Qadi Ayyad

Qadi Ayyad ibn Musa (1083-1149)(Arabic: القاضي عياض بن موسى‎, in French transliteration Qadi Iyad) or Abu al-Fadl Ayyad ibn Amr ibn Musa ibn Ayyad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdillah ibn Musa ibn Ayyad al-Yahsubi al-Sabti (أبو الفضل عياض بن موسى بن عياض بن عمرو بن موسى بن عياض بن محمد بن عبد الله بن موسى بن عياض اليحصبي السبتي ) born in Ceuta (Sabtah), then belonging to the Almoravid Empire, was the great imam of that city and, later, a high judge (qadi) in Granada. He was one of the most famous scholars of Maliki law and author of the well-known Al-Shifa bi-tarif huquq al-Mustafa on the virtues of the prophet and Tartib al-mardarik wa-taqrib al-masalik li-marifat alam madhab Malik, a collection of biographies of eminent Malikis, a.o. Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi.

Biography

He headed a revolt against the coming of the Almohades to Ceuta, but lost and was banished to Tadla and later Marrakech. He was a pupil of Abu Abdillah ibn Isa, of Imam Abu Abdillah ibn Hamdin and Abu al-Hassan ibn Siraj and teacher of imam Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd (Averroes).

Qadi Ayyad is also wellknown as one of the seven saints of Marrakech and is buried near Bab Aïlen. His main work is called Ash-Shifâ Bi-Ahwâl Al-Mustafâ (Healing by news of the chosen one). The University of Marrakech (Cadi Ayyad) was named after him.

Bibliography

• Dictionnaire historique de l'islam, de Janine Sourdel et Dominique Sourdel, édition PUF.
• Ahmad al Maqqari al Tilimsani, Azhar al Riyad fi Akhbar al Qadi 'Ayyad (biography and works of Qadi Ayyad), 5 volumes
• "Qadi Iyad's Rebellion against the Almohads in Sabtah (A. H. 542-543/A. D. 1147-1148) New Numismatic Evidence", by Hanna E. Kassis, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 103, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1983), pp. 504-514

External links

• Islamophile.org, extensive article on his life and work, in French
• His grave, the Koubba Cadi Ayyad, near Bab Aylen in Marrakesh [1]

See also

• Ash-Shifa