Murtada al-Zabidi

Al-Murtaḍá al-Husaynī al-Zabīdī, or Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Murtaḍá al-Zabīdī, also known as Murtada al-Zabidi, was an Indian Sunni polymath based in Cairo. He was a Hanafi scholar, hadith specialist, philologist, linguist, lexicographer, genealogist, biographer, historian, mystic and theologian. He was considered one of the leading intellectuals of the 18th century. He was also regarded as the greatest Hadith scholar of his time and one of the foremost philologists of the Arab post-classical era.

Biography

Murtaḍá was born in 1732 in Bilgram, Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, India. His family originated from Wasit in Iraq, from where his parents had emigrated to the Hadramawt region in the east of Yemen – where the Husaynī tribe is situated. Murtaḍá earned his nisba 'al-Zabīdī' from Zabīd in the south western coastal plains of Yemen, which was a centre of academic learning where he had spent time studying. He began studying Hadith in Delhi under the most prominent scholar of his time, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi. He travelled to Hejaz and then settled in Egypt. He was renowned in the Islamic world. Rulers from Hejaz, India, Yemen, Levant, Iraq, Morocco, Turkey, Sudan and Algiers corresponded with him; people sent him presents and gifts from everywhere. He was revered and admired so much that some people in Western Africa believed that their Hajj was incomplete if they did not plan to see Murtađa Zabīdī. He died in Cairo during an epidemic plague in the year 1205 AH/1790 CE.

Reception

Al-Kattānī states in his book Fahris al-Fahāris: “Zabīdī was peerless in his time and age. None after Ibn al-Ĥajar al-Ásqalāni and his students can match Az-Zabīdī in terms of his encyclopaedic knowledge of traditions and its associated sciences; nor in fame or list of students.”
Zabidi's immense proficiency of diverse sciences and his thriving trade with books as well as with his own writings was described with commendation by one of his Maghribi visitors, Ibn 'Abdal al-Salam al-Nasiri:

Works

As a polymath and prolific writer, his works cover a range of topics:

