Background
Ibn 'Abd al-Salam was born in Damascus in 577 AH.
theologian muhaddith faqih mufassir
Ibn 'Abd al-Salam was born in Damascus in 577 AH.
He received his education in Damascus by such scholars as Ibn Asakir and Jamal al-Din al-Harastani in Sacred law, Sayf al-Din al-Amidi in usul al-Fiqh and theology, and Tasawwuf with Suhrawardi and Abul Hasan al-Shadhili. In Damascus, as sermon giver (khatib) of the Umayyad mosque, he openly defied what he considered to be unsanctioned customs followed by the other sermon givers: he refused to wear black, refused to say his sermons in ryhmed prose (saj) and refused to praise the princes. When the ruler As-Salih Ismail made capitulatory concessions to Theobald during the Barons' Crusade, Ibn 'Abd al-Salam condemned him from the pulpit and omitted mentioning him in the post-sermon prayer.
He was consequently jailed and upon release emigrated to
Having left Damascus, Ibn 'Abd al-Salam settled in Cairo where he was appointed chief judge and Imam of the Friday prayer, gaining such public influence that he could (and did) command the right and forbid the wrong with the force of the law. The biographers indicate that he was the first to teach Qur'anic commentary in Ibn 'Abd al-Salam's exploits eventually earned him the title Sultan al-'Ulema (Sultan of the scholars). Zaki al-Din al-Mundhiri, the Shafi'i jurist, hadith expert and author stated that, "We used to give legal opinions before shaykh 'Izz al-Din arrived.
Now that he is among us we no longer do so."
Qarafi describes Ibn 'Abd al-Salam as a "staunch defender of the sunna who had no fear of those in power"
A number of sources report that Ibn 'Abd al-Salam reached the level of ijtihad transcending the Shafi'i madhab altogether. He died in Cairo in 660 AH.