Sheikh Taqi al-Din al-Subki (683-756 H/1284-1355 AD) (Study on his Role in Intellectual and Judicial Life)

Abstract

The scholars of the Mamluk period in general and the Bahri Mamluk period of 648-784H / 1250-1382AD enjoyed a distinguished status and gained the esteem of the Mamluk sultans and rulers. Some of them occupied lofty positions in the state. They served as a link between the Mamluk rulers and the other social strata of the time. The scholars constituted the most significant component of the Islamic society for they were judges, imams, teachers and memorizers of the holy Koran, jurisprudents and narrators of the tradition (Hadith). During the period of the Bahri Mamluks some prominent families produced a good numbers of scholars. The most renowned of such families was probably the Subkis, whose name goes back to one of the villages of Munufiyya in Egypt. This family produced many scholars and individuals holding high office like its scion, Sheikh Taqiyyuddin Subki (died 756H/1355AD). His interests were varied and numerous. He excelled in the areas of tradition (Hadith), exegesis, polemics, grammar, mysticism and others. Furthermore, he was the chief judge and took up teaching in the schools of the Levant and Egypt.