Ithaf al-sa'il (book)

Ithaf al-sa'il (book)

Author	Muhammad b. Abd Allah al-Akrawi al-Qalqashandi
Language	Arabic
Series	1 vol.
Subject	Life and virtues of Fatima al-Zahra' (a)
Published	1427/2006
Publisher	The world forum for proximity of Islamic schools of thought

Itḥāf al-sāʾil bi-mā li-Fātima min al-manāqib wa l-faḍāʾil (Arabic: إتْحافُ السّائل بِما لِفاطمة مِنَ المَناقب وَ الفَضائل) is a short essay concerning the life and virtues of Fatima al-Zahra' (a) written by Muhammad b. Abd Allah al-Akrawi al-Qalqashandi (d. 1035/1625-6), a Sunni religious scholar. In this book, al-Qalqashandi wrote about the birth, marriage, characteristics, and the biography of Fatima al-Zahra' (a), citing some hadiths about her.

The Author

Al-Qalqashandi was a Shafi'i scholar who was born in Akra, a region in Hijaz, and lived in Qalqashanda, a village near Cairo. He is described as a preacher and a scholar who was familiar with the Quranic exegesis and hadiths. Al-Qalqashandi attended the lectures of about thirty teachers, and wrote many books and essays, including, exposition on al-Suyuti's al-jami' al-saghir, and exposition on al-Alfiyya (Sharh al-alfiyya) and Ithaf al-sa'il.

The Attribution of the Book

In the introduction, the editor of the book makes it explicit that the attribution of the book to al-Qalqashandi is accurate, and its attribution to another person called Muhammad b. Abd al-Ra'uf al-Minawi is inaccurate. Bibliographers, such as Kihala in Mu'jam al-mu'allifin, Muhibbi in Khulasat al-athar, al-Baghdadi in Idah al-maknun and Hadiyyat al-arifin, as well as biographers of al-Qalqashandi, have attributed the book to him.

Style of Writing

In his citation of hadiths, the author only mentions the last person in chains of transmitters, omitting the rest of the chains. He usually does not cite his sources, although they are cited by the editor in footnotes.

Contents

The book consists of five sections, in which Fatima al-Zahras (a) personal life, virtues, and influences are briefly described.

• The first section: the birth and the appellations of Zahra' (a) and the love of the Prophet (s) for her.

• The second section: her marriage with Imam Ali (a) and her mahr.

• The third section: her virtues; in this section, fifty hadiths are cited.

• The fourth section: her characteristics and her superiority over others.

• The fifth section: hadiths and poems transmitted from her.

The author does not point out the martyrdom of Fatima al-Zahra' (a).