Arab Islamic exegete, historian and scholar (c. 1300–1373)
For the canonical Qur'an transmitter, see Ibn Kathir al-Makki.
Ibn Kathir
Personal
Born
c. 1300 / 701 H
Bosra, Mamluk Sultanate
Died
18 February 1373 / 774 H
Damascus, Mamluk Sultanate, (Present-day Syria)
Religion
Islam
Era
Bahri Mamluk Sultanate
Region
Sham
Denomination
Sunni
Jurisprudence
Shafi’i[7][8][9]
Creed
Athari[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Notable work(s)
- Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm (Tafsir Ibn Kathir), a Quranic exegesis; - Al-Bidāya wan Nihāya ("The Beginning and the End"), a 14-volume history of Islam; - Kitāb al-jāmiʿ, a hadith collection.[10]
Muslim leader
Influenced by
al-Nawawi[11], Ibn Asakir,[11] Ibn Taymiyya[12], Al-Dhahabi, Ibn al-Qayyim
Arabic name
Personal (Ism)
Ismāʿīl إسماعيل
Patronymic (Nasab)
ibn ʿUmar ibn Kaṯīr بن عمر بن كثير
Teknonymic (Kunya)
Abū l-Fidāʾ أبو الفداء
Epithet (Laqab)
ʿImād ud-Dīn عماد الدين "pillar of the faith"
Toponymic (Nisba)
Ad-Dimashqi Al-Qurashi Al-Busrawi
Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (Arabic: أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير الدمشقي, romanized: Abū al-Fiḍā’ Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī; c. 1300–1373), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), tarikh (history) and fiqh (jurisprudence), he is considered a leading authority on Sunni Islam.
Born in Bostra, Mamluk Sultanate, Ibn Kathir's teachers include al-Dhahabi and Ibn Taymiyya. He wrote several books, including a fourteen-volume universal history titled al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya (Arabic: البداية والنهاية).[13][14]
His renowned tafsir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, is recognized for its critical approach to Israʼiliyyat, especially among Western Muslims and Wahhabi scholars. His methodology largely derives from his teacher Ibn Taymiyya, and differs from that of other earlier renowned exegetes such as Tabari. He adhered to the Athari school of Islamic theology.
^Shah, Muhammad, Mustafa, Muhammad; Pink, Johanna (2020). "55:Classical Qur'anic Hermeneutics". The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studie. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 829. ISBN 978-0-19-969864-6. the methodology proposed by Ibn Taymiyya (d.728/1328) and adopted by Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373), which ultimately resulted in the dismissal of philology in favour of hadith and of the doctrines of Sunnī traditionalism.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Richard Netton, Ian (2008). Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilisation and Religion. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 256–257. ISBN 978-0-7007-1588-6. IBN KATHIR, 'IMAD AL-DIN ISMA'IL IBN 'UMAR (AD 1300–73)... His reliance is totally upon hadith material; the era of Ibn Kathir, in fact, marks the triumph of traditionalism over the powers of rationalism.
^Bakhos, Carol (2015). "13: Interpreters of Scripture". In J. Silverstine; G. Stroumsa; M. Blidstein (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-19-969776-2. Born in Bosra in 1300, Ibn Kathīr was a historian and traditionalist of Mamlūk, Syria.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^Okawa, Reiko (March 2013). "Contemporary Muslim Intellectuals Who Publish Tafsīr Works in English: The Authority of Interpreters of the Qur'ān". Orient. 48. The Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan: 71–72. doi:10.5356/orient.48.57 – via JSTOR. Philips is a follower of traditional literalist interpretation of the Qur'ān.... This is a basic and conservative method of interpreting the Qur'ān, which is used by traditionalist Muslim scholars such as Ibn Kathīr (d.1373)...
^Richard Netton, Ian (2008). Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilisation and Religion. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 256–257. ISBN 978-0-7007-1588-6. Ibn Kathir, 'Imad Al-Din Ism'il Ibn 'Umar (AD 1300–73)... His reliance is totally upon hadith material; the era of Ibn Kathir, in fact, marks the triumph of traditionalism over the powers of rationalism.
^Bakhos, Carol (2015). "13: Interpreters of Scripture". In Silverstine, Adam J.; Stroumsa, Guy G.; Blidstein, Moshe (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-19-969776-2. Born in Bosra in 1300, Ibn Kathīr was a historian and traditionalist of Mamlūk, Syria.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^
"The Re-Formers of Islam: The Mas'ud Questions". Ibn Kathir is a scholar of Ahl al-Sunna who was of the Shafi'i school (according to the first volume of his main work, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, 1.2), while Ibn Taymiya was a scholar whose fiqh remained in the general framework of the Hanbali school.
