Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi

‘Abd al-Ghanī ibn ‘Abd al-Wāḥid al-Jammā’īlī al-Maqdisi (عبدالغني المقدسي) (1146-1203 CE) was a classical Sunni Islamic scholar and a prominent Hadith master. His full name was Abu Muhammad Abdul-Ghani ibn Abdul-Wahid bin Alī bin Surūr Ibn Rāfi' bin Hussain bin Ja'far al-Maqdisi al-Jammāʻīlī al-Hanbali. He was born in 1146 CE (541 AH) in the village of Jummail in Palestine. He studied with scholars in Damascus; many of whom were from his own extended family. He studied with the Imam of Tasawwuf, Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani. He was the first person to establish a school on Mount Qasioun near Damascus. He died in 1203 CE (600 AH).

He was a relative of Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi, as his mother and Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi's grandmother were sisters. He had three sons named Muhammad, Abdullah and Abdur-Rahman, all of whom became prominent scholars. The scholar, Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi was the maternal cousin of Abdul-Ghani, and Ibn Qudāmah described his association with Abdul-Ghani as:

"My friend in childhood and in seeking knowledge, and never did we race to goodness except that he would precede me to it, with the exception of [a] small [number of occasions]"

He was the author of Al-Kamal fi Asma' al-Rijal, a collection of biographies of hadith narrators within the Islamic discipline of biographical evaluation.

Works
His works include:
 * Kitāb ut-Tawḥīd
 * Akhbār Ad-Dajjāl
 * Al-`Itiqād - A short text that outlines the foundational creed.
 * Al-Jāmi' as-Saghīr Li Ahkām al-Bashīr an-Nadhīr
 * I`tiqād ul-Imām Ash-Shafi`ī -The author shows the complete agreement between all the Imams on foundational theology and particularly the Imam’s dislike for speculative theology.
 * Al-Ahkām
 * Al-Arba'īn Min Kalām Rabbil-Aalamīn
 * Amr bi-l-Maʿrūf wa-n-Nahy ʿani-l-Munkar
 * At-Targhīb fid-Du'ā al-Hathth Alayhi
 * At-Tawakkul was Su'āl Allāh Azza wa Jall
 * Al-Aathār al-Mardiyyah Fī Fadā'il Khayr il-Bariyyah
 * Al-Iqtiṣād fil-I'tiqād-This is a book on advanced theology that itemises creed into a series of themes.
 * Al-Miṣbaḥ fī `Uyun il-Aḥādith aṣ-Ṣiḥaḥ
 * Mukhtaṣar Sīrah an-Nabī wa Sīrah Aṣḥabihi al-‘Asharah (Short Biographies of the Prophet and His Ten Companions who were given the Tidings of Paradise)
 * Ṭuḥfat ut-Ṭālibīn fīl Jīhad wal-Mujāhidīn
 * Umdat ul-Aḥkām min Kalām Khayr il-Kalām
 * Umdat ul-Aḥkām al-kubrā - Extended version of Umdat ul-Aḥkām min Kalām Khayr il-Kalām.
 * Faḍā'il ul-Hajj
 * Faḍā'il us-Ṣadaqah
 * Faḍā'il Ashar Dhil-Hijjah
 * Faḍā'il Umar bin al-Khattāb
 * Faḍā'il Makkah
 * Al-Kamāl Fī Ma'rifat ir-Rijāl
 * Miḥnah Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal