Many people have asked me about our Sh. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Shahāwī—from the leading Shāfiʿī jurists of our time—: Does he quote books from memory?

Yes, he does. Not just primers (mutūn), but also commentaries (shurūḥ) and glosses (ḥawāshī). I have attended countless lectures of his for many years—including his classes for Fatḥ al-Qarīb, al-Iqnāʾ, Fatḥ al-Wahhāb, etc. in jurisprudence—and he never used the text once.

The students read the text to him, after informing him of where they left off in the last class, and he would complete their sentences and even correct them. I have myself seen him quote entire sentences from al-Bājūrī’s gloss verbatim many times, even when the students didn’t read it. This is in addition to his casual quoting of several 1,000-liner odes such as Alfiyyah al-ʿIrāqī and Alfiyyah Ibn Mālik off the top of his head.

The Khāns & al-Taqī al-Maqdisī

‎al-Dhahabī records a beautiful incident in his History of Islam about the Shaykh of the Ḥanbalīs, Taqī al-Dīn al-Maqdisī (d. 643)—a grandson to both Ibn Qudāmah (d. 620) & ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī (d. 600).

‎He mentions that when the royal leaders (khānāt) from the Khwarazmian Empire saw him, they got off their horses, greeted him, and kissed his hands while seeking permission to pass.

‎Many leaders have had the power to belittle or look down on the people of knowledge (ahl al-ʿilm), but their love for the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ did not allow them to despise his inheritors or act against them. Instead, it humbled them and made them kiss their hands.

ʿAbd Allāh, the Miraculous Brother of Ibn Taymiyyah

The famous Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728) had a brother unknown to many today, ʿAbd Allāh (d. 727). His fellow scholars knew him as “Sharaf al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyyah.” He was a Ḥanbalī scholar, teacher, expert in many fields, and well-respected by both his brother [Aḥmad] Ibn Taymiyyah and other contemporaries.

Ibn Rajab (d. 795) mentions that he was a man of miracles (karāmāt) and “spiritual unveilings” (kushūf, pl. of “kashf”). Among them was the much-known fact that he himself was extremely poor, yet he would endlessly give gold in charity to the poor, even when traveling. However, when people travelling with him would check his things, they would find no gold in them.¹

Ibn Ḥajar (d. 852) notes in al-Durar that ʿAbd Allāh’s interactions with the people of knowledge of his time elicited a more positive and non-combative response compared to his brother Aḥmad, as he states, “The honorable scholars of their time used to say, ‘He [ʿAbd Allāh] is closer to the way of the scholars (ʿulamāʾ) compared to his brother [Aḥmad], and he is more well-grounded (aqʿad) [compared to him] in the discussions of noble scholars.’”²

ʿAbd Allāh died a year before his brother Aḥmad, and he was buried in the graveyard of the Ṣufīs. His brother, [Aḥmad] Ibn Taymiyyah, prayed over him.

May Allāh have mercy upon both.

¹ Dhayl Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah, vol. 2, p. 137 (DKI: 1997)
² al-Durar al-Kāminah, vol. 1, p. 162 (DKI: 1997)

The Ḥanbalī jurist al-Buhūtī (d. 1051) deems the night of the 15th of Shaʿbān from the nights in which it is recommended for a Muslim to engage in worship through the entire night, like the night of ʿĪd.

After mentioning the virtue of worshiping throughout the ʿĪd night, he continues to say, “In the same meaning is the night of the 15th of Shaʿbān, as mentioned by Ibn Rajab in al-Laṭāʾif.”¹

¹ Kashshāf al-Qināʿ, vol. 1, page 530 (DKI: 2009)

The Prophet’s ﷺ Love for Fasting in Shaʿbān

Fasting in the month of Shaʿbān was strongly emphasized by the Messenger ﷺ in a ḥadīth narrated by Aḥmad and al-Nasāʾī.

He was asked about his fasts in the month of Shaʿbān, to which he responded, “That is a month between Rajab and Ramaḍān that people ignore. It is a month when deeds are raised to [God] the Lord of the worlds, so I would love to have my deeds taken up to [God] while I am fasting.”

Received this amazing work—a text I looked forward to read for many years—from one of my students. May Allāh accept his good intentions and increase him in knowledge & practice.

Ibn Kathīr (d. 774) refers to the Damascene ḥadīth-expert Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571) as “the pride of the Shāfiʿīs, the Imām of the people of ḥadīth in his time and the bearer of their flag, the author of Tārīkh Dimashq.”¹

¹ Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyyīn, vol. 2, p. 693 (Maktabah al-Thaqāfah, 1993/1413)

“Placing it in books is not possible. It’s rather a treasure hidden in minds. Do not strive to seize it in a book, a poem, or an ode.”
— Ibn al-Bannā of Zaragoza

The Mālikī scholar al-Badr al-Qarāfī (d. 1008) mentions in his monograph on his chains of transmission that he recited a portion of the Qurʾān—from the beginning of al-Fātiḥah to the end of 2:5: «وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ»—and acquired authorization (ijāzah) in the seven readings from Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī (d. 926).