Among the notable figures who died this year were:
The righteous shaykh and Qur’an reciter (1), the last remnant of the early pious generation, ʿAfīf al-Din Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Aḥad (2) ibn ʿAlī al-Qurashī al-Makhzūmī al-Dilāsī (3), the Shaykh of the Sanctuary in Mecca. He resided there for more than sixty years, teaching people the Qur’an solely for the sake of Allah. He died in Mecca on the night of Friday, 14 Muḥarram, at over ninety years of age (may Allah have mercy on him).
The distinguished shaykh Shams al-Din Abū ʿAbd Allah (4) Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Abī al-Qāsim al-Hamdānī. His father, the righteous man known as al-Sakkākīnī, was born in 635 AH in the Ṣāliḥiyyah quarter. He mastered the variant readings, pursued introductory studies in grammar, composed forceful poetry, and heard ḥadith. Ibn al-Fakhr (5) al-Baʿlabakkī compiled for him a fascicle of transmissions from his teachers. Later he took up Shiʿism out of poverty under Abū Ṣāliḥ al-Ḥalabī (6), the leader of the Shīʿa, and he kept company with Ibn ʿAdnān (7), teaching the latter’s children. The amir of the Prophet’s City, Manṣūr ibn Jammaz (8), summoned him, and he remained with him for about seven years. He then returned to Damascus, weakened and hard of hearing. He posed a question about a report, and Shaykh Taqī al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah answered it, though others disparaged him for that. After his death a book of his appeared in which he defended the Jews and other followers of corrupt religions (9). When Taqī al-Din al-Subkī arrived in Damascus as judge, he washed that book, for it was in the man’s own handwriting. When he died, the judge Shams al-Din ibn Muslim (10) did not attend his funeral.
He passed away on Friday, 16 Ṣafar, and was buried at the foot of Mount Qāsiyūn. His son was later killed (11) for reviling the Mothers of the Believers—ʿĀʾishah and others (may Allah be pleased with them)—and may the one who insulted them be disgraced.
On Friday, the first of Ramaḍān, funeral prayers in absentia were performed in Damascus for the following individuals: