Scholars and religious figures
Fakhr al-Din Uthman al-Zayla'i (died 1342/43), jurist of Zeila and Cairo
Fakhr al-Din Uthman ibn Ali al-Zayla'i was a 14th-century Islamic jurist whose name means 'from Zeila'. He taught in Cairo, where students from the Somali coast had their own hostel at al-Azhar, and wrote Tabyin al-Haqa'iq, a four-volume commentary counted among the main reference works of Hanafi law. He died in Cairo in 743 AH (1342 or 1343).
Fakhr al-Din Uthman al-Zayla'ial-Zayla'i · Fakhr al-Din al-Zaylai
- Lived
- ? to 1343
- Known as one of
- Scholars and religious figures
- Places
- Boorama and Awdal
- Era
- Before 1500: Adal, Ajuran and the coast
- Sources
- 7 sources
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 in today's Awdal region (Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia, citing Mukhtar, Arabic Sources on Somalia, 1987). The 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). 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).
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). 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).
He followed the Hanafi school of law, while most Somalis follow the Shafi'i school (Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992).
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). It runs to four volumes and is counted among the main reference works of Hanafi law (Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia).
- Copies were made across the Muslim world. One manuscript was copied in Mecca in 870 AH (1466) (Oriental Art Auctions, manuscript listing). Leipzig University holds others (Leipzig University Library, Arabic manuscripts catalogue).
- 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).
Death
The Leipzig catalogue gives his death as 743 AH, 1342 or 1343, in Cairo (Leipzig University Library).
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).
- Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i (1820–1882), the Qadiri Sufi teacher of Qolonqol. See Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i.
See also 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.
Sources
- Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia, citing Mukhtar, Arabic Sources on Somalia, 1987 · en.wikipedia.org
- Qatar Digital Library, Tabyin al-Haqa'iq manuscript · qdl.qa
- Usul, al-Zayla'i al-Hanafi · usul.ai
- Abyssinia at al-Azhar: Muslim Students from the Horn of Africa in Late Medieval Cairo, AfricArXiv · africarxiv.ubuntunet.net
- Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992 · countrystudies.us
- Oriental Art Auctions, manuscript listing · orientalartauctions.com
- Leipzig University Library, Arabic manuscripts catalogue · orient-kohd.dl.uni-leipzig.de
Fakhr al-Din Uthman al-Zayla'ial-Zayla'i · Fakhr al-Din al-Zaylai
- Lived
- ? to 1343
- Known as one of
- Scholars and religious figures
- Places
- Boorama and Awdal
- Era
- Before 1500: Adal, Ajuran and the coast
- Sources
- 7 sources
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