Imam Abd Al-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Rajab is best known as Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali. He is also well-known by his title Zainuddin. He was born in Baghdad in 736 A.H., corresponding to A.D. 1337. He belongs to a family of scholars. His grandfather has had some learning and apparently he was a scholar with students, and his interest was in Hadith, but we know very little about him. His father, on the other hand, is known to have been born in Baghdad in 706 A.H., where he grew up and studied under a number of scholars. He then traveled with his family to Damascus when his son, Ibn Rajab, was only five years of age. In Damascus the father continued his studies under the most famous scholars of the time, then traveled to Jerusalem, then back to Baghdad and from there to Makkah for pilgrimage in 749. When in Makkah the father arranged that his son, Abd Al-Rahman ibn Rajab, would study the Hadiths related by Al-Bukhari with 3-man chains of transmission under a famous scholar. He then traveled to Egypt before returning to Damascus, where he had a circle to teach. He is praised for his piety and a number of famous scholars studied under him.
Brought up in such an atmosphere of scholarship, Ibn Rajab showed great promise when he was still very young. Indeed he was allowed to attend scholars of eminence when he was only three or four years of age. He reports that he attended scholars reading under his grandfather when he was three, four and five years old. He also mentions that he read under certain scholars certain books when he was five. What is more is that he received certificates from them at that early age. All this goes to show that he was endowed with sharp intelligence and coupled that with a love for learning and a scholarly home. Thus he had all the making of a great scholar in his own right.
Ibn Rajab experienced the value of travel for study at a very young age, encouraged by a father who was keen to give his children the best education available. Thus, he started reading under scholars in Damascus when he was only five, attending a number of famous older scholars, such as Ibn Al-Naqeeb (d. 745), Al-Subki and Al-Nawawi (d. 749). He then studied under Muhammad ibn Ismaeel Al-Khabbaz (d. 756), who was perhaps the teacher that influenced him most, and many others. After a visit to Jerusalem where he studied under Al-Alla’ie, he went back to Baghdad in 748 and from there to Makkah for pilgrimage, before returning to Damascus where he was always by the side of his most famous teacher, Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim, until his death in 751.
His trip to Egypt was in 754 where, together with his father, he studied under Abu Al-Haram Al-Qalanisi and many others. A further meeting and scholarly exchange with eminent scholars from different parts of the Islamic world was pursued when Ibn Rajab went for pilgrimage in 763. Finally, he settled in Damascus, where he taught in its various schools and had his circle attended by many students. He continued to write his books and teach his students until his death in 795 A.H.
A report tells us that in that year Ibn Rajab went to the Bab Al-Sagheer cemetry in Damascus and told the attendant to dig a grave for him at a particular spot. When the grave was dug, he went in and lied in it, then he complemented the attendant on his work. It was only a few days later that he was brought dead to that very grave. May God shower His mercy on him.
In matters of faith, Ibn Rajab followed the line of the early generations of the Prophet’s companions and their successors. He did not dwell on the verses that mention God’s attributes and did not try to explain how they should be interpreted. He took them as they are, without much discussion of how and in what form does this or that apply to God. He accepts them all as they are stated. This is the easy way which gives us a sense of reassurance.
It is well known that Imam Ibn Taimiyah was the top figure among the scholars of the eighth century of the Islamic calendar. He had many students who achieved prominence as scholars in their own right. Perhaps the best known among these was Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim who was a teacher of Ibn Rajab until his death in 751. Hence it was only natural that Ibn Rajab would be much influenced by both his own teacher and Ibn Taimiyah. However, we see in Ibn Rajab one of the main marks of a great scholar as he demonstrates his independence by breaking away from both earlier eminent scholars on a number of major issues. On these, Ibn Rajab argues his case, providing the evidence he relies on, explaining the reasons for his disagreement. This is a tradition in Islamic scholarship, which immensely enriches it. A scholar may disagree with his predecessors, despite the great love and respect he has for them. Perhaps the clearest case was that of Al-Shafie who disagreed with Malik, when he was very closely attached to his former mentor (may God be pleased with both of them).
Ibn Rajab spent much of his time either teaching or writing. He was not given to social activities. Rather, he was more at home with his books. Hence, it is not surprising that he wrote extensively, mostly on Hadith. One of his most important books was a commentary on the Hadith collection known as the Sunan by Al-Tirmithi. However, of this book we only have today a small piece of manuscript in 10 sheets, which is held at the Al-Thahiriyah Library in Damascus and its last portion, which is known as Sharh ‘ilal Al-Tirmithi. This is a complete book in its own right, devoted to the explanation of the defects Al-Tirmithi pointed out in his study of Hadith. This portion has been recently edited by Dr. Hammam Saeed and published in two full volumes in Riyadh.
Another manuscript still awaiting editing and publication is Ibn Rajab’s book giving a commentary on the Hadiths in the Sahih collection by Al-Bukhari. In fact it is given the same title as another commentary by Imam Ibn Hajar, which is widely circulated. His writings number 48 titles, of which quite a few have been totally lost. We know about them from the fact that they have been mentioned by other scholars. Some of his titles are only short pamphlets, while others are books running into more than one volume. Although his main specialization was the Hadith, yet he wrote on Fiqh, history and other subjects. It is fortunate that a number of his books have been edited and published. We hope that other manuscripts will find similar attention.
May God shower His mercy on Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali.
