Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani

Burhan al-Din al-Farghani al-Marghinani (Arabic: برهان الدين المرغيناني‎) was an Islamic scholar of the Hanafi school.^[1] He was born at Marghinan in the vicinity of Farghana in 530/1135 (in Present Day Uzbekistan) He died in 593/1197. ^[2][3]

He is described as the Shayk al-Islam, Imam, Hafidh, Muhaddith,and the leading jurist of his time,the master and possessor of different sciences.Al-Dhahabi in Tadhkirat al Huffaz mentioned him as the one filled with knowledge. It is to be noted he belonged in an environment where one is taught by giants in the field and surrounded by great men, the standards are very high and one has to excel to be noticed, Al-Marghinani did much more than that. "There was no one like him in his times"Allamah Abd al-Hayy al-Lakhnawi

Name

His full name was Burhan al-Din Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abi Bakr ibn Abd al-jalil ibn al-Khalil ibn Abi Bakr al-farghani al-Rushdani al-Marghanini Burhan al-Din 'Ali b. Abi Bakr b. 'Abd al Jalil al-Farghani, al-Marghinani.His first name was `Ali. His great grandfather’s name was al-Khalil and his great great grand father was Abu Bakr 1st Caliph of Rashidun Caliphate

History

^[4][5]

Al-Marghanini performed Hajj and visited Madina in the year 544AH.

Works Al-Marghinani was a prolific writer and wrote numerous books. Some of them are

1. Bidayatul Mubtadi – Abu Bakr bin ‘Ali ‘Aamili wrote it into poetry. The work is chosen from Jami’ al-Saghir and al-Quduri.

2. Kifayatul Muntaha – long commentary on Bidayatul Mubtadi in 80 volumes.

3. Kitab al-Muntaqa

4. Kitab at-Tajniis Wa al-Mazid

5. Kitab al-Manasik al Hajj

6. Nashrul Madhahib

7. Mukhtarat an-Nawazil

8. Faraid al-‘Uthmani

9. Hidaya – medium commentary on the Bidayatul Mubtadi. Started in 573 and finished after 13 years. It’s been translated into many languages. Imam Shah Wali ullah’s brother Shah Ahlullah translated it into Persian.

10.Sirat al-Halbiya

Teachers

^{[6][7][8][9][10]} The most prominent among his teachers were,

(i) Al-Nasafi, Imam Najmuddin Abu Hafs `Umar, the author of al-`Aqa’id al-Nasafiyyah fi al-Tauhid;

(ii)Sadr al-Shahid, Imam Hisamuddin `Umar bin `Abd al-`Aziz , the commentator of Adab al-Qadi, the most popular book of Imam Khassaf which contains the Islamic Legal and Judicial System. Dr. Muhyi Hilal al-Sarhan has edited it in Arabic. I have translated the four volumes in Urdu as my doctoral thesis in Arabic Deptt., in PunjabUniversity, Lahore (1991). A volume has been translated into English and published by Kazi Publications, Lahore. It is included in the Course of Heartmans Seminary, USA.;

(iii)Al-Bandaniji, Imam Diya’uddin Muhammad ibn al-Husayn (the student of `Ala’uddin al-Samarqandi who was the author of Tuhfatul-Fuqaha’ and teacher and father in law of Abu Bakr al-Kasani (the author of Bada’i` al-Sana’i` fir Tartib al-Shara’i`).

Contemporaries

(i) Imam Fakhruddin Qadi Khan, the author of Fatawa Qadi Khan;

(ii)Al-Sadr al-Kabir Burhanuddin, the author of Muhit al-Burhani;

(iii)Imam Zahiruddin Muhammad Ibn Ahmad al-Bukhari, the author of Fatawa al-Zahiriyyah;

(iv)Shaykh Zaynuddin Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn `Umar al-`Attabi.

Death

He died on the 14th of Dhul-Hajj in the year 593 AH one report indicates 596 AH and was buried in Samarqand.

See also

• List of Islamic scholars
• Al-Zarnuji

References