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al-Ayki, Shams al-Din

الأيكي العلامة شمس الدين

c. 1230 CE · c. 627 AH – c. June 1298 CE · 3 Ramadan 697 AH

Damascus

The learned Persian Shafi'i, a Sufi jurist and imam in both foundational disciplines; he came to Damascus and taught at the Ghazaliyya, expounding the logic of Ibn al-Hajib's Mukhtasar; then he went to Egypt and held the headship of the shaykhs there, but the Sufis spoke against him, so he left and returned to Damascus. The imam Abu Hayyan branded him a heretic and counted him among those known for it, as Ibn al-Imad reports, adding 'and God knows best' 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
theologian · Scholar · mystic
Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region
Persia & Central Asia · Egypt & Nile · Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Life in time

1175120012251250127513001325 c. c. c. c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era Contemporaries: Ahmad ibn Muhsin al-Ba'labakki · Al-Abraqawhi, Ahmad ibn Ishaq · al-Dimyati · al-Kamal al-Fuwayra, musnid of Iraq · al-Taqi al-Bayyi', vizier to five sultans

In space

Damascus

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Place in the story

    sunni-shafii (transmitted)

    Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.

    Overview

    Al-Ayki, the Persian scholar of the Shafi'is; a jurist-sufi, imam of the two sources — he came to Damascus, taught at the Ghazzaliyya, commented on the logic of Ibn al-Hajib's Mukhtasar, then travelled to Egypt and held its mashyakhat al-shuyukh — the sufis spoke against him, so he left it and returned to Damascus. Imam Abu Hayyan charged him with ilhad, counting him among those famed for it — as Ibn al-'Imad relays it, adding: and God knows best. 1

    Connections

    Explore the connections

    Died in
    Damascus

    People and things also explored

    the Cave of Qasyun (Jibril's Cave)· Qasr Hiraql / Qasr Shams al-Muluk· The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus· The Fitna of the Hafiz Abd al-Ghani in Damascus in 595· al-Afdal besieges Damascus and turns back· al-Adil's seizure of Damascus· al-Ghazali's arrival in Damascus as an ascetic, in 488· al-Ashraf takes Damascus

    Sources

    1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 767-768
    Cite this page

    islam.museum contributors. “al-Ayki, Shams al-Din”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/al-ayki/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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    Wing

    People

    Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.     Related

    the Cave of Qasyun (Jibril's Cave)

    The mosque raised inside the cave of Mount Qasyun by Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'allim beginning in 370, after a dream in which Jibril bade him build a mosque where God's name would be remembered — he called it Jibril's Cave; a broad prayer-hall floored in white marble, its columns all marble, never empty of the pious at remembrance.