How Al-Jazariyyah began & Who is the Author of Al- Jazariyyah Poem

It is a poem concerning the science of Tajwīd on the rajaz poetic meter. It is usually found as 109 lines; however, as Dr. Ayman Suwayd states, the final two lines are additions made by some scholars, which are not a part of the original poem.

It is called al-Muqaddimah fīmā Yajibu `ala Qāri’ al-Qur’ān an-Ya`lamah. It is also just commonly known as al-Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah. It is called al-Jazariyyah as a reference back to its author.

Plenty of scholars have described this blessed text including:

The author’s son, Abū Bakr Ahmad bin Muhammad Al-Jazari.

Zayn Ad-Dīn Khālid bin `Abdūllah Al-Azhari.

Abū ‘l-`Abbās Ahmad bin Muhammad Al-Qastalāni.

Shaykh Al-Islām Zakariyyā al-Ansāri.

`Isām Ad-Dīn Ahmad bin Mustafa.

`Alā’ Ad-Dīn `Ali bin Muhammad at-Tarābulsi ad-Dimashqi.

It has also been published many times; Dr. Ayman Suwayd of recent times has produced a corrected edition of the poem after having analyzed one of its manuscripts, which has now become very widespread across the world.

The Author of Al-Jazariyyah Poem -

He is Abū ‘l-Khayr Muhammad bin `Ali bin Yusuf bin Al-Jazari, Shams ad-Dīn, ad-Dimashqi, ash-Shāfi`i; Commonly known as Ibn al-Jazari.

His father, a trader completed the Hajj in the year 750 AH and drank from Zam-Zam water with the belief that Allāh would grant him a pious, knowledgeable son. As a result, Muhammad bin Ali bin al- Jazaria was born on Saturday 25th Ramadhān 751 AH, after the Tarawīh prayer.

Imam Jazariyah up in Damascus and completed his memorization of the Qur’ān by the age of 13, and guide the people in prayer at the age of 14. After that, he studied the science of Qirā’āt; ifrādan at the age of 15 with Shaykh `Abd ‘l-Wahhab bin Sallār, Ahmad bin Ibrāhīm at-Tahhān and Ahmad bin Rajab and also jam` an at the age of 17 with Shaykh Abū al-Ma`āli bin al-Labbān.

He traveled broadly in his seeking of information, including Egypt, Hijāz, and Basrah. He studied Hadīth and Fiqh along with other sciences with many scholars of Egypt, and he was approved to pass fatwā (verdicts) by Abū ‘l-Fadā’ Ismā`īl bin Kathīr, Shaykh al-Islām al-Bulqīni, and others.

Imam Al- Jazariyyah wrote many works including -

An-Nashr fī Qirā’āt al-`Ashr (outlining the ten methods of recitation).

Tayyibah an-Nashr (the poem-version of the preceding text).

Ad-Durrah al-Mudiyyah fī Qirā’āt at-Thalāth al-Mardiyyah.

Ghayāt al-Maharah fī az-Ziyādah `ala al-`Asharah.

Al-Jawharah fī an-Nahw.

Al-Hidyah fī `Ulūm ar-Riwāyah.

At-Tamhīd fī `Ilm at-Tajwīd (which he composed at the age of 17).

Dhāt ash-Shifā fī Sīrat an-Nabi thumma al-Khulafā.

Ghayah an-Nihāyah fī Tabaqāt al-Qurrā’.

Imam Al-Jazariyyah passed away in Shīrāz on Friday 5th Rabī`al-Awwal 833 AH.