Tāj al-ʻĀrūs min Jawāhir al-Qāmūs ; an expansion of Fairuzabadi's Al-Qamoos, the most frequently cited dictionary of Classical Arabic after Lisān al-ʿArab by Ibn Manẓūr.Itḥāf al-Sadāh al-Muttaqīn, the most comprehensive commentary on al-Ghazali's famous Ihya 'Ulum al-Din. It was published in 14 volumes recently and is the second of Zabīdī’s two masterpieces.Asānīd al-Kutub as-Sittah : Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasayi, Abū Dawud, Ibn Majah are the six motherbooks of Ĥadīth and termed as Kutub al-Sittah. Zabidi collected the narrators and their chains in this book as is apparent from the title.Úqūd al-Jawāhir al-Munīfah fī Adillati Madh’hab al-Imām Abū Ĥanīfah Kashf al-Lithām an Ādāb al-Īmān wa’l Islām Raf’á ash-Shakwā wa Tarwīĥ al-Qulūb fī Dhikr Mulūki Banī Ayyūb Mújam ash-Shuyūkh Alfiyyah as-Sanad in Ĥadīth; which is a poem of more than 1500 lines and its explanation.Mukhtaşar al-Áyn, the book al-Ayn is attributed to Khalil Ibn Aĥmed, the grammarian .At-Takmalah wa’s Şilah wa’dh Dhayl li’l Qāmūs in two hefty volumes.Īđāh al-Madārik bi’l Ifşaĥ áni’l Áwātik ; a monograph.Íqd al-Jumān fī Bayāni Shuáb al-Īmān Tuĥfatu’l Qamāýīl fī Mad’ĥi Shaykh al-Árab Ismāýīl Taĥqīq al-Wasāyil li Márifati’l Makātabāt wa’r Rasāyil Jadhwatu’l Iqtibās fī Nasabi Banī al-Ábbās Ĥikmatu’l Ishrāq ilā Kuttāb al-Āfāq : A book on calligraphy.Ar-Rawđ al-Miýţār fī Nasabi’s Sādati Āli Jáfar at-Ţayyār Muzīl an-Niqāb al-Khafā’a án Kunā Sādātinā Banī Al-Wafā’a which was probably also named as: Rafá an-Niqāb al-Khafā’a ámman Intamā ilā Wafā wa Abi’l Wafā Bulghātu’l Gharīb fī Muştalaĥi Āthār al-Ĥabīb: Tanbīh al-Áārif al-Başīr álā Asrāri’l Ĥizb al-Kabīr on the Hizb of Imām Shādhilī.Safīnatu’n Najāh Al-Muĥtawiyah álā Biđāátin Muzjāh mina’l Fawāyidi’l Muntaqāh probably a commentary on the book Al-Fawāyid al-Muntaqāh by Shaykh Abū Ábdullāh Al-Qāsim Ibn Fađl ath-Thaqafī al-Aşbahāni – a book on Ĥadīth.Ghāyatu’l Ibtihāj li Muqtafī Asānīdi Muslim ibn Al-Ĥajjāj Íqd al-La’ālī al-Mutanāthirah fi’l Aĥādīth al-Mutawātirah Nishwatu’l Irtiyāĥ fī Bayāni Ĥaqīqati’l Maysiri wa’l Aqdāĥ Al-Árāyis al-Majluwwah fi Dhikri Awliyā’yi Fuwwah : Fuwwah is a well-known place in Yemen.It’ĥāf al-Ikhwān fī Ĥukmi’d Dukhān Irshādu’l Ikhwān ila’l Akhlāq al-Ĥisān Al-Ishghāf bi’l Ĥadīth al-Musalsal bi’l Ashrāf Iklīl al-Jawāhir al-Ghāliyah fī Riwāyati’l Aĥādīth al-Áāliyah Tuĥfatu’l Mawdūd fī Khatmi Sunan Abū Dāwūd Ĥusn al-Muĥāđarah fī Ādābi’l Baĥthi wa’l Muĥāđarah Badhl al-Maj’hūd fī Takhrīji Ĥadīth ‘Shayyabatnī Hūd It’ĥāf al-Aşfiyā bi Silāki’l Awliyā’a It’ĥāf Ahl al-Islām bimā Yatállaqu bi’l Muşţafā wa Āli Baytihi’l Kirām It’ĥāf Sayyidu’l Ĥayy bi Salāsili Banī Ţayy Al-Iĥtifāl bi Şawmi’s Sitti min Shawwāl Al-Arbaúūn al-Mutakhallafah fīmā Warada fi’l Aĥādīth fī Dhikri Árafah Isáāf al-Ashrāf Isáāf ar-Rāghibīn fī Sīrati’l Muşţafā wa Āli Baytihi’t Tāhirīn Iýlām al-Aálām bi Manāsiki Bayti’llāhi’l Ĥarām Manāqib Aş’ĥāb al-Ĥadīth Al-Intişār Li Wālidi’n Nabiyyi’l Mukhtār At-Tálīqah álā Musalsalāti Ibn Álīqah At-Taftīsh fī Mánā Lafž ‘Durwīsh’ Tansīq Qalāyid al-Matan fī Taĥqīqi Kalāmi’sh Shādhilī Abi’l Ĥasan Ĥadīqatu’s Şafā fī Wāliday al-Muşţafā şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam Rashfu Zulāl ar-Raĥīq fi Nasabi Hađrati’s Şiddīq rađiyAllāhu ánhu Rashqatu’l Mudām al-Makhtūm al-Bikri min Şafwati Zulāli Şibghi’l Quţub al-Bakrī Rafú’sh Shakwā Li Áālimi’s Sirri wa’n Najwā Rafú’l Kalal áni’l Ílal assuming that ílal is not ‘disease.’Zahr al-Akmām al-Munshaq án Juyūbi’l Ilhām bi Sharĥi Şayghati Ábd as-Salām Sharĥ as-Şadr fī Sharĥ Asmāyi Ahli Badr Al-Arūş al-Mujliyyah fī Ţuruqi Ĥadīth al-Awwaliyyah Al-Íqd ath-Thamīn fī Ţuruqi’l Ilbāsi wa’t Talqīn Áqīlatu’l Atrāb fī Sanadi’t Ţarīqati wa’l Aĥzāb Qalansuwatu’t Tāj Al-Qawl al-Mathbūt fī Taĥqīqi Lafži’t Tābūt Kashf al-Ghiţā án Şalāti’l Wustā Luqat al-La’ālī mina’l Jawhar al-Ghāli Al-Murabbī al-Kābili fīman Rawā án Shams al-Bābilī Al-Mirqāt al-Áliyyah bi Sharĥi’l Ĥadīth al-Musalsal bi’l Awwaliyyah Al-Maqām al-Índiyyah fi’l Mashāhid an-Naqshbandiyyah Al-Minaĥ al-Áliyyah fi’t Ţarīqati’n Naqshbandiyyah Minaĥ al-Fuyūđāt al-Wafiyyah fīmā min Sūrati’r Raĥmān min Asrāri’ş Şifati’l Ilāhiyyah Al-Mawāhib al-Jalīlīyyah fīmā Yatállaqu bi Ĥadīth al-Awwaliyyah Mawāhibu Rabb al-Bariyyah Bi’l Imlāyi’sh Shaykhūniyyah An-Nafĥatu’l Qudsiyyah fī Wāsitati’l Biđáti’l īýd ar-Rūsiyyah An-Nawāfiĥ al-Miskiyyah ála’l Fawāyiĥ al-Kishkiyyah Hadiyyatu’l Ikhwān fī Shajarati’d Dukhān