Our first article on the well known scholar, Ismaeel ibn Katheer concentrated on his family, upbringing and studies. In order to make this biographical note more complete we need to add some information about life in his time and about his scholarly contribution.
Ibn Katheer lived all his life under the Al-Mamaleek Al-Bahriyah dynasty (648-784 AH), which ruled over Egypt and Syria. Damascus, where he grew up and lived practically all his life, enjoyed good times, particularly under Prince Tinkiz, the Sultan’s deputy who continued in this post for 28 years (712-740). He was a very pious and God-fearing ruler, who was keen to maintain justice. It is documented that he used to walk the streets of the city at night to gain first-hand information about the people’s living conditions. He built one of the main mosques in the city, which is known by his name, and attached to it a religious school which continues to function today.
Although Ibn Katheer did not play a political role like his teacher, Ibn Taimiyah, he was often called in for consultation on public matters. He was a courageous scholar who spoke out against anything that he felt to be wrong. When a decree by the sultan ordered the confiscation of some property belonging to Christian citizens, he spoke out against that, explaining that the order was un-Islamic. His attitude led to returning to them everything that had been confiscated. He then counseled the sultan’s deputy to direct his attention to hostile quarters, such as the Crusaders in Cyprus who were posing a threat.
From a scholarly point of view, the fall of Baghdad to the Tartars in 656 AH (i.e. 45 years before Ibn Katheer’s birth) was accompanied by destruction on a massive scale of books and libraries. Hence scholars were engaged in the following period in serious efforts to redress the dearth of books in various fields. Thus, we see numerous books written in this period by famous scholars like Ibn Taimiyah, Ibn Al-Qayyim, Al-Nawawi and Ibn Katheer. This led to a special types of books being produced, including summaries of old encyclopaedic works, annotations of such summaries and further summaries in poetry form.
Ibn Katheer wrote many books, the best known of which is his commentary on the Qur’an, known as Tafseer Al-Quran Al-Atheem. It has been published many times, in 9 volumes at times and in 4 very large volumes at others. It is considered one of the best commentaries ever written, because his methodology is to depend first on the Qur’an itself for its explanation. He points out that we often find that something is referred to in brief in one surah, while we find it given in more detail in another. Secondly, he relies on authentic Hadiths. When he quotes a Hadith, he points out its degree of authenticity. His third main source is the Prophet’s companions and what they said about particular verses and surahs. What distinguishes Ibn Katheer’s book is his reliance, to a great degree, on authentic Hadiths. Hence, the book was praised time after time by top scholars, such as Ibn Taimiyah, Al-Suyooti, Al-Shawkani, and in our contemporary times by Sheikh Ahmad Muhammad Shakir and Sayyid Qutb. Several scholars summarized it, the last of whom was Muhammad Ali Al-Sabooni, whose summary is published in three volumes.
Another highly important work by Ibn Katheer is known as Al-Bidayah wal-Nihayah, which is a history encyclopedia in 16 volumes. It is a very rich in its material and highly useful. The history written by Ibn Katheer starts with man’s creation and ends in his own time, but the Islamic period is very detailed, documenting the contribution of Muslim scholars in different disciplines, adding biographical notes on main figures, in the political, social and scholarly fields. The book has gained much acclaim and continues to be a main source of reference in its subject matter.
Ibn Katheer is often said to have written two books on the life of the Prophet, a short and a long one. Parts of the shorter version were published about 60 years ago in Egypt. The longer version constitutes a major portion of his history book, Al-Bidayah Wal-Nihayah. In fact, this book on the life of the Prophet has no longer a separate entity, although it was published in four volumes in Cairo in 1964. It should be mentioned also that Ibn Katheer devotes a large portion of his history to the discussion of the Prophet’s character and his manners. Again, this was published in 1967 as a separate book in one volume. However, the publication of such portions in separate books may be valuable to some readers, but it is done mainly for commercial purposes.
Another book written by Ibn Katheer was a summary of Hadith disciplines. This is concerned with the specialized disciplines that constitute the study of Hadith, its verification, grading and authentication. This book is in fact a summary of a famous book written by Ibn Al-Salah, which is known as his Introduction. Ibn Katheer annotates his summary with additions and useful tips that are extremely helpful in the study of Hadith. Scholars say that these notes and tips testify to Ibn Katheer’s broad knowledge of Hadith and its study.
Ibn Katheer wrote some other short books, one of them a pamphlet concerning jihad, which he wrote for Prince Manjak, the sultan’s deputy in Damascus. Another was concerned with the Crusaders’ assault on Alexandria. A third book is devoted to the Prophet’s birth and infancy. It was discovered as a manuscript in the University of Princeton’s library and then edited and published by Dr. Salah Al-Deen Al-Munajjid, an experienced scholar who edited numerous manuscripts.
Ibn Katheer wrote several other important books that have not been published yet. One of these, highly praised by scholars, is known as Jami’ Al-Masaneed wal-Sunan, which is an encyclopaedic collection of Hadiths arranged according to the names of the Prophet’s companions who reported them. It is in 8 volumes. Another book of similar size is devoted to Hadith reporters and their grades of reliability. A third book is devoted to the biographies of Shafie scholars. All these books are still in manuscript form, available in some libraries and need to be edited and published. They are bound to be highly useful, considering the reliability of their author.
Biographies of Ibn Katheer mention that he wrote many other books, but these have been lost. It should be said that Ibn Katheer continued to write despite problems with his eyesight in his old age, until finally he lost his eyesight. He died in 774 AH. May God shower His mercy on him. (Concluded)
