Background
There is a difference of opinion as to where Muhammad al-Maziri was born. Others state that he was born in Mahdia, the Tunisian city where he lived for most of his life and also died.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Muhammad al-Mazari
Edit ProfileCareer
He was one of four jurists whose position were held as authoritative by Khalil ibn Ishaq in his Mukhtassar, which is the most important of the later texts in the relied upon positions of the school. Many sources state his place of birth as Mazara (modern day Mazara del Vallo) on the Western Sicilian coast. Muhammad spent his early life studying as a young boy in Mazara, in the South of the island, before he and his family crossed to Mahdia in modern day Tunisia and settled there.
Historians state the impending Christian invasion as the reason for their emigration. Al-Maziri's descent was from the Banu Tamim, an Arab tribe from which the Aghlabid rulers of North Africa and the Mediterranean islands descended from. The Banu Tamim had been one of the first Arab tribes to immigrate to North Africa from Arabia during the early conquest of Uqba ibn Nafi in the 7th century CE. Al-Maziri's distant grandfather was amongst the army led by Asad ibn al-Furat who conquered Sicily in the 9th century CE. The context in which al-Maziri was raised in Ifriqiya was equally turbulent to his Sicilian hometown.
The event led to the sacking of Ifriqiya's cities, the most important of which was the capital Kairouan, and the departure of many scholars to Andalusia and elsewhere. Nevertheless, al-Maziri and his family remained, and he grew up in the new fortified Zirid capital of Mahdia. The turbulent events in which al-Maziri was raised has led historians to link his upbringing with his generally cautious character.
Al-Maziri was very reserved when it came to giving or recording information about his life and educational background. Historians therefore use his fatawa (or legal opinions) to discern who he studied under and what people and places had the most profound influence on his life. Al-Maziri travelled throughout North Africa in his quest for his knowledge to cities such as Tunis, Gabès, Gafsa, Tripoli and Alexandria.
The scholar who had one of the strongest influences on al-Maziri was Abdul-Hamid ibn al-Saigh. Al-Maziri has a broad intellectual legacy. To this day there is a square named Imam al-Mazari square in Mazara del Vallo, the Sicilian town of his birth.
