The Biography of Imam Ibn Kathir: His Life, Teachers, and Legacy
In this episode of the Biography of an Imam series, the speaker explores the life and legacy of the great scholar Imam Ibn Kathir. The lecture highlights his early upbringing, his journey to Damascus, and his studies under prominent scholars like Al-Hafiz al-Mizzi and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. It also sheds light on his mastery of hadith, jurisprudence, and Quranic exegesis.
“And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors similarly. Only those fear Allāh,
from among His servants, who have knowledge. Indeed, Allāh is Exalted in Might and Forgiving.” (Quran 35:28)
Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah ﷻ be upon you.
“In the name of Allāh, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.”
“[All] praise is [due] to Allāh, Lord of the worlds -” (Quran 1:1-2)
...of the worlds. I bear witness there is no deity but Allah, without partner,
and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
May Allah bless you, my brothers and sisters,
to a new episode of "Biography of an Imam."
As you know, in this program we mention some of the Imams of Islam,
who are shining stars and brilliant planets.
People still benefit from their knowledge,
and they are the heirs of the Prophets (RA).
What is meant is that learning about the biographies of these scholars,
in my estimation, is of utmost importance,
especially in our day and age,
in which the names of these scholars have almost disappeared,
except among a very small number of specialists among students of knowledge.
As for the general public, few know these scholars,
and this is truly a bad sign.
Now, people have become interested in figures and personalities
who may have no connection or link to us,
and their interest in them has overshadowed
these great figures who left behind this scholarly heritage.
Therefore, the biographies of scholars are truly lush gardens.
When a person enters these gardens,
it is absolutely certain
that they will gain benefits; if not scholarly,
then at least behavioral and moral, for example.
Because the nature of the human soul is to care about such figures
who have this presence.
And the weak always imitate the strong;
those who have a presence, you find people learning from them.
Therefore, the predecessor said: "Imitate them if you cannot be like them,
for imitating the noble is success."
This happened even in the era...
of the Companions (RA). Aisha (RA) used to say, 'Tell me about the life of Umar (RA),' while she was still alive.
This is a reminder for people to pay attention to these scholars,
and this is indeed their right upon us, that we mention them with goodness.
They were not people of worldly pursuits or trade.
They were the bearers of the religion, the bearers of knowledge.
Therefore, in today's gathering, I will speak about another scholar among the scholars
who indeed left an imprint, so to speak,
on the scholarly library and the reality of Muslims.
He had many contributions from which people, and indeed scholars, still benefit.
He is the scholar, the great authority, the mufassir, the muhaddith, the faqih, the usuli,
known as Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir Al-Dimashqi (RH).
I think the image of this scholar, Ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi, is now clear.
Ibn Kathir (RH)—his title overshadowed his real name.
Now, if you ask anyone, "Who is Ibn Kathir?"
They would hesitate. Even students of knowledge might say, "I need to check."
And this is normal for people; it is neither a flaw nor a mistake.
Many scholars became more famous by their titles than their names.
But Ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi's name is Isma'il
ibn 'Umar ibn Kathir ibn Daw' ibn Zar' al-Dimashqi (RH).
The Sheikh, the Imam, the great scholar—he is also knicknamed Abu al-Fida'.
His father was Sheikh Shihab al-Din Abu Hafs,
al-Qurashi al-Basrawi al-Dimashqi al-Shafi'i.
This was his father. Therefore, Ibn Kathir (RH)
followed the Shafi'i madhhab in fiqh.
But, praise be to Allah ﷻ, he followed the principles of the righteous predecessors (RA).
He was highly influenced by Abu al-Abbas Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah,
And so you find his approach, especially in scholarly matters,
and in fundamental and creedal issues, following this path.
Ibn Kathir was born in the year 701 AH,
after the migration of the Prophet ﷺ,
in a village called Mujaydil in the region of Busra al-Sham,
and he lived, of course, his life in Damascus.
Ibn Kathir married Zaynab, the daughter of his teacher, Al-Hafiz al-Mizzi,
the well-known Al-Hafiz al-Mizzi, Jamal al-Din Yusuf bin Abd al-Rahman al-Mizzi,
the author of many works and the famous scholar of Hadith,
who was born in Aleppo in 654 AH and died in 742 AH.
