Ibn Juzayy
Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yaḥyā ibn Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Juzayy al-Kalbī al-Gharnāṭī, better known as Ibn Juzayy was an Andalusian Sunni Muslim scholar of Arab origin. He was a distinguished Maliki jurist, legal theoretician, Quran commentator, Quran reciter, hadith scholar, historian, scholar in Arabic, poet, preacher, orator, and a literary figure. He gained renown at a young age as a leading scholar of his time in al-Andalus, celebrated for both his classical writings and his martyrdom in the jihad against the Spanish Christian crusade. He was killed in the Battle of Tarifa in 1340.
Lineage
Ibn Juzayy Al-Kalbi ancestry is originally from Yemen. He is a member of the Yemeni tribe called Kalb al-Quda'iyya, and his tribe Banu Kalb reached Andalusia in two ways: The first category was that of governors, which led Anbasa ibn Suhaym al-Kalbi to enter in 103 AH as a governor. The second category was that of the conquerors, which Abu al-Khatar Hussam bin Dirar Al-Kalbi entered in 125 AH. All these kinds belonged to a tribe called the Kalb, although Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi's forefathers were among the conquerors. His grandfather, Sultan Abu Bakr Abdul Rahman Ibn Juzayy, was given the position of president and exclusive management of Jaén in the year 539 AH.Early life
Birth
He was born, on Thursday, the ninth of Rabi' al-Thani, in the year 693 AH corresponding to March 15, 1294 CE, in the city of Granada, the capital of Andalusia at that time.Education
He came from an illustrious family renown for their knowledge and piety. His father Ahmad Ibn Juzayy was a scholar and a reciter. It was through his family's influence that led him to crave for knowledge.Ibn al-Khatib said: “He was sincerely devoted to knowledge, studying, writing, and teaching, and he ventured into different areas of knowledge: Arabic language, Usool al-Fiqh, Quranic modes of recitation, Hadeeth, Arabic literature, and Tafseer. He memorized and comprehended the statements of the earlier scholars and studied many books and references.”
Teachers
His Famous Teachers are:- Abu Jaʻfar ibn Az-Zubayr
- Abu Al-Hasan ibn Samʻoon
- Abu 'Abdullaah ibn Al-ʻImaad
- Abu 'Abdullaah ibn Abi ʻAamir ibn Rabi'
- Abu Al-Majd ibn Abi ʻAli ibn Abi Al-Ahwaz
Scholarly life
Career
After this stage, Ibn Juzayy devoted himself to teaching his students the Qur’an, the rules of its recitation, the readings with their narrations, and he taught them the Hadith, especially the six main Sunni Hadith collections, including Muwatta Malik, the Arabic language, interpretation, legal theory and Maliki jurisprudence. He worked early on in writing and he mostly worked in issuing fatwas according to the Maliki school of thought. He was appointed as a preacher and led prayers in the Great Mosque in Granada, despite his young age; people commended his knowledge, righteousness and character.Students
Many students graduated under him:- Lisan al-Din Ibn al-Khatib,
- Muhammad bin Muhammad Al-Ansari, known as Ibn al-Khashab,
- Abu Abdullah Al-Shadid,
- Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad Ibn Juzayy, a katib under the Nasrid Sultan Abū l-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf, edited The Travels of Ibn Battuta by commission of the Marinid Sultan Abu Inan Faris
- And Abu Bakr Ahmed bin Muhammad Al-Qadi,
- And Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin Muhamma
Death
On Jumada al-Awwal 9th, 741 AH corresponding to October 30, 1340 AD, Ibn Juzayy was killed in the Battle of Tarifa at the young age of 46, which took place in southern Andalusia between the Muslim army, consisting of an alliance of the Marinid Sultanate and the Emirate of Granada, and the Christian army, consisting of an alliance of the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Portugal. Ibn Juzay was participating with the Muslim army and he was the forefront in vocalizing jihad urging them to fight and stimulating their enthusiasm, but when the battle ended with the defeat of the Muslim armies, Ibn Juzayy was killed and died as martyr.Works
Ibn Juzayy was a multi-talented writer whose works demonstrate his depth of knowledge and virtue. He has written in a variety of fields, including the science of interpretation, recitation, Arabic, Hadith, history, fiqh, the principles of fiqh, the principles of religion, and a number of poems strewn throughout his works. Despite living a short life, his works have achieved prominence and still widely read till this day.- Al-Tashil li Ulum al-Tanzil — It's regarded as one of the best and most authentic interpretations of the Quran.
- Al-Qawanin al-Fiqhiyyah — A comparative manual of the jurisprudence of the four Sunni madhhabs with emphasis on the Maliki school and notices of the views of the Ẓāhirī school and others.
- Taqrib al-Wuṣul 'ila Ilm al-Usul — A popular book on legal theory according to the Maliki school.
- Wasilat al-Muslim fī Tahdhīb Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim — A work on ḥadīth studies.
- Al-Nūr al-Mubayyan fī Qawāʿid ʿAqāʾid al-Dīn — A treatise on Islamic creed and theology.
- Al-Mukhtaṣar al-Bārīʿ fī Qirāʾat Nāfiʿ — A concise work on Qurʾānic recitation according to the reading of Nāfiʿ.
- Uṣūl al-Qurrāʾ al-Sittah Ghayr Nāfiʿ — Another work on the science of Qurʾānic recitations.
- Al-Fawāʾid al-ʿĀmmah fī Laḥn al-ʿĀmmah — A book on Arabic grammar and linguistic correctness.
- Al-Daʿawāt wa al-Adhkār al-Mukharrajah min Ṣaḥīḥ al-Akhbār — A compilation of authentic dua and adhkar.
- Al-Jawāhir al-Ḥisān
- Dictionary of Ibn Juzayy, a biographical collection.