Badr al-Din al-'Ayni | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | 30 July 1360 |
| Died | 28 December 1451(1451-12-28) (aged 91) |
| Era | Medieval era |
| Region | Cairo |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi[1][2] |
| Creed | Maturidi[3] |
Abū Muḥammad Maḥmūd ibn Aḥmad ibn Mūsā Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī, often quoted simply asal-'Ayni (Arabic:بدر الدين العيني,romanized: Badr al-ʿAynī; born 26 Ramadan 762AH/30 July 1360 CE, died 855 AH/1453 CE)[4][5] was aSunniIslamic scholar of theHanafimadh'hab and theShadhilitariqa.[6]Al-'Ayni is an abbreviation foral-'Ayntābi, referring to his native city. He was an eminent scholar regarded as one of the most influentialHanafijurist andhadith scholar of his time.[7]
He was born into a scholarly family in 4 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 855AH (30 July 1360 CE) in the city of'Ayntāb (now Gaziantep in modernTurkey).[8] He studied history,adab, and Islamic religious sciences, and was fluent inTurkish, his native tongue, which distinguished him from his contemporaries and helped him in his pursuits.[9] There is some evidence that he also knew at least somePersian.[10] In 788 AH (1386 CE) he travelled toJerusalem, where he met the Hanafishaykh al-Sayrāmī, who was the head of the newly establishedZāhiriyahmadrasah (school) andkhānqah (Sufi retreat) in Cairo. Al-Sayrami invited al-'Ayni to accompany him home toCairo, where he became one of the Sufis of the Zāhiriyah.[11] This was a step upward for the young al-'Ayni, as it represented entry into "an institution with ties to the highest level of the ruling elite."[12]
He established a good reputation and initially met with favor. However, after al-Sayrāmī died in 790 AH (1388 CE), al-'Ayni became involved in a personal conflict with theamirJārkas al-Khalīlī, who tried to run him out of Cairo.[13] Al-'Ayni later described al-Khalīlī as arrogant and dictatorial – "a man pleased by his own opinion."[14] He was saved from expulsion by one of his teachers,Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini, but prudently decided to leave for a time anyway.[15]
From Cairo he went to teach inDamascus, where he was appointedmuhtasib (overseer ofsharia in the marketplace) by theamir,[16] and returned to Cairo some time before 800 AH (1398 CE.)
Once back in Cairo, al-'Ayni strengthened his social and political position by associating with several amirs, making theHajj with the amir Tamarbughā al-Mashtūb.[17] He also had the patronage of the powerful amir Jakm min 'Awd, who wasdawadār (literally "inkstand-holder": a secretary or confidential advisor) to theSultanBarqūq.[18] After the death of Barqūq, al-'Ayni became themuhtasib of Cairo, displacing the scholaral-Maqrīzī. According to al-Maqrīzī (an interested party) it was Jakm who obtained the post for al-'Ayni;[19] however, the historian Ibn Taghribīrdī states that it was a cooperative effort by Jakm and two other amirs, Qalamtāy al-'Uthmānī and Taghribīrdī al-Qurdamī.[20] In any case, this was the beginning of a lifelong feud between the two'ulama' : "From that day on, there was hostility between the two men until they both died."[20]
Al-'Ayni and al-Maqrīzī succeeded each other asmuhtasib of Cairo several times over the next few years, probably a reflection of the power struggle between Jakm min 'Awd and al-Maqrīzī's patron, Yashbak al-Sha'bānī.[21] Neither held the post for very long. In the reign ofal-Nasir Faraj, Barqūq's son and successor, al-'Ayni was appointed to the "lucrative and prestigious"[22] post ofnāzir al-ahbas (overseer of pious endowments.) He would be dismissed from and reappointed to this post several times, finally securing it for good in the reign of Sultan Mu'ayyad Shaykh and keeping it until he was ninety-one.[23]
Al-'Ayni's prestige grew as he aged. Mu'ayyad Shaykh named him ambassador to theQaramanids in 823 AH (1420 CE.) Later in life he would be called upon to lecture on learned topics before the Sultan, sometimes reading history aloud inArabic and explaining it in Turkish for the Sultan's benefit.[24] Sultanal-Ashraf Barsbāy is reported to have said "Islam is known only through him"[25] andlaw lā al-'ayntābi la-kāna fī islāmina shay', "If not for al-'Ayntabi there would be something suspect in our Islam."[26] Barsbāy sometimes sent al-'Ayni as his representative to greet foreign dignitaries, apparently because of his fluency in several languages.[27]
Barsbāy often turned to al-'Ayni for advice on legal matters,[28] and named him chiefHanafiqadi (judge) in 829 AH (1426 CE.)[27] He was dismissed from this post after three years; by his own report, both he and the chiefShafi'iqadi,Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, were dismissed at the same time because their constant feuding was distracting them from their duties; though he adds that this was a calumny spread by his enemies at court. He was later reappointed.[29]
In the reign of Barsbāy's successor, al-Aziz Jaqmaq, al-'Ayni was dismissed as chief Hanafiqadi again. He withdrew from court and concentrated on his scholarly writing.[30] In 853 AH (1449 CE) he was dismissed asnāzir al-ahbas, probably because of failing memory.[31] He died in 855 AH (1451 CE) at the age of ninety-three, having outlived all his children, and was buried in his ownmadrasah in Cairo.
الآثار المخطوطة: ۱ ـ رسالة التوحيد على مذهب الإمام أبي منصور الماتريدي، للإمام بدر الدين العيني
