings, a library and Sufi cells around the tomb; notable especially for its gold and silver ornament, the tomb is among the most frequented places of visitation in Cairo.

KahireDied 208 AHView

Al-Layth ibn Sa'd

An independent jurist ( mujtahid mutlaq ) and hadith scholar; in his day the greatest jurist and traditionist of Egypt, one of the fuqaha al-amsar whose views served as a basis for legal opinion and judgment. His full name is Abu al-Harith al-Layth b. Sa'd b. Abd al-Rahman al-Fahmi . He was born in Sha'ban 94 (May 713) in the village of Qarqashanda (Qalqashanda) in the district of Tukh, in the province of Qalyubiyya near Cairo in Lower Egypt. It appears that his family came originally from the district of Marbin or Tabna near Isfahan in Iran and were clients of the Banu Fahm in Egypt. His father Sa'd b. Abd al-Rahman al-Fahmi was from Isfahan; he was born in 42 (662) and died after 100 (718-19). The Banu Fahm, to whom he was attached by clientage, held great influence in Egypt in the Umayyad period; in his youth three grandsons of Khalid b. Thabit al-Fahmi had served as governors of Egypt, and the source notes that they played a part in his upbringing. He studied with many scholars in Egypt and the Hijaz and also travelled to centres of learning such as Damascus, Jerusalem and Baghdad. On his first pilgrimage, in 113 (732), he met in Mecca scholars such as Ata b. Abi Rabah, Ibn Abi Mulayka, Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, Abu al-Zubayr, Imran b. Abi Anas and Nafi', the client of Ibn Umar. Among his hadith teachers were also Hisham b. Urwa, Sa'id b. Abi Sa'id al-Maqburi, Yazid b. Abi Habib, Yahya b. Sa'id al-Ansari and Abd al-Aziz al-Majishun. It is related that he met and benefited from more than fifty of the Successors and some 150 persons of the following generation and after. While still young he won the esteem of the leading scholars of Egypt, and under both the Umayyads and the Abbasids he enjoyed great standing with caliphs and statesmen. The governors of Egypt would take no final decision on a matter without consulting him. When the Umayyad caliph Marwan II wrote to the Egyptians asking them to choose someone to assist Hawthara b. Suhayl, whom he had appointed governor, Layth was chosen unanimously, although two of his teachers were still alive. In 140 (758), when the caliph al-Mansur was in Jerusalem on his return from the pilgrimage, Layth came before him as envoy at the head of a delegation; the caliph offered him the governorship (or the judgeship) of Egypt, and Layth declined, saying he was not equal to the task and was of client status. It is also related that he held certain official posts, such as membership of the Diwan al-Ata, the governorship of the Jazira and the administration of a diwan. He had influence on some important political and religious decisions of his time. He brought about the dismissal of Isma'il b. al-Yasa' al-Kindi, a pupil of Abu Hanifa and the first judge of Egypt, by complaining to the caliph al-Mahdi that in abolishing endowments in line with his teacher's view he had acted against the Sunna and the practice of the Companions. When the Christian churches of Egypt demolished in 170 by the governor Ali b. Sulayman were to be rebuilt, the new governor Musa b. Isa gave permission a year later after consulting Layth and Ibn Lahi'a; the two scholars said they regarded church building as part of the country's development and stated that the churches of Egypt had been built in the Islamic period, in the time of the Companions and the Successors. His daily programme was divided into four activities: meeting the governor and dealing with the religious problems he faced, narrating hadith to his students, resolving the religious questions of the people, and helping those in need. The sources record his generosity: although his annual income was 20-25,000 dinars, he distributed his wealth as alms before the year was out, so that zakat never became due from him and at times he was even in debt; it is related that he gave substantial help to scholars such as Ibn Lahi'a, Imam Malik and Mansur b. Ammar al-Wa'iz. He died on 14 Sha'ban 175 (16 December 791). The governor of Egypt, Musa b. Isa al-Hashimi, led his funeral prayer, and he was buried in al-Qarafa al-Sughra , south of Cairo. His Circle of Influence — Among those who learned from him were Hushaym b. Bashir, Abd Allah b. al-Mubarak, Ibn Wahb, Ibn Lahi'a, al-Qa'nabi, Ibn al-Qasim, Ashhab al-Qaysi, Qutayba