Al-Kamal ibn al-Humam

Al-Kamal ibn al-Humam (Arabic: الكمال بن الهمام) was a prominent Egyptian^[5] Hanafi-Maturidi, polymath, legal theorist and jurist. He was a mujtahid and highly regarded in many sciences of knowledge and was also a Sufi.^[6] Highly regarded in all fields of knowledge, including fiqh, usul al-fiqh, kalam (Islamic theology), logic, Sufism, Arabic language and literature, tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), Hadith, Islamic law of inheritance (in Arabic, known as 'ilm al-fara'id, or 'the science of [ancestral] shares'), mathematics, and music.^[7][8][9]

Kamal al-Din ibn al-Humam كمال الدين بن الهمام
Title	Kamal al-Din[1][2] — Shaykh al-Islam[3]
Personal
Born	790 A.H. = 1388 A.D. Alexandria
Died	861 A.H. = 1457 A.D. Cairo
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni Sufi
Jurisprudence	Hanafi
Creed	Maturidi[4]
Main interest(s)	Aqidah, Kalam (Islamic theology), Tawhid, Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Usul al-Fiqh, Usul al-Din, Hadith studies, Tafsir, Logic, Arabic grammar, Arabic literature, Rhetoric, Islamic inheritance jurisprudence, Sufism, Mathematics, Music
Notable work(s)	Al-Musayarah, Fath al-Qadeer
Muslim leader
Influenced by Abu Hanifa Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani Badr al-Din al-Ayni 'Izz al-Din ibn Jama'a Waliy al-Din al-'Iraqi
Influenced Al-Sakhawi Al-Suyuti Zakariyya al-Ansari Kamal al-Din ibn Abi Sharif Ibn Qutlubugha Ibn Amir al-Hajj Ibn al-Ghars Sharaf al-Din Yahya al-Munawi

He is famous for his commentary known as Fath al-Qadeer on the famous Hanafi book al-Hidayah.^[10]

Name

He is Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahid ibn 'Abd al-Hamid ibn Mas'ud al-Siwasi, then al-Iskandari, known and often referred to as Ibn al-Humam.

Life

He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and studied in Cairo as well as Aleppo.He was born in Alexandria and grew up and died in Cairo.^[11] He was appointed head shaykh of the Khanaqah Shaykhuniyyah in Cairo in 1443.^[12][9]

Teachers

He studied under many notable scholars, among them are:^[13]

• 'Izz al-Din ibn Jama'a (d. 819/1416).
• Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 825/1449).
• Wali al-Din al-'Iraqi (d. 826/1423) the son of Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi.
• Badr al-Din al-'Ayni (d. 855/1451).

Students

Among his celebrated students are:^[14][15]

• Sharaf al-Din Yahya al-Munawi (d. 871/1467) (whose great-grandson 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Munawi would write a commentary on al-Suyuti's Al-Jami' al-Saghir titled Fayd al-Qadir).
• Ibn Amir al-Hajj (d. 879/1474).
• Ibn Qutlubugha (d. 879/1474).
• Badr al-Din Abu al-Yusr Muhammad ibn al-Ghars (d. 894/1488).
• Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi (d. 902/1497).
• Kamal al-Din ibn Abi Sharif (d. 905-906/1499-1500).
• Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505).
• Zakariyya al-Ansari (d. 926/1520).

Books

Among his well-known writings are:

• Fath al-Qadeer lil-'Ajiz al-Faqeer (Arabic: فتح القدير للعاجز الفقير).^[6]
• Al-Musayara fi al-'Aqaid al-Munjiya fi al-Akhira (Arabic: المسايرة في العقائد المنجية في الآخرة), a Maturidi theological treatise that follows the sequence of Imam al-Ghazali's tract on dogmatic theology called al-Risala al-Qudsiyya (The Jerusalem Epistle); hence, the name al-Musāyarah (the Pursuit).^[16]
• Zad al-Faqeer (Arabic: زاد الفقير), a treatise on the rulings of prayer and purification.

See also

• Badr al-Din al-'Ayni
• Akmal al-Din al-Babarti
• Khidr Bey
• List of Hanafis
• List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
• List of Muslim theologians
• List of Sufis

References

1. David Dean Commins (1990). Islamic Reform: Politics and Social Change in Late Ottoman Syria. Oxford University Press. p. 74. ISBN 9780195362947.
2. Sherman A. Jackson (2009). Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering. Oxford University Press. p. 102. ISBN 9780195382068.
3. "The Biography of Imam al-Kamal ibn al-Humam". Dar al-Ifta' al-Misriyya.
4. Cenap Çakmak (2017). Islam: A Worldwide Encyclopedia [4 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 1015. ISBN 9781610692175.
5. Baber Johansen (1999). Contingency in a Sacred Law: Legal and Ethical Norms in the Muslim Fiqh. Brill Publishers. p. 148. ISBN 9789004106031.
6. "Fath al Qadir: 10 Volumes, Arabic". Madani Propagation.
7. "The Life and Works of al-Kamāl Ibn al-Humām". Ahnaf Blog.
8. "Al-'Alam by al-Zirikli". shamela.ws.
9. John L. Esposito (2004). The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 152. ISBN 9780199757268.
10. Abdul Azim Islahi (2014). History of Islamic Economic Thought: Contributions of Muslim Scholars to Economic Thought and Analysis. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 9781784711382.
11. "The Life and Works of al-Kamāl Ibn al-Humām". Ahnaf Blog.
12. "The Biography of Ibn al-Humam". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam - Oxford Islamic Studies Online.^{[dead link]}
13. "The Biography of Imam al-Kamal ibn al-Humam". Dar al-Ifta' al-Misriyya.
14. "The Life and Works of al-Kamāl Ibn al-Humām". Ahnaf Blog.
15. "The Biography of Imam al-Kamal ibn al-Humam". Dar al-Ifta' al-Misriyya.
16. "The Life and Works of al-Kamāl Ibn al-Humām". Ahnaf Blog.

External links

• The Life and Works of al-Kamāl Ibn al-Humām [Archived 12 February 2024 at archive.today]
• Al-Kamal ibn al-Humam and His Book: Fath al-Qadeer (in Arabic)