– delivering the Friday sermon in the Mosque of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ in Cairo.
– serving as muftī at the Dār al-ʿAdl (Court of Justice).
His Writings
Allah Most High endowed the ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar with qualities in his books that are seldom found elsewhere: they combine expansive coverage with rigorous verification. Because of this, they enjoyed full acceptance and widespread circulation during his lifetime and ever since; hardly a researcher or author today fails to rely on them. Among his most famous works are:
- Fatḥ al-Bārī, Commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, which specialists regard as the most beneficial explanation of al-Bukhārī. Some have said, “A commentary on al-Bukhārī was a debt upon the Muslim community that none discharged save Ibn Ḥajar with Fatḥ al-Bārī.”
- Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, a collection of hadith transmitters’ biographies, in which he details their ranks and standing.
- al-Iṣābah fī Tamyīz al-Ṣaḥābah, devoted to the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, distinguished by its presentation of their narrations and those who learned from them.
- Bulūgh al-Marām min Adillat al-Aḥkām (Attaining the Goal through the Evidences of the Rulings), to be discussed below, Allah willing.
In all, his writings number about one hundred and fifty, most of them dedicated to verifying the purified Sunnah, both in transmission and in understanding.
Ibn Ḥajar is a jewel of his age, a luminary among the Imams of Islam, and a leading authority in knowledge. Allah caused his scholarship to benefit others both through the great students he trained and the monumental works he authored.
This brief sketch cannot do him justice, nor can it display his merits and virtues. Many scholars and hadith masters have devoted independent works to his biography, the best of which is by his student, the eminent al-Sakhāwī, entitled al-Jawāhir wa’l-Durar fī Tarjamat al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar.
He passed away—may Allah have mercy on him—in Egypt on 28 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 852 AH and was laid to rest in the Lesser Qarāfah cemetery. May Allah envelop him in the mercy reserved for His chosen righteous servants.