b. Sa'id, Abd Allah b. Salih, known as the Scribe of Layth, Yahya b. Bukayr and Yahya b. Yahya al-Laythi. His son Shu'ayb and his grandson Abd al-Malik were among the scholars trained in law and hadith; Muslim and Abu Dawud narrated hadith from Layth through them. In his day he was regarded as the imam of the people of Egypt in hadith and law; Imam Malik too, in the letter he sent him, stresses his leadership in his homeland and the people's trust in his legal opinions. Al-Shafi'i says that the science of transmission circulated among Malik, Layth and Sufyan b. Uyayna. Despite this standing, no school formed around his legal views; al-Shafi'i ascribes this to his students' failure to spread them. The rise of the Maliki and Shafi'i schools in Egypt led to his unsystematised views being forgotten over time; yet Andalusian scholars such as Muhammad b. Bashir al-Ma'afiri and Yahya b. Yahya al-Laythi followed him on some points where he differed from Malik, and several of his views found wide application in al-Andalus. The reports he transmitted are found in all six canonical collections; with repetitions, al-Bukhari's al-Jami' al-sahih comes first with more than 450. His Poetry and Sufi Line — Layth was not a poet but a jurist and traditionist; this section gives his scholarly line. A peer of Imam Malik, raised in almost the same milieu, Layth stood essentially close to the Medinan school of hadith while also being influenced by the Kufan school of opinion: he attended the circle of Rabi'a b. Abd al-Rahman and, meeting Abu Hanifa on the pilgrimage, put legal questions to him. The soundest source for his legal theory is the treatise he wrote in reply to Imam Malik on the practice of the people of Medina : Malik had sent a letter arguing that Medinan practice had the character of the practice of the Prophet and his Companions; Layth, after stating his respect for the Medinan scholars, recalled that from the Companions' time the Muslim armies that went to Egypt, Syria and Iraq had included experts versed in the Qur'an, the Sunna and reasoned opinion, that the Companions and Successors had differed on many questions, and listed examples contradicting Medinan practice. The source states that this shows Layth regarded practice with caution and gave greater weight to transmitted report; al-Shafi'i's saying "Layth follows the transmitted report more than Malik" has this sense. He did not approve of departing from consensus and gave particular weight to the agreement of the Medinan scholars. Little is known of his theological views; it is stated that he favoured accepting the ambiguous reports without interpretation, that though he reached the age of eighty he never entered into disputation, and that in Egypt he dispelled hostility to Uthman by narrating reports on his virtues. In technique of transmission he was among the first traditionists to use the method of ard ; unlike most traditionists, he held transmission by writing ( kitaba ) and handing over ( munawala ) permissible. His reports from Aisha through Ata, from Ibn Abbas through Ibn Abi Mulayka, from Ibn Umar through Nafi' and from Abu Hurayra through al-Maqburi were the highest chains of his time. He sifted Abu al-Zubayr's books of reports from Jabir by having him mark those he had heard directly. His Works — Ibn al-Nadim records two works of Layth, the Kitab masa'il al-fiqh and the Kitab al-tarikh ; according to some reports the Masa'il al-fiqh was a critique of Imam Malik's views. The Kitab al-tarikh , from which al-Kindi quotes, is known to have survived down to the VI (XII) century; the historical reports from Layth in the books of many authors are probably based on it. A hadith collection ( asl ) made up of hadiths he gathered from various teachers and a Kitab al-riqq , apparently containing reports on slavery, are also recorded. His letter to Imam Malik is important not only for legal theory but also because it contains some ten of his legal views. The hadiths he narrated were gathered into fascicles by Abu Musa Zughba al-Tujibi, Ibn al-Muqri al-Isfahani and Ibn Qutlubugha; Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani too, at the end of his work on Layth's biography, transmitted forty hadiths reaching him from Layth through high chains. His Tomb and Complex — His grave in al-Qarafa al-Sughra is still one of the important places of visitation in Egypt; for his tomb the source refers to al-Maqrizi's Khitat and gives no further information on the building.

