IBN ABI 'ASRUN

in full Sharaf Ad-din Abu Sa'd 'abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Hibat Allah Ibn Mutahhar At-tamimi Al-mawsili Ibn Abi 'asrun, also called Al-halabi, or Ad-dimashqi born February 1099/1100, Hadithah, Baghdad Caliphate died , October/November 1189, Damascus scholar who became a leading Shafi'i (one of the four schools of Islamic law) theologian and the chief judicial officer of the Ayyubid caliphate. After completing his theological training, Ibn Abi 'Asrun held various religious and judicial posts in Iraq. In 1154 he was invited to Damascus by its ruler; he taught religious subjects there and became the administrator of the waqfs (religious endowments). He held numerous other judicial appointments in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey, until in 1177/78 the famous Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan, appointed him as the Shafi'i qadi (judge) of Syria, the highest judicial appointment in the realm. Ibn Abi 'Asrun had to retire because of blindness in 1179/80. During his lifetime six madrasahs (religious colleges) were built in his honour. He wrote a number of works on religious subjects, none of which is extant.