Shibab al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Hajar al-Haytamī al-Makkī al-Ansārī known as Ibn Hajar al-Haytami al-Makki was an Egyptian Arab muhaddith and theologian of Islam. He came from the Banu Sa'd tribe who settled in the Al-Sharqiah province in Egypt. Ibn Hajar was specialized in Islamic Jurisprudence and well known as a prolific writer of the Shâfi'î school. With al-Imām Aḥmad al-Ramlī, he represents the foremost resource for fatwa for the entire late Shâfi‘î school.
Biography
Birth and education
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī was born in 909 AH in the small village Abū Haytam in western Egypt. When he was a small child, his father died and his upbringing was left to the charge of his grandfather. His grandfather was known to the locals as the "stone" because of his pious nature. The nickname came from people saying he was "silent as a stone". This was due to the fact that he seldom spoke and when he did it was greatly revered for his religious knowledge. His grandfather died, however, shortly after his father and his father's teachers Shams Dīn b. Abi'l-Hamā'il and Shams al-Dīn Muhammad al-Shanāwī became his caretakers. As a child he began his studies with the memorisation of the Qur'an and Nawawi's Minhaj. His caretaker al-Shanāwī decided that al-Haytamī should continue his elementary education at the sanctuary of Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawī in Tanta.
Teachers
After completing his elementary education, Ibn Hajar al- Haytamī continued his schooling at al-Azhar where he studied under many noteworthy scholars, the most predominant one being Zakariyyā’ al-Ansārī. He also studied under the famous Shafi'i scholar Shihab al-Din al-Ramli.
Al-Haytamī performed the Hajj in the year 1527 with one of his teachers al-Bakri. It was during this trip that al-Haytamī decided to begin writing fiqh. He returned to Mecca in 1531 and stayed there a year before returning home again. During this visit al-Haytamī worked on a compilation of notes which he would later use in his authorship to write commentaries. The last time he traveled to Mecca was in 1533, this time he brought his family and decided to permanently reside there. His life dedication in Mecca began to be writing, teaching, and issuing fatwa. He authored major works in Shāfiʿī jurisprudence, hadīth, tenets of faith, education, hadīth commentary, and formal legal opinion. It was at this time he wrote his most notable work, which was called "Tuhfat al-Muhtaj bi Sharh al-Minhaj". This work was a commentary on Imam Nawawi's writing "Minhaj al-Talibin". Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī’s commentary became one of the two authoritative textbooks of the Shafi’i school. He wrote many other works, some of which are listed in the "works" section of this page.
Death
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī died in 1566 AD/973 AH in Mecca. He was buried in the cemetery of Ma'lat.
Views
Regarding singing al-Haytami mentioned that some went so far as to claim the supposed consensus of ahl ul Madinah on this question.
He was once asked about the legal status of those who criticizes Sufis: Is there an excuse for such critics? He replies in his Fatawa hadithiyya: It is incumbent upon every person endowed with mind and religion not to fall into the trap of criticizing these folk, for it is a mortal poison, as has been witnessed of old and recently.
Regarding logical reasoning: "Consider these words without partisanship and you will find that he…has clarified the way and established the proof to the effect that there is nothing in which is reprehensible or leads to what is reprehensible, and that it is of use in the religious sciences such as the science of the principles of religion and of jurisprudence. The jurist have established the general principle that what is of use for the religious sciences should be respected and may not be derided, and it should be studied and taught as a fard kifaya"
