Jamal al-Din al-Zaylaʽi

Jamal al-Din Abdullah Ibn Yusuf Al-Zayla'i (Arabic: جمال الدين أبو محمد عبد الله بن يوسف بن محمد الزيلعي الحنفي) (d. 1342) was a 14th-century Somali Theologian, Imam, Muhaddith, and Jurist from Zeila.

Uthman bin Ali Zayla'i
Title	Al Zayla'i
Personal
Died	1360
Religion	Islam
Era	14th century
Region	Zeila
Jurisprudence	Hanafi
Main interest(s)	Islamic philosophy, Islamic Jurisprudence
Muslim leader
Influenced by Al-Dhahabi, Al-Mizzi, Ibn Aqeel Al-Nahwi, Fakhr al-Din al-Zayla'i, Ibn Al Turkmani

Biography

Although born Zayla, Imam Al Zayla'i eventually settled in Cairo, Egypt, where he joined other Somali students at the Riwaq al Zayla'i of the Al-Azhar University. During his time in Egypt he studied under numerous scholars including the likes of Al-Dhahabi, Al-Mizzi, Ibn Aqeel Al-Nahwi, Ibn Al Turkmani, as well as his fellow Somali, Fakhr al-Din al-Zayla'i.

Al-Zayla‘ī developed a deep acquaintance with the field of Hadīth and frequently consulted the relevant books. He collected popular and rare, classical and new – relatively – Hadīth works until he developed proficiency in the science. He managed to locate hadīths other experts in the field were unable to locate; Nasb al-Rāyah is a clear testimony to this.

While enumerating those who wrote takhrīj works on al-Hidāyah, the learned Hadīth expert Qāsim [ibn Qutlūbughā] (d. 879 AH) describes al-Zayla‘ī as “the most expansive in scope and wide-ranging in collection.” The erudite scholar al-Laknawī (d. 1304 AH) writes, “His takhrīj work is indicative of his depth in the field of Hadīth and narrator criticism, and his encompassing vision in the branches of Hadīth to the highest extent.” Shaykh Anwar Shāh al-Kashmīrī (d. 1352 AH) went as far as saying, “In my opinion, Hāfiẓ al-Zayla‘ī has better memory than Hāfiẓ Ibn Hajar.”

Many biographers note a noble academic trait that was pronounced in al-Zayla‘ī: impartiality and the abandonment of madhhab fanaticism. While describing al-Zayla‘ī and his book Nasb al-Rāyah, Hāfiẓ Ibn Hajar writes, “In every chapter, he cites the evidence of the opposition, and in so doing, he exhibits a great deal of fairness. He quotes what he finds without objection…” al-Kashmīrī traces the cause of al-Zayla‘ī inculcating this trait to the fact that he was from “the Sūfī mentors whose souls were trained through spiritual exercises and seclusion…”

This trait is manifest in Nasb al-Rāyah. The author was rooted in the Hanafī legal school and then cross-pollinated his knowledge by studying under Ibn ‘Adlān, the teacher of the Shāfi‘ī jurists, and others besides him. Furthermore, he was deeply influenced by al-Imām of Ibn Daqīq al-Īd, who was a Mālikī and Shāfi‘ī scholar, and by Ibn al-Jawzī’s al-Tahqīq and Ibn ‘Abd al-Hādī’s al-Tanqīh, both of whom were Hanbalī scholars.

References

• Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (1987). Arabic Sources on Somalia. African Studies Association.