Ibn Abidin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ibn ʿᾹbidīn ابن عابدين
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni
Personal
Nationality	Ottoman Empire
Born	1784 Damascus, Damascus Eyalet, Ottoman Empire
Died	1836 (aged 51–52) Damascus, Damascus Eyalet, Ottoman Empire
Influenced	Al-Maydani 'Abdullah al-Harari

Ibn 'Abidin (Arabic: ابن عابدين) was an important Islamic scholar and legal expert. He lived in Damascus, a city in Syria during the time of the Ottoman Empire. He was known as the top expert in Hanafi fiqh, which is a major school of Islamic law.

Ibn 'Abidin worked for the government as an "Amin al-fatwa." This meant he was the main mufti (a legal expert who gives advice) in Damascus. People would go to him with their legal questions. He wrote over 50 books, including a huge collection of legal opinions, poems, and comments on other scholars' works. His most famous book is Radd al-Muhtar 'ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar. This book is still seen as the most important text for Hanafi law today.

Early Life and Learning

Ibn 'Abidin was born in Damascus in 1784. His family had many scholars, so they were highly respected. He started studying the Quran when he was very young. By the age of 12, he received his first certificate of learning from his teacher, Shaykh Muhammad al-Kuzbari al-Kabir. People said he had memorized the entire Qur'an before he became an adult.

He was a very determined student. One day, after reciting the Qur'an at his father's shop, he received some criticism. This made him want to improve his skills even more. He studied hard with many famous scholars and eventually earned four advanced degrees of learning.

His Legal Ideas

In Sharia (Islamic law), a mufti helps people understand what is right or wrong in legal situations. Usually, muftis base their answers on what the Prophet Muhammad did, what the Qur'an says, and what earlier scholars in their school of law decided. The idea was to avoid personal opinions and stick to past methods. However, Ibn 'Abidin showed that this wasn't always how it worked.

Ibn 'Abidin had some modern ideas for his time. As a mufti during the Ottoman era, he was influenced by both Islamic scholars and the Ottoman government. He even edited and added his own thoughts to the work of a mufti who came before him, Hamid al-Imadi. This was a bit unusual because it meant he sometimes changed earlier decisions.

Local Customs and New Thinking

Ibn 'Abidin believed that urf (local customs) were important when making legal decisions. He said that many things change over time, so laws need to be flexible. This helps them fit with current customs.

He once wrote, "Many of the rules change with the change of time..."

This idea could make it hard to keep legal opinions fair and unbiased. Ibn 'Abidin's solution was that Islamic law aims to make life easier for believers. If local customs were not considered, it could cause problems for people.

He explained that legal experts should not just stick to old books and opinions. They should also think about what people need in their own time. Otherwise, their decisions might cause more harm than good. Other legal experts also considered current customs. If their decisions went against the founder of their law school, they believed the founder would have agreed if he lived in their time.

Another important idea was ijtihad (using individual effort and reasoning to find a legal answer). Many believed that using ijtihad had stopped for Hanafi scholars long before Ibn 'Abidin's time. However, Ibn 'Abidin used a lot of effort and his own reasoning to solve problems. He combined his knowledge of local customs with his own thoughts. He seemed to believe that ijtihad was still okay in certain situations.

For example, he said that if Abu Hanifa (the founder of the Hanafi school) had a ruling on a matter, that ruling should be followed. If not, then they should look at the views of other important scholars. But if no one had an answer, then the mufti should use deep thinking and ijtihad to find one. He also used his own reasoning if times had changed and a law needed to be stricter because society was becoming more difficult.

Marriage Rules

During Ibn 'Abidin's time, marriage was very important. Everyone was expected to marry someone from their own social class. For example, someone from a lower class usually could not marry someone from a middle class.

Ibn 'Abidin noticed that what counted as the "same status" for marriage could change depending on the location. He listed barbers, metal workers, shepherds, and bath-keepers as lower class. But he added that the exact rules depended on the local customs.

He also said that a non-Arab was generally seen as lower than an Arab. However, a learned non-Arab Muslim was considered higher than an uneducated non-Arab Muslim. This meant that Muslims were generally seen as a higher class than non-Muslims.

Every child, both boys and girls, had a wali (guardian) who would find them a spouse and arrange their marriage. The guardian was usually the father or grandfather. Problems arose if a child was an orphan or if the guardian seemed unable to make good decisions. Ibn 'Abidin gave legal opinions for these situations.

He said that the guardian of an orphan had the same duties as a father. He also stated that if a guardian refused a good marriage offer, the court could step in.