Of course, al-Mizzi was the Hadith scholar of the Levant,
or rather the entire Levantine region—the foremost Hadith scholar was al-Mizzi.
Of course, through al-Mizzi,
Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir connected with Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (RH), because al-Mizzi
is considered one of the students and followers of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (RH).
Therefore, when he married the daughter of al-Mizzi,
a connection was established with Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (RH).
For this reason, for example, when Ibn Taymiyyah (RH) passed away,
what did Ibn Kathir say in Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah when he reported the news of his death...
...in the Citadel of Damascus while he was imprisoned?
He says (RH): "I was among those present there with our Shaykh, Al-Hafiz Abu al-Hajjaj al-Mizzi (RH),
and I uncovered the face of the Shaykh, looked at him, and kissed him."
Allah is the greatest.
Of course, Ibn Kathir (RH) grew up in a pure upbringing
and a clean life.
He also grew up in a scholarly environment,
and this, Glory be to Allah, is the case with most of these scholars.
You find that the home environment has a great impact on the personality of this scholar.
We have explored in this program, with many scholars and numerous figures,
absolutely none of them, but you find, Glory be to Allah ﷻ, that the family had an impact on
his personality, his thought, his love for knowledge, and his desire for the gatherings of scholars.
Therefore, indeed, the climate— the family climate—
and also the societal environment, indeed, play a very major role in shaping
these giants among the people of knowledge.
And this, of course, is a Sharia principle that I believe does not need to be proven.
For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ advised us to care for children
from an early age. There are many texts on this.
Therefore, this care from the family, the environment,
the scholarly movement in the country, and sometimes the abundance of scholars' gatherings,
the frequent listening to Hadith narration,
because they used to recite and read through Hadiths, reading, for example,
Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, the four Sunan, Musnad Ahmad, and Muwatta Malik.
So these young children would come and live in this atmosphere, raised to love knowledge and scholars,
and they would emerge as pillars in the land,
whom people turn to during trials and the like, guiding people towards what is correct.
The point, my brothers and sisters, is that Ibn Kathir (RH)
grew up in a scholarly environment, in a house of knowledge,
which had a great impact on him
in achieving this prominence and scholarly presence,
until he became one of the scholars of verification and critical analysis (RH).
By the way, Ibn Kathir's father was a preacher in the town where Ibn Kathir was born.
He was the preacher there until he passed away in the year 703 AH.
After his father's death, the care of Isma'il (Ibn Kathir) (RH)
was taken over by his older brother, Kamal ad-Din Abdul Wahhab.
Glory be to Allah, the Almighty. Ibn Kathir's father passed away when he was young,
and then his older brother took care of him, assuming the role and position of a father, and even more.
His brother Kamal ad-Din Abdul Wahhab was also a scholar, by the way.
But, Glory be to Allah, Ibn Kathir's fame overshadowed that of Kamal ad-Din Abdul Wahhab.
Ibn Kathir [RH] was not even eleven years old when he completed memorizing the Quran.
He memorized it under the righteous, devout Sheikh Siraj ad-Din Ibn Ghaylan, Muhammad ibn Ali.
Of course, he studied under his brother, Kamal al-Din,
and acquired what is roughly called the auxiliary sciences.
When he grew stronger and matured, reaching the age of seventeen,
Ibn Kathir (RH) traveled to Damascus, encouraged by whom? By his brother Abdul Wahhab. Glory be to Allah ﷻ.
He said, "I will go with you."
So he took him around the lands, and they met the senior scholars, especially in Damascus, which was...
...the incubator of knowledge, scholars, compilations, and books at that time.
Damascus was the destination for students of knowledge because of,
first of all, the major, brilliant scholars it housed,
as well as the strong scholarly activity that existed there.
Ibn Kathir (RH) says about his journey to Damascus, accompanied by his brother Abdul Wahhab:
"Then we moved afterwards." Of course, he mentioned this after the death of his father.
He says: "Then we moved after him in the year 707 to Damascus,
in the company of Kamal al-Din 'Abd al-Wahhab,
who was a true brother to us, and a kind, compassionate companion."
