Ali ibn Abu Bakr al-Haythami

Abu al-Hasan al-Haythami
Title	Imam, Muhaddith
Born	30 AH 735 (1334/1335)
Died	AH 807 (1404/1405)
Ethnicity	Arab
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Shafi'i
Creed	Ashari
Main interest(s)	Fiqh, Hadith
Notable work(s)	Majma' al-Zawa'id

Nur al-Din `Ali ibn Abi Bakr ibn Sulayman, Abu al-Hasan al-Haythami (735AH 1335 CE– 807AH 1404 CE) was a Sunni Shafi`i Islamic scholar from Cairo, whose father had a shop on a desert road. He was born in the month of Rajab in 735 H. corresponding to 1335 CE. He learned the Qur'an and memorized it, and when he was a teenager, he became a disciple of a highly renowned scholar of Hadith, Abd Al-Raheem ibn Al-Hussain ibn Abd Al-Rahman, who was better known as Zain Al-Deen Al-Iraqi.

Al-Haythami became a committed associate of Al-Iraqi, staying with him all the time, traveling with him when he traveled, and offering the pilgrimage in his company. He attended with him every circle he attended in Cairo, other cities in Egypt, Makkah, Madinah, Jerusalem, Damascus, Baalbak, Aleppo and other places. The only teacher under whom Al-Haythami read, without being attended by Al-Iraqi, was Ibn Abd Al-Hadi, from whom he heard the Sahih collection of Imam Muslim. On the other hand, Al-Iraqi heard from only four teachers without Al-Haythami taking part.

Al-Iraqi, who was only ten years older than Al-Haythami, was a highly distinguished scholar of Hadith. Al-Haythami was also to distinguish himself as a scholar of Hadith, but despite his broad scholarly achievement, he preferred to remain in the shadow of his teacher and friend, Al-Iraqi. Indeed, Al-Iraqi relied on Al-Haythami in conducting much of his affairs, and gave him his daughter in marriage. He trained him in a particular area of Hadith scholarship and Al-Haythami was to achieve distinction in this field and to produce highly valuable works in it. This is the area of Zawa’id which we will presently discuss.

Al-Haythami was exemplary in his religious devotion, and his serious approach to Hadith scholarship. He cared little for worldly matters, which are the main preoccupation of many people, dedicating himself to the study of Hadith, and associating only with Hadith scholars. While Al-Iraqi was alive, he taught Hadith in his presence. Similarly, Al-Iraqi rarely taught without Al-Haythami being present. But after Al-Iraqi’s death, he was sought by many students who wished to read under him. He taught unhesitatingly, but without assuming any personal distinction. He is praised by many scholars for his humility, kindly manner, and dedication to learning. Ibn Hajar, a Hadith scholar of the highest caliber who studied much under Al-Haythami, describes him as very kind, highly critical of anyone indulging in a practice that is unacceptable to Islam, yet he was extremely tolerant when it came to personal grievances. When other students of Al-Iraqi repeatedly tried to irritate him, he simply tolerated them without much complaint.

...
Wikipedia