Ibn al-Mulaqqin

Sirāj al-Dīn Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar b. ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-Shāfiʿī al-Miṣrī (ابن الملقن), commonly known as Ibn al-Mulaqqin (723–804/1323–1401), was a Sunni Egyptian scholar of Andalusian origin who was considered one of the greatest Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar of his time. He was known for his voluminous scholarship on Hadith and Fiqh. He was a theologian, teacher, an expert in the Arabic language and a leading prolific writer who wrote on numerous subjects.

Born
He was born 723 A.H which corresponds to the year 1323 C.E in Andalous (now known as modern-day Spain). His father called Nur al-Din Ali was an Andalusian by origin and was from a village called Wadi Ash in the province of Granada in southern Spain, where he was a famous scholar in Arabic Grammar and then moved to West Africa where he taught Qu'ran until he had accumulated enough income to immigrate to Cairo and he studied under al-Isnawiy. His father then passed away when Ibn al-Mulaqqin was young so he was raised and taken care by Shaykh 'Isa al-Maghribi who was requested by his father to look after his family after his death. Al-Maghribi who was a Qu'ran teacher married ibn al-Mulaqqin's mother and therefore raised him to which he became known as Ibn al-Mulaqqin.

Education
He memorised the whole Quran at a young age and studied famous books like Umdatul Ahkam in hadith and al-Minhaj in fiqh. Whilst he was still young, he also heard over a thousand small books or compilations on hadith alone. Ibn al-Mulaqqin's stepfather decided he should study the Maliki jurisprudence, but his friends and colleagues advised him that he to be educated in the Shafi'i jurisprudence due to the fact that there were greater opportunities for employment in the Mamluk Sultanate.

He travelled to Cairo, Alexandria, Aleppo, Damascus, Jerusalem, Hejaz (Mecca & Medina) and Yemen studying under numerous scholars.

Teachers
He studied under the prominent scholars of his time:
 * Shaykh al-Islam Taqi al-Din al-Subki
 * Jamal al-Din al-Isnawi
 * Salah al-Din al-Ala'i
 * Ibn Hisham al-Ansari
 * Izz al-Din Ibn Jamaʿa

Career
Ibn al-Mulaqqin was appointed as the Shafi'i judge in the eastern district of Egypt and deputy chief judge in Cairo. He became a teacher at the mausoleum of al-Salih and taught Shafi'i jurisprudence there. He was given several preaching positions where he undertook them including at the al-Hakim mosque: and he taught hadith briefly in Dar al-Hadith (college of Hadith) in the Kaliliyya madrasa. But Ibn al-Mulaqqin dream was to become the Shafi'i chief judge of Egypt and he found connections through his friends and the future Sultan Barquq but that eventually caused him serious problems with his rival scholars who plotted against him, resulting in his brief imprisonment.

Students
He produced numerous scholars and some of his famous students include:
 * Wali al-Din al-'Iraqi, the son of Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi
 * Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani
 * Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli
 * Ibn Nasir al-Dimishqi
 * Al-Damiri
 * Al-Maqrizi
 * Ibn al-'Ajmi

Downfall and Death
Ibn al-Mulaqqin had a passion for writing and absolutely loved books. By the end of his life, he wrote and accumulated a huge collection but unfortunately, lost them due to a fire breaking out which severely broke him down mentally and leaving him despondent and isolated. Ibn Hajar wrote that "Ibn Mulaqqin was of sound mind before his books burned, but afterwards his son had to hide him." He passed away on a Friday evening on the 15th of October in the year of 1401. He was buried in the Sufi cemetery near his father outside of the Bab al-Nasr, in Cairo.

Mysticism
Ibn al-Mulaqqin was a practising Sufi who transmitted the khirqa (a cloak placed on the head from master to disciple which indicates a spiritual lineage of Sufi tradition) and Ibn al-Mulaqqin claimed to have met the famous immortal saint called Al-Khadir on two occasions.

Controversy over Ibn al-Mulaqqin
Despite being highly popular and respected by his contemporaries for his superb commentaries on legal sciences and due to his sheer volume of his writing skills, this sparked attention and led to some major criticism. The Syrian scholar, Ibn Hijji called him a sloppy scholar and accused him for plagiarism. Other Syrian scholars were also very critical of him dismissing him as a "copyist who makes many mistakes". Although such allegations were shut down by many major scholars of his time and those that came after him had defended his honour.

Legacy
Ibn al-Mulaqqin stated that God gifted him with love for legal sciences especially in Hadith where he devoted most of his literary efforts. This love is quite evident based on his remarkable literary output. It is said he wrote over 300 unique works which most have not survived. He earned his spot as "one of the three great marvels of his age" with himself being known as the greatest prolific writer and the other two being Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini who was known as the greatest Shafi'i jurist and Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi who was known as the greatest hadith scholar.

Works
Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani said: "He was splendid in character and manners, looked and dressed well, he wrote extensively."
 * Muqaddimah al-Badr al-Munir
 * Umdat Ul-Muhtaj Ila Sharh Al-Minhaj
 * Al-Mu'in Ala Tafahhum Il-Arba'in
 * The Specifications Of The Messenger
 * Al-I'lam Bi Fawaid Umdat Ul-Ahkam
 * Al-Balghat fi Ahadith al-Ahkam
 * Hada'iq al-Haqa'iq
 * Tabaqat al-Muhadithin
 * Al-'Uddah fi Ma'rifat rijal al-'Umdah
 * Al-I'lam bi Fawa'id 'Umdat al-Ahkam
 * Shawahid al-Tawdhih fi Sharh al-Jami' al-Sahih
 * Sharh al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyah
 * Sharh Zawa'id Muslim ibn al-hajjaj
 * Sharh Zawa'id Abi Dawud 'Ala al-Sahih
 * Al-Badr al-Munir fi Takhrij al-Ahadith wal Athar al-Waqi'at fi al-Sharh al-Kabir
 * Khulasat al-Badr al-Munir
 * Al-Muntaqa min Khulasat al-Badr al-Munir