Al-Suyuti was described as one of the most prolific writers of the Middle Ages and is recognized today as one of the most prolific authors of all Islamic literature.
23 Facts About Al-Suyuti
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Al-Suyuti was in his time the leading authority of the Shafi'i school of thought.
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Al-Suyuti's father taught Shafi'i law at the Mosque and Khanqah of Shaykhu in Cairo, but died when al-Suyuti was 5 or 6 years old.
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Al-Suyuti became a Hafiz of the Qu'ran at the age of eight years, followed by studying the Shafi'i and Hanafi jurisprudence, traditions, exegesis, theology, history, rhetoric, philosophy, philology, arithmetic, timekeeping and medicine.
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Al-Suyuti then dedicated his entire life to master the Sacred Sciences under approximately 150 sheikhs.
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Al-Suyuti started teaching Shafi'i jurisprudence at the age of 18, at the same mosque as his father did.
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Al-Suyuti became the head master of Hadith at the Shaykhuniyya school in Cairo, at the suggestion of Imam Kamal al-Din ibn al-Humam.
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Al-Suyuti had some backlash with some of his contemporaries especially by his own teacher Al-Sakhawi and his fellow student Al-Qastallani who were two major renowned muhaddithuns.
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Al-Suyuti was accused for plagiarism but those accusations were later dropped.
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In terms of his theological positions, Al-Suyuti had a contempt feeling towards speculative theology and pushed for strict submission.
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Al-Suyuti opposed the use of logic in the Islamic sciences.
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Al-Suyuti does agree with Al-Ghazali's conservative view of kalam, which states that the science should be studied by scholars who meet the necessary requirements to administer the appropriate dosages as bitter medicine to people who are in dire need.
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Al-Suyuti was Ash'ari in his creed, as presented in many of his works.
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Al-Suyuti claimed he reached the same level as the major Imams of Hadith and Fiqh.
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Al-Suyuti claimed there was no scholar on Earth more knowledgeable than him:.
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However, Al-Suyuti defended himself stating he was only speaking the truth so that people can benefit from his vast knowledge and accept his rulings.
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Al-Suyuti defended Sufis in his book entitled Tashyid al-Haqiqa al-Aliyya:.
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Al-Suyuti could dictate annotations on hadith, and answer my objections at the same time.
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Al-Suyuti has himself told me, that he had memorized over two hundred thousand hadiths.
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Al-Suyuti's admirers stated that Al-Suyuti writings reached as far as India during his time on Earth.
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Al-Suyuti's learning and more importantly his incredible prolific output were widely seen as miraculous signs from God due to his merit.
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Al-Suyuti wrote his first book, Sharh Al-Isti'aadha wal-Basmalah, in 866 AH, at the age of seventeen.
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Al-Suyuti focuses on diet and natural remedies for serious ailments such as rabies and smallpox, and for simple conditions such as headaches and nosebleeds, and mentions the cosmology behind the principles of medical ethics.