One might say, "Subhan Allah! How does he praise his brother like this?"
Of course, his death was delayed until the year 750, as Ibn Kathir mentioned about his brother.
Ibn Kathir says: "I studied under him in knowledge,
and Allah ﷻ made easy what was easy, and facilitated what was difficult."
So, do not be surprised, just as Kamal al-Din...
...acted in the place of a father. Likewise, Ismail—
who is Ibn Kathir—how he praises his brother and speaks well of him.
Of course, he settled in Damascus until he was attributed to it.
Now, when you look at the biographical books, they say to you: "Abu al-Fida..."
al-Hafiz Isma'il ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi. So, it became a homeland for him.
And he also became one of its preachers, one of its scholars, and a teacher in Damascus.
And this, in fact, was a rank that was difficult for a student of knowledge to attain at that time,
when scholars were not just in the dozens, but in the hundreds, if not thousands.
Many scholars — it was like a Sharia college in a university that graduated...
...over a decade, for example, thousands.
These were scholars who were not just specialized in a single discipline.
You know, in the past, a scholar would not just specialize in one discipline, but rather...
...he would be an encyclopedia in language, Hadith, Aqeedah, Fiqh, and so on.
Of course, he [RH] remained there
in Damascus, until he died and was buried there.
Therefore, Ibn Kathir loved Damascus with an extraordinary love.
He was loyal to Damascus, to the point that he wrote the history of Damascus.
He has a work written about Damascus, describing Damascus in a wonderful way.
He described the joys of Damascus—meaning, of course, its inhabitants.
He described the joys of Damascus, and he described the sorrows of Damascus.
He described the victories; that is, he mentions everything about Damascus.
He also participated in its events.
He had an active role in that, to the point that he was pointed to with distinction.
Of course, when we come to Ibn Kathir, we look at those who wrote his biography.
They describe him as: the hadith scholar, the exegete, the jurist,
the teacher, the historian — for he wrote in all of these fields.
Ibn Kathir was not only a jurist and an exegete, but he was also a hadith scholar.
And therefore he gave great attention to hadith, may Allah ﷻ have mercy on him and forgive him.
Ibn Kathir (RH)
followed the path of seekers of knowledge who excelled to reach such a rank.
He had many teachers.
I mentioned that, regarding his brother,
he benefited greatly from him, especially in his beginnings,
then he acquired knowledge from other scholars, to the point that
even the art of calligraphy and writing, he studied it (RH).
He learned calligraphy from Sheikh Najm
Musa ibn Ali al-Jili al-Dimashqi.
He learned from him the art of calligraphy and also the craft of writing.
Therefore, subhanAllah, you find the works of Ibn Kathir
to be extremely wonderful, precise, and beautifully composed.
Therefore, he paid attention even to this aspect.
Of course, he learned Hadith from Afif al-Din al-Amidi.
And also, of course, this Al-Amidi was a Hanafi from Damascus,
and he was the Sheikh of Dar al-Hadith al-Zahiriyyah. Ibn Kathir learned Hadith from him.
Therefore, when Ibn Kathir wrote a biography of his teacher, what did he say?
He said, "Our Sheikh was handsome, of good appearance, easy to listen to,
loving narration, and possessing virtue."
Also, Ibn Kathir (RH) studied Shafi'i fiqh
under Kamal al-Din ibn Qadi Shuhbah, known as Abd al-Wahhab ibn Muhammad.
He learned fiqh from him. Of course, this Ibn Shuhbah was proficient in fiqh and grammar,
and was also described as
having good logic and sweet speech.
Of course, they mentioned that he never married (RH).
Of course, Ibn Kathir also learned from Shaykh al-Islam,
the exemplary Imam, the scholar, the erudite Ibn Taymiyyah (RH).
He also studied under his father-in-law, Al-Hafiz Abu Al-Hajjaj Al-Mizzi (RH),
and studied under many others. Indeed, I have gone on a bit long,
This was a quick overview. Insha'Allah, I will leave the rest.
the biography of Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir Al-Dimashqi continues next episode, by Allah's will,
to look further and delve into the biography of this giant among the scholars.
Join me next episode, by Allah's will.
May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.