Abū ‘Amr ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd il-Raḥmān Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Kurdī al-Shahrazūrī (c. 1181 CE/577 AH – 1245/643), commonly known as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, was a Kurdish Shafi'i hadith specialist and the author of the seminal Introduction to the Science of Hadith. He was born in the village of Shahrakhan in Erbil, Kurdistan and was raised in Mosul and then resided in Damascus, where he died.

Early life

Birth

Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ was born in the year 1181 CE/577 AH in Sharazor.

Education

He first studied fiqh with his father in Sharazor, located in the south-eastern part of what is currently referred to as Iraqi Kurdistan. He then occupied himself in Mosul for an unknown period of time, studying under a number of local religious scholars. He studied in a number of cities, including: Baghdad, Hamedan, Naysabur, Merv, Aleppo, Damascus and Harran. Ibn Khallikan said that he had heard that Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ had repeatedly read al-Muhathab, one of the primary texts of the Shafi'i Madh'hab, "before his mustache had grown." He read Sahih al-Bukhari upon two of his teachers, al-Mayyad ibn Muhammad al-Tusi and Mansur ibn 'Abd al-Mun'im al-Furawi, as well as Al-Sunan al-Kubra, by al-Bayhaqi, upon the latter.

Scholarly career

Scholastic specialization

While Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ was most recognized for his contribution to the field of hadith, he was well-grounded in a variety of disciplines. Ibn Khallikan described him as being from amongst the exemplary scholars of Quranic exegesis, hadith and jurisprudence, participating in a number of religious disciplines and producing sound religious verdicts. Al-Fasi described him as being "a master in both jurisprudence and hadith, and other than that." He was also described by al-Dhahabi as "strong in the Arabic Language" and as "the shaikh of the Shafi'i scholars." Ibn al-Hajib described Ibn al-Salah as being broad in his knowledge of both primary issues (al-usul) and peripheral (al-furu`).

Positions

Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ held several positions throughout his life, primarily in the field of education. He taught at the Salahiyyah School in Jerusalem, and then, following the destruction of its city walls, moved to Damascus and taught at the Rawahiyyah School for some time following its inception. Following the foundation of Dar al-Hadith Ashrafiyyah, he became its shaikh and was the first to teach and give verdicts there in the year 530 AH. It was here that he dictated his work Introduction to the Science of Hadith to his students. He was then appointed a teacher at the al-Shamiyyah al-Sughara School.

Students

Ibn al-Salah had a number of students, some of whom achieved prominence in their own right; from them:

Theological position

Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ clarified his position on philosophy, describing it as: "The basis of foolishness and degeneration, a topic of confusion and misguidance which is motivated by perversion and blasphemy. Whosoever engages in philosophy, has been blinded in his insight into the great aspects of the Sharia corroborated by evidences." Due to his insistence no one was allowed to read the subjects of rhetoric or philosophy in Damascus, a matter which the leaders supported.

Death

Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ died on Monday, September 18, 1245 CE/643 AH, at the age of 66. His funeral prayer was performed at the congregational mosque of Damascus, to a crowd so large it required a second prayer to accommodate. He was buried in the Sufiyyah graveyard, now the location of a hospital, a mosque and other buildings.

Works

Ibn al-Salah had a number of works the most notable named below in addition to others on individual issues.