Abu Abdullah Al-Zanjani
Abu Abdullah Al-Zanjani (1): Abu Abdullah, or Muhammad Bin Ibrahim Bin Isma’il of Zanjan, a magnificent city in the lands of Persia comparable to Tabriz, Isfahan, and Qom. His father moved from Zanjan to Shiraz, where Abu Abdullah Al-Zanjani was born in 662 AH. Abu Abdullah was a descendant of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him. He was also amongst the most prominent companions of Imam Nasr Al-Din Abdullah Bin Umar Al-Baydawi the exegetist.
Abu Abdullah went to Yemen twice, the first time as a messenger for the King of Shiraz at the start of the Mu’ayyadi State, and a second time in the year 718 AH. Each time he went to Aden, he took the initiative to teach, with many people in Aden and elsewhere benefiting from the knowledge he shared. Many people received knowledge from him, including Abdel-Rahman Bin Ali Bin Sufiyan, Muhammad Bin Uthman Al-Shawri, and Salim Bin Imran Bin Abi Al-Surour. He then returned to his country after visiting Bab Mu’ayyad in Zabid, where he experienced good treatment.
Al-Baydawi traced Abu Abdullah’s lineage to a city some distance away from Shiraz that his grandfather had left in order to live in Shiraz. Shiraz was where the King had always resided in the lands of Persia ever since the city had been established by Muhammad Bin Al-Qasim Al-Thaqafi up until his day.
None of the scholars of Shiraz could outmatch Abu Abdullah in terms of how many companions he had or the number of books he wrote. He authored an exegesis of the Qur’an and died in the city of Tabriz in the region of Azerbaijan (located in present-day Iran) after the year 690 AH. He was 49 years old at the time of his death.
Source: Kitab Al-Sulala Al-Bakria As-Siddiqia – Part II, by Ahmed Farghal Al-De’abassi Al-Bakri
Date of Publication
1 Ramadan 1438 AH / May 26, 2017 AD
(1) Al-Suluk fi Tabaqat Al-Ulama’ wa Al-Muluk 2/ 435, Tarikh Thaghr Adan, pg. 224