Al-Qastallani


Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Zayn Aḥmad ibn al-Jamāl Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣafī Muḥammad ibn al-Majd Ḥusayn ibn al-Tāj ʿAlī ibn Maymūn al-Qasṭalānī, also known as Al-Qasṭallānī was a Sunni Islamic scholar who specialized in hadith and theology. He owed his literary fame mainly to his exhaustive commentary on the Sahih al-Bukhari entitled Irshād al-Sarī fī Sharḥ al-Bukhārī.

Lineage

There are different opinion about his Nisba. The attribution al-Qastallani may refer to:
stated: "There is nothing preventing Qastiliya being the name of both a town and a region, which appears to be the case."
Murtada al-Zabidi, traced the name back to its linguistic meaning, al-Qastallaniya can refer to a rainbow or the redness of twilight in certain times and places. However, the most accepted opinion is that it refers to Qastiliya, a city in Ifriqiya – present-day Tunisia.

Biography

Family

Al-Qastallani was married to 'Aishah al-Ba'uniyyah, from Damascus. She is described as being a scholar, a literate woman, a sufi poet, and a devout worshipper who authored many works. She came to Cairo in 919 AH where she was authorized to teach and give fatwas. Al-Qastallani likely married her during her time in Cairo. She died on 16 Dhu al-Qadah 922 AH in Damascus, a year before him.
His wife had a son named ‘Abd al-Wahhab, though it is unknown whether he was born with her marriage with Qastallani or not.

Argument with Al-Suyuti

held a grudge against him, accusing him of taking from his books without attributing them. Al-Suyuti brought this complaint before Zakariyya al-Ansari, who ordered Al-Qastallani to respond. Zakariyya listed passages where he had, allegedly, taken from Al-Suyuti's works, and argued that he should have cited Al-Suyuti as the intermediary source.
In an attempt to resolve the tension, Al-Qastallani walked barefoot and bareheaded from Cairo to Al-Suyuti’s house in Al-Rawdah. When he knocked, Al-Suyuti asked, “Who is it?” He replied, “I am Al-Qastallani. I came to you barefoot and bareheaded to reconcile and ease your heart toward me.” Al-Suyuti responded, “My heart is at ease with you,” but he did not open the door or meet him.

His illness

He suffered from a rare unidentified illness for which doctors could not found any cure.
He described it in his book Al-Mawahib:
According to his testimony, he was cured in 893 AH. While he was asleep, a man came to him with a piece of paper, upon which it was written: ‘This is a remedy for the illness of Ahmad ibn al-Qastalani from the noble presence, after receiving the noble prophetic permission. When he woke up and, he nothing of what he had been suffering from.

Works

He wrote works in various fields such as Prophetic biography, Qur'anic recitations, Hadith, and Tajwid. Most of them only survive in manuscript form. Following are his works categorized by fields:

Works on Qira'ats and Tajwid

  • Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt li-Funūn al-Qirāʾāt
  • al-Fatḥ al-Dānī min Kanz Ḥirz al-Amānī
A commentary on a poem by al-Shatibi. Al-Ghazzi called it al-Jinī al-Dānī. A manuscript is found in the Great Mosque of Sanaa.
  • Nashr al-Nashr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-ʿAshr
A commentary on al-Nashr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-ʿAshr by Ibn al-Jazari. A copy exists in Istanbul.
  • Sharḥ Ṭaybat al-Nashr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-ʿAshr
Commentary on Ṭaybat al-Nashr by Ibn al-Jazari.
  • al-Kanz fī Waqf Ḥamzah wa Hishām ʿala al-Hamz ''''
Regarding the Pausing of Ḥamzah and Hishām on the Hamzah. Lost work
  • al-Waqf wa al-Ibtidāʾ
A manuscript is found at Ṣaddām Manuscript Library, number 37276.
  • al-Laʾālī al-Saniyyah fī Sharḥ al-Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah
Commentary on al-Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah by Ibn al-Jazari.

