Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti

Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti
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Jalal al-Din ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Suyuti (849-911 AH, 1445-1505 CE) was a prominent Egyptian scholar of the 9th/15th and 10th/16th centuries, known for his vast contributions in various fields, including Shafi'i jurisprudence, hadith, Qura'nic exegesis, Arabic grammar and rhetoric, history, and more.

His Last Name and Kunya

His name was ʿAbd al Rahman, and his kunya was Abu al-Fadl. He became famous as "al-Suyuti," a name derived from the city of Suyut, or Asyut in Upper Egypt, where his father was born.

His Birth

Jalal al-Din was born on the night of the first of Rajab in the year 849 AH (3 October 1445 CE).

His Education

Al-Suyuti began his studies in 864 AH, and before reaching the age of fifteen, he had memorized several important works, including ʿUmdat al-Ahkam by ʿAbd al Ghani al-Maqdisi in hadith, Minhaj al-Talibin by Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi in Shafi'i jurisprudence, al-Alfiyya by Ibn Malik in Arabic grammar, and Minhaj al-Wusul fi 'Ilm al-Usul by Abdullah ibn Umar al-Baydawi in legal theory. He presented these to prominent scholars of his time, such as ʿAlam al-Din al-Bulqini (d. 868/1463), Sharaf al-Din al-Manawi (d. 871/1466), and Amin al-Din al-Aqsara'i. In 866/1461, he was granted permission to teach Arabic, including grammar, morphology, and rhetoric.

His Teachers

Al-Suyuti wrote several Mashyakha (books listing his teachers):

1. Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, titled Hatib Layl wa Jarif Sayl (lit. The Night Harvester and the Torrent Sweeper), which Hajji Khalifa described as "a detailed book organized alphabetically." In this book, al-Suyuti mentioned 600 of his teachers, but the book has yet to be found.
2. Al-Munjim fi al-Muʿjam has survived and been published. It contains the names of 195 of his teachers.
3. Al-Tahadduth bi-Niʿmat Allah, in which he listed 130 prominent teachers. From the list of Al-Suyuti's teachers, it is evident that he studied under the greatest scholars of his time in various fields.

Al-Suyuti's main teachers were:

- Shams al-Din al-Hanafi (d. 867/1462), under whom he studied most of the books and sciences of Arabic grammar and rhetoric.

- ʿAlam al-Din al-Bulqini, with whom he studied most of the legal texts and received permission to teach and issue fatwas.

- Sharaf al-Din al-Manawi.

- Sayf al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Hanafi (d. 881/1476).

- Muhyi al-Din al-Kafiji (d. 879/1474), whom al-Suyuti considered the teacher of teachers of his era. He remained his pupil for fourteen years, during which he studied many literary, exegetical, hadith, and legal texts. Eventually, Al-Kafiji entrusted him with the teaching of hadith at the Shaykhuniyya Madrasa.

- Taqi al-Din al-Shumni (d. 872/1467), under whom al-Suyuti studied syntax of Arabic language. Al-Suyuti traced his chain of syntax teachers from al-Shumni all the way back to Abu al-Aswad al-Duʾali.

His Pupils

Many pupils studied Arabic grammar and rhetoric and various religious sciences under al-Suyuti, including:

- Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn ʿAli al-Salihi al-Shami (d. 942/1535);

- ʿAbd al Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Shadhili (d. circa 925/1519);

- Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn ʿAli al-Dawudi (d. 945/1538);

- Sayyid Yusuf ibn ʿAbdullah Jamal al-Din al-Hasani al-Armiyuni (d. 958/1551).

His Positions and Offices

In 870/1465, al-Suyuti began teaching sciences and narrating hadith simultaneously, holding numerous hadith sessions until the year 888/1483. From 871/1466, he assumed the role of issuing legal verdicts (fatwas) and wrote extensively in this area. Even after reaching the level of absolute ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), he continued issuing fatwas strictly within the framework of the Shafiʿi school of thought (Baghistani, Ismaʿil, Vol. 17, pp. 169-171).

