Imām ʿAbd al-Raʾūf al-Munāwī

known as: The Commentator of al-Suyūṭī and the Last Great Ḥadīth Voice of Cairo

Early Life and Background

Imām ʿAbd al-Raʾūf ibn Tāj al-ʿĀrifīn ibn ʿAlī al-Munāwī al-Qāhirī [عبد الرؤوف بن تاج العارفين بن علي المناوي القاهري] was born in 952 AH / 1545 CE in Munā (منا), a small village near Qalyūbiyyah, north of Cairo, under early Ottoman rule.^1
His family, known for piety and scholarship, traced its descent to the Ashraf (descendants of the Prophet ﷺ) through the lineage of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī [الحسن بن علي].^2

Growing up in a deeply spiritual household, he memorized the Qurʾān at a young age and showed remarkable aptitude in both Arabic literature and the sciences of hadith.
He soon moved to Cairo, where he studied at al-Azhar, the intellectual heart of the Muslim world at the time.^3

Education and Teachers

Al-Munāwī studied under the heirs of the al-Suyūṭī school, which had dominated Cairo’s intellectual scene a century earlier. His teachers included:

Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī al-Ṣaghīr (زين الدين العراقي الصغير) — grandson of the great hadith master al-ʿIrāqī;
Shihāb al-Dīn al-Khafājī (شهاب الدين الخفاجي) — literary critic and linguist;
Shams al-Dīn al-Ramlī (شمس الدين الرملي) — jurist of the Shāfiʿī school;
and most importantly, the writings of Imām al-Suyūṭī (جلال الدين السيوطي), which became the axis of his scholarly work.^4

Al-Munāwī described himself as a “spiritual disciple of al-Suyūṭī”, regarding him as his teacher through study and imitation rather than physical attendance.^5

Scholarly Career

After completing his studies, al-Munāwī began teaching at al-Azhar Mosque and in several Cairo madrasahs.
He became renowned for his deep command of hadith commentary (sharḥ al-ḥadīth شرح الحديث), Arabic rhetoric (balāghah بلاغة), and taṣawwuf (تصوف) — Sufi ethics grounded in hadith.

He held the prestigious position of Muḥaddith al-Qāhirah — “Chief Traditionist of Cairo” — and served as a respected Shāfiʿī jurist, though he leaned toward asceticism and withdrew from official positions in later life.^6

Methodology and Outlook

Al-Munāwī’s method continued the intellectual spirit of Ibn Ḥajar and al-Suyūṭī, blending precision with spirituality.
His approach can be summarized in three principles:

Jamʿ (جمع) — Gathering the widest possible set of narrations from earlier compilers.
Tawfīq (توفيق) — Reconciling apparent contradictions between narrations through linguistic and contextual analysis.
Tadhawwq (تذوق) — Interpreting prophetic sayings through the lens of spiritual insight and moral refinement.

He wrote:

“The words of the Messenger ﷺ are oceans without shore — whoever dives with reason alone returns empty; whoever dives with heart and reason together returns with pearls.”^7

Major Works

Work	Arabic Title	Subject	Notes
Fayḍ al-Qadīr Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr	فيض القدير شرح الجامع الصغير	Commentary on al-Suyūṭī’s al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr	His magnum opus — a six-volume commentary explaining, authenticating, and elaborating on al-Suyūṭī’s compilation. Merges hadith science with ethical reflection.^8
al-Taysīr bi-Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr	التيسير بشرح الجامع الكبير	Commentary on al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīر	A complementary exegesis of al-Suyūṭī’s larger hadith collection; noted for precise grading and literary elegance.^9
al-Kawākib al-Durriyyah fī Tarājim al-Sādah al-Ṣūfiyyah	الكواكب الدرية في تراجم السادة الصوفية	Biographies of Sufi masters	Chronicles the lives and teachings of 400 Sufi saints; one of the richest sources for late Mamlūk and Ottoman spirituality.^10
al-Tawḍīḥ li-Mushkilāt al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ	التوضيح لمشكلات الجامع الصحيح	Commentary on difficult passages in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī	Clarifies linguistic, grammatical, and theological subtleties in al-Bukhārī’s narrations.
Faḍl al-Kabīr fī Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīر (abridgment)	الفضل الكبير في شرح الجامع الصغير	Abridged commentary	A concise edition of Fayḍ al-Qadīر, used for students at al-Azhar.

