Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra

Tabaqat al-Shāfi'iyya al-Kubra (Arabic: طبقات الشافعية الكبرى, lit. 'The Major Classes/Generations of the Shafi'is') is a voluminous encyclopedic biographical dictionary written by the Shafi'i-Ash'ari scholar Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771/1370), in which he presents biographies of scholars of the Shafi'i legal school in Sunni Islam, from the time of Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (d. 204/820) all the way to his own contemporary time.^[1][2]

Tabaqat al-Shāfi'iyya al-Kubra

The first edition ever published of Tabaqat al-Shāfi'iyya al-Kubra, published in 1906 in Cairo by al-Matba'a al-Husayniyya al-Misriyya [ar]. The Arabic text written on the book cover: Tabaqat al-Shāfi'iyya al-Kubra by Shaykh al-Islam, the Luminary of Luminaries, the Proof of al-Huffaz (memorizers of the Qur'an and Hadith traditions) and al-Mufassirin (the interpreters or the commentators of the Qur'an), the Sword of al-Nuzzar (the rationalists or theorists) and al-Mutakallimīn (dialecticians, theologians, or scholars of kalam), the Champion of Sunnah, the Supporter/Strengthener of Religion, Taj al-Din Abi Nasr 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Taqi al-Din al-Subki, may God be pleased with him, and benefit us from him.
Editors	Mahmud Muhammad al-Tanahi [ar] and 'Abd al-Fattah Muhammad al-Hilw [ar] Mustafa 'Abd al-Qadir 'Ata
Author	Taj al-Din al-Subki
Original title	طبقات الشافعية الكبرى
Language	Arabic
Subject	Tabaqat, Biography, Islamic history, Arabic literature, Kalam, Sufism
Publisher	Al-Matba'a al-Husayniyya al-Masriyya [ar], 1906 Matba'at 'Isa al-Babi al-Halabi, 1964 Dar Ihya' al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya, 1976 Dar Hajar, 1992 Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya [ar], 1999
Publication date	1906
Publication place	Egypt during the Mamluk rule
ISBN	9782745128560
Preceded by	Jam' al-Jawami' (The Collection of Collections)
Followed by	Mu'id al-Ni'am wa Mubid al-Niqam (The Restorer of Favours and the Restrainer of Chastisements)
Original text	طبقات الشافعية الكبرى at Arabic Wikisource
Website	www.al-ilmiyah.com/details?id=978-2-7451-2856-0

The work also chronicles the history of the Ash'ari school of thought, since its beginning with Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324/936) all the way to Taj al-Din al-Subki's own era; because most of the Ash'ari scholars are following the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence.^[3]

Content

The work is divided into seven classes (tabaqat), as follows:^[4]

1. Those who were students (disciples) of Imam al-Shafi'i (d. 204/820), the founder of the Shafi'i school.
2. Those who died between 200 AH and 300 AH.
3. Those who died between 300 AH and 400 AH.
4. Those who died between 400 AH and 500 AH.
5. Those who died between 500 AH and 600 AH.
6. Those who died between 600 AH and 700 AH.
7. Those who died after 700 AH.

In the last volume, al-Subki devotes about 150 pages to his own father, Shaykh al-Islam Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 756/1355).^[4]

Notes

• Taj al-Din al-Subki wrote three different works on this same subject, a large work entitled, 'Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra', a more summarized edition called, 'Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Wusta', and the most shortened edition called, 'Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Sughra'. These tabaqat (“classes” or “generations”) of scholars by him have the fame of being the best biographies of Shafi'i scholars ever written.^[4]

Gallery

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  Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra (Arabic: طبقات الشافعية الكبرى)
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  Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Wusta (Arabic: طبقات الشافعية الوسطى)
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  Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Sughra (Arabic: طبقات الشافعية الصغرى)
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  Жизнь и убеждения имама Абуль-Хасана аль-Аш'ари An abridged Russian translation of the biography of Imam al-Ash'ari from the book “Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra” by Taj al-Din al-Subki.

See also

• Deaths of Eminent Men and the Sons of the Epoch
• Hilyat al-Awliya'
• List of Sunni books