KahireDied 175 AHView

Imam al-Shafi'i

Imam of the Shafi'i school and a great mujtahid ; author of al-Risala , the first book in the field of legal theory ( usul al-fiqh ) to have come down to us. His full name is Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al-Abbas al-Shafi'i . He was born in 150 (767) in Gaza. On his father's side his lineage joins that of the Prophet in Abd Manaf, the Prophet's ancestor four generations back; hence he is also called al-Qurashi and al-Muttalibi. al-Sa'ib, grandfather of his great-grandfather Uthman, was taken prisoner at Badr, ransomed himself and then accepted Islam; al-Shafi'i became famous by the nisba to his son Shafi'. For his maternal lineage, the reports tracing it to the tribe of Azd have been preferred. When his father died, his mother Fatima took him to Mecca at the age of two. He grew up in want at Shi'b al-Khayf near Mina; thanks to his strong memory he continued his elementary education without fees by acting as a kind of assistant tutor, and obtained writing material from bones he collected and from the waste paper of a government office. He memorized the Qur'an at seven or nine and began teaching it in the Sacred Mosque at thirteen. He studied the readings with Isma'il ibn Qustantin. Then he joined the tribe of Hudhayl, learning their oral culture and customs as well as archery and horsemanship, and took an interest in Arabic poetry, literature and history. Encouraged by those around him, he began studying with Sufyan ibn Uyayna and Muslim ibn Khalid al-Zanji; al-Fudayl ibn Iyad is also named among his teachers of this period. When he resolved to go to Imam Malik ibn Anas , he memorized al-Muwatta' from a borrowed copy and travelled to Medina with letters from his teacher al-Zanji and the governor of Mecca. al-Dhahabi states that he was then a little over twenty. Sensing his talent, Malik took charge of him personally; this discipleship lasted until his teacher's death (179/795), and al-Shafi'i became one of the students who penetrated his teacher's learning most deeply. After Malik's death he went to Yemen at the invitation of its governor; his mother covered the journey's cost by pawning her house. There he took a public post and stayed about five years. Caught up in a political intrigue, he was accused of organizing a revolt against the government and taken to Raqqa to be brought before Harun al-Rashid; while those with him were executed, he barely escaped. This event of 184 (800) led to his meeting Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani ; while under surveillance he attended his lessons and subjected the Hanafi heritage to critical study. When the caliph declared that his negative opinion of him had changed and rewarded him with 4000 (or 10.000) dirhams, he returned to Mecca. In Mecca he both taught and wrote refutations of the works he had obtained in Iraq; he held debates with al-Shaybani in Baghdad and Mecca, at least one of them in the presence of Harun al-Rashid. Going to Baghdad in 195 (811) he stayed two years, left when the city was besieged during the struggle between al-Amin and al-Ma'mun, returned in 198 (814), but three months later decided to go to Egypt. Reports of this period show that the most assiduous attendant of his lessons was Ahmad ibn Hanbal , and that the people of hadith gave him the title nasir al-hadith . He remained in Egypt until the end of his life. For a time he stayed with his maternal relatives of Azd; he received the greatest support from the family of Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Hakam, one of Imam Malik's leading students. Despite serious health problems he pursued intensive writing and teaching; in this period the new ( jadid ) positions of his school were recorded through dictation. When he began to criticize his teacher Malik within scholarly bounds, he met with a reaction from certain circles; according to the source's account they pressed the governor to expel him from Egypt, al-Shafi'i asked for three days' grace, and on the third night the governor died. He died on 29 Rajab 204 (19 January 820) and was buried at the Qarafa in the cemetery of the Banu Abd al-Hakam ; later a tomb was built over his grave. It is reported that when Caliph al-Ma'mun wished to appoint him judge of Egypt he prayed, "O God! If this office is good for my religion, my world and my end, grant it; if not, take my soul" , and died before three days had passed. He is recorded as having two sons and a daughter: Abu al-Hasan Muhammad died in 231 (845), and Abu Uthman Muhammad, who learned hadith from his father and from Ahmad ibn Hanbal and served as judge of Aleppo (or al-Jazira), died in 242 (856); his grandchildren through his daughter Zaynab distinguished themselves in learning. It is reported that he was handsome, dyed his hair and beard with henna following the Sunna, scrupulously avoided swearing oaths, spent part of the night in worship, prayed the tarawih alone at home in order to recite more Qur'an, and had engraved on the stone of his ring "God is the surety of Muhammad ibn Idris". On the benefits of the sciences he is reported to have said: "Whoever learns the Qur'an grows in esteem; whoever studies law rises in worth; whoever writes hadith strengthens his proofs; whoever concentrates on language refines his nature; whoever concentrates on arithmetic strengthens his judgment; and whoever does not guard himself, his knowledge will not profit him." His Circle of Influence — He trained many students. Among those of his pre-Egyptian period Abu Thawr, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Karabisi and al-Za'farani stand out. Of his Egyptian students, al-Buwayti, al-Muzani and al-Rabi' ibn Sulayman al-Muradi hold a central place for the school; al-Humaydi, Harmala ibn Yahya, al-Rabi' ibn Sulayman al-Jizi, Yunus ibn Abd al-A'la and Abu Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Hakam are also named among his students and transmitters. Abu Thawr, a transmitter of the old doctrine, differed from him on some points and formed a school of his own. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said that al-Shafi'i was the most learned in law concerning the Book of God and the Sunna of His Messenger. His Poetry and Sufi Line — al-Shafi'i's line is that of law and legal theory. His scholarly life after his teacher Malik's death falls into a pre-Egyptian and an Egyptian period: the views of the first are called the old doctrine ( qawl qadim ), those of Egypt the new doctrine ( qawl jadid ); he himself said that in Egypt he had abandoned some earlier views and that his new views were his final understanding. Revelation, and in particular the Sunna of the Messenger, holds a central place in his thought; he regards the Sunna as an inseparable part of revelation. For him a religious ruling may be given only on the basis of a report in the Qur'an or Sunna, consensus, or analogy. He ties the correct understanding of the divine address to grasping Arabic in all its subtleties; the philologist Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham says that in many conversations with him he never heard him make a grammatical error, and al-Asma'i says he took the poetry of Hudhayl from him. It is reported that he first engaged in theology ( kalam ) and then turned to law because in that field one's foot may slip; he held that the principles of belief are to be accepted as expressed in the texts, and vehemently opposed those who claimed the Qur'an was created. His poems and wise sayings are scattered through various works; they were later compiled and published as Diwan al-Shafi'i , but he himself composed no such work. His Works — ① al-Umm : the fullest reflection of his legal thought in the new period and the main source of the school, transmitted by al-Rabi' ibn Sulayman and al-Za'farani. ② al-Risala : containing his views on legal theory and the first book in this field to have come down to us. ③ al-Hujja : the basic work of the old-doctrine period, most reliably transmitted by al-Za'farani. ④ al-Imla' (al-Amali) : works he dictated to his students. There are also the treatises included in al-Umm : al-Radd ala Muhammad ibn al-Hasan , Siyar al-Awza'i , Ikhtilaf al-Iraqiyyayn , Jima' al-ilm , Ibtal al-istihsan , Ikhtilaf Malik wa-l-Shafi'i , and Ikhtilaf al-hadith , the first of its kind. The Ahkam al-Qur'an attributed to him is by al-Bayhaqi, and al-Musnad was compiled from al-Umm by Abu al-Abbas al-Asamm (d. 346/957); al-Fiqh al-akbar very probably belongs to a later scholar. His Tomb and Complex — The tomb stands in Cairo in the Qarafa al-Sughra cemetery. According to the source it is regarded as the symbol of the renewed dominance of the Sunni understanding in Egypt after Saladin brought Fatimid rule to an end. Saladin built a madrasa near the grave (1176-1179) and a wooden cenotaph for it (574/1178-79); bearing the name of its craftsman Ibn Ma'ali, this cenotaph is one of the most magnificent examples of medieval woodwork in Cairo. According to the inscription, the dome was built in 608 (1211) by al-Malik al-Kamil. The tomb rests on a square base with an interior width of 15 metres; the stone building is roofed with a lead-covered wooden dome and from outside appears to have two storeys. At the top of the dome is a copper boat said once to have been filled with grain for the birds. The corner mihrab and the coloured marble panels on the lower walls probably belong to Sultan Qaytbay's restoration of 885 (1480), and the painted decoration of the dome and transition zone to Amir Ali Bey al-Kabir in the second half of the XVIII century; Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri also restored the dome. The marble stone bearing Imam al-Shafi'i's name and date of death is original. The tomb also holds a second cenotaph made for al-Malik al-Kamil's mother; Saladin's wife Shamsa and his son al-Malik al-Aziz Uthman are also buried in this tomb, though their exact places are not marked.

