Al-Maqrizi (original) (raw)

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Egyptian Arab historian (1364–1442)

al-Maqrīzī (المقريزي)
Personal
Born Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (تقى الدين أحمد بن على بن عبد القادر بن محمد المقريزى)1364 (1364)Cairo, Egypt
Died 1442 (aged 77–78)
Religion Islam
Denomination Sunni
Jurisprudence Zahiri
Creed Athari[1][2][3]
Notable work(s) Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar (2 vols., Bulaq, 1854)
Occupation historian, biographer, writer
Muslim leader
Influenced by Abu Hanifa[4][5] Al-Shafi'i[4][5] Dawud al-Zahiri[4][5] Ibn Taymiyya[6] Ibn Khaldun[7]

Al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: المقريزي, full name Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī, تقي الدين أحمد بن علي بن عبد القادر بن محمد المقريزي; 1364–1442)[7] was a medieval Egyptian historian and biographer[8] during the Mamluk era, known for his interest in the Fatimid era, and the earlier periods of Egyptian history.[9] He is recognized as the most influential historian of premodern Egypt.[10]

A direct student of Ibn Khaldun, al-Maqrīzī was born in Cairo to a family of Syrian origin that had recently relocated from Damascus.[7][11] When he presents himself in his books he usually stops at the 10th forefather although he confessed to some of his close friends that he can trace his ancestry to al-Mu‘izz li-Dīn Allāh – first Fatimid caliph in Egypt and the founder of al-Qahirah – and even to Ali ibn Abi Talib.[12] He was trained in the Hanafite school of law. Later, he switched to the Shafi'ite school and finally to the Zahirite school.[4][5] Maqrizi studied theology under one of the primary masterminds behind the Zahiri Revolt,[13] and his vocal support and sympathy with that revolt against the Mamluks likely cost him higher administrative and clerical positions with the Mamluk regime.[14] The name Maqrizi was an attribution to a quarter of the city of Baalbek, from where his paternal grandparents hailed.[7] Maqrizi confessed to his contemporaries that he believed that he was related to the Fatimids through the son of al-Muizz. Ibn Hajar preserves the most memorable account: his father, as they entered the al-Hakim Mosque one day, told him "My son, you are entering the mosque of your ancestor." However, his father also instructed al-Maqrizi not to reveal this information to anyone he could not trust; Walker concludes:

Ultimately it would be hard to conclude that al-Maqrizi conceived any more than an antiquarian interest in the Fatimids. His main concern seems more likely to be the meaning they and their city might have for the present, that is, for Mamluk Egypt and its role in Islam. (p. 167)

In 1385, he went on the Islamic pilgrimage, the Hajj. For some time he was secretary in a government office, and in 1399 became inspector of markets for Cairo and northern Egypt. This post he soon gave up to become a preacher at the Mosque of 'Amr ibn al 'As, president of the al-Hakim Mosque, and a lecturer on tradition. In 1408, he went to Damascus to become inspector of the Qalanisryya and lecturer. Later, he retired into private life at Cairo.[_citation needed_]

In 1430, he again went on Hajj with his family and travelled for some five years. His learning was great, his observation accurate and his judgement good, but his books are largely compilations, and he does not always acknowledge the sources upon which he relied.[_citation needed_]

Most of al-Maqrizi's works, exceeding 200,[15] are concerned with Egypt.

  1. ^ Volume 2 title: al-Juzʾ al-thānī min Kitāb al-khiṭaṭ wa-al-āthār fī Miṣr wa-al-Qāhirah wa-al-Nīl wa-mā yataʻalliqu bihā. Edited by Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Quṭṭah al-ʻAdawī. f. colophon. www.catalog.hathitrust.org

  2. ^ "ص375 - أرشيف ملتقى أهل الحديث - منهج الامام المقريزي - المكتبة الشاملة الحديثة". al-maktaba.org. Retrieved 28 March 2024.

  3. ^ "العلامة المؤرخ ( تقي الدين المقريزي)". pearls.yoo7.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 28 March 2024.

  4. ^ "ص188 - كتاب المواعظ والاعتبار بذكر الخطط والآثار - ذكر الحال في عقائد أهل الإسلام منذ ابتداء الملة الإسلامية إلى أن انتشر مذهب الأشعرية - المكتبة الشاملة". shamela.ws. Retrieved 28 March 2024.

  5. ^ a b c d Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Inba al-Ghumar bi-Anba al-'Umr.

  6. ^ a b c d Nasser Rabbat, "Who was al-Maqrizi?" pg. 13. Taken from Mamlūk Studies Review, Vol. 7, Part 2. Middle East Documentation Center, University of Chicago, 2003.

  7. ^ Al-Maqrizi, Taqi al-Din. Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar (in Arabic). Vol. 4. p. 192.

  8. ^ a b c d Rosenthal, F. (1991). "al-Maḳrīzī". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VI: Mahk–Mid. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 193–194. ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3.

  9. ^ Anthony Holmes (6 December 2010). Ancient Egypt In An Hour. History In An Hour. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4523-3674-9.

  10. ^ Paul E. Walker, Exploring an Islamic Empire: Fatimid History and its Sources (London, I.B. Tauris, 2002), p. 164. The material for updating this article is taken from Walker's account of al-Maqrizi.

  11. ^ Rabbat, Nasser (12 January 2023). Writing Egypt: Al-Maqrizi and His Historical Project. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-3995-0281-8.

  12. ^ Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 5 (1350-1500). BRILL. 28 June 2013. ISBN 978-90-04-25278-3.

  13. ^ RABBAT, NASSER (2003). "Who Was al-Maqr|z|? A Biographical Sketch" (PDF). Mamlūk Studies Review. The Middle East Documentation Center (MEDOC). doi:10.6082/M1RR1WDR.

  14. ^ al-Maqrizi, Tajrid al-Tawhid al-Mufid, pg. 33 of the introduction of Sabri bin Salamah Shahin. Riyadh: Dar al-Qubs, 2005. ISBN 978-9960-49-202-5

  15. ^ Rabbat, pg. 15.

  16. ^ Okasha El Daly (2005), Egyptology: the missing millennium : ancient Egypt in medieval Arabic writings, UCL, p. 180

  17. ^ Maqrīzī (al-), Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn 'Alī (1948). Shayyāl (al-), Jamal al-Dīn (ed.). Itti'āz al-Ḥunafā' bi-Akhbār al-A'immah al-Fāṭimīyīn al-Khulafā' (in Arabic). Cairo: Dār al-Fikr al-‘Arabī.

  18. ^ Maqrīzī (al-), Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn 'Alī (1908) [1906]. Kitāb al-Khiṭaṭ al-Maqrīzīyah (in Arabic). Vol. 4. Cairo: Al-Nīl Press.

  19. ^ Maqrīzī (al-), Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn 'Alī (1956). Ziada (al-Ziyādah), Muḥammad Muṣṭafā (ed.). Kitāb al-Sulūk li-Ma'rifat Duwal al-Mulūk (in Arabic). Vol. 2. Cairo: Lajnat al-Ta’līf.

  20. ^ Maqrz, Amad ibn Al; Quatremère, Étienne Marc (11 November 1845). "Histoire des sultans mamlouks, de l'Égypte, écrite en arabe". Paris : Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland – via Internet Archive.