Qadi Iyad Maliki || Qazi Ayyaz Maliki || قاضی عیاض مالکی || Biography of Qadi Iyad
Qadi Iyad Maliki || Qazi Ayyaz Maliki || قاضی عیاض مالکی || Biography of Qadi Iyad
Qadi
Iyad, (Qazi Ayyaz, قاضی عیاض) born in Ceuta Spain, then belonging to the imperial Berber
Muslim dynasty (Almoravid dynasty – 1050-1117CE) centered in the territory of
present-day Morocco, was the scholar of Maliki fiqah and great imam of that
city and, later he appointed in 1121 a Qadi (Judge) in the Nasrid Kingdom of
Granada and their he worked more than a year.
EARLY LIFE
Qadi
Iyad (Qazi Iyyaz) was born on 15th of Shaban, 476 AH (28th
December, 1083 CE), six months after the Almoravid takeover of the city. He obtained the license (Ijazah) at the age of
22 from Hafiz Abu Ali al-Ghassani (حافظ ابو
علی الغثانی) and this endorsed Qadi Iyad to take knowledge from al-Ghassani.
There is no evidence that Qadi Iyad had studied the Islamic sciences at an initial
age.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
He
came from an eminent family that traced its backgrounds back to the tribal of Yemen
Arabs. His great-grandfather, Amr moved to Ceuta from Fez, the oldest town in
the central Morocco, around the time of Ibn-e-Abi Amir (r. 368–392 H/978–1002
CE), the chief minister and de facto ruler of the Umayyad caliphate of Cordoba.
HIS TRAVELS &
TEACHERS
Qadi
Ayyaḍ studied under various important members of the scholars and formed Friendships
with many of them in both his native town and al-Andalus. These included Ibn-e-Ḥamdin
and Ibn-e-Rushd al-Jadd (d. 520 H/1126 CE), the most prominent Maliki jurist of
his day in the Islamic West, in addition to the aforementioned al-Ṣadafi and
Siraj bin Abd-ul--Malik. From his historical work focused on his educators and
scholars, al-Ghunya (“The Richness”), it is known that he was taught by around 100
teachers, and that they were not only from the Islamic West but also the East, with
Qadi Iyaḍ himself remaining in the Maghrib.
Qadi
Iyad visited the city of Cordoba, Spain during his travels seeking knowledge in
Al-Andalus. He left Ceuta on two occasions, one of which was to travel to
Andalus seeking out scholars with whom he could take knowledge. Between 507-1113
and 508-1114. He also visited Cordoba, Almeria, Murcia, and Granada.
During
this time, he learned Hadith from the famed scholar, Qadi Abu Ali bin Sukrah
al-Sadafi (قاضی ابو علی بن سکراح الصدفی). Qadi Iyad remained with him closely. Qadi Iyad also took
Hadith from following prominent hadith scholars:
·
Abu Bahr bin Al-Aas (ابو بحر بن
العاص)
·
Muhammad bin Hamdayn (محمد بن
حمدان)
·
Abu al-Husayn Siraj al-Saghir (ابوالحسین
سراج الصغیر)
·
Abu Muhammad bin Attab (ابو محمد بن
عطاب)
·
Hisham bin Ahmad (ہشام بن احمد) and many other scholars
He learned Islamic Jurisprudence
(fiqah) from Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Isa al-Tamimi (ابو عبد
اللہ محمد بن عیسی التمیمی) and Qadi Muhammad Abdullah al-Masili (قاضی
محمد عبد اللہ المسیلی).
Shams-ul-Din
al-Dhahabi (شمس الدین الذھبی) (d. 748 H/1348 CE) – a widely respected historian, ḥadith
expert, and biographer from early Mamluk Damascus dynasty - added to these
descriptions. He mentioned Ayyaḍ in a number of his works, such as Tareekh-ul-Islam
Wafayat-ul-Mashahir wal Alam (تـاريـخ الإسـلام و وفـيـات الـمـشـاهـيـر و الأعـلام) (“The History of Islam & Deaths of
the Famous People and Signs”) and its synopses, Tadhkirat-ul-Huffaẓ (“Memorial
of the Quran Masters”) and Siyar alam al-nubalaʾ (“The Lives of Noble
Figures”), and others.
HIS CAREER
During
his stay in Ceuta, Qadi Iyad served as a judge in the city for most of his
career. Although the city is now a Spanish constituency, city of Ceuta was at
the time an prominent Muslim-governed city on the African side of the Straits
of Gibraltar
During
515 AH/1121 CE he was appointed judge in Ceuta and served in this position until
531 AH/1136 CE. Later on, he again re-appointed as judge and served again in Ceuta
from 539-543 AH/1145-48 CE. His tenure as a judge in Ceuta was
probably his most productive period, his casework created the foundations for
his works in fiqh.
The Station of Qadi Iyad
https://youtu.be/7f8TF7fGXP8
KHALAF B. SHAKWAL said
of him:
“He is among the people of
knowledge and polymaths, of great intelligence and understanding. He performed
the duties of a judge in Ceuta for a long time, in which he earned a
praiseworthy reputation. Then he travelled from there for a judgeship in
Granada. However, he did not stay there long. Thereafter, he came to us in
Cordoba and we took from him.”
