Post by IbnKhalis on Mar 9, 2019 15:11:44 GMT
Imām ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Ghunaymī al-Maydānī al-Ḥanafī (D.1298AH)
Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Ghunaymī al-Maydānī was born and raised in Damascus in 1222 AH in the Maydān district, north of Damscus.[1]
After having memorised the noble Qur’an, he began studying the Islamic sciences under the foremost scholars of Damascus in his era, among them:
• Shaykh ‘Umar al-Mujtahid al-Dimashqī;
• Shaykh Sa’īd al-Halabī, then al-Dimashqī, the Hanafī jurist, the muḥaddith, the faqīh of Shām in his age, and the shaykh of Imam Ibn ‘Ābidīn and ‘Abd-Ghanī al-Saqaṭī, the Shafi’ī faqīh;
• Al-Sayyid Muḥammad ibn ‘Ābidīn, the faqīh of the Ḥanafīs in his age and the author of the famed Ḥāshiyah (The Marginalia): Radd al-Muhtār ‘alā al-Durr al-mukhtār. He had a very close relationship with him and became known as one of his foremost pupils;
• And Shaykh ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Kuzbarī al-Shāfi’ī, the muḥaddith of Shām.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Ghunaymī al-Maydānī was renowned for his knowledge, virtue, scrupulousness and abstinence of the world, as well as his great intellect and insight. As such, he gained reverence and repute, and held an honourable rank amongst the people of Damascus. When civil strive arose between the Muslims and Christians of Damascus in the year 1277 AH, he attained the memorable honour of extinguishing it with his enlightened knowledge and wisdom.
In terms of his students, many of the scholars of Damascus and other countries were his pupils and studied fiqh under him. Amongst the most famous pupils of his and those who gained knowledge from him was the great ‘Allāmah Imam Ṭāhir al-Jaza’irī, the author of masterful works and a scholar of various arts and sciences. ‘Allāmah Muḥammad Kurd, the chairman of the scholarly Council in Damascus, said in his book al-Mu’āṣirūn (The Contemporaries) on the biography of his shaykh, Shaykh Ṭāhir al-Jaza’irī, speaking on the most prominent of his shaykhs:
Then he forged links with the scholar of his age, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maydānī al-Ghunaymī, who was a jurist, knower of his time, possessor of vast foresight, far from bigotry and stagnation, and treading in the footsteps of the righteous early Muslim community (al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ) due to his piety and abstinence.
During his stay in Damascus, he studied Ḥanafī fiqh under the greatest jurist of his age, ‘Allāmah ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Ghunaymī al-Maydānī, the pupil of the master of the latter-day jurists, ‘Allāmah al-Sayyid Muḥammad [Ibn] ‘Ābidīn, the author of al-Ḥāshiyah.
Al-Qudūrī’s text is amongst the reliable books of the school, taught and studied by the Ḥanafīs from the time of its author until our times. For this reason, Shaykh al-Maydānī paid special attention to it and wrote a commentary on it. He expended a great deal of effort in it, notwithstanding its brevity, and he relied on the chosen positions of the school. It gained acclaim in his lifetime and after his death. The author also has a commentary on the acclaimed text on creed ‘Aqīdah al-Imām al-Ṭaḥawī, which is published and is popular amongst scholarly circles.
Shaykh al-Maydānī passed away in Damascus in the year 1298 AH. May Allah Most High have mercy on him.
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[1] Biographical notes taken from al-Ghunaymī, ‘Abd al-Ghanī. Tuḥfah al-nussāk fī faḍl al-siwāk. 2nd edn. Beirut: Dār al-Bashā’ir al-Islāmiyyah, Beirut 1431/2010.
Biography taken from the English translation of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Ghunaymī al-Maydānī's Is’āf al-Muridīn li Iqāmah Farā’iḍ al-Dīn translated and annotated by Amjad Mahmood as The Seekers' Aid in Upholding the Religious Duties - A Manual on Creed and Ḥanafī Fiqh (published by Heritage Press).