Al-Quda'i

Muḥammad ibn Salāma al-Quḍā'ī (died 1062) was a Shafi'i judge, preacher and historian in Fatimid Egypt. He is known as author of a work called "The Prophet's genealogy, his birth, his emigration and his death." The manuscript has been preserved. He was of Iranian origin.

al-Quḍā'ī was a scribe in the chancery under the vizier Alī ibn Aḥmad al-Jarjarā'ī (died 1045). He was in the chancery at the same time as the scholar al-Mu'ayyad al-Shīrāzī (died 1078). He served under the Fatimids as a judge over the Sunni population. He performed the Hajj in 1053. In 1055 he made a journey to Byzantium as emissary of the caliph.

He earned great respect for his scholarship, particularly regarding hadith, and many hadith works include him as one of their transmitters. The jurist al-Silafī (died 1180) said of him, "His fame absolves me from lengthy expositions... he is counted among the trustworthy and reliable transmitters."

According to his student Ibn Mākūlā, "He was a master of many different sciences... I do not know anyone in Egypt who approaches his stature."

Apart from his work on Muhammad, al-Quḍā'ī also wrote a terse history of the prophets and caliphs. He said in the introduction that he had observed brevity, but that it was "amply sufficient for entertainment and conversation." In some cases his history of a caliph would give little more than a short character sketch, the names of his wives and children, and names of officials during his rule. Although al-Quḍā'ī's history of the Fatimids has been lost, it was used by al-Maqrizi and others in later works. His description of Fustat before its decline and ruin after his death was a key resource for al-Maqrizi in understanding the former topography of the city. He also wrote a pamphlet that contained some of the best-known Maliki laws.

His book of the parables and teachings of the Prophet, a hadith collection, was widely read. Four Morisco versions from Spain are known, three from Almonacid. One is in Arabic, one only in aljamia and two are bi-lingual. His work on the Prophet's life has not been examined. It was the basis for a work by Shīrawayh al-Daylamī that was criticized by Ibn Taymīya for fanciful and adulatory statements about Muhammad,

which indicates that the work by al-Quḍā'ī was also concerned more with the Prophet as an exemplary man than as a religious and political leader.