The jurist (faqih)
Muhammad bin Hammadah al-Sibti said:
“The Qadi began training at the
age of twenty-eight years and assumed judgeship at the age of thirty-five. He
was lenient, but not weak, [and] fierce in defence of the truth. He learned
jurisprudence (fiqh) from Abu 'Abdullah al-Tamimi and accompanied Abu Ishaq b.
Ja'far. No one in Ceuta wrote more works than him during his time. He wrote the
book 'Al-Shifa' fi Sharaf al-Mustafa', 'Tartib al-Madarik wa Taqrib al-Masalik
fi Dhikr Fuqaha' Madhab Malik', a multi-volume work, 'Kitab al-'Aqidah', 'Kitab
Sharh Hadith Umm Zar'', the book 'Jami' alTarikh' and others.”
HIS STUDENTS
Many scholars narrate
from Qadi Iyad. Among them are:
·
Imam Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Ashiri
·
Abu Jafar bin al-Qasir al-Gharnati
·
Al-Hafiz Khalaf bin Bashakwal
·
Abu Muhammad bin Ubayd Allah al-Hijri
·
Muhammad bin al-Hasan al-Jabiri
·
Qadi Muhammad bin Iyad (his son), the Qadi of Denia, Spain.
LATER
YEARS
After
Marrakesh (Morrocco), the Almoravid capital, was captured by the Almohads
(524–668 H/1130–1269 CE) in 541 H/1147 CE, the supporters of the former
continued to resist the Almohads both in the Maghrib and al-Andalus. As such,
during this period Ayyaḍ preached jihad against the Almohads in his Friday
sermons in Ceuta. After sometime he
changes his views about Almohads and in another sermon, swore an oath of
allegiance to them.
Moreover,
he was involved in issuing golden dinars in Ceuta at that time. Therefore, he
can be considered as a central figure in this resistance, acting as if he were the
ruler of the town. After finally conquering Ceuta, the Almohads took Ayyaḍ to Marrakesh;
HIS DEATH
Sources
disagree on how and where he died but many sources claimed that he died in
1149, He refused to acknowledge Abu Abd Allah Amghar Ibn Tumart (ابن تومرت) as the awaited Mahdi. Some sources, including one written by
his son, Muhammad, describe how he ingratiated himself with the Almohads in Morocco
and eventually died of sickness during a military campaign.
Some
other sources describe how he died a natural death while he was rural judge
near Tadla, while later sources tend to assume a fierce death at the hands of
the Almohads followers. Although he was opposed to the Almohads and the ideas of
Ibn-e-Hazm, he did not hold hostility for the Zahirite school of Sunni Islam,
which the Almohads and Ibn-e-Hazm followed. Iyad's comments on Ibn-e-Hazm's
teacher Abu al-Khiyar al-Zahiri (ابو الخیر الظاھری) were positive, as was Iyad's portrayal
of his own father, a Zahirite theologian.
Cadi
Iyad University, also known as the University of Morocco, was named after him. Qadi Iyad is also well known as one of the
seven saints of Morocco and is buried near Bab Ailen.
NOTABLE WORKS
Some of the Qadi's
well-known works are:
“Al-Shifa bi Tarif Huquq-ul-Mustafa” - translated as “The cure though
recognizing the rights of the Chosen One”, an extraordinary number of
commentaries have been written on this book, which is one indication of the
book’s great status within the Muslim tradition.
“Tartib-ul-Madarik wa
Taqrib-ul-Masalik li Marifat Alam Madhab Malik” (تـرتـيـب الـمـدارك و تـقـريـب الـمـسـالـك لـمـعـرفـة
أعـلام مـذهـب مـالـك) – It
is a collection of about 1,600 biographies of jurists of the Maliki school of
law, from the founder, Malik ibn-e-Anas, to Iyaḍ’s own time. It is one of the
most important sources for the history of the Maliki School.
“Ikmal-ul-Mualim bi Fawaid-e-Muslim” - Qadi Iyad's own explanation
was expanded upon heavily by Imam al-Nawawi in his commentary on Sahih Muslim.
“Al-Ilam bi Hudud-ul-Qawaid-ul-Islam” – literary work on the five basic
foundations of Islam.
“Al-Ilm ala Marifa Usul-ul-Riwayah
wa Taqyid-ul-Sama”
- a detailed work on the science of Hadith.
“Mashariq-ul-Anwar ala
Sahih-ul-Athar” -
a literary work based on the Muatta of Imam Malik, Sahih-ul-Bukhari of Imam
Bukhari, and Sahih-ul-Muslim by Imam Muslim Qusheri.
“Al-Tanbihat
al-Mustanbatah ala al-Kutub-ul-Mudawwanah wal-Mukhtalatah”
“Daqaiq-ul-Akhbar fi
Dhikr-il-Jannah wal Naar” - a work unfolding the joys of Heaven (Jannah) and the horrors
of Hell (Jahannam).
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