He also sought to exert influence in the judiciary and aimed to elevate himself to the position of chief judge or even the head of all judges, hoping to have a role in the appointment and removal of judges. The Abbasid Caliph granted him this unprecedented position, but it was met with strong objections from the judges. Due to conflicts between the king and the caliph, this position was ultimately taken away from him (see: Hamudah, Tahir Sulayman, pp. 109-111).

Cairo in Al-Suyuti's time witnessed the presence of numerous Sufi monasteries (khanqahs), which he mentioned in his book Husn al-Muhadara.

At the Shaykhuniyya khanqah, four lessons were dedicated to the Four Schools of thought, along with lessons in hadith, reading (hadith), and the mashyaka of hearing [or listening to] the hadiths contained in both Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari. Al-Suyuti taught hadith there for a while and later assumed the supervision of the "Baybarsiyya" mashyakha.

While heading the Baybarsiyya khanqah, al-Suyuti was displeased with the lack of adherence to the ethical standards of the saints (akhlaq al-awliyaʾ). He believed that it was forbidden (haram) for them to consume the funds of the khanqah, so he cut off their stipends. As a result, some individuals rebelled against him, attempted to kill him, and even threw him into the khanqah’s water basin while still in his clothes. They then took their complaints to Amir Tuma Bay, who did not have a good relationship with al-Suyuti (see: Hamudah, Tahir Sulayman, pp. 51-53).

His Expertise and Mastery of Knowledge

Al-Suyuti regarded himself as a master in tafsir (Qurʾanic exegesis), hadith, fiqh (jurisprudence), grammar, and rhetoric (including al-maʿani, al-bayan and al-badiʿ), following the methodology of classical Arab scholars rather than later non-Arabs and philosophers. He claimed to possess absolute ijtihad (independent reasoning) in fiqh, hadith, and the Arabic language - an honor he believed only Taqi al-Din al-Subki had achieved before him. Additionally, he was well-versed in legal theory, debate, morphology, inheritance laws, composition, and correspondence. However, he considered arithmetic to be the most challenging of the sciences due to its incompatibility with his nature. He never engaged in logic or philosophical sciences, viewing them as either prohibited or irrelevant to religion.

His School of Thought and Beliefs

In jurisprudence, Al-Suyuti followed the Shafi'i school of law, and in the spiritual path (Tariqa), he was a follower of the Shadhiliyya order. He even wrote a book on this topic titled Ta’yid al-Haqiqa al-‘Aliyya wa Tashyid al-Tariqa al-Shadhiliyya.

His Death

Al-Suyuti fell ill on the 12th of Jumada I, 911 (11 October 1505), and passed away a week later. He was buried in the "Hawsh Tawsun" outside Bab al-Qarafa. His grave has always been respected.

Number of His Works

Al-Suyuti cataloged his works multiple times. In his Husn al-Muhadara, he mentioned 281 works, in his al-Tahadduth bi-Niʿmat Allah he listed 433, in a handwritten catalog 503, and in a supplementary catalog found in "Zad al-Masir fi al-Fihrist al-Saghir" held in the Chester Beatty Library, he listed 533 of his books and epistles. Al-Suyuti’s works gained fame during his lifetime, and according to him, they were disseminated to the cities of Greater Syria, Asia Minor, the Hejaz, Yemen, and India through his pupils and copyists.

His Works

Due to brevity, only a few of al-Suyuti’s works in each field will be listed here.

Arabic Grammar (syntax)

Al-Suyuti claimed that after Ibn Hisham, no one but himself was qualified to be regarded as an absolute authority in this field. He authored several works on grammar, including:

1. Hamaʿ al-Hawamiʿ Sharh Jamʿ al-Jawamiʿ
2. Al-Ashbah wa al-Naza’ir al-Nahwiyya
3. Al-Iqtirah fi Usul al-Nahw
4. Al-Nahja (or Al-Bahja) al-Mardiyya fi Sharh al-Alfiyya
5. Bughyat al-Wuʿat fi Tabaqat al-Lughawiyyin wa al-Nuhat.

