ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Baʿlī

ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Baʿlī hailed from a distinguished lineage of scholars and righteous individuals. His full name is ʿAbd al-Bāqī ibn ʿAbd al-Bāqī ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn ʿAbd al-Bāqī ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al-Baʿlī. His forefathers were men of knowledge and piety, deeply rooted in the Hanbali scholarly tradition.

In his own scholarly register, he honors his ancestry with reverence, introducing himself as: “ʿAbd al-Bāqī Taqī al-Dīn al-Ḥanbalī, son of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Bāqī, son of the preacher of the Muslims, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir Zayn al-Dīn, son of the muftī of the monotheists, ʿAbd al-Bāqī, the distinguished scholar, son of Shaykh Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad—originally known as Ibn al-Badr and now as Ibn Faqīh Faṣṣah.”

The nisbah “Ibn Faqīh Faṣṣah” traces back to a village near Baʿlabakk, not far from Damascus, where one of his ancestors was known to travel and deliver sermons.

He was also known by numerous honorifics, reflecting the breadth of his learning: al-Azharī, al-Dimashqī, al-Muḥaddith, al-Muqriʾ, and al-Atharī—titles that together portray his stature as jurist, traditionist, and master reciter.

Birth and Early Life

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Baʿlī was born in Baʿlabakk on Saturday night, the 18th of Rabīʿ al-Thānī 1005 AH (1596 CE). He moved to Damascus at a young age, where he would later emerge as one of its foremost Hanbali authorities.

Baʿlabakk and Damascus

During the premodern period, Baʿlabakk was part of the greater Syrian region (al-Shām), encompassing present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. 

Administratively, it often fell under the governance of Damascus, the provincial capital, located only about sixty miles away—roughly a day’s journey by horseback.

This close proximity fostered a vibrant scholarly exchange. Students and scholars frequently traveled between the two cities, and many Hanbali families—such as that of ʿAbd al-Bāqī—had ancestral roots in Baʿlabakk but pursued advanced learning in Damascus.

Damascus, the jewel of al-Shām, was home to great institutions like the Umayyad Mosque and major madrasas, most notably Madrasat al-ʿUmariyyah in the Ṣāliḥiyyah district—a renowned hub of Hanbali scholarship. Around the same era that ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Baʿlī was teaching at al-ʿĀdiliyyah al-Ṣughrā, the jurist Ibn Balbān al-Baʿlī was instructing at al-ʿUmariyyah, both representing the flourishing Hanbali presence across Damascus.

Education and Teachers

ʿAbd al-Bāqī began memorizing the Qurʾān under his father’s supervision at the age of ten. After his father’s passing, he began formal studies at twelve, following the classical tradition of journeying for knowledge.

His path of learning took him across the major centers of Islamic scholarship—Baʿlabakk, Damascus, Cairo, Makkah, Madinah, and Bayt al-Maqdis—connecting him to the leading scholars of his time through chains of transmission (isnād).

Studies in Damascus

In Damascus, he studied fiqh under Qāḍī Maḥmūd ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Ḥamīdī al-Ṣāliḥī al-Ḥanbalī (d. 1030 AH / 1621 CE), the grandson of Shaykh Mūsā al-Ḥajjāwī, author of al-Iqnāʿ. He also studied under the eminent muḥaddith Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Wafā al-Mufliḥī (d. 1038 AH / 1629 CE), a Hanbali jurist and traditionist of Damascus who served in the Umayyad Mosque and Dār al-Ḥadīth in Ṣāliḥiyyah.

From his cousin Shaykh Nūr al-Dīn al-Baʿlī, successor to Shaykh Muḥammad al-ʿIlmī al-Qudsī, he received spiritual training in the Sufi path, learning the dhikr and litanies of the order, and was granted authorization (ijāzah) in its devotions.

Studies in Egypt (1029–1032 AH / 1620–1623 CE)

In 1029 AH (1620 CE), at about twenty-four years old, he traveled to Egypt, where he studied under the foremost Hanbali authorities of the time, including Shaykh Manṣūr al-Buhūtī and Marʿī al-Karmī, as well as other leading scholars of fiqh, ḥadīth, qirāʾāt, inheritance law, logic, and grammar.

