Khayr al-Din al-Ramli
Khayr al-DIn | |
|---|---|
| Title | al-Ramli |
| Personal | |
| Born | 1585 Hanafi |
Khayr al-Din ibn Ahmad ibn Nur al-Din Ali ibn Zayn al-Din ibn Abd al-Wahab al-Ayubi al-Farooqui (1585–1671), better known as Khayr al-Din al-Ramli (
Early life and Islamic studies
Khayr al-Din al-Ramli was born in
In 1598-99 CE, al-Ramli traveled to
Muhibbi states that al-Ramli "worked hard" and "outdid" Taj al-Din, eventually gaining the attention of the lead scholar of al-Azhar, Sheikh Abdullah al-Nahiri. Al-Nahiri regularly invited al-Ramli and Taj al-Din to his home and gave them private lessons on the Hanafi thought. In 1603, al-Ramli graduated from al-Azhar and received honorary certificates from al-Nahiri as well as from another senior scholar, Sheikh Abd Allah. Prior to his return to al-Ramla, al-Ramli stopped in
Career
Upon returning to al-Ramla in 1604, he began teaching the Hanafi madhab to the residents of the area. He rapidly began to acquire estates in and around the city which he used to plant thousands of orchards including olives, figs and other fruits. Although he did not receive funds from the Ottoman state nor from the waqf, al-Ramli ordered the rehabilitation of a number of mosques and shrines in the surrounding area. He also funded religious personnel and his students who came from various parts of the Ottoman Empire. It is understood that al-Ramli used the revenues of his agricultural pursuits to bankroll most of his financial activities, allowing him to become a philanthropist in his community. According to biographer Ibrahim al-Janini, he collected roughly 1,200 books with multiple copies which he provided to provincial officials, 'ulema, and sheikhs who requested them.[4]
Al-Ramli immediately issued numerous
Legacy
Al-Ramli died in his hometown in 1671 at the age of 86. Al-Muhibbi described him as "the last of the great 'ulema."[7] Al-Ramli's fatawa ("multiple edicts") were compiled into final form in 1670, in a collection entitled al-Fatawa al-Khayriyah.[6] These fatawa are a contemporary record of the time, and also give a complex view of agrarian relations.[6] Modern scholars are using his works to trace the path of embryonic territorial awareness, specifically that of Palestine.[8] His fatawa reference the Roman province of Palaestina Prima, or as it was known in the early Islamic period, Jund Filastin. It was originally thought that term died out during the Mamluk and Ottoman states, as they did not use this concept, however, the way that al-Ramli used the term suggests otherwise.[9] When it is brought up, he never defines the term, and uses it only in passing, suggesting that his audience would have an understanding of what he meant.[10]
Khayr al-Din al-Ramli is a descendant of
References
Bibliography
- Fay, Mary Ann (2002). "Biography as History: The Exemplary Life of Khayr al-Din al-Ramli". In Mary Ann Fay (ed.). Autobiography and the construction of identity and community in the Middle East. ISBN 978-0-312-21966-6.
- Gerber, Haim (1994). State, society, and law in Islam: Ottoman law in comparative perspective. ISBN 978-0-7914-1877-2.
- Gerber, Haim (1998). "'Palestine' and other Territorial Concepts in the 17th Century". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 30 (4): 563–572. S2CID 162982234.
- Gerber, Haim (1998). "Rigidity Versus Openness in Late Classical Islamic Law: The case of the Seventeenth-Century Palestinian Mufti Khayr al-Din al-Ramli". Islamic Law and Society. 5 (2): 165–195. JSTOR 3399339.
- Islahi, Abdul Azim. "Works of Economic Interest in the Seventeenth Century Muslim World". Thoughts on Economics. 18 (2): 35–50.
