Imām Ibn Rushd [(450 – 520 AH / 1058 – 1126 CE)]

Imām Ibn Rushd al-Jadd al-Qurṭubī (450 – 520 AH / 1058 – 1126 CE)

The Grandfather of Averroes and the Systematizer of Mālikī Jurisprudence

Early Life and Background

His full name was Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rushd al-Qurṭubī
[أبو الوليد محمد بن أحمد بن رشد القرطبي].
He was born in Córdoba – قرطبة, al-Andalus, around 450 AH / 1058 CE, into a distinguished family of jurists and scholars known for their service to Mālikī jurisprudence.^1

The Banū Rushd – بنو رشد family held a lineage of judges, preachers, and legal scholars across Córdoba and Seville.
They were deeply rooted in the Mālikī tradition of law and ethics, embodying the Andalusian synthesis of sharīʿah (شريعة) and rational deliberation (raʾy – رأي).

Ibn Rushd al-Jadd was raised in this environment of learning, memorizing the Qurʾān and studying Arabic grammar, logic, and fiqh from a young age.

Education and Teachers

He studied under the foremost Mālikī authorities of Córdoba and Seville, particularly:

Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Masʿūd (أبو مروان عبد الملك بن مسعود),
Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-ʿArabī (أبو الحسن بن العربي),
and transmitted from works of earlier masters such as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (ابن عبد البر) and Ibn Ḥabīb (ابن حبيب).^2

He mastered not only al-Muwaṭṭaʾ – الموطأ of Imām Mālik, but also the methodological frameworks of uṣūl al-fiqh – أصول الفقه and the comparative views of other jurists, especially in Iraq and North Africa.

His intellectual rigor and moral integrity earned him widespread recognition by his mid-thirties.

Judicial Career and Role under the Almoravids

During the rule of the Almoravid dynasty (al-Murābiṭūn – المرابطون), the Maghrib and al-Andalus were undergoing legal codification and political consolidation.
Ibn Rushd al-Jadd served as Qāḍī al-Jamāʿah – قاضي الجماعة (Chief Judge) of Córdoba and later of the entire Andalusian region.^3

He was known for his uncompromising justice and independence from rulers.
When an emir attempted to influence his rulings, he declared:

“The qāḍī’s pen is bound by revelation, not by royal command.”

He unified Andalusian Mālikism under a clear methodological vision — one that balanced textual evidence (naṣṣ – نص) with rational understanding (taʿlīl – تعليل).

Scholarly Orientation

Ibn Rushd al-Jadd combined three dimensions in his scholarship:

Textual authenticity: absolute reliance on the Qurʾān, Sunnah, and the transmitted doctrines of Imām Mālik.
Legal systematization: turning dispersed Mālikī opinions into a coherent framework.
Rational reasoning (taʿlīl): defending Mālikī rulings through logical principles rather than blind imitation (taqlīd – تقليد).

His writings show a command of hadith, uṣūl, kalām, and Arabic language — rare even among jurists of his time.

Major Works

Work	Arabic Title	Subject	Notes
al-Bayān wa al-Taḥṣīl wa al-Sharḥ wa al-Tawjīh wa al-Taʿlīl fī Masāʾil al-Mustakhraja	البيان والتحصيل والشرح والتوجيه والتعليل في مسائل المستخرجة	Mālikī jurisprudence	His magnum opus — a 20-volume encyclopedic commentary on Ibn al-Qāsim’s al-Mustakhraja (العُتبية). Clarifies, reasons, and systematizes Andalusian Mālikī law.^4
al-Muqaddimāt al-Mumahhadāt	المقدمات الممهدات	Legal methodology	A comprehensive summary of Mālikī legal principles, used in madrasahs for centuries as an introduction to Mālikī fiqh.^5
Fatāwā Ibn Rushd	فتاوى ابن رشد	Legal opinions (fatwas)	Collected responsa demonstrating his mastery of judicial application and ethical reasoning.
Kitāb al-Nawāzil	كتاب النوازل	Contemporary rulings	A collection of applied verdicts reflecting the social and political realities of al-Andalus.

Legal and Theological Outlook

1. Balance between Text and Reason

Ibn Rushd al-Jadd’s method was to preserve revelation while explaining its wisdom (ḥikmah – حكمة).
He rejected both pure rationalism and blind literalism, arguing:

“The Sharīʿah calls to reflection, not rebellion against the text.”

2. Defense of Mālikī Orthodoxy

He resisted innovations and extremist theological views that threatened traditional Sunni thought.
He upheld Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah – أهل السنة والجماعة against philosophical deviations, yet later influenced his grandson’s approach to reconciling reason and revelation.

3. Judicial Ethics

He viewed the judge (qāḍī – قاضي) as a servant of divine justice, not royal authority.
His verdicts show exceptional concern for fairness, social stability, and mercy (raḥmah – رحمة).

Relationship to His Grandson: Ibn Rushd al-Ḥafīd

Ibn Rushd al-Jadd’s grandson — Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rushd al-Ḥafīd (Averroes) — inherited not only his name but his disciplined approach to law and logic.
While the grandson ventured into philosophy, his foundation in the Mālikī school and uṣūl al-fiqh came from the grandfather’s tutelage.^6

In many ways, Ibn Rushd al-Jadd represents the orthodox, juristic phase of the Rushd legacy, and Ibn Rushd al-Ḥafīd the philosophical, interpretive phase — both united by intellectual integrity.

Death and Legacy

He passed away in 520 AH / 1126 CE in Córdoba, leaving behind an enduring intellectual dynasty.
His students and descendants continued to serve as judges and teachers across Andalusia for generations.

His works became core curricula in Mālikī legal studies from Fez to Tunis and remained references in Al-Azhar and Qarawiyyīn for centuries.

“He ordered the principles of the Mālikī madhhab as a craftsman orders pearls on a string.”
— al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Tartīb al-Madārik, vol. 4

References (Chicago-style)

Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Ibn Rushd al-Jadd.”
al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Tartīb al-Madārik wa Taqrīb al-Masālik, vol. 4 (Rabat: Wizārat al-Awqāf, 1983), 212–213.
al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 19 (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah, 1986), 362–364.
Ibn Rushd, al-Bayān wa al-Taḥṣīl, ed. Būshar ibn Fāris (Beirut: Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī, 1984).
Ibn Rushd, al-Muqaddimāt al-Mumahhadāt, ed. al-Ḥabbāk (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1995).
George F. Hourani, Averroes: His Life, Works and Influence (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962), 17–18.