KahireDied 204 AHView

Sayyida Zaynab (Cairo)

The eldest daughter of 'Ali and Fatima; the woman who protected the women and children of the Ahl al-Bayt during and after the events of Karbala. Her full name is Zaynab al-Kubra bint 'Ali ibn Abi Talib al-Hashimiyya . According to the common view she was born in Medina in Sha'ban 5 (January 627); there are other views as well. She came after her elder brothers Hasan and Husayn and, according to some reports, after Muhassin (Muhsin), who was stillborn or died soon after birth. She was called Zaynab al-Kubra ("the Elder") to distinguish her from a younger sister of the same name born to another wife of 'Ali, and was also given the kunya Umm al-Masa'ib ("Mother of Afflictions") because of the many hardships she faced throughout her life. In the source's words, the information on her life is mostly of a hagiographical kind. After her mother's death she grew up under the care of 'Ali's wives after Fatima — Umm al-Banin bint Hizam, Layla bint Mas'ud and Asma' bint 'Umays; her father himself saw to her education. Because she grew up under his supervision as a learned, intelligent and discerning young woman, she was given the epithet 'Aqilat Bani Hashim . It is reported that even as a child she astonished her father with her answers on certain questions; as a young woman, women in particular turned to her for answers to their questions. Her father married her to 'Abd Allah , son of her uncle Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. 'Abd Allah, born while his father was an emigrant in Abyssinia, was a Companion famed for his generosity. From this marriage were born 'Ali, 'Awn, Muhammad, 'Abbas and Umm Kulthum; some sources give Ja'far and Umm 'Abd Allah instead of Muhammad and 'Abbas. 'Awn and Muhammad fell as martyrs at Karbala. Her daughter Umm Kulthum was married by her uncle Husayn to Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far. During 'Ali's caliphate she settled in Kufa with her husband; 'Abd Allah was one of 'Ali's commanders at the Battle of Siffin. Before the events of Karbala, 'Abd Allah, like many of his relatives, had warned Husayn not to answer the invitation of the Kufans, but to no avail. The source states that Zaynab's importance lies above all in her role at Karbala and afterwards, and that if Husayn is the most important person in those events, Zaynab is the most important woman. When the fighting began, she directed the treatment and care of the wounded as the eldest woman of the family, and protected the women and children. When the governor of Kufa, 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, wished to have her nephew Zayn al-'Abidin killed — he had been unable to take part in the fighting because of illness, and had been saved from being killed in his tent through the efforts of 'Umar ibn Sa'd — she threw herself upon him and said the governor would have to kill her first, and so broke his resolve. Because of similar conduct in Kufa and then in Damascus, to which she was taken, some sources name her as the one who saved the Prophet's lineage from extinction. She is likened to her father in eloquence. Her address to the people as she was being taken to the governor in Kufa, her words before 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, and what she said in her exchange with Yazid ibn Mu'awiya in Damascus are famous. According to the source, the main theme of her address to the Kufans was their conduct toward 'Ali and Husayn, and that of her words before Yazid the superiority of her lineage and the rightness of their cause. At a time when no adult man was left to lead the family, these actions raised her to the position of leader of the Ahl al-Bayt. Zaynab and those with her were held in Damascus for a few days, and were then permitted to return to Medina under the protection of Nu'man ibn Bashir. After returning to Medina, Zaynab wished to give Nu'man, who had accompanied them on the road and treated them well, all the jewellery they had on them. The date and place of her death are disputed: there are reports that she died on 14 Rajab 62 (29 March 682) or in 65 (684), in Cairo, Damascus or Medina (see Multiple Views). Shi'is who accept that she died on 14 Rajab hold mourning gatherings in her memory on that day every year. She is also likened in many respects to her mother Fatima; it is recorded that, like her husband 'Abd Allah, she was generous, distributed whatever came into her hands to the poor, and spent her nights in supererogatory worship. Her Circle of Influence — She transmitted reports from Fatima, 'Ali, Hasan, Husayn and Asma' bint 'Umays; and hadith was transmitted from her by her husband 'Abd Allah ibn Ja'far, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas, Muhammad ibn 'Amr, 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, 'Abbad al-'Amiri and her niece Fatima bint Husayn, among others. She is one of the principal figures named in the Muharram gatherings — important elements of Shi'i culture — and in the mourning gatherings ( ta'ziya ) in which the martyrs of Karbala are remembered. Her speeches, in the house where she was held in Damascus, recounting what had happened at Karbala, and her mourning for her dead kin are presented as the first instance of the mourning gatherings called " majlis " that became part of later Shi'i culture; it is also said that her words before Yazid are commemorated among Shi'is with a ceremony as important as that of the day of 'Ashura'. Many works in prose and verse have been written about her in both Sunni and Shi'i literature, and numerous studies in Western languages.

KahireDied 62 AHView

Sayyida Ruqayya (Cairo)

A Fatimid-period shrine (mashhad) attributed to Ruqayya, daughter of Ali. Built in 527/1133 following a dream of Caliph al-Hafiz, famed for its stucco mihrab. IMPORTANT: this is NOT an actual grave but a commemorative mashhad; historical sources report Ruqayya was buried in Damascus. (Sources: Wikidata Q12243219; Archnet; Caroline Williams.)

