Ibn Kathir

Biography

His full name : Abū l-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar ibn Kaṯīr (أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير), with the honorary title of ʿImād ad-Dīn (عماد الدين "pillar of the faith"). He was born in Mijdal, a village on the outskirts of the city of Busra, to the east of Damascus, Syria, around about AH 701 (AD 1300/1). He was taught by Ibn Taymiyya and Al-Dhahabi.

Upon completion of his studies he obtained his first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine certain questions of heresy. He married the daughter of Al-Mizzi, one of the foremost Syrian scholars of the period, which gave him access to the scholarly elite. In 1345 he was made preacher (khatib) at a newly built mosque in Mizza, the home town of his father-in-law. In 1366, he rose to a professorial position at the Great Mosque of Damascus.

In later life, he became blind. He attributes his blindness to working late at night on the Musnad of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal in an attempt to rearrange it topically rather than by narrator. He died in February 1373 (AH 774) in Damascus. He was buried next to his teacher Ibn Taymiyya.

Creed

Ibn Kathir did not interpret the mutashabihat, or 'unapparent in meaning' verses and hadiths in a literal anthropomorphic way. He states that:

People have said a great deal on this topic and this is not the place to expound on what they have said. On this matter, we follow the early Muslims (salaf): Malik, Awza'i, Thawri, Layth ibn Sa'd, Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh, and others among the Imams of the Muslims, both ancient and modern that is, to let (the verse in question) pass as it has come, without saying how it is meant (min ghayr takyif), without likening it to created things (wa la tashbih), and without nullifying it (wa la ta'til): The literal meaning (zahir) that occurs to the minds of anthropomorphists (al-mushabbihin) is negated of Allah, for nothing from His creation resembles Him: "There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing" (Qur'an 42:11)

Tafsir

Ibn Kathir wrote a famous commentary on the Qur'an named Tafseer al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓeem which linked certain Hadith, or sayings of Muhammad, and sayings of the sahaba (R) to verses of the Qur'an, in explanation. It is considered to be a summary of the earlier tafseer by at-Tabari, Tafsir al-Tabari. It is especially popular among Salafi school of thought, because it uses the hadith to explain each verse and chapter of the Qur'an.

Egyptian scholar Ahmad Muhammad Shakir (1892–1958) edited Ibn Kathir's Tafsir as ʿUmdat at-Tafsīr in five volumes published during 1956–1958.

Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān (فضائل القرآن) was intended as an annex to the Tafsir. It is a brief textual history of the Qur'an and its collection after the death of Muhammad.

Hadith

Al-Jāmi (الجامع) is a grand collection of Hadith texts intended for encyclopedic use. It is an alphabetical listing of the Companions of the Prophet and the sayings that each transmitted, thus reconstructing the chain of authority for each hadith.

Al-Baa'ith al-Hatheeth is an abridgement of the Muqaddimah by Ibn al-Salah in Hadith terminology

At-Takmil fi Ma`rifat Ath-Thiqat wa Ad-Du'afa wal Majdhil which Ibn Kathir collected from the books of his two Shaykhs Al-Mizzi and Adh-Dhahabi; Al-Kamal and Mizan Al-Ftiddl. He added several benefits regarding the subject of Al-Jarh and At-Ta'dil.

Ibn Kathir wrote references for the Ahadith of Adillat At-Tanbih, from the Shafi'i school of Fiqh.

History

Ibn Kathir's Al-Bidāya wa-n-nihāya (البداية والنهاية) "the beginning and the end" is one of the best-known works of Islamic historiography. While it covers "universal" history, from the creation of the world until the end of the world and Islamic eschatology. It contained the stories of the Prophets and previous nations, the Prophet's Seerah (life story) and Islamic history until his time. He also added a book Al-Fitan, about the Signs of the Last Hour. Its primary value is in the details of the politics of Ibn Kathir's own day. It has been edited several times, first in Cairo during 1932–1939.

Ibn Kathir also wrote Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya, about the life of Muhammad and Qisas Al-Anbiya ("Stories of the Prophets") a collection of tales on the various Prophets of Islam and other Old Testament characters.

Tabaqat Ash-Shafi'i yyah .

Jihad

Al-ijtihād fī ṭalab al-jihād (الاجتهاد في طلب الجهاد), written by commission of the Mamluk governor of Damascus, is a defense of armed jihad and ribat against the neighboring Christian powers (remnants of the crusader states, such as the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia) based on the evidence of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Other

Al-Hadi was-Sunan ft Ahadith Al-Masanid was-Sunan which is also known by, Jami` Al-Masanid. In this book, Ibn Kathir collected the narrations of Imams Ahmad bin Hanbal, Al-Bazzar, Abu Ya'la Al-Mawsili, Ibn Abi Shaybah and from the six collections of Hadith: the Two Sahihs [(Al-Bukhari and Muslim) and the Four Sunan [Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasai and Ibn Majah]. Ibn Kathir divided this book according to areas of Fiqh. Tabaqat Ash-Shafi'iyah (The levels of the Shafi'i scholars) Ibn Kathir began an explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari, but he did not finish it. He started writing a large volume on the Ahkam (Laws), but finished only up to the Hajj rituals. He also summarized Al-Baihaqi's 'Al-Madkhal. Many of these books were not printed. He also authored a book named Mawlid on celebrating birth anniversary of Holy Prophet.