Märcani studied inmadrassas of Tashkichu (nearKazan),Bukhara andSamarkand. Beginning in 1850 he served as theimam of theFirst Cathedral Mosque. Later, in 1867, he became amuhtasib ofKazan. At the same time, in 1876-1884 he lectured on religion in the Tatar Teachers' School. Märcani became the first Muslim member ofThe Society for Archaeology, History and Ethnography atKazan State University. In his papers he illustrated his ideas aboutthe renovation and the perfection of the Tatar educational system. As a historian, he was the first Tatar scholar to employ a synthesis of European methodology with the traditions of the Oriental scholars. He was the author of more than 30 volumes about Tatar history.
Full name in Arabic naming system: Shihab al-Dīn ibn Bahāʼ al-Dīn ibn Subḥān ibn ʻAbd al-Karīm ibn ʻAbd al-Tawwāb ibn ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn ʻAbd al-Quddūs ibn Yedish ibn Yediger ibn ʻUmar.[5]
Modern Tatar: Шиһабетдин Баһаветдин улы Мәрҗани (Şihabetdin Bahawetdin ulı Mərcani).[6] Sometimes spelled Marjani.[7] In Russian Shigabutdin Mardzhani (Шигабутдин Марджани), or Shikhabetdin (Шихабетдин).[8][9] In Turkish sources Şehabeddin Mercani.[5]
Also known as Shihabaddin Mardjani, Shihabuddin Marjani, Shihab al-Din al-Marjani.[10][11][12]
Ghilālat al-Zamān fī Tārīkh Bulghār wa-Qazān (Arabic:غلالة الزمان في تاريخ بلغار وقزان)
Wafiyyat al-Aslāf wa-Naḥiyyat al-Akhlāf (Arabic:وفيّة الأسلاف ونحيّة الأخلاف), a seven-volumebiographical dictionary of Islamic history. The first volume is titled al-Muqaddimah, a reference to the inspiration the author drew fromIbn Khaldun'sMuqaddimah.
Muntakhab al-Wafiyyah (Arabic:منتخب الوفية), a collection of excerpts from the aforementionedWafiyyat al-Aslaf.
Tanbīh Abnā’ al-‘Aṣr ‘alá Tanzīh Abnā’ Abī al-Naṣr (Arabic:تنبيه أبناء العصر على تنزيه أبناء أبي النصر), a treatise on the differences of opinion between the "Qadimist" scholars ofBukhara and theJadidistGhabdennasir Qursawi.
Ḥaqq al-Ma‘rifah wa-Ḥusn al-Idrāk bi-Mā Yalzamu fī Wujūb al-Fiṭr wa-al-Imsāk (Arabic:حق المعرفة وحسن الإدراك بما يلزم في وجوب الفطر والإمساك)
Nāẓūrat al-Ḥaqq fī Farḍiyyat al-‘Ishā’ wa-In Lam Yaghib al-Shafaq (Arabic:ناظورة الحق في فرضيّة العشاء وإن لم يغب الشفق), a legal work verifying theHanafi position on performing theIsha prayer at higher latitudes where thesun does not set.
Khizāmat al-Ḥawāshī li-Izālat al-Ghawāshī (Arabic:خزامة الحواشي لإزالة الغواشي), a marginalia onSadr al-Shari'a al-Asghar's autocommentaryal-Tawdih on theal-Tanqih which proposes a synthesis between the two dominant persuasions ofSunnilegal epistemology.
Sharḥ Muqaddimat al-Risālah al-Shamsiyyah fī-al-Manṭiq (Arabic:شرح مقدمة الرسالة الشمسية في المنطق), a commentary on theNajm al-Din al-Katibi's introduction to hisal-Risālah al-Shamsiyyah which concerns the quiddity and subject matter ofArabic logic.
Jawāmi‘ al-Ḥikam Dharā’i‘ al-Ni‘am min Maqālāt ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic:جوامع الحكم ذرائع النعم من مقالات علي بن أبي طالب)
Tadhkirat al-Munīb bi-‘Adam Tazkiyat Ahl al-Ṣalīb (Arabic:تذكرة المنيب بعدم تزكية أهل الصليب), a work onIslamic dietary jurisprudence, specifically the impermissibility of eating meat slaughtered by Christians.
Mukhtaṣar al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah fī Aḥwāl Miṣr wa-al-Qāhirah (Arabic:مختصر النجوم الزاهرة في أحوال مصر والقاهرة), an abridgement ofIbn Taghribirdi's chronicle of Egyptian history.
Ḥaqq al-Bayān wa-al-Taṣwīr fī Mas’alat Ḥudūth ‘Ālam al-Amr wa-al-Taqdīr (Arabic:حق البيان والتصوير في مسألة حدوث عالم الأمر والتقدير), a treatise on the Islamic creedal doctrine ofcreatio ex nihilo.
al-Ḥaqq al-Mubīn fī Maḥāsin Awḍā‘ Al-Dīn (Arabic:الحق المبين في محاسن أوضاع الدين), a work on the role ofQur'anic miracles in confirming the prophethood ofMuhammad.
I‘lām Abnā’ al-Dahr bi-Aḥwāl Ahl Mā Warā’ al-Nahr (Arabic:إعلام أبناء الدهر بأحوال أهل ما وراء النهر)
Risālah fī Masā’il al-Naḥw (Arabic:رسالة في مسائل النحو)
Risālah Turkiyyah fī Manāsik al-Ḥajj (Arabic:رسالة تركية في مناسك الحج)