Hadith

Al-Suyuti authored numerous works on hadith. To facilitate access to the Prophetic Sunnah for Muslims, he compiled three major books on Prophetic hadith:

- Al-Jamiʿ al-Kabir (also known as Jamʿ al-Jawamiʿ), which is the largest collection of Sunni hadiths.

- Al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir fi Ahadith al-Bashir al-Nadhir, which is a summary of the verbal traditions found in al-Jamiʿ al-Kabir.

- Al-Ziyadah ʿala al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir, an appendix to al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir.

Hadith Commentaries

Al-Suyuti wrote concise and insightful commentaries on Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasaʾi, Sunan Ibn Majah, and Muwattaʾ Malik.

Hadith Terminology (Mustalah al-Hadith)

His most comprehensive and valuable work in this field is Tadrib al-Rawi bi-Taqrib al-Nawawi.

Hadith Criticism

The most significant and famous of his works in this area is al-Laʾali al-Masnuʿa fi al-Ahadith al-Mawduʿa (lit. The Manufactured Pearls in the Fabricated Hadiths).

Jarh wa Taʿdil (Discrediting and Accrediting the Hadith Transmitters)

- Tabaqat al-Huffaz (The Generations of Hadith Memorizers)

- Isʿaf al-Mubtaʾ bi-Rijal al-Muwattaʾ (lit. assisting the one Who is slow with the hadith transmitters of al-Muwattaʾ)

Fiqh (Jurisprudence)

- Al-Radd ʿala Man Akhlada ila al-Ard wa Jahila anna al-Ijtihad fi Kulli ʿAsr Fard (a refutation of those who abandoned ijtihad and ignorantly believed it was no Longer obligatory in every era)

- Al-Ashbah wa al-Nazaʾir al-Fiqhiyya

- Al-Hawi li 'l-Fatawi (the comprehensive collection of fatwas)

Qurʾanic Exegesis and Sciences of the Qurʾan

- Al-Itqan fi ʿUlum al-Qurʾan, his most famous and masterful work on the sciences of the Qurʾan.

- Al-Durr al-Manthur fi al-Tafsir bi-al-Maʾthur, a summary of his Tarjuman al-Qurʾan, which was a tafsir (exegesis) based on several thousand hadiths in Marfuʿ fashion (i.e. the hadith one of the narrators of whose isnad is missing).

- Al-Iklil fi Istinbat al-Tanzil, a concise work summarizing the knowledge inferred from the Qurʾan by earlier scholars.

- Asrar al-Tanzil (also known as Qatf al-Az-har fi Kashf al-Asrar), one of his most important, useful, and comprehensive works on the Qurʾanic sciences, in which he endeavors to explain the [proper] order and eloquence of the Qurʾan in detail.

History

Al-Suyuti was also an authority in other fields, including history, authoring a total of 32 books and epistles in this domain. One of the most important is the detailed Husn al-Muhadara fi Tarikh Misr wa al-Qahira (lit. The Good Conversation on the History of Egypt and Cairo) (see: Baghistani, Isma'il, vol. 26, pp. 170-174).

Bibliography

1. Baghistani, Ismaʿil, "Suyuti, Jalal al-Din", Danishnama-yi Jahani Islam (lit. Encyclopedia of the Islamic World), edited by Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, vol. 17, pp. 169-71 and vol. 26, pp. 170-4, Islamic Encyclopedia Foundation, 1st edition, Tehran, 2018.
2. Hamouda, Tahir Sulayman, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti: ʿAsruh wa Hayatuh wa Atharuh wa Juhuduh fi al-Dars al-Lughawi (lit. Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti: His Era, Life, Works, and Contributions to Lexicological Studies), Islamic Office, 1st edition, Beirut, 1990.