14th century
historian (B. 673 / D. 1274, Silvan / Diyarbekir – H. 748 / AD.1348). His full name is Ahmad b. Usmân b. Kaymaz. As it can be understood from the nickname
el-Fariki added to his name; some sources claim that he is a historian and Hadith
scholar from Meyyafarikin (Silvan); but reliable sources claim that he was born
in Damascus and
passed over in the same city. He has received scientific education in cities
such as Dimas, Aleppo, Baalbek,
Alexandria, Cairo,
Mecca. He had
tendencies to Salafi doctrines and Hanbeli views overriding. His father was a
jewellery man and he was named as ez-Zehebi; he was interested in science and
gave importance to the training of his son.
Muhammad b. Ahmed
ez-Zahabi began to memorize Qur'an at an early age and he became Hafiz,
obtaining a good recitation skill. He had an opportunity to meet with
scientific leading scholars of his age during his travels in different cities
and regions. Ez-Zehebi was particularly influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah. After
completing his journey in order to learn science, he began to work as an
oratory at a mosque close to Damascus
where he wrote his most outstanding works. He became the madrasah sheikh in
five different madrasahs where hadith training is provided, and he trained many
students. His fame spread to distant lands and science students in almost every
part of the Islamic world observed his countenance. Thus, in the madrasahs
where he taught he had graduated many hafiz and hadith students Many works
written in the 14th century, give the name of Ez-Zehebî's hundreds of students.
Among them, Tacuddiin Es Subki, Salahuddin Al-Safed and Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali
are the most famous.
Ez-Zahabi is renowned in getting a large number of work items. He never stopped
until the end of life, and eventually lost his eyes completely. The number of
these works is rumored to be around hundred. His books include issues such as
recitation, Hadith, Akaid, procedure; but the real focus point in his works is
history. The most famous of his works is "Tarihu'l-Islam wal-a'lâ vefeyatu'l " is a comprehensive
history of Islam, starting at the Hijra until H. 700 / AD. 1300 This work has
several copies at various libraries around the world and it is a very well
known one. The number of volumes can vary between 10 and 21. One of the most
important features of this work is that it covers a vast geography and contains
numerous biographies. The author, in the foreword to his book, has stated that
he wrote this boo by referring many works without going into too much detail;
and covering the biographies of important people and places, if he mentioned
about those unknown people then his work could be more than a hundred volumes.
Ez-Zehebî's
second the most comprehensive work "Siyar a'lâmi'n-Nubelâ", is about
the biograpies of the leading caliphs
sultans, emirs, commander, women, jurists, hadith, linguist,
whether, poets and philosophers of the
Islamic world, This work gives more importance to Hadith scholars. This book is
similar with "Târîhu'l-Islamic" due to the biographies in it, but it
is not a summary of it. The biographies in Sirah are more comprehensive than
the other one, adding the names of the books as well.
OTHER WORKS:
El-Muştebeh fi’l-esma’ ve’l-ensab, El-Kuna
ve’l-elka, Tezkiretu’l-Huffaz, Tabakatu’l-Huffaz (includes biographies of muhaddithun. First was published
in 1833 in Göttingen) El-İber fi Haber men ğaber (A comprehensive history
contains excerpts from the history books in which the historical events are in
alphabetical order; it is in the British
Museum), Mizanu’l-itidal fi nakdi’r-rical (muhaddithun were subject field and is a work prepared by
alphabetical order. It was first published in 1884 in India), Tecrid esma’i’s-sahabe (Sahaba
is the main subject area of this book; Printed in Hyderabad
in H.1315), Et-Tıbbu’n-Nebevi (It
was litographed in Egypt
first, then printed in France)
El-İ’lam bi vefeyati’l-a’lam, Tabakatu’l-kurra’, Tehzibu’t-tehzib, İhtisar tarihu’l-hatib, İhtisar suneni’l-Beyhaki, Fethu’t-talib
fi ahbâr Ali bin Ebi Talib, Menakıbu’l-Buhari.
REFERENCE: Carl
Brockelmann / GAL (Leiden 1954, II/57), M. Faruk Toprak / Prof. Dr. Faruk
Toprak / "Ez-Zehebî" (İhsan Işık / Diyarbakır Ansiklopedisi, 2013) - İhsan Işık / Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar
ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (V. 12, 2015).
