Ibn al-Najjar

Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd b. al-Ḥasan b. Hibatallāh b. Maḥāsin al-Baghdādī, Muḥibb al-Dīn Ibn al-Najjār, commonly known as Ibn al-Najjār (Arabic: ابن النجار), was a Baghdadi Sunni scholar of the late Abbasid era.^[2] He is regarded as the leading Shafi'i muhaddith of his age and the leading authority on biographical history as well.^[3][4] He was the senior pupil of Ibn al-Dubaythi.^[5]

Ibn al - Najjār was born in Baghdad in the year of 578 AH/1183 CE.^[6] Born into a modest family, he was son of the leader carpenter of the Dar al-Khilafah located in the Abbasid Palace of Baghdad. His father died when he was eight and his older brother Ali began raising him instead. Ali was a textile seller who had knowledge in calculation of inheritance, anecdotes, and history. Ibn al-Najjār studied the Hadith and the Qur'an with scholars of Baghdad.^[2]

When he was twenty-eight, he travelled to the Hejaz (Mecca & Medina), the Levant, Egypt, Khurasan, Herat, and Nishapur, studying with sheikhs.^[7] Ibn al-Najjar had over 3000 teachers with 400 of his teachers being women.^[8] He was heard in every city he stayed in, and established himself as the worlds most famous memorizer.^[9]

Then he returned to Baghdad and studied history. He left for Isfahan for about a year (620 AH/1223 CE), then made the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, then moved to Egypt, then returned to Baghdad.^[7]

After more than 20 years of travelling, he became the director of the newly founded Al-Mustansiriya School which was opened in Baghdad in the year (630 AH/1233 AD). In this new institution, he would teach the science of hadith and was known for his humility, piety, and good delivery. He held the post until his death.^[7][6]

His death was on Tuesday, the fifth of Shaban of the year (643 AH = 1246 AD). Prayers were offered over him in the Nizamiyya school, and a large crowd witnessed his funeral. He was buried in the martyrs cemetery in Bab Harb, Baghdad.^[7]

• A [Useful] Extract from the continuation of the Ta'rikh Baghdad (al-Mustafad min Dhayl Ta'rikh Baghdad), is his magnum opus coming in 30 volumes which is an appendix to the "History of Baghdad" by Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi.^[10]
• Nuzha al-Wari fi Akhbar Umm al-Qura, a history compilation of Mecca.
• Al-Durrah al-Thaminah fi Akhbar al-Madinah, a history compilation of Medina.
• Manaqib Al-Shafi’i, a biography of Imam Shafi'i

• Al-Qamar Al-Munir fi Al-Musnad Al-Kabir, in which he mentioned the Companions and the narrators, and what each of them had from the hadith.
• Kanz Al-Ayyam fi Ma’rifat Al-Sunan and Al-Ahkam
• The Different and Al-Moatalif, appendix to Ibn Makula
• The previous and the later
• The agreement and the intersection
• The book of titles
• The approach of injury in the knowledge of the companions
• Al-Kafi in the names of men
• Attribution of hadiths to fathers and countries
• Kitab Awaliah
• Kitab Mu’jam, the dictionary of his sheikhs (narrators).
• Paradise of the beholders in the knowledge of the followers
• Perfection in the knowledge of men

• Anwar Al-Zahr in the beauties of the poets of the era
• Al-Azhar fi types of poetry
• Nuzhat al-Tarf fi Akhbar Ahl al-Darf
• Gharar al-Fawa’id full of six volumes
• The only consolation
• Telling the longing about the news of lovers
• Nashwar Al-Muhadara

• List of Ash'aris