# Fakhr al-Din Uthman al-Zayla'i (died 1342/43), jurist of Zeila and Cairo > Uthman ibn Ali al-Zayla'i (d. 1342/43): Hanafi jurist from Zeila in Cairo, author of Tabyin al-Haqa'iq, and the Riwaq al-Zayla'i at al-Azhar. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/uthman-al-zaylai/ Last checked: 2026-11-12 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## Who he was Abu Amr Fakhr al-Din Uthman ibn Ali al-Zayla'i was an Islamic scholar, theologian and jurist of the 1300s. His name, *al-Zayla'i*, means "from Zeila", the port on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) in today's [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) region ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia, citing Mukhtar, Arabic Sources on Somalia, 1987](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)). The [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) Digital Library, which holds a manuscript of his main book, says he "probably came from the port city of al-Zayla'", taught in Cairo, and that little else is known of his life ([Qatar Digital Library, Tabyin al-Haqa'iq manuscript](https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/qnlhc/14472)). One online catalogue describes him as a Hanafi scholar "of Egyptian origin" who taught at the main colleges of Cairo ([Usul, al-Zayla'i al-Hanafi](https://usul.ai/author/fakhr-din-zaylaci)). ## In Cairo He travelled widely and settled in Cairo. There he joined other students from the Somali coast at the Riwaq al-Zayla'i, a hostel and study hall at al-Azhar reserved for students from Zeila and the Horn ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)). A study of Mamluk-era records traces how students from the Horn of Africa formed one of al-Azhar's earliest student communities ([Abyssinia at al-Azhar: Muslim Students from the Horn of Africa in Late Medieval Cairo, AfricArXiv](https://africarxiv.ubuntunet.net/handle/1/8922)). He followed the Hanafi school of law, while most Somalis follow the [Shafi'i](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) school ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)). ## His book His main work is *Tabyin al-Haqa'iq sharh Kanz al-Daqa'iq* ("Making the Truths Clear: a commentary on the Treasure of Subtleties"). It explains *Kanz al-Daqa'iq*, a short Hanafi law text by Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Nasafi (died 1310) ([Qatar Digital Library](https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/qnlhc/14472)). It runs to four volumes and is counted among the main reference works of Hanafi law ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)). - Copies were made across the Muslim world. One manuscript was copied in Mecca in 870 AH (1466) ([Oriental Art Auctions, manuscript listing](https://www.orientalartauctions.com/object/artisla64098-tabayin-al-haqaliq-li-sharh-kanz-al-daqaiq-by-uthman-bin-ali-zaylai-copied-870-ah-1466-ad-in-mecca)). Leipzig University holds others ([Leipzig University Library, Arabic manuscripts catalogue](https://orient-kohd.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/KOHDArabicMSBook_manuscript_00006657?lang=en)). - In it he reports Abu Hanifa's saying that people should face the qibla from wherever they stand: for people of the east the qibla is west, for people of the south it is north ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)). ## Death The Leipzig catalogue gives his death as 743 AH, 1342 or 1343, in Cairo ([Leipzig University Library](https://orient-kohd.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/KOHDArabicMSBook_manuscript_00006657?lang=en)). ## Not to be confused with - **Jamal al-Din al-Zayla'i**, a later scholar of the same school whom he influenced ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)). - **Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i** (1820–1882), the Qadiri Sufi teacher of Qolonqol. See [Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i](/en/people/abd-al-rahman-al-zaylai/). See also [how Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/). For other scholars from Zeila in Mamluk Cairo and the residence for students from the Horn at al-Azhar, see [Scholars from Zeila at al-Azhar and in Cairo, 1300–1500](/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/). --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.