^Younus Y. Mirza (2012). IBN KATHĪR (D. 774/1373): HIS INTELLECTUAL CIRCLE, MAJOR WORKS AND QUR'ĀNIC EXEGESIS. Georgetown University. Ibn Kathīr is often portrayed as the "spokesperson" for Ibn Taymiyya, one who promoted his work and implemented his theories. Ibn Kathīr is more accurately described as a Shāfi'ī traditionalists or a group of Shāfiʻī ḥadīth scholars who maintained a traditionalist creed.
^Mirza, Younus Y. (1 February 2014). "Was Ibn Kathīr the 'Spokesperson' for Ibn Taymiyya? Jonah as a Prophet of Obedience". Journal of Qur'anic Studies. 16 (1): 3. doi:10.3366/jqs.2014.0130. ISSN 1465-3591.
^"Ibn Kathir - Muslim scholar". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
^ ab"Scholar of renown: Ibn Katheer". April 2002.
^Mirza, Younus Y. (1 February 2014). "Was Ibn Kathīr the 'Spokesperson' for Ibn Taymiyya? Jonah as a Prophet of Obedience". Journal of Qur'anic Studies. 16 (1): 3. doi:10.3366/jqs.2014.0130. ISSN 1465-3591. Jane McAullife remarks that 'certainly the most famous of Ibn Kathīr's teachers, and perhaps the one who influenced him the most, was the Ḥanbalī theologian and jurisconsult Ibn Taymiyyah'.
^Mirza, Younus Y. (1 February 2014). "Was Ibn Kathīr the 'spokesperson' for Ibn Taymiyya? Jonah as a Prophet of Obedience". Journal of Qur'anic Studies. 16 (1): 1. doi:10.3366/jqs.2014.0130. ISSN 1465-3591.
^Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), Historical Dictionary of Islam, p.138. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810861615.
Isma'il ibn Umar ibnKathir al-Dimashqi (Arabic: أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير الدمشقي, romanized: Abū al-Fiḍā’ Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibnKathīr al-Dimashqī;...
commonly known as Tafsir IbnKathir (Arabic: تفسير ابن كثير, romanized: Tafsīr IbnKathīr), is the Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir) by IbnKathir. It is one of the...
Muhammad and Maria al-Qibtiyya. He died at the age of 2. According to IbnKathir, quoting Ibn Sa'd, Ibrahim was born in the last month of the year 8 AH, equivalent...
great-great-great-grandfather Qusai ibn Kilab. Waraqah was the son of a man called Nawfal and his consort—Hind, daughter of Abī Kat̲h̲īr. Waraqah was proposed to...
Kathir 26:111 Tafsir IbnKathir 26:113 Quran 26:116, Tafsir IbnKathir 26:116 Quran 11:29 Quran 11:31 Stories of the Prophets, IbnKathir, Noah Quran 71:6...
was connected with the declaration of my innocence (of the slander)." IbnKathir wrote in his book the Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah that "in the year 56 AH Mu'awiya...
or who "seek to make Islam appear to be a religion of sex and desire". IbnKathir, in his tafsir, writes that kawa'ib has been interpreted to refer to "fully...
Vol. I: Prophets and Patriarchs Tafsir IbnKathir 2:258 "The Father of the Prophets". islamicity.com. "IbnKathir: Story of Prophet Ibrahim/Abraham (pbuh)"...
to Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri, Peters, Stillman, Guillaume, Inamdar and IbnKathir, on the day of the Meccans' withdrawal Muhammad led his forces against...
fought with Muhammad in the Battle of Hunayn. IbnKathir writes that according to Ibn Ishaq, Jabir ibn Abd Allah, who witnessed the battle, reported that...
al-Iman, a book on 'aqīdah, Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) uses hadith narrations from Abu Hurairah to study tawḥīd. IbnKathir uses Abu Hurairah's narrations...
Luqman, the 31st sura (chapter) of the Quran, was named. According to IbnKathir, he is believed to have been from Nubia, Sudan or Ethiopia. There are...
Abdullah ibn Umm-Maktum (Arabic: عبد الله بن أم مكتوم) (died 636) was, according to IbnKathir (d.1373), a companion of Islamic prophet Muhammad. In some...
full name is Ilyas ibn Yasin. According to many Islamic sources and the Bible, Ilyas ascended to the heavens. However, IbnKathir did not accept these...