Muwwafaq al-Dīn ibn Qudāmah

ʿAbdullāh b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Qudāmah b. Miqdām b. Naṣr b. ʿAbdullāh al-Maqdisi al-Dimashqi al-Ṣāliḥi, al-Faqīh, al-Zāhid, al-Imām, Shaykh al-Islām, one of the luminaries, Muwwafaq al-Dīn, Abū Muḥammad, was born in Shaʿbān, 541 AH in Jammāʿīl, Palestine. His lineage can be traced back to ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb.

During the year of his birth the second wave of crusades was launched from Europe and mainly led by Louis the 7th who was the king of France and Conrad the third who was the king of Germany. With the help of several other European leaders they marched across Europe suffering several defeats at the hands of the Turks. They eventually made their way to Jerusalem and lead an attack on Damascus. while they were unsuccessful and ended up retreating, this wave did have an impact on the fall of Jerusalem during the third crusade.

Because of their presence in Jerusalem, At the age of 10, led by his father Aḥmad along side his brother-in-law Abdul Wāḥid b. Ali (Abdul Ghani’s father), with his family, he relocated as refugees to Damascus and settled in the village of Ṣāliḥiyyah.

When they moved there, it was a desolate region, the wilderness. They began to build up the area until it became on of the most important neighborhoods in Damascus not only constructing al-Muẓafari Mosque (Jami al-Hanabilah) but also the school, al-Madrasat al-Umariyyah.

Before the age of puberty, he completed the memorization of the Qur’an as well as Mukhtaṣar al-Khiraqi.

His initial exposure to Islamic studies was at the hands of his father, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Qudāmah. 

His father was a righteous scholar, famous for knowledge and worship. He also served as the khatib of the masjid in Jamma’il before they made the migration to Damascus. This was the family tradition from the time of the great grandfather Qudamah b. Miqdād.

After his father passed away, when Ibn Qudamah was 17 years old, his older brother Abu ʿUmar Muḥammad b. Aḥmad took over teaching him. His brother was the one that established the renowned school, al-Madrasat al-Umariyyah.

That school was the largest in the area and was eventually expanded with the aid of numerous supporters, including some from the ruling class to a size that could hold 1300 students on site in what would be considered a dormitory. The students were given food and a stipend. It was like a modern-day university with various fields of study and their respective levels.

At a young age he was noted to be hardworking and had impeccable handwriting. Throughout his career as a student, he had numerous teachers. Some have said there were approximately 32.

They include Abū al-Makārim b. Hilāl, Abū al-Maʿāli b. Ṣābir, Hibat Allāh al-Daqāq, Ibn al-Baṭṭi Abu al-Fatḥ Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Bāqi, Sʿad Allāh al-Dajjāji, ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jilāni, Ibn Taj al-Farrāʾ, Ibn Shāfiʾ, Abu Zurʿah, Yaḥya b. Thābit, al-Mubārak b. Khuḍayr, Abu Bakr b. al-Naqūr, al-Mubārak b. al-Ṭabbākh, Abu al-Faḍl ʿAbdullah b. Aḥmad al-Ṭūsi, Ibn al-Manni Abu al-Fatḥ Naṣr b. Futyān b. Maṭr, Abu al-Farj ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Jawzi, Shuhdah bnt. Aḥmad b. al-Farj, and Khadijah bnt. Aḥmad al-Nahrūwāniyyah.

In the year 561 AH, at the age of 20, alongside his cousin, al-Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi, he traveled to Baghdad to learn from its scholars. It was there that he met and studied with the master and saint, ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jilāni.

Under his tutelage Ibn Qudamah studied Muhktaṣar al-Khiraqi and attended his lessons until he passed away which was approximately 50 days after first contact. He then remained close to Ibn al-Manni and recited the Hanbali school to him along with Khilāf and Uṣul until he became and expert.

According to his nephew, al-Ḥafiẓ Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Maqdisi, he Ibn Qudamah remained in Baghdad for a total of four years until he returned to Damascus.

After returning home, he took up a post in the Damascus Mosque. Eventually he became the Imam for the Hanbalis and would lead the people in prayer when in town.

After his older brother, Abu ʿUmar, passed away, he became the Imam of the al-Muẓafari Mosque, which was built by his family at the foot of Mt. Qāṣiyyūn, and would deliver the Friday sermons when present.