He also learned from:

• ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Danūsharī and Yūsuf al-Futūḥī (grandson of Ibn al-Najjār)

• ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Yamanī in qirāʾāt

• al-Burhān al-Laqqānī (author of Jawharat al-Tawḥīd) and Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Maqrī in ḥadīth

• Muḥammad al-Shamrīsī and Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn Abū Duray al-Mālikī in inheritance law (farāʾiḍ)

• Muḥammad al-Ḥamawī in prosody

• Muḥammad al-Bāblī in logic and Arabic

He remained in Egypt for three years, earning numerous authorizations (ijāzāt) and recognition from its leading scholars.

Studies in the Ḥaramayn and Bayt al-Maqdis

After returning to Damascus in 1032 AH (1623 CE), he continued to study and collect ijāzāt, then traveled for Ḥajj in 1036 AH (1627 CE), studying in both Makkah and Madinah.

In Makkah, he learned from Muḥammad ibn ʿAllān al-Ṣiddīqī and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Marshadī al-Ḥanafī, the muftī of Makkah.

In Madinah, he studied under ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Khayyārī, and in Bayt al-Maqdis he received further chains in ḥadīth transmission. His highest isnād in ḥadīth reached back to al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, through Shaykh Ḥijāzī al-Wāʿiẓ and Ibn Arkamās of Egypt.

Teaching Career

Returning to Damascus, he attended lessons in ḥadīth at the Umayyad Mosque with Shams al-Dīn al-Maydānī and Najm al-Dīn al-Ghazzī, and in tafsīr with al-ʿImādī, the muftī of Damascus.

By 1041 AH (1632 CE), he had assumed formal teaching responsibilities at al-ʿĀdiliyyah al-Ṣughrā—a renowned institution originally established in the early 7th century AH (13th century CE) by al-Malik al-ʿĀdil, the brother of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn.

He regularly taught seminal works such as:

• al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr of al-Suyūṭī

• Tafsīr al-Jalālayn

• Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim

• al-Shifāʾ of Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ

• al-Mawāhib al-Laduniyyah of al-Qasṭallānī

• al-Targhīb wa al-Tarhīb of al-Mundhirī

• al-Tadhkira of al-Qurṭubī

• Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn of al-Ghazālī

He also served as khaṭīb of Masjid Manjak—known as Masjid al-Aqṣāb—a historic mosque outside Damascus founded in the 8th century AH (14th century CE).

His reputation as the Shaykh of Qurʾān reciters in Damascus was unparalleled, and he also composed refined scholarly poetry reflecting deep spirituality and devotion.

Character and Devotion

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Bāqī was renowned for his constancy in teaching and worship. He never missed a lesson, regardless of season or circumstance—not even during the nights of ʿĪd, the death of his wife, or the wedding celebrations of his sons, Muḥammad and Saʿūd. His unwavering commitment became legendary among students and colleagues alike.

His teachers described him as “the accomplished, insightful Imām and scholar”, and later biographers such as al-Muḥibbī and Kamāl al-Dīn al-Ghazzī regarded him as one of the renewers (mujaddidūn) of his age, having attained mastery in both the rational (ʿaqliyyāt) and transmitted (naqliyyāt) sciences.

Students and Influence

Among his foremost students were:

• Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī of Madinah

• Sayyid Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rasūl al-Barzanjī

• ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū al-Mawāhib, his son and the muftī of the Ḥanbalis

• ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-ʿIkrī
  

And many others who would become prominent teachers, jurists, and spiritual guides in their own right.

Through his students, ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Baʿlī served as a vital bridge between the great Hanbali masters of the past and the emerging scholars of the later Ottoman era, faithfully preserving and transmitting the tradition.

Death

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Baʿlī remained steadfast in teaching and spiritual devotion until his passing on Tuesday night, the 17th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1071 AH (1661 CE). He was buried in Turbat al-Ghurabāʾ, within the al-Faradīs Cemetery of Damascus.

May Allah shower him with mercy, illuminate his grave, and reward him for his tireless service to the knowledge of His dīn.