Scholars Archive

He is the noble descendant of the Prophet and a guide of Islam, who had the extraordinary honour of kissing the hand of the Truthful Messenger, our master 'Abu l-^Abbas, Shaykh 'Ahmad Ar-Rifa^iyyi l-Kabir, son of Sultan ^Aliyy Abu l-Hasan, the illustrious deceased of Baghdad, son of Yahya l-Maghribiyy, son of Ath-Thabit, son of Al-Hazim, son of 'Ahmad, son of ^Aliyy, son of 'Abu l-Makarim Rifa^ah Al-Hasan Al-Makkiyy, son of Al-Mahdiyy, son of Muhammad 'Abu l-Qasim, son of Al-Hasan, son of Al-Husayn 'Ahmad, son of Musa Ah-Thaniyy, son of Imam 'Ibrahim Al-Murtada, son of Imam Musa l-Kadhim, son…

It is well known that the disciples of Shaykh Ahmad Ar-Rifa^iyy, may Allah accept his deeds, possessed remarkable abilities. They were capable of entering blazing furnaces and lying down side by side while the baker continued to bake his bread at the other end.

In his book " Sawadu l-^Anayni fi manaqibi l-Ghawthi 'Abi l-^Alamayn" which extols the virtues of Imam Ar-Rifa^iyy, Ar-Rifa^iyy recounted: "Our esteemed shaykh, the imam, the authority, the exemplar 'Abu l-Faraj ^Umar Al-Faruthiyy Al-Wasitiyy, relayed to me that 'Our master and shaykh 'Ahmad Ar-Rifa^iyy performed the pilgrimage in the year five hundred and fifty-five of the Hijra.

He is ‘Ahmad, also known as Abu Bakr, the son of ^Aliyy, the son of Thabit, the son of ‘Ahmad, the son of Mahdiyy al-Baghdadiyy. He was born in the year 392 AH to a father who delivered the Friday sermon every week in Darzayjan, a village near Baghdad, situated to the west of the Tigris.

Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadiyy has approximately fifty works attributed to him, although Abu Sa^d As-Sam^aniyy estimated them at fifty-six.

At the end of the fifth century AH, specifically in the year 476 AH, the esteemed author of "Ash-Shifa'," the eminent judge, distinguished Hadith scholar, and Literary Scholar[1], Qadi ^Iyad ibnu Al-‘Andalus son of ^Iyad son of ^Amr son of Al-‘Andalus son of ^Iyad al-Yahsubiyy al-Sabtiyy al-Gharnatiyy al-Malikiyy, was born.