The Muẓafari Mosque is also known as Jāmiʾ al-Ḥanābilah and is still standing today. It was build in the likeness of the Mosque of Damascus, al-Jāmiʾ al-Umawiy.

In 574 AH he traveled to Makkah to perform Hajj. He then accompanied a travel party to Baghdad and remained there for a year attending the lessons of Ibn al-Manni.

When he returned from that trip to Damascus he began authoring al-Mughni, an explanation of al-Khiraqi. He exerted a great deal of focus on perfecting the work. It is comprised of 10 volumes and is recognized as one of the most comprehensive fiqh books of its kind, not only showcasing the Hanbali school but providing comparative studies of the other schools as well.

Even though he was a man of piety and worship, he took to the study of fiqh and knowledge in general. His daily habit was to recite 1/7th of the Qurʾān. And although he noted that his father and brother surpassed him in worship, he was regular in voluntary prayers and other than on a few occasions, would reserve them for his home in accordance with the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

He had a beautiful voice when reciting the Qurʾān.

He loved the impoverished and would regularly invite them to his home for dinner after Isha prayer.

He was well-mannered and very affable. He always had a smile on his face. He told stories and made jokes. When the people studied with him, he was often cheerful, light-hearted, and was very relaxed. Once they complained to him about some of the children who studied with him, and he said, “They’re children. They have to play. You used to be just like them.”

This quality was even found when debating. Some said that he would slay his opponent with his smile. Debating was something that he did at one point in his career. Sessions were typically held after Jumu’ah prayer in the Mosque of Damascus. He gave that up at the end of his life.

As a teacher, he was busy with people from early morning until the sun rose. After Zuhr, they would either read ḥadīth or his works to him until Maghrib. On some occasions they would read to him after Maghrib while he was eating dinner. He never appeared annoyed or weary and would not complain to anyone even though it is likely that such rigor took a toll on him.

He was fully reliable and considered an evidence in regards to narration. He was noble and possessed many virtues. He kept away from anything unbecoming. He was upon the way of the Salaf. Light and dignity could be seen upon him. It was noted that a man would take benefit from seeing him even before hearing his speech.

He was very courageous and fought the crusaders under the command of Salah al-Din. He engaged in combat and sustained a wound to his hand. In the year 583H, when Salah al-Din mobilized the troops to fight the crusaiders, Ibn Qudamah along side his older brother Abu Umar, his cousin, Abdul-Ghani, and his brother-in-law al-Imad fought and were victorious reconquering the Jerusalem and the shores of Palestine. While in the army he would hold light-hearted conversations with the soldiers and try and lift their spirits. Even during those circumstances, he was noted to be regular in worship.

He was an Imam in Tafsīr and Ḥadīth, an Imam in Fiqh like no other, an Imam in Khilāf, a master like no other in Farāʾīd, an Imam in Usul al-Fiqh, and Imam in Naḥw, mathematics, and astronomy. He was granted the title of Shaykh al-Islām.

He was of full height, light skin tone, with a bright face and large distinct eyes. He was so handsome that it was as if his face gave off-light; he had a broad forehead and a long beard. He had a straight nose and his eyebrows joined. He had a small head, slender arms and legs, and a thin body. He had full use of his senses and faculties. He was extremely intelligent with fine manners.

He was also none for Karamat/wonders.

It was reported that Abu ʿAbdullāh b. Faḍl al-Aʿtāki said, “I told myself that if I had the capacity, I would have built a school for Muwaffaq and given him 1000 dirhams as a daily wage”. After a few days, I went to him and gave him salam. He looked at me and smiled and then said, “When someone intends something, its reward will be recorded”.

Abu al-Hasan b. Ḥamdān al-Jarāʾḥi said, “I used to despise the Ḥanbalis due to what was said about their evil doctrine. At some point I fell ill. The sickness caused my limbs to cramp to the point that I was unable to move for 17 days. I hoped for death.

At Isha time, al-Muwaffaq came to visit me and recited a number of verses over me and said, ‘and we have sent down the Qurʾān, that which is a cure for mankind and a mercy for the faithful’ (al-Isra 17:82). He wiped over my back and I felt well and was able to stand up. I told my servant to open the door for him but he said, I will go from where I came. He disappeared. I got up and went to the washroom. When I got up, I went to the masjid and prayed Fajr behind al-Muwaffaq and shook his hand. He squeezed my hand and said, ‘Be wary of saying anything’. I said, ‘I will say, I will say’”.

