Ibn Kathir

Infobox_Philosopher
region = Syrian scholar
era = Medieval era
color = #B0C4DE

image_caption = Syria

name = Ismail ibn Kathir
birth = 1301
death = 1373
school_tradition = Shafi'i

Ismail ibn Kathir ( _ar. ابن كثير) (1301–1373) was an Islamic scholar and renowned commentator on the Qur'an.

Biography

His full name is Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir Al-Qurashi Al-Busrawi. He was born in 1301 in Busra, Syria (hence Al-Busrawi). He was taught by Shaikh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyya in Damascus, Syria and Abu al-Hajjaj Al-Mizzi, (d. 1373), Fiqh with Ibn Al Firkah, Hadith with ‘Isa bin Al-Mutim, Ahmed bin Abi-Talib (Ibn Ash-Shahnah) (died in 730AH), Ibn Al-Hajjar (died in 730AH), the Hadith narrator of Ash-Sham (modern day Syria and surrounding areas), Baha Ad-Din Al-Qasim bin Muzaffar bin ‘Asakir (died in 723AH), Ibn Ash-Shirazi, Ishaq bin Yahya Al-Ammuddi, aka ;Afif Ad-Din, the Zahriyyah Shaykh (died in 725AH), and Muhammad bin Zarrad , [ [http://www.ibnkathir.org/bio.htm] Ibn Kathir Biography ] .

Upon completion of his studies he obtained his first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine certain questions of heresy. Thereafter he received various semi-official appointments, culminating in June/July 1366 with a professorial position at the Great Mosque of Damascus. Ibn Kathir wrote a famous commentary on the "Qur'an" named "Tafsir ibn Kathir" which linked certain "Hadith," or sayings of Muhammad, and sayings of the "sahaba" to verses of the "Qur'an," in explanation. "Tafsir Ibn Kathir" is famous all over the Muslim world and among Muslims in the Western world, and is one of the most widely used explanations of the "Qu'ran" today.

Ibn Kathir was renowned for his great memory regarding the sayings of Muhammad and the entire "Qur'an." Ibn Kathir is known as a "qadi," a master scholar of history, and a "mufassir" ("Qur'an" commentator). Ibn Kathir saw himself as a "Shafi" scholar. This is indicated by two of his books, one of which was "Tabaqaat ah-Shafai'ah", or "The Categories of the Followers of Imam Shafi."

In later life, he became blind. He attributes his blindness to working late at night on the "Musnad" of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal in an attempt to rearrange it topically rather than by narrator.

Ibn Kathir died in February 1373 in Damascus.

Works

*"Tafsir ibn Kathir"
*"The Beginning and the End" (Arabic: "Al Bidayah wa-Nihayah " or "Tarikh ibn Kathir"). Available on [http://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%81:%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D9%88_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9 wikisource]
*"Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya (Ibn Kathir)"
*"Tabaqaat ah-Shafi'iah"
*"Signs Before the Day of Judgement"
*"Sins and their Punishments"

Notes

External links

* [http://www.pakislam.net/index.php/topic,56.0.html Tafsir Ibn Kathir in Urdu PDF]
* [http://www.pakislam.net/index.php/topic,60.0.html Tafsir Ibn Kathir in English CHM]
* [http://www.qtafsir.com/ Tafsir Ibn Kathir]
* [http://www.ibnkathir.com/ Ibn Kathir's bio]
* [http://www.momin.ca/biographies/Ibn%20Katheer.htm Ibn Kathir's biography]
* [http://www.islambasics.com/view.php?authID=70 Books by Ibn Kathir]