Who is Ibn Hajar in Mirqat?

Who is Ibn Hajar in Mirqat?

Who is Ibn Ḥajar in Mirqāt?

Question

In Mirqāt al-Mafātīḥ, reference is made to “Ibn Ḥajar” many times. Is this the famous Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, the author of Fatḥ al-Bārī, or is it Ibn Ḥajar al-Makkī?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

Answer

When Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī (d. 1014/1605) mentions “Ibn Ḥajar” or “Sharḥ Ibn Ḥajar” in his commentary on Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, Mirqāt al-Mafātīḥ, this is a reference to the Shāfiʿī scholar, ʿAllāmah Ibn Ḥajar al-Makkī (d. 974/1567), the author of Fatḥ al-Ilāh. Fatḥ al-Ilāh is a commentary of Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ which was published a few years ago by Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah in 10 volumes. This commentary confirms that “Ibn Ḥajar” in Mirqāt refers to ʿAllāmah Ibn Ḥajar al-Makkī. I have checked this many times and made reference to this in various writings including in Tanshīṭ al-Ādhān (p. 120). Many a times, Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī critiques the views of “Ibn Ḥajar” and these views are found in Fatḥ al-Ilāh, not Fatḥ al-Bārī.

On the other hand, Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī refers to Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1449), who is also Shāfiʿī, as “al-ʿAsqalānī”. Sometimes this is preceded by “Ibn Ḥajar” and also lofty titles such as “Shaykh al-Islām”, “Ḥāfiẓ” and “Shaykh” (Mirqāt, 1:24, 33, 36, 49), however, “al-ʿAsqalānī” is always used. These quotes can be found in Fatḥ al-Bārī. Further, Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī does not critique him in that way the he critiques ʿAllāmah Ibn Ḥajar al-Makkī.

I have only found one place in which “Ibn Ḥajar” is mentioned without “al-ʿAsqalānī” although it refers to him. However, it is clear from the word preceding this “Muqaddimah Ibn Ḥajar” along with the sentence before that it is referring to him.

قال علي القاري في المرقاة (٤/١٥٤٩): (حنظلة بن الربيع) بضم الراء وفتح الموحدة وتشديد الياء المكسورة، وفي نسخة: الربيع بفتح الراء وكسر الموحدة وسكون التحتية، كذا بخط الكرماني شارح البخاري، ويؤيده ما في مقدمة ابن حجر: الربيع كثير وبالتصغير امرأتان اهـ، انتهى. والمراد به مقدمة الفتح لابن حجر العسقلاني (ص ٢١٢) المشهور بهَديِ الساري، وقيل: ضبطه الصحيح: هُدى الساري بضم الهاء، كما وقع في عنوان نسخة خطية مضبوطة بالشكل، وهو بخط الحافظ ابن حجر، فهو الأشبه، وهو الألطف معنى، وإن كان الأول صحيح أيضا معنى، والله أعلم۔

Our respected teacher, Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mawlānā Muḥammad Yūnus Jownpūrī (d. 1438/2017) affirms what has been mentioned above in an answer written several decades ago. At the time, Fatḥ al-Ilāh was not published and Shaykh mentions some examples of earlier scholars mentioning it. He adds that Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī did not write a commentary on Mishkāt, although he authored a takhrīj of it, Hidāyat al-Ruwāt fī Takhrīj Aḥādīth al-Maṣābīḥ wa al-Mishkāt (which is also published). Accordingly, Shaykh concludes:

جہاں بھی ملا علی قاری شرح مشکوۃ میں قال ابن حجر کہتے ہیں ، اس سے ابن حجر مکی ہی مراد ہوتے ہیں، اور اکثر انکی شرح مشکوۃ سے ہی لیتے ہیں، بخلاف حافظ ابن حجر کے کہ انکو العسقلانی سے یاد کرتے ہیں (الیواقیت الغالیۃ، جلد ۲، صفحہ ۷۸)۔

Allah knows best

Yusuf Shabbir

29 Shawwāl 1441 / 21 June 2020

Approved by: Mufti Shabbir Ahmad and Mufti Muhammad Tahir