There were reports that more than one person even saw him walk on water.

Ibn Qudamah authored a number of great books, some estimate that he authored approximately 40 works, in the school on the topics of both law and doctrine. 

His works on doctrine are excellent, the majority of which are authored utilizing the methodology of the ḥadīth scholars and filled with ḥadīth, narrations, and chains of transmission. He also authored books in the fields of ḥadīth, language, and zuhud.

He did not take to theological rhetoric and would not debate with such theologians regarding the nuances of theology even to refute them.

According to Ibn Rajab, they, the ḥadīth masters, adhered strongly to what was reported in the area of doctrine and would not utilize language that was not found in those reports. Instead, they would order that there be affirmation and relegation of what had come in the Book and Sunnah regarding the attributes without tafsir, takyīf, tamthīl, taḥrīf, taʾwīl, or taʿṭīl.

In Usul al-Din he authored, al-Burhān fi Masʾalat al-Qurʾān, al-Iʿtiqad, Masʾalat al-ʿUlu, Dham al-Taʾwīl, Kitāb al-Qadr, Faḍāʾil al-Ṣaḥābah, and Taḥrīm al-Naẓr fi Kutub Ahl al-Kalam.

In the field of Ḥadīth he authored Mukhtaṣar al-ʿUlal of al-Khallāl and Mashaykhat Shuyukhihi.

In fiqh he authored al-Mughni fi al-Fiqh, al-Kāfi fi al-Fiqh, al-Muqniʿ fi al-Fiqh, Mukhtaṣar al-Hidāyah, al-ʿUmdah, Manāsik al-Ḥajj, Dham al-Wiswās, along with numerous epistles and edicts.

In the field of Usul al-Fiqh he authored Raḍat al-Nāẓir.

He authored works in the field of zuhd such as Kitāb al-Tawwābīn, Kitāb al-Mutaḥābbin fi Allāh, Kitāb al-Riqqah wa al-Bukāʾ, Faḍl ʿĀshūrāʾ, and Faḍl al-ʿAshr.

He also authored several works in linguistics and lineage.

He works benefitted the masses in particular the scholars of the Hanbali school. This is especially true when it comes to al-Mughin. Al-Hafiẓ Ḍiya said, “I saw Imam Aḥmad in a dream and he mentioned an issue in fiqh to me. I said, ‘This issue is found in al-Khiraqi’. He said, ‘Your companion al-Muwaffaq has not fallen short in explaining al-Khiraqi’”.

Al-Mughni received such tremendous praise from the luminaries of the tradition that poetry was written about.

He also has numerous students who learned and benefitted from his such as al-Ḥāfiẓ Abu Isḥāq Ibrāhīm al-Wāsiṭi, Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm al-Maqdisi, Aḥmad b. Salāmah b. Aḥmad al-Najjār, his grandson al-Ḥāfiẓ Abu al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿIsa b. ʿAbdullāh b. Qudamah, al-Ḥāfiẓ Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Abd al-Wāḥid al-Maqdisi, his nephew ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Qudamah, and others.

He married his paternal cousin Maryam bint Abee Bakr ibn `Abdillaah ibn Sa`d al-Maqdisee. They had a number of children: (al-Majd) `Eesaa, Muhammad, Yahyaa, Safiyyah, and Faatimah.

Then he married `Izziyyah- who died before him.

All his sons died in his lifetime, and none of them had offspring except for `Eesaa- who had two righteous sons, however both of them died without any offspring. So the Shaikh had no remaining progeny.

Ibn Qudamah passed away at his house in Damascus on Saturday, the Day of Eid al-Fitr, 620 H. His funeral prayer was held the following day and his body was taken to Mt. Qasiyyūn where he was buried. The funeral prayer was packed.

Ismaʿīl b. Hammād said, “On the night of Eid al-Fitr it appeared as if the Muṣḥaf of ʿUthman had been removed from the Mosque to Damascus and raised to the heavens. I was overwhelmed with sadness. Then al-Muwaffaq passed away”.