of Dhu al-Hijjah, Shaykh Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman al-Dhahabi, the hadith scholar and master memoriser, took up his duties at the Turbah of Umm al-Salih in place of Kamal al-Din ibn al-Shurayshi, and a number of judges were present with al-Dhahabi on that occasion (1).
Al-Dhahabi made that institution his residence and remained there until his death.
On Wednesday, 17 Jumada al-Akhira 729 AH, Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi was appointed to the Dar al-Hadith al-Zahiriyya (2) after Shaykh Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Juhayl, and he resigned from the preachership of Kafr Batna (3).
When Shaykh ‘Ilm al-Din al-Barzali—al-Dhahabi’s own teacher and companion—died in 739 AH, al-Dhahabi succeeded him as hadith professor and imam at the Madrasah al-Nafisiyya, and his pupil Salah al-Din al-Safadi drafted the official decree confirming this (4).
That same year, 739 AH, the rebuilding of the Tankaziyya Dar al-Hadith wa’l-Qur’an (5) was completed, and al-Dhahabi assumed the post of shaykh of hadith there (6).
And Muhyi- … was mistaken.
(1) Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, 14/88.
(2) Founded by Sultan al-Malik al-Zahir Baybars al-Bunduqdari in 676 AH, together with the Zahiriyya Madrasa; the building now houses the Dar al-Kutub al-Zahiriyya, opposite the Arab Scientific Academy in Damascus. See: al-Nuaymi, al-Daras, 1/348.
(3) Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, 14/143.
(4) al-Safadi, al-Wafi, 2/166; the text of the royal decree is reproduced there.
(5) The institution is attributed to the amir Tankiz, viceroy of Syria, who took office in 712 AH and died imprisoned in Alexandria at the beginning of 741 AH (al-Husayni, Dhayl al-Ibar, p. 219-220; Ibn Hajar, al-Durar, 2/55, 62). Ibn Kathir, in his account of the year 739 AH, writes: “Among the events of this year was the completion of the Dar al-Hadith al-Sukariyya (sic; the correct name is al-Tankiziyya). The post of shaykh of hadith was assumed by the eminent imam, hadith scholar, and historian of Islam, Shams al-Din Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Dhahabi. Thirty traditionists were appointed, each receiving a monthly stipend and ration of seven dirhams and half a ratl of bread; the shaykh was allotted thirty ratls of bread. Thirty Qur’an reciters were also engaged—one shaykh for every ten—each with the same allowance as the traditionists. The foundation was provided with an imam, a hadith-reader, and deputies; the reader of hadith received twenty dirhams and eight uqiyyas of bread. The result was most impressive …” (al-Bidaya, 14/184).
(6) Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, 14/184; al-Nuaymi, Tanbih, 1/123.