Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad | |
|---|---|
| Born | 6 March 1145 |
| Died | 8 November 1234 |
| Nationality | Arabic |
| Occupation(s) | Historian,Jurist,Scholar |
| Academic work | |
| Era | Medieval Islamic Period |
| Main interests | Biography ofSaladin,Islamic Law |
| Notable works |
|
._Vita_et_res_gestae_Sultani%2c_almalichi_alnasiri%2c_Saladini._Edited_and_translated_by_Albert_Schultens._Leiden%3b_Samuel_Luchtmans%2c_1732.jpg)
Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf ibn Rāfiʿ ibn Tamīm (Arabic:بهاء الدين ابن شداد; the honorific title "Bahā' ad-Dīn" means "splendor of the faith"; sometimes known as Bohadin or Boha-Eddyn[1]) (6 March 1145 – 8 November 1234)[2] was a 12th-centuryArabic[3] jurist, scholar andhistorian notable for writing a biography ofSaladin whom he knew well.[4]
._AH_564-589_(1169-1193_CE)_%25C3%2586_Dirham_(30.1mm%2c_13.28_g%2c_6h)._Without_mint-name._Dated_AH_586_(AD_1190-91)._Sultan_sitting_facing%2c_cross-legged%2c_on_high-backed_throne_(obverse).jpg) |
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Life |
Ibn Shaddad was born inMosul on 10 Ramadan 539 AH (6 March 1145 CE), where he studied theQur'an,hadith, and Muslim law before moving to theNizamiyyamadrasa inBaghdad where he rapidly becamemu'id ("assistant professor").[4] At an early age, Ibn Shaddad lost his father and he was raised by his maternal uncles the Banu Shaddad, from whom he got his name 'Ibn Shaddad'.[5] About 1173, he returned to Mosul asmudarris ("professor").[4] In 1188, returning fromHajj, ibn Shaddād was summoned by Saladin who had read and been impressed by his writings.[4] He was "permanently enrolled" in the service of Saladin, who appointed himqadi al-'askar ("judge of the army").[4] In this capacity, he was an eyewitness at theSiege of Acre and theBattle of Arsuf[6][7] and provided "a vivid chronicle of the Third Crusade".[8] Saladin and ibn Shaddād soon became close friends and the sultan appointed him to several high administrative and judicial offices.[4] Ibn Shaddād remained an intimate and trusted friend of Saladin, "seldom absent for any length of time", as well as one of his main advisers, for the rest of the sultan's life.[4] After Saladin's death, ibn Shaddād was appointedqadi ("judge") ofAleppo.[8] He died there on 14 Safar 632 AH (8 November 1234), aged 89 years.[4]
Ibn Shaddād's best-known work is his biography of Saladin, which is "based for the most part on personal observation" and provides a complete portrait as "Muslims saw him".[8] Published in English asThe Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, the Arab title (al-Nawādir al-Sultaniyya wa'l-Maḥāsin al-Yūsufiyya) translates as "Sultanic Anecdotes and Josephly Virtues".[8] The text has survived intact and is still in print.[9] Ibn Shaddād also wrote several works on the practical application of Islamic law,The Refuge of Judges from the Ambiguity of Judgements,The Proofs of Judgments andThe Epitome as well as a monograph entitledThe Virtues of the Jihad.[4] Much of the information known about Ibn Shaddād derives fromIbn Khallikan's contemporaryBiographical Dictionary (Wafāyāt al-a'yān, literally "Obituaries of Eminent Men").[4]
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