Al-Majdi manuscript

One MS vol. containing commentary on Muhammad ibn Ali al-Birkawi's Al-'awamil al-jadidah by ?Yusuf Al-Majdi, entitled 'I' lam al-haqabbat' (a treatise on Arabic grammar), scribe unknown, date unknown [?20th c.]

No biographical details are known about Al-Majdi, the presumed author of the commentary.

The author of the original treatise on grammar was Al-Birkawi (known in Turkish as Birgivi Mehmet Efendi) who was a renowned Turkish scholar born in Baliksir in c928 (AD1522) and educated in Istanbul. He taught in the medreses of the city, and was initiated into the Bayramiyya by Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman Karamani. Through the influence of his master the kadi-I 'askar 'Abd al-Rahman Efendi, he became kassam in the army at Edirne before accepting the post of muderris in the medrese built by 'Ata' Allah Efendi (tutor of Selim II). His career of teaching, writing and preaching at Birgi came to an end when he died of the plague in 981 (AD1573).

His manual of Turkish theology Wasiyyet-name is still used today. He also wrote two works of grammar (the Izhar and the 'Awamil) which were used in Turkish medreses for many years. His work al-Tarika al-Muhammadiyya (containing his sermons and homilies, in Arabic) was highly regarded, and established his position as an eminent scholar of Islam.

Usual EUL arrangements apply.

Listed by Charlotte Berry, Archivist, 21 April 2004 and encoded into EAD 1 June 2004.

Currently unlisted in detail (see brief listing in World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts, p.465, vol. 3).

Usual EUL restrictions apply.

Transferred to Special Collections from the Arabic Subject Librarian in 2003.

Not known.