Al-Munawi

Al-Munawi
Title	Zain al-Din Al-Ḥāfiẓ
Personal life
Born	(952 AH/1545 AD) Cairo, Ottoman Empire
Died	(1031 AH/1621 AD) (aged 76) Cairo, Ottoman Empire
Era	Early modern period
Region	Egypt
Main interest(s)	Fiqh, Hadith, History, Tasawwuf
Notable work(s)	Fayd al-Qadir
Alma mater	Al-Azhar University
Occupation	Muhaddith, Scholar, Muslim Jurist, Historian
Religious life
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Shafi'i
Creed	Ash'ari[1]
Muslim leader
Influenced by Al-Shafi'i Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari Al-Suyuti Al-Sha'rani Shams al-Din al-Ramli

Muhammad 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Munāwi (also Al-Manāwi) (Arabic: محمد عبد الرؤوف المناوي), was a renowned Egyptian Islamic scholar of the Ottoman period. He was a prominent Shafi'i jurist, hadith specialist, historian, and mystic.[2][3][4] He is considered one of the most greatest Sunni scholars and prolific writers of his time.[5][6] He authored a celebrated and classical work titled Fayd al-Qadir.[7] He was the paternal great grandson of Shaykh al-Islam Sharaf al-Din al-Munawi and was a famous disciple of Al-Sha'rani.[8][9]

Name and Origin

The title "Al-Munawi" originated from the village of Munayt or Munāw, an area of Egypt where his ancestors settled around the 7th or 12th century after their departure from Tunisia.”[10]

Biography

Al-Munawī was born in the city of Cairo in the year of 952 AH/1545 CE and was a member of was a member of prestigious family well-known for their knowledge and piety.[10] His family members were all scholars, and he was raised in a home full of information. He first started learning under his father Tajul 'Arifin. Before entering puberty, he memorised the Qur'an as well as other valuable texts in Shafi'i Fiqh, Hadith, Arabic syntax, and Seerah. He was made a very young hafiz and Al-Sha'rani inducted him into Tasawwuf. Following his passing, he made contact with several groups, including the brotherhood of Halwatiyya. After a few religious services, he withdrew from society to compose. Then he went back to the outside world to teach at the University of Aliyya, where his extremely high calibre of instruction attracted the most illustrious academics of the day and caused some to make him so envious that he was certainly poisoned. He managed to get away, but he soon gave up teaching and began dictating his works to one of his sons, Taj al-Din Muhammad, who was now too frail to write them down. He died in the year 1031 AH/1621 CE.[11]

Teachers

He studied some of the greatest scholars of his day:[11]

• Al-Sha'rani
• Shams al-Din al-Ramli
• Nurud Din ‘Ali ibn Ghanim Al Maqdisi
• Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Ali, Najm Al Ghayti
• Abul Hasan, Muhammad Al Bakri As Siddiqi who was an expert Mufassir (exegete)

Students

Among his students were the following:[11]

• ‘Ali Al Ajhuri
• Ahmad ibn ‘Isa Shihabud Din Al Kalbi
• His son, Zaynul ‘Abidin who also memorised the Quran at the age of 7.

Works

Al-Munawi was a prolific writer who wrote over 100 works including:

• Fayd al-Qadir Sharh al-Jami` al-Saghir, a commentary of Al-Jami' al-Saghir by Imam al-Suyuti.
• Sharh Nukhbah al-Fikar, a commentary of Nukhbah al-Fikar by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani.
• Sharh al-Tirmidhi, a commentary of Sunan al-Tirmidhi by Al-Tirmidhi
• Futuhat Subhaniyyah fi Sharh al-Alfiyyah al-Iraqi, a commentary of Alfiyyah al-Hadith by Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi.
• Al-Kawakib al-Durriyya fi Tarajim al-Sufiyya ("The Glittering Stars in the Biographies of the Sufis"), a biographical dictionary.[12]
• Ithâf al-mubra bi-l-'ulûm al-'ashra ("The Poluiche offered to the Ten Sciences")
• Kunuz al-Haqayiq fi al-Hadith ("Treasures of Facts in the Hadith")
• Al-Nukhbat fi Fadayil Ahl Al-Bayt ("The Elite in the Virtues of Aal al-Bayt")
• Al-Lali al-Jawhariat fi Sharh Hikam al-'Ata'iyah, an explanation of Hikam al-'Ata'iyah by Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari

See also

• List of Ash'aris
• List of Sufis

References

1. "Ahl al-Sunna: The Ash'aris - The Testimony and Proofs of the Scholars". almostaneer.com (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 28 January 2021.
2. Knysh, Alexander D. (1999). Ibn ʻArabi in the Later Islamic Tradition The Making of a Polemical Image in Medieval Islam. State University of New York Press. p. 311. ISBN 9780791439685.
3. Carl F. Petry, M. W. Daly (10 December 1998). The Cambridge History of Egypt. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 26.
4. IslamKotob. "الأعلام - ج 8 - نافع بن ظريب - يوهنس". p. 167.
5. Hanif, N. (2002). In Praise of Books A Cultural History of Cairo's Middle Class, Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Sarup & Sons. p. 113. ISBN 9788176252676.
6. Jane Hathaway, Karl Barbir (22 July 2014). The Arab Lands Under Ottoman Rule 1516-1800. Taylor & Francis. p. 133. ISBN 9781317875635.
7. Ibrahim, Ahmed F. (27 April 2015). Pragmatism in Islamic Law - A Social and Intellectual History. Syracuse University Press. p. 250. ISBN 9780815653196.
8. Brown, Jonathan (2017). American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 34:3. International Institute of Islamic Thought. p. 13.
9. Hanna, Nelly (October 2003). Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis Africa and Europe. Syracuse University Press. p. 170. ISBN 9780815630364.
10. Johannes Hendrik Kramers & Joseph Schacht (1993). Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 565. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
11. "A biography of 'Allamah Munawi (rahimahullah)". islamqa.org. 27 November 2019.
12. Neale, Harry S. (24 March 2022). Sufi Warrior Saints - Stories of Sufi Jihad from Muslim Hagiography. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 126. ISBN 9780755643387.