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 biography of Fatima al-Zahra' (a), citing some hadiths about her.
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 scholar familiar with the Quranic exegesis and hadiths. Al-Qalqashandi attended the lectures of about thirty teachers and wrote many books and essays, including an exposition on al-Suyuti's al-Jami' al-saghir, and exposition on al-Alfiyya (Sharh al-alfiyya) and Ithaf al-sa'il.[1]
Attribution of the Book
In the introduction, the book's editor 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.[2]
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 the editor in the footnotes cites them.
Contents
The book consists of five sections, briefly describing Fatima al-Zahra's (a) personal life, virtues, and influences.
- 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.[3]
The author does not point out the martyrdom of Fatima al-Zahra' (a).[4]
Notes
- ↑ Qalashqandī, Itḥāf al-sāʾil, p. 11.
- ↑ Qalashqandī, Itḥāf al-sāʾil, p. 12-13.
- ↑ Qalashqandī, Itḥāf al-sāʾil, index of the book.
- ↑ Noor Digital Library
References
- Qalashqandī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh. Itḥāf al-sā'il bi-mā li-Fātima min al-manāqib wa l-faḍā'il. Edited by Muḥammad Kāẓim Mūsawī. Tehran: Majmaʿ Taqrīb-i Madhāhib Islāmī, 1427 AH.
- Kitāb-i Shinākht-i sīra-yi Ma'sūmān. Noor Computer Research Center of Islamic Sciences.