Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī or Ibn Ḥajar , was a medieval Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of Hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, biography, tafsir, poetry, and Shafi'ite jurisprudence, the most valued of which being his commentary of the Sahih of Bukhari, titled Fath al-Bari.
Early life
He was born in Cairo in 1372, the son of the Shafi'i scholar and poet Nur al-Din 'Ali. His parents had moved from Alexandria, originally hailing from Ashkelon. Both of his parents died in his infancy, and he and his sister, Sitt al-Rakb, became wards of his father's first wife's brother, Zaki al-Din al-Kharrubi, who enrolled Ibn Hajar in Quranic studies when he was five years old. Here he excelled, learning Surah Maryam in a single day and memorising the entire Qur'an by the age of 9. He progressed to the memorization of texts such as the abridged version of Ibn al-Hajib's work on the foundations of fiqh.
Education
When he accompanied al-Kharrubi to Mecca at the age of 12, he was considered competent to lead the Tarawih prayers during Ramadan. When his guardian died in 1386, Ibn Hajar's education in Egypt was entrusted to hadith scholar Shams al-Din ibn al-Qattan, who entered him in the courses given by Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini and Ibn al-Mulaqqin in Shafi'i fiqh, and Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Husain al-'Iraqi in hadith, after which he travelled to Damascus and Jerusalem, to study under Shams al-Din al-Qalqashandi, Badr al-Din al-Balisi, and Fatima bint al-Manja al-Tanukhiyya. After a further visit to Mecca, Medina, and Yemen, he returned to Egypt. Al-Suyuti said: “It is said that he drank Zamzam water in order to reach the level of al-Dhahabi in memorization—which he succeeded in doing, even surpassing him.”
Personal life
In 1397, at the age of twenty-five, Al-‘Asqalani married the celebrated hadith expert Uns Khatun, who held ijazas from Hafiz al-Iraqi and gave public lectures to crowds of ulema, including al-Sakhawi.
Positions
Ibn Hajar went on to be appointed to the position of Egyptian chief-judge several times.
Fath al-Bari – Ibn Hajar's commentary of Sahih Bukhari's Jami` al-Sahih, completed an unfinished work begun by Ibn Rajab in the 1390s. It became the most celebrated and highly regarded work on the author. Celebrations near Cairo on its publication were described by historian Ibn Iyaas, as 'the greatest of the age.' Many of Egypt's leading dignitaries were among the crowds, Ibn Hajar himself gave readings, poets gave eulogies and gold was distributed.
al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba – the most comprehensive dictionary of the Companions.
al-Durar al-Kamina – a biographical dictionary of leading figures of the eighth century.
Tahdhib al-Tahdhib – an abbreviation of Tahdhib al-Kamal, the encyclopedia of hadith narrators by Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mizzi
Taqrib al-Tahdhib – the abridgement of Tahthib al-Tahthib.
Ta'jil al-Manfa'ah – biographies of the narrators of the Musnads' of the four Imams, not found in al-Tahthib.
al-Matalib al-`Aliya bi Zawa'id al-Masanid al-Thamaniya
Nukhbat al-Fikar along with his explanation of it entitled Nuzhah al-Nathr in hadith terminology
al-Nukat ala Kitab ibn al-Salah – commentary of the Muqaddimah of Ibn al-Salah
al-Qawl al-Musaddad fi Musnad Ahmad a discussion of hadith of disputed authenticity in the Musnad of Ahmad
Silsilat al-Dhahab
Ta`rif Ahl al-Taqdis bi Maratib al-Mawsufin bi al-Tadlis
' – a biographical dictionary of Egyptian judges. Partial French translation in Mathieu Tillier, Vie des cadis de Misr''. Cairo: Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 2002.