KahireView

Shrine of Husayn's Head

Grandson of the Prophet and martyr of Karbala (61/680). The al-Husayn Mosque in Cairo is a relic-shrine believed to hold his BLESSED HEAD — not his body. Per the Egyptian tradition the head went Karbala→Damascus→Ascalon and was transferred to Cairo in 548/1153. His body is agreed to be in Karbala; the head's location is disputed. Egypt's Dar al-Ifta treats this as historical, not creedal. (Sources: Egypt Dar al-Ifta; Wikipedia 'Al-Hussein Mosque'; al-Maqrizi.)

KahireDied 61 AHView

Dhul-Nun al-Misri

A great Egyptian Sufi, one of the foremost figures of the early Sufis; remembered for his sayings on gnosis and the gnostic. His full name was Dhu al-Nun Abu al-Fayd Thawban b. Ibrahim al-Misri al-Ikhmimi . He was born in 155 (772) in the Egyptian town of Ikhmim (Akhmim). He is said to have been of Nubian origin. His real name was Thawban; he is known by the epithet Dhu al-Nun (“he of the fish”, the fisherman) (for the account of how he got it see Miracles / Hagiographic Accounts). He travelled to Syria, Mecca and Yemen, and transmitted hadith from scholars and Sufis he met there, such as Imam Malik, Sufyan b. 'Uyayna, al-Layth b. Sa'd and Fudayl b. 'Iyad. When he began holding talks on Sufism and wisdom in Egypt he met with criticism (see Multiple Perspectives), and because of it he was forced to leave Egypt in 228 (843). On his return he was this time denounced to the authorities of the day; in 244 (858) he was arrested and taken to Baghdad, and questioned in the palace of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil 'ala Allah at Samarra. Pleased with his explanations, the caliph rewarded him and allowed him to return to Egypt. The best known of those from whom he benefited on the Sufi path were Shuqran b. 'Ali al-'Abid of Kairouan (d. 186/802) and Fatima al-Nishapuriyya , wife of Ahmad b. Khadrawayh al-Balkhi (d. 223/838). He died at Giza in Egypt in 245 (859) or 248 (862). His Poetry and Sufi Line — The source conveys his Sufi views through transmitted reports. In his view the common people repent because they sin, the elite because they fall into heedlessness. Asked who the gnostic is, he is reported to have answered “He was here, and he went”, meaning that those who know God advance spiritually at every moment and do not remain long in one state; according to another report his answer was “present and apart”, meaning one who is among people with his body while his heart is apart from them and with God. He is reported to have said: “I made three journeys and brought back three kinds of knowledge; the first was accepted by commoners and elite, the second by the elite but rejected by the commoners, and the third was accepted by no one.” He describes the lowest degree of intimacy as this: that even if the servant were thrown into the fire, this would not take him away from the one he loves; and he prefers little food, saying “Wisdom does not dwell in a stomach full of food.” He regards audition and music as an inspiration that turns hearts towards God: whoever listens with God attains the truth, whoever listens with his ego becomes a heretic and a sinner. His Works — The source notes the claim that he could read hieroglyphs and was occupied with medicine, chemistry/alchemy and the science of occult properties, and that some works on these subjects have been attributed to him. Among them are, on alchemy, al-Qasida fi al-San'a al-Karima (commented on by 'Izz al-Din al-Jildaki), epistles such as Risala fi 'Anasir al-Thalatha and Risala fi Khawass al-Iksir , and the Sifat al-Mu'min wa al-Mu'mina , of which a manuscript copy exists in Damascus and which has been published. On his sayings and virtues Muhyi al-Din Ibn 'Arabi wrote al-Kawkab al-Durri fi Manaqib Dhi al-Nun al-Misri and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti al-Sirr al-Maknun fi Manaqib Dhi al-Nun .

KahireDied 245 AHView

Companion

Uqba ibn Amir al-Juhani

A Companion, hadith transmitter and reciter; appointed governor of Egypt by Mu'awiya in 44-47/664-667, a participant in the conquest of Egypt. He died in 58/678 and was buried in al-Qarafa al-Sughra. His tomb is an Ottoman-domed, active pilgrimage site; Silahdar Muhammad Pasha built a mosque beside it in 1066/1655. (Some online coordinates erroneously point to Mecca and no two correct independent sources were found, so location is unpinned.) (Sources: TDV 'Ukbe b. Âmir'; CULTNAT.)

KahireDied 58 AHView