Ibn Qudama

Muwaffaq al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī (Arabic: ابن قدامة المقدسي; January–February 1147 – 7 July 1223), commonly known as Ibn Qudāma, was a Sunni Islamic scholar, jurist, Athari theologian, and ascetic of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded as one of the most authoritative classical figures of the Hanbali tradition and played a significant role in its development and transmission during the medieval period. Born in the village of Jamma'in near Jerusalem, Ibn Qudāmah migrated in his youth to Damascus, which became the main center of his scholarly activity. He later traveled to Baghdad, then a leading center of Hanbali learning, where he studied under prominent scholars before returning to Damascus to teach and write. Ibn Qudāmah is best known for his major work al-Mughnī, a comprehensive legal encyclopedia that compares juristic opinions across the Sunni schools while presenting the Hanbali position in detail. He also authored influential works such as ʿUmdat al-Fiqh, al-Kāfī, Rawḍat al-Nāẓir, and Lumʿat al-Iʿtiqād. In theology, he adhered to the Atharī tradition and emphasized adherence to the Qurʾān and Sunnah, and his works remain widely studied in Sunni Islamic scholarship.