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Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (; 1445–1505), or al-Suyuti, was an Egyptians Sunni Muslims polymath of Persians descent. Considered the mujtahid and mujaddid of the Islamic 10th century, he was a leading Hadith studies (hadith master), Tafsir (Qu'ran exegete), faqīh (jurist), usuli (legal theorist), sufi (mystic), Islamic theology, Arabic grammar, linguist, rhetorician, philologist, lexicographer and historian, who authored works in virtually every Islamic science. (2004). 9780199757268, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199757268 For this reason, he was honoured one of the most prestigious and rarest titles: Shaykh al-Islām.
He was described as one of the most prolific writers of the Middle Ages and is recognized today as one of the most prolific authors of all Islamic literature. Al-Suyuti wrote approximately one thousand works. His biographical dictionary Bughyat al-Wuʻāh fī Ṭabaqāt al-Lughawīyīn wa-al-Nuḥāh contains valuable accounts of prominent figures in the early development of Arabic philology. He was also in his time the leading authority of the Shafi'i school of thought ( madhhab).
He then dedicated his entire life to master the Sacred Sciences under approximately 150 sheikhs. Among them were renowned scholars who were the leading scholars of each sacred Islamic science of their time.
In his thirst for quest for knowledge, Al-Suyuti travelled to Syria, Hejaz (Mecca & Medina), Yemen, Iraq, India, Tunisia, Morocco, and Mali as well as to educational hubs in Egypt such as Mahallah, Dumyat, and Faiyum.
Al-Suyuti became the head master of Hadith at the Shaykhuniyya school in Cairo, at the suggestion of Imam Kamal al-Din ibn al-Humam. In 1486, Sultan Qaitbay appointed him shaykh at the Khanqah of Baybars II, a khanqah, but was sacked due to protests from other scholars whom he had replaced. After this incident, he gave up teaching and was fed up of others being jealous of him.
Ibn Iyas, in his book called Tarikh Misr, said that when al-Suyuti became forty years of age, he left the company of men for the solitude of the garden of al-Miqyas, close to the River Nile, where he abandoned his friends and former co-workers as if he had never met them before. It was at this stage of his life where he authored most of his 600 books and treatises.
Rich and Influential Muslims and rulers would visit him with large sums of money and gifts but he rejected their offers and also refused the king many times when he ordered al-Suyuti's to be summoned. He once said to the king's ambassador:
Al-Suyuti was Ash'ari in his creed, as presented in many of his works. In Masalik al-Hunafa fi Walidayy al-Mustafa he said:
Al-Suyuti claimed to be a mujtahid (an authority on source interpretation who gives legal statements on jurisprudence, hadith studies, and Arabic language).
Al-Suyuti claimed he reached the same level as the major Imams of Hadith and Fiqh.
Al-Suyuti also claimed there was no scholar on Earth more knowledgeable than him:
This brought huge attention and heavy criticism by scholars of his contemporaries as he was portrayed by them as an arrogant scholar who viewed himself to be superior and wiser than others. However, Al-Suyuti defended himself stating he was only speaking the truth so that people can benefit from his vast knowledge and accept his rulings (fatwas).
Al-Suyuti was a Sufi of the Shadhili order. Al-Suyuti's chain in Tasawwuf goes way back to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani. Al-Suyuti defended Sufis in his book entitled Tashyid al-Haqiqa al-Aliyya:
In his book entitled Tashyid, Al-Suyuti demonstrates a narrative chains of transmission by providing evidence that Hasan al-Basri did in indeed receive narrations directly from Ali ibn Abi Talib. This goes against the mainstream view amongst scholars of Hadith, despite also being a respected opinion of Ahmad Bin Hanbal.
His admirers stated that Al-Suyuti writings reached as far as India during his time on Earth. His learning and more importantly his incredible prolific output were widely seen as miraculous signs from God due to his merit.
He wrote his first book, Sharh Al-Isti'aadha wal-Basmalah, in 866 AH, at the age of seventeen.
In Ḥusn al-Muḥaḍarah al-Suyuti lists 283 of his works on subjects from religion to medicine. As with Abu'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi in his medicinal works, he writes almost exclusively on prophetic medicine, rather than the Islamic-Greek synthesis of medicinal tradition found in the works of Al-Dhahabi. He focuses on diet and natural remedies for serious ailments such as rabies and smallpox, and for simple conditions such as headaches and nosebleeds, and mentions the cosmology behind the principles of medical ethics.Emilie Savage-Smith, "Medicine." Taken from Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, Volume 3: Technology, Alchemy and Life Sciences, pg. 928. Ed. Roshdi Rasheed. London: Routledge, 1996.
