Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami - Biography

Biography

Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī was born in 1504 in the small village Abū Haytam in western Egypt. He followed the Shafi'i School and was the Imam during his time period. He was recognized for his depth of application of Sacred Law, and with al-Imām Aḥmad al-Ramlī, represents the foremost resource for fatwa (legal opinion) for the entire late Shāfiʿī School. His name in its entirety is Shibab al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Hajar al-Haytamī al-Makkī al-Ansārī. When he was a small child, his father died and his upbringing was left to the charge of his grandfather. His grandfather was known to the locals as the “stone” because of his piteous nature. The nickname came from people saying he was “silent as a stone”. This was due to the fact that he seldom spoke and when he did it was greatly revered for his religious knowledge. His grandfather died, however, shortly after his father and his father’s teachers Shams Dīn b. Abi’l-Hamā’il and Shams al-Dīn Muhammad al-Shanāwī became his caretakers.
It was al- Shanāwī who decided that al-Haytamī should receive his elementary education at the sanctuary of Sayyid Ahmadal-Badawī in Tanta. After completing his education here, Ibn Hajar al- Haytamī continued his schooling at the Azhar mosque. At the Azhar mosque al-Haytamī studied under many noteworthy scholars, the most predominant one being Zakariyyā’ al- Ansārī. During this time the Ottoman Turks had taken over Egypt and the economy suffered greatly. The Azhar mosque no longer received royal patronage from the sultan, so Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī studied in a time where extreme poverty was a prominent issue for the locals (“Ottoman Empire”).
Another issue that al-Haytamī faced was that of performing the Hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Islam that states that devote Muslims travel to the city of Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Al-Haytamī accomplished this task in the year 1527 with his shayk, Shayk al-Bakri. It was during this trip that al-Haytamī decided to begin writing fiqh. He returned to Mecca in 1531 and stayed there a year before returning home again. During this visit al-Haytamī worked on a compilation of notes which he would later use in his authorship to write commentaries. The last time he traveled to Mecca was in 1533, this time he brought his family and decided to permanently reside there.
His life dedication in Mecca began to be writing, teaching, and issuing fatwa. He authored major works in Shāfiʿī jurisprudence, hadīth, tenets of faith, education, hadīth commentary, and formal legal opinion. It was at this time he wrote his most notable work, which was called “Tuhfat al-muhtaj bi Sharh al-Minhadj”. This work was a commentary on Imam Nawawi’s writing “Minhadj al-talibin”. Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī’s commentary became one of the two authoritative textbooks of the Shafi’i school. He wrote many other works, some of which are listed in the “works” section of this page.
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī died in 1567 in Mecca. He was buried in the cemetery of Ma’lat.