Ibn al-Salah

Abū ‘Amr ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd il-Raḥmān Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Kurdī al-Shahrazūrī, commonly known as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, was a prominent 13th-century Kurdish Shafi'i Islamic scholar, particularly renowned for his expertise in hadith. Born in 577 AH (1181/1182 CE) in Sharazoor, he was raised in Mosul and later resided in Damascus, where he died in 1245 CE at the age of 63 or 64. His most significant contribution to Islamic scholarship is the seminal work, *Introduction to the Science of Hadith*, which became a foundational text in the field. Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ was also deeply knowledgeable in other religious disciplines, including Tafsir (Quranic exegesis) and Fiqh (jurisprudence), and was fluent in Arabic. He held important educational positions, teaching at the Salahiyyah School in Jerusalem and later at the Rawahiyyah School in Damascus. He was the first *shaikh* of Dar al-Hadith Ashrafiyyah, where he dictated his famous introduction. Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ held a strong stance against philosophy, viewing it as a source of deviation and disbelief. His funeral prayer in Damascus was attended by a very large crowd, reflecting his esteemed status. He is described by scholars like al-Dhahabi as the "*shaikh* of the Shafi'i scholars."