Works on Hadith and its Sciences

Commentary of Sahih al-Bukhari. This is al-Qastallani's most famous work.
  • Ikhtiṣār Irshād al-Sārī
Unfinished Abridgement of the previous. Lost work
  • Tuhfat al-Sāmiʿ wa al-Qārī bikhitām Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī
A manuscript of it is located in National Library of Tunisia, number 4587.
  • al-Darārī fī Tartīb Abwāb Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī
A copy exists in, catalog number 2/69
Lost work
  • Manāhij al-Hidāyah ilā Maʿālim al-Riwāyah
Commentary on the book al-Hidāyah by Ibn al-Jazari.
  • al-Anwār fī al-Adʿiyah wa al-Adhkār
Lost work
  • al-Lawāmiʿ fī al-Adʿiyah wa al-Adhkār al-Jawāmiʿ
An abridgment of the previous. Lost work
  • Qabas al-Lawāmiʿ
An abridgment of the previous. A copy is found in the Prophet’s Mosque Library, number 111/80.
  • Sharḥ Khuṭbat Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī
Commentary on the Introduction of Sahih al-Bukhari. A copy is found in Juma al-Majid Library, number 246585.

Works on the Prophetic Biography

Lost work
  • Mashāriq al-Anwār al-Muḍiyya fī Madḥ Khayr al-Bariyya
A commentary on al-Burda.
  • Ḥāshiyah ʿalā al-Shamāʾil al-Nabawiyyah li-al-Tirmidhī
Marginal notes on Shama'il al-Muhammadiyya. Also known as Sharḥ al-Shamāʾil. A copy is found in the Khuda Bakhsh Library, manuscript no. 982/1.
Lost work
  • Masālik al-Ḥunafāʾ ilā Mashāriʿ al-Ṣalāh ʿalā al-Nabī al-Muṣṭafā
Multiple copies exist, including several at the Egyptian [National Library and Archives|Egyptian National Library], in Turkey, and at al-Azhar Library.

Works on Biographies

Virtues of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir. A manuscript is preserved in the Central Library in Jeddah under number 234/6.
  • Nuzhat al-Abrār fī Manāqib al-Shaykh Abī al-ʿAbbās al-Ḥarrār
  • al-Fatḥ al-Mawāhibī fī Manāqib al-Imām al-Shāṭibī
A biographical work on Abū al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī.
  • Minḥah min Minaḥ al-Fatḥ al-Mawāhibī
  • al-Nūr al-Sāṭiʿ fī Mukhtaṣar al-Ḍawʾ al-Lāmiʿ li-al-Sakhāwī
Multiple copies are held at the Islamic University and al-Ḥusayniyyah Treasury in Morocco, number 5460.

Works on Jurisprudence

  • al-Isʿād fī Talkhīṣ al-Irshād
Lost work
  • al-Asʿad fī Talkhīṣ al-Irshād min Furūʿ al-Shāfiʿiyyah li-Sharaf al-Dīn al-Maqrī
Lost work
  • Madārik al-Marām fī Masālik al-Ṣiyām
Manuscripts are found at the Egyptian National Library and Al-Azhar Library.
  • Marāṣid al-Ṣalāt fī Maqāṣid al-Ṣalāh
A manuscript exists in the Egyptian National Library, no. 508.

Works on Preaching and Admonition

  • Imtiʿāʿ al-Samʿ wa al-Abṣār
Lost work
  • Zahr al-Riyāḍ wa Shifāʾ al-Qulūb al-Marāḍ
A manuscript exists in the Alexandria Library under the category of Mawāʿiẓ, no. 20.
  • Maqāmāt al-ʿĀrifīn
A copy is found in the Köprülü Library, manuscript no. 784.
  • Nafāʾis al-Anfās fī al-Ṣuḥbah wa al-Libās
Lost work
  • Yaqẓat Dhawī al-Iʿtibār fī Mawʿiẓat Ahl al-Iʿtibār
Lost work

Scientific Works

  • Risālah fī al-Rubʿ al-Mujīb
A Treatise on Quadrant. A manuscript is found at the Juma Al-Majid Library, no. 259697.

Literary Works

  • Mukhammasāt
Quintains. A manuscript is found in Leiden Library.

Death

He died in Cairo on the night, the 8th of Muharram in the year 923 AH. His death was due to a stroke that occurred after he was deeply affected upon hearing the news of the beheading of Ibrahim ibn ‘Ata’ Allah al-Makki, a friend of Sultan al-Ghawri. He fainted and fell from his mount upon hearing the news. He was carried to his home, where he died a few days later.
The people carried his coffin and performed the funeral prayer for him at Al-Azhar Mosque after Friday prayer. He was buried in of Badr al-Din al-‘Ayni near Al-Azhar mosque. His death caused great sorrow among the people.
The scholars of Damascus prayed the absentee funeral prayer for him when they received news of his death. The day of his death coincided with Sultan Selim’s forceful entry into Egypt and his takeover of the country in Ottoman–Mamluk War.