Taqi al-Din al-Subki

Taqi al-Din al-Subki
Title Sheikh ul-Islam[1] Qadi al-Qudah[2]
Born AH 683 (1284 CE)[1]
Egypt
Died AH 756 (1355 CE)[1]
Ethnicity Arab
Era Medieval era
Region Arab World
Jurisprudence Shafi'i
Creed Ash'ari[3][4]
Main interest(s) Islamic theology, Hadith, Islamic jurisprudence

'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Kafi ibn 'Ali ibn Tamam, Abu al-Hasan Taqi al-Din al-Subki was a famous[5] Shafi'i scholar,[6] hadith master, jurist,[7] Qur'anic exegete and chief judge of Damascus[6]

Birth and Education

Taqi al-Din al-Subki was born in the village of Subk in Egypt.[1] He received his Islamic education in Cairo by such scholars as Ibn Rif'a in Sacred Law, al-Iraqi in Qur'anic exegisis and al-Dimyati in hadith.[4] He also traveled to acquire knowledge of hadith from the scholars of Syria, Alexandria and the Hijaz.[4] Eventually he taught at the Mansuriyya school located in the Ibn Tulun's mosque.[1]

Chief Judge of Syria and Death

Having left Egypt in his youth, al-Subki settled down in Syria where he rose through the ranks to the position of chief judge of Syria, the preacher of the Umayyad mosque at Damascus and a professor in several colleges.[3] He presided as chief judge for seventeen years, at the end of which he became ill, was replaced by his son Taj al-Din al-Subki and returned to Cairo where he died in 756 / 1355[4]

Views

Subki belonged to the Sunni Ash'ari school of theology and in line with his school strongly opposed anthropomorphism.[8] He also vehemently defended the Ashari view that Paradise and Hell Fire are eternal and to that end wrote a comprehensive treatise entitled "Al-I'tibar" in which he stated that: "The doctrine of the Muslims is that the Garden and the Fire will not pass away. Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm has transmitted that this is held by consensus and that whoever opposes it is an unbeliever by consensus". Subki reiterates this elsewhere in the treatise although he is careful to clarify that he does not label any particular person an unbeliever.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Mohammad Hassan Khalil, Islam and the Fate of Others: The Salvation Question, Oxford University Press, 3 May 2012, p 89. ISBN 0199796661
  2. ↑ Hoover, Jon (2009). Islamic Universalism: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s Salafi Deliberations on the Duration of Hell-Fire (The Muslim World) 99 (1). Blackwell Publishing Ltd. p. 184.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ignaz Goldziher, A short history of classical Arabic literature, Published June 30th 1966 by Lubrecht & Cramer Ltd, p 144.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Keller, The Reliance of the Traveler, Amana Publications, p 1102. ISBN 9780915957729
  5. ↑ Franz Rosenthal, Muslim intellectual and social history: a collection of essays, p 26. ISBN 9780860782575
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Yossef Rapoport, Marriage, Money and Divorce in Medieval Islamic Society, p 101. ISBN 9780521847155
  7. ↑ Leigh Chipman, The World of Pharmacy and Pharmacists in Mamlūk Cairo, p. 149. ISBN 9789004176065
  8. ↑ Kristen Stilt, Islamic Law in Action: Authority, Discretion, and Everyday Experiences in Mamluk Egypt, p 81. ISBN 0199602433
  9. ↑ Jon Hoover, Islamic Universalism: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s Salafi Deliberations on the Duration of Hell-Fire, p 187 (quoting Subki, Al-I'tibar, p32)