Ibn Muti al-Zawawi


Ibn Mu‘ṭī al-Zawāwī Abū 'l-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā ibn ‘Abd al-Nur Zayn al-Dīn al-Zawāwī, or Abū Zakarīyā’ Yaḥyā ibn ‘Abd al-Mu’ṭī ibn ‘Abdannūr az-Zawāwī al-Magribī al-Gazā’irī ; was a famous Ḥanafī faqīh and philologian of the Maghreb and the author of first versified grammatical work, the Alfiyya, commentaries on grammatical treatises and versified lexicographic works. He also wrote numerous works on various scholarly categories.

Life

Ibn Mu’ṭī al-Zawāwī was born in Béjaïa in 1168 into the Berber Zawāwa tribe hence his nisba “al-Zawāwī”. He grew up during the scientific and cultural efflorescence of the Islamic Maghreb. The region centred on the city of Béjaïa was at the pinnacle of its prosperity. He studied under Abu Musa al-Jazuli. He memorised Al-Ṣiḥāḥ fī al-lughah of al-Jawhari
In 1227 he travelled East to Damascus with a delegation, and was welcomed by the Ayyubid ruler, Al-Mu'azzam Isa. He then spent many years teaching philology in the mosques of Damascus. In this period he simplified the teaching of language, literature and grammar.
When al-Mu'azzam Īsā al-Ayyūbī died, the sultan's son, al-Naṣr Dā’ūd, was quickly deposed by his two uncles al-Kāmil and al-Ashraf. The new sultan al-Kāmil then invited Ibn Mu’ṭī to Fustat in Egypt to run a literary studies program at the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, also known as ‘al-Jamī ‘l-Atīk’. Ibn Mu’ṭī died in Sept 1231 and was buried near the mausoleum of imām al-Shāfī by the Khandak.

Teachers

Ibn Mu‘ṭī studied fiqh ḥadīth, jurisprudence and language with distinguished scholars each famous in his field:
d. 1247
As-Suwaydi
Ibn al-Anbārī

Works

Secondary sources