Both young men and women were thought to have a choice in who they married once they became adults. Men were free to choose their wives. Women were considered to agree to a marriage if they remained silent after hearing all the details of the offer.

After marriage, Ibn 'Abidin said that the husband had to provide for his wife. This was true no matter how much money she had. The type of food he provided depended on her social class. For example, an upper-class wife should get wheat bread and meat for lunch. A middle-class wife would get bread and animal fat. A lower-class wife would get bread and cheese.

Relationship with the Government

Ibn 'Abidin and other government-appointed muftis had a complicated relationship with the state. For instance, Ibn 'Abidin once added a note to a legal opinion about taxes. In this note, he criticized how the government collected taxes.

He wrote that many of the special taxes collected from villages were not for protecting people or property. Instead, they were just unfair and harsh. He noted that these taxes often paid for the governor's expenses, his soldiers' homes, and gifts to the sultan's messengers. He said these taxes were collected twice a year, with many extra fees.

Death

Ibn 'Abidin passed away on the 21st of Rabi al-thani in the year 1252 AH, when he was 54 years old. His own teacher, Saýīd al-Ĥalabī, led his funeral prayer. His teacher cried and said, "I was treasuring you, for what comes after my old age." Prayers were held at the Sināniyyah mosque. He was buried in Damascus, as he wished, near the grave of Shaykh Álāuddin al-Ĥaşkafī, who wrote Durr al-Mukhtār.

Radd al-Muhtar

Ibn 'Abidin carefully studied and explained the works and ideas of the Hanafi school of law. He did this with great detail and accuracy. Shaykh Muhammad Effendi al-Hulawani, a mufti from Beirut, spoke about Ibn 'Abidin's deep knowledge. He said, "I never heard any lesson like that of Ibn 'Abidin." He explained that he would research a topic as much as possible, thinking he understood it completely. But then Ibn 'Abidin would teach the same lesson and explain it even better. He would add new, helpful points that the Shaykh had never found or even thought about.

Because of this, Radd al-Muhtar is considered one of the most complete and detailed collections of Hanafi law. It is even more extensive than the Fatawa Hindiyya, another large work from an earlier time.

His Writings

Ibn 'Abidin wrote many books on different topics, from prayers to medicine. But his vast knowledge of law truly made him stand out. He wrote detailed explanations of older law books that were hard for ordinary people to understand. His most famous book, Radd al-Muhtar 'ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, is a huge expansion of Imam Hasfaki's Durr al Mukhtar.

Here are some of his major works:

• Radd al-Muhtar ala al-Dur al-Mukhtar: This is the most complete and respected book on Hanafi law today. It has been printed many times.
• Al-Úqūd ad-Durriyyah fī Tanqīĥi Al-Fatāwā al-Ĥāmidiyyah: This book is a revised version of the legal opinions of Shaykh Ĥāmiduddin al-Ímādi. It was published in two volumes.
• Ĥāshiyah álā Tafsīr al-Qāđī al-Bayđāwi: These are notes he added to a Qur'an explanation by Bayđawi. He made sure to only include points that no other scholar had mentioned before.
• Al-Fawāyid al-Mukhaşşasah bi Aĥkāmi Kayy al-Ĥummaşah: This is an article about medicine. It discusses a method used by doctors to remove pus from infections using chickpeas. Ibn 'Abidin combined two earlier writings on this topic with his own ideas. He finished this book in 1227 AH.
• Rafá at-Taraddud fī Áqdi'l Aşābiý índa't Tashahhud: This book collects the sayings of Hanafi imams about raising the index finger and making a circle with other fingers during prayer. He wrote it to correct some Hanafis who thought only raising the index finger was needed. He finished it in Rabīý al-Awwal, 1249 AH.
• Shifā al-Álīl wa Ball al-Ghalīl fī Ĥukmi'l Waşiyyati bi'l Khitmāti wa't Tahālīl: He wrote this to address a practice common in Damascus during a plague in 1228 AH. People were passing around a "will" to complete a full recitation of the Qur'an and repeat a specific religious phrase.
• Tanbīh Dhawi'l Afhām álā Aĥkāmi't Tablīghi Khalf al-Imām: This explains how a follower should loudly repeat the imam's calls to prayer during a group prayer. This helps people further away hear the calls. He finished it on the first of Muĥarram 1226 AH.
• Tanbīh al-Ghafīl wa'l Wasnān álā Aĥkāmi Hilāli Ramađān: He wrote this book at his teacher's request. It gathers all the rules about sighting the new moon for Ramadan from all four major schools of Islamic law. This was to clear up confusion about the new moon of Ramadan in Damascus in 1240 AH.

See also

• List of Hanafis
• List of Ash'aris and Maturidis