Al-Suyuti also wrote a number of Islamic sexual education manuscripts that represent major works in the genre, which began in the 10th-century in Baghdad. The most significant of these works is Al-Wishāḥ fī Fawāʾid al-Nikāḥ ("The Sash on the Merits of Wedlock"), but other examples of such manuscripts include Shaqāʾiq al-Utrunj fī Raqāʾiq al-Ghunj, Nawāḍir al-Ayk fī Maʻrifat al-Nayk and Nuzhat al-Mutaʾammil.
Avoiding Public Life
In his late forties, al-Suyuti began avoiding the public when he argued with the Sufis in the Baybarsiyyah lodge, he disagreed their claim to be Sufism and were not following the path of saints in terms of manners and ethics, he was thus dismissed.
Controversy
Al-Suyuti had some backlash with some of his contemporaries especially by his own teacher Al-Sakhawi and his fellow student Al-Qastallani who were two major renowned Hadith studies. Al-Suyuti was accused for plagiarism which prolific writers were similarly accused of such as Ibn Al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah but those accusations were later dropped.
Defending Ibn Arabi
His most famous clash was with one of his teachers, Burhan al-Din al-Biqa'i, who staunchly criticized Ibn Arabi in his book called Tanbih al-Ghabi ila Takfir Ibn 'Arabi translated in English 'Warning to the Dolt That Ibn Arabi is an Apostate', Al-Suyuti responded with a book called Tanbih al-Ghabi fi Takhti'at Ibn 'Arabi translated in English 'Warning to the Dolt That Faults Ibn 'Arabi'. Both epistles have been made widely available. In his writing, Al-Suyuti presented that he considered Ibn 'Arabi a Wali (Friend of Allah) whose books are prohibited to those who read them without first learning the sophisticated terms used by the Sufis. He quotes from Ibn Hajar's list in his book called Anba' al-Gh which mention the trustworthy and respected scholars who kept a positive opinion of Ibn Arabi or even recognized him to be an Wali.
Creed & Spiritual Lineage
In terms of his theological positions, Al-Suyuti had a contempt feeling towards speculative theology (kalam) and pushed for strict submission (tafwid). He opposed the use of logic in the Islamic sciences. He does, however, agree with Al-Ghazali's conservative view of kalam, which states that the science should be studied by scholars who meet the necessary requirements to administer the appropriate dosages as bitter medicine to people who are in dire need.
Death
Considered the greatest scholar of his century, he continued publishing books of his scholarly writings until he died on 18 October 1505 at the age of sixty two.
Reception
Ibn al-ʿImād writes: "Most of his works become world famous in his lifetime." Renowned as a prolific writer, his student Dawudi said: "I was with the Shaykh Suyuti once, and he wrote three volumes on that day. He could dictate annotations on hadith, and answer my objections at the same time. In his time he was the foremost scholar of the ĥadīth and associated sciences, of the narrators including the uncommon ones, the hadith matn (text), isnad (chain of narrators), the derivation of hadith rulings. He has himself told me, that he had memorized over two hundred thousand (200,000) hadiths." Adding that there was no scholar at his time who memorized this much.Al-Kawākib as-Sāyirah 1/228
Works
The Dalil Makhtutat al-Suyuti ("Directory of al-Suyuti's Manuscripts") states that al-Suyuti wrote works on over 700 subjects, while a 1995 survey put the figure between 500 and 981. However, these include short pamphlets, and fatwa.
(2025). 9789004334502 ISBN 9789004334502
Major works
See also
Notes
Sources
External links
Categories: Asharis, Sunni Sufis, Shaykh Al-islāms, Mujaddid, 15th-century Egyptian Historians, Egyptian Imams, Egyptian People Of Iranian Descent, Egyptian People Of Circassian Descent, Egyptian Scientists, Egyptian Sunni Muslims, Egyptian Sufis, Egyptian Theologians, Hadith Scholars, Scholars From The Mamluk Sultanate, Encyclopedists Of The Medieval Islamic World, Medieval Egyptian Scientists, Quranic Exegesis Scholars, Sunni Muslim Scholars Of Islam, Sunni Imams, Shafi'i Fiqh Scholars, Sufi Mystics, 16th-century Jurists, 15th-century Biographers, 15th-century Jurists, 15th-century Scientists, 1445 Births, 1505 Deaths, Biographical Evaluation Scholars, Supporters Of Ibn Arabi, Circassian Mamluks, Muslim Scholars Of Islamic Jurisprudence, Scholars Of Precolonial Africa
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