AL-SAKHAWI'S SUFI TEACHERS by GF Haddad
Adapted from A.J. Arberry's _Sakhawiana_.
In the section of his al-Jawahir
al-Mukallala fi al-Akhbar al-Musalsala devoted to the transmission of hadith
through chains formed exclusively of Sufi narrators, Ibn Hajar's star student,
the hadith master Muhammad Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi states that he had received
the Sufi path from Zayn al-Din Ridwan al-Muqri' in Cairo.1 In the same work
al-Sakhawi also mentions several of his teachers and students of hadith who
were Sufis. Here are the names of some of them, together with the words used by
him to describe them in his biographical work al-Daw' al-Lami`:
1- Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Hishi al-Halabi al-Shafi`i (b. 848)
the head of the Bistamiyya Sufis in Aleppo, the mother trunk of the Naqshbandi
Sufi order affiliated with Abu Yazid al-Bistami. He spent two years in Mecca
with Sakhawi, who wrote him an ijaza or permission to teach. In this ijaza
Sakhawi calls him: "Our master, the masterful Imam of merits and guidance,
the Educator of Murids (students in the Sufi path), the Mainstay of Wayfarers
in the Sufi path, the Noble Abu Bakr al-Hishi al-Halabi, may Allah preserve him
and have mercy on his gracious predecessors (i.e. the chain of his shaykhs in
the Sufi path), and may Allah grant us and all Muslims their benefits."2
2- Badr al-Din Hussayn ibn Siddiq al-Yamani al-Ahdal (d. 903): al-Sakhawi
gave him a comprehensive ijaza granting him permission to teach all of his
books.3
3- Abu al-Fath Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Madani al-Maraghi (d.
859): Sakhawi took hadith from him. He was head of two Sufi khaniqas in Cairo,
the Zamamiyya and the Jamaliyya. He led a life of seclusion for the most part,
and wrote a commentary on Nawawi's manual of Law Minhaj al-talibin, and an
epitome of Ibn Hajar's Fath al-bari. Because of his defense of Ibn `Arabi, he
was murdered in front of the Ka`ba by a fanatic.4
4- Taqi al-Din Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Qalqashandi (d. 867),
also called `Abd Allah. He received the Sufi khirqa or cloak of authority in Cairo.
He is said to have read the whole of Sahih al-Bukhari in three days while in
Mecca. He lived in al-Quds, where al-Sakhawi met him and took hadith from him.5
5- Thiqat al-Din Abu al-`Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-`Uqbi (d.
861). He taught hadith and tajwid in Mecca, where Sakhawi studied under him.6
6- Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Wahid al-Sikandari
al-Siwasi (d. 861). He was a master of all sciences and taught at the Madrasa al-Ashrafiyya
in Cairo, after which he headed the Shaykhuni Sufi khaniqa. He authored many
books.7
7- Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Husayni al-Qahiri
al-Shafi`i al-Sufi (d. 876). Al-Munawi's deputy judge in Cairo, a student of
`Izz al-Din ibn Jama`a, Jalal al-Din al-Bulqini and many others, and a student
and friend of Sakhawi's teacher Ibn Hajar whose massive work Fath al-Bari he
copied twice. A teacher of fiqh and hadith, he wrote an epitome of Ibn
al-Athir's Kitab al-Ansab. He was an old acquaintance of Sakhawi's father, and
consequently treated Sakhawi himself "with indescribable respect." He
was one of the ten students to whom Ibn Hajar gave his authority in teaching
hadith after him.8
8- Abu Khalid Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Jibrini (d. 860). He was
a writer, archer, horseman, and Sufi shaykh at the zawiya (alcove-mosque) of
Jibrin, where al-Sakhawi met him and took hadith from him. Sakhawi says of him:
"He was handsome, modest, generous, courageous, and endowed with spiritual
strength and virility after the shaykhs of true majesty."9
10- Zaki al-Din Abu al-`Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ansari
al-Khazraji al-Sa`di al-Muqri' al-Sufi (d. 875). An associate of Ibn Hajar and
a prolific writer, he wrote an autobiography in more than fifty volumes, although
Sakhawi said he was unaffected, congenial, readily given to tears, and quick of
repartee.10
11- Thiqat al-Din Abu `Ali Mahmud ibn `Ali al-Sufi al-Khaniki
(d. 865). Born and raised in Cairo's Khaniqa al-Siryaqusiyya where he taught
late in life. He died while at Mecca for the pilgrimage.11
12- Abu al-Faraj `Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalil al-Dimashqi al-Sufi
(d. 869). He was a muhaddith. Al-Sakhawi studied under him in Cairo and at the
Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.12
NOTES
1A.J. Arberry, Sakhawiana: A Study Based on the Chester Beatty
Ms. Arab. 773 (London: Emery Walker Ltd., 1951) p. 35.
2al-Sakhawi, al-Daw' al-lami` 11:96-97, 74-75.
3Ibid. 3:144-145.
4Ibid. 7:162-165.
5Ibid. 11:69-71.
6Ibid. 2:212-213.
7Ibid. 8:127-132.
8Ibid. 8:176-178.
9Ibid. 7:197.
10Ibid. 2:146-149.
11Ibid. 10:140-141.
12Ibid. 4:76.
GF Haddad Qasyoun@cyberia.net.lb