Spiritual and Ethical Vision

Al-Munāwī was not only a scholar of texts but a refiner of hearts.
Deeply influenced by the Sufi orders of Cairo, especially the Shādhilī and Rifāʿī paths, he integrated taṣawwuf within his hadith commentaries — seeing prophetic sayings as guides to inner purification (tazkiyah تزكية).^11

He wrote:

“The outward meaning (ẓāhir ظاهر) of hadith leads to the law;
its inward meaning (bāṭin باطن) leads to the light of proximity.”^12

He was known to begin his lectures with Qurʾānic recitation and conclude them with supplication, a habit his students continued after his death.

Historical Context: Cairo under Ottoman Rule

By al-Munāwī’s time, Cairo had transitioned from Mamlūk to Ottoman rule (الخلافة العثمانية).
Although political power had shifted to Istanbul, Cairo remained the spiritual and academic capital of the Arab world.
Al-Munāwī’s synthesis of hadith and spirituality preserved the continuity of Egyptian scholarship between the Mamlūk and Ottoman eras, ensuring that al-Azhar’s intellectual identity remained rooted in both tradition and renewal.^13

Students and Legacy

Among his notable students and transmitters were:

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Maghribī (عبد الرحمن المغربي),
Muḥammad al-Murtaḍā al-Zabīdī (محمد المرتضى الزبيدي), author of Tāj al-ʿArūs, who drew on al-Munāwī’s works,
and a network of North African scholars who transmitted his commentaries to Fez and Algiers.

Through them, Fayḍ al-Qadīر became standard reading in madrasahs from Egypt to Morocco and India, influencing commentarial traditions in the Ottoman, Mughal, and later Arab worlds.^14

Later Life and Death

Al-Munāwī continued teaching, writing, and leading dhikr gatherings until his final days.
He died in Cairo in 1031 AH / 1622 CE, at the age of 77, and was buried near Imām al-Shāfiʿī’s mausoleum in al-Qarāfah cemetery.^15
Historians report that his funeral drew both the jurists of al-Azhar and the Sufi orders of Cairo — a fitting union of law and spirit.

Legacy

Imām ʿAbd al-Raʾūf al-Munāwī represents the last great unifier of hadith, Sufism, and Arabic eloquence in Cairo before the age of specialization.
His works stand as the culmination of the Ibn Ḥajar → al-Suyūṭī → al-Munāwī lineage — a millennium-long heritage of scholarship that merged intellectual rigor with spiritual luminosity.

Through Fayḍ al-Qadīر, the Prophet’s words continued to speak not only to jurists but to hearts — preserving the living rhythm of hadith through reflection, humility, and love.

References (for footnote conversion)

Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “al-Munāwī.”
Muḥammad al-Murtaḍā al-Zabīdī, Tāj al-ʿArūs min Jawāhir al-Qāmūs, Preface.
IslamicFinder.org, “Biography of Imam al-Munawi,” accessed October 2025.
Al-Munāwī, Fayḍ al-Qadīر, Introduction, vol. 1.
Al-Munāwī, al-Kawākib al-Durriyyah, Introduction.
Ibn ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī, Shadharāt al-Dhahab fī Akhbār Man Dhahab, vol. 10 (Beirut: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 1986), 248.
Al-Munāwī, Fayḍ al-Qadīر, vol. 1, Preface.
Ibid., vol. 2, 5.
Al-Munāwī, al-Taysīر bi-Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīر, Preface.
Al-Munāwī, al-Kawākib al-Durriyyah, Preface.
Al-Munāwī, Fayḍ al-Qadīر, vol. 3, 97.
Ibid., vol. 5, 112.
Ibn ʿImād, Shadharāt al-Dhahab, vol. 10, 251.
Al-Zabīdī, Tāj al-ʿArūs, vol. 1, 14.
Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.