Imam Jalaluddin as-Suyuthi: Interdisciplinary Cleric with Hundreds of Works

In the world of pesantren, the name Imam as-Suyuthi is no stranger. He is a great scholar whose work fills various corners of libraries in many Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. Among Imam as-Suyuthi's famous works is the Tafsir Jalalain, a commentary book that is very concise and relatively easy for students to understand.

His real name is Abdurrahman who is the son of al-Kamal Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Sabiq ad-Din ibn al-Fakhr Uthman ibn Nadzir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Saif ad-Din Khudr ibn Najm ad-Din Abu Sholah Ayyub ibn Nashir ad-Din Muhammad bin as-Shaykh al-Himam.

Imam as-Suyuthi tells about his family background in his work titled Husnul Muhadharah fi Tarikh Mishr wal Qahirah. "As for my great-grandfather, the name of as-Shaykh al-Himam, was an official of the tarekat in his time. While my other ancestors, mostly worked as a judge and a trader. And I know my father as a famous religious teacher in his area. "

Imam as-Suyuthi's father came from the city of Asshuth, a city in the country of Egypt. Whereas Imam as-Suyuthi was born after sunset Sunday evening at the beginning of the month of Rajab in 849 H in the city of Cairo, the capital of the country of Egypt.

Since birth, Imam as-Suyuthi's father has received a signal that the baby will be a great scholar in his time. Once upon a time, before the birth of Imam as-Suyuthi's father was in need of a book. So he ordered his wife to get the book at the end of his private library. While taking the book the wife experienced the pain of giving birth. And after that, Imam as-Suyuthi was born among the books in the library. Since then, the little Imam as-Suyuthi was nicknamed Ibn al-Pole (son of the books). In his childhood, Imam as-Suyuthi was brought before an Egyptian regent named Sheikh Muhammad al-Majdzub to pray for. Thanks to the wali's prayer, Imam as-Suyuthi gained the blessing of extraordinary knowledge in his life.

Imam as-Suyuthi has been left behind by his father since childhood. Noted Imam as-Suyuthi's father died when Imam as-Suyuthi was 5 years old. After that, not even eight years old Imam as-Suyuthi had memorized the memory of the Qur'an 30 juz. Then, Imam as-Suyuthi began to memorize Imam Ibn Malik's mandzumah Alfiyah in nahwu sharaf science, al-Minhaj by al-Badhawi in ushul fiqh, and al-Minhaj by an-Nawawi in fiqh.

Imam as-Suyuthi began to pursue the field of science at the age of 15 years (863 AH). Imam as-Suyuthi took faraidh knowledge from Shaykh Syihab ad-Din asy-Syarmusahi who at that time was more than one hundred years old. Then, Shaykh Syihab ad-Din as-Syarmusahi gave a mandate to Imam as-Suyuthi to teach Arabic grammar at the beginning of 866 H. In 866 AH, Imam as-Suyuthi also completed his first work entitled "Syarh al-Isti ' adzah wal Basmalah ". Then, Imam as-Suyuthi took the science of jurisprudence to Shaykh Alam ad-Din al-Bulqini until the teacher died in 868 H. In addition, Imam as-Suyuthi also studied with Sheikh Syaraf ad-Din Yahya al-Munawi (d. 871 H), Sheikh Muhyi ad-Din Muhammad bin Sulaiman al-Kafiji (d. 879 AH), Sheikh Saif ad-Din Muhammad bin Muhammad al-Hanafi (d. 881 H), and Syekh al-Izz Ahmad bin Ibrahim al-Kattani .

Imam as-Suyuthi tells in the book of Husnul Muhadharahfi Date of Mishr wal Qahirah, that he has obtained the legality of speaking from his teachers at the age of 20 years, that is, since the beginning of 871 H. And at the age of 21 years coincides with the year 872 H, Imam as-Suyuthi began to explore the science of hadith under the direction of the leading scholars of his time. Imam as-Suyuthi also stated that he has very deep expertise in the seven fields of science namely the science of interpretation of the Qur'an, the science of hadith, the science of jurisprudence, the science of nahwu, the science of ma'ani, the science of bayan, and the science of physics'. In addition to the seven fields of knowledge, Imam as-Suyuthi also has expertise in the fields of ushul fiqh, faraidh, qira'at, and medical science. Even so, Imam as-Suyuthi also acknowledged that he had difficulty understanding manthiq and mathematics.

Among the recipes for the blessing of Imam as-Suyuthi's science in the field of hadith science is Imam as-Suyuthi when on the pilgrimage he drinks zam-zam water. Among the prayers he prayed when he drank zam-zam water was that he hoped that Allah would give him the breadth of jurisprudence which was commensurate with the mastery of jurisprudence of Imam Sirajuddin al-Bulqini and he also hoped that Allah would grant him the breadth of hadith knowledge as the mastery of the knowledge of Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani .

In the book of Husnul Muhadharahfi Date of Mishr wal Qahirah, Imam as-Suyuthi notes that the writings he has created numbered 300 works and all of them have been distributed in his lifetime. Meanwhile, according to Ibn Iyas, until the end of his life Imam as-Suyuthi has created more than 600 papers. Meanwhile, according to Carl Brockelman, a German orientalist, Imam as-Suyuthi's work totaled 415 works. Meanwhile, according to ad-Dawudi, one of the students of Imam as-Suyuthi all works of Imam as-Suyuthi amounted to 500 written works. Among his important works are the book of al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur'an, Alfiyyah fi Musthalah al-Hadith, al-Asybah wa Nadzair fi Qawa'id wa Ushul Fiqh, al-Hawi lil Fatawi, al-Jami'as -Shaghir, Miftah al-Jannah fi Ihtijaj bi Sunnah, and many more.

Imam as-Suyuthi and the degree of Mujtahid Mutlaq It is true that Imam as-Suyuthi once told in the book of Husnul Muhadharahfi Date of Mishr wal Qahirah that he already had complete requirements in all the requirements to be a muthlaq mujtahid (independent berijtihad), a high degree in the capacity to decide upon fiqh law. However, Imam as-Suyuthi in Taqrir al-Istinad fi Tafsir al-Ijtihad asserted that he did have the completeness and breadth of knowledge in piety and was unmatched in his day but he continued to follow (taqlid) to Imam as-Shafi'i in the entire scope of the science of usul fiqh and jurisprudence.

Even so, Imam as-Suyuthi in the book of ar-Rad ala Man Akhlada ila al-Ardh wa Jahila anna al-Ijtihad fi Kulli 'Ashr Fardh still affirms that there must be someone who works in dealing with fiqh legal problems in his day as long as it relies on one of the four schools of fiqh is the Imam Abu Hanifa School, the Imam Malik School, the Imam Syafi'i School and the Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal School.

Imam as-Suyuthi spent all his time teaching and writing. He died on the night of Friday the 19th month of Jumadil Ula in 911 H. Imam as-Suyuthi died at the age of 61 years over 10 months over 18 days.

Muhammad Tholhah al Fayyadl, student majoring in Ushuluddin University of al-Azhar Egypt, alumni of Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School

Source: https://islam.nu.or.id