Al-Layth Ibn Sa'd: the Imaam of the Egyptians

He was one of the great Imaams of jurisprudence.He was a pious,
ascetic, truthful scholar who abstained from unlawful acts. He was
also sincere, humble, forbearing, and kind-hearted when dealing with
people.
He had strong faith in Allaah and was fearful of Him all the time. He
used to frequently recite the Quran. As well as this, he was very
generous and used to spend most of hismoney in charity especially to
support scholars, students of knowledge, and poor Muslims.
He is the Imaam, the Haafith (a title given to whoever memorizes
100,000 Hadeeths), the shaykh of Islam, the juristand scholar of
Egypt. His full name is Al-Layth Ibn Sa'd Ibn `Abdur-RahmaanAl-Fahmi.
His birth:
He was born in Sh`abaan 94 A.H., 713 A.C. in Qarqashandah, a village
twenty-two kilometers from Fustaat, Egypt. His origin goes back to
Esfehan, Persia (nowadays Iran).
Seeking knowledge
In his early years, he started to learn religious knowledge. He was a
student of some of the greatest scholars of his time, such as
`Ubaydullaah Ibn Ja'far, Ja'far Ibn Rabee`ah, Al-Haarith Ibn Yazeed,
and Yazeed Ibn Abi Habeeb. Since he was young, his teachers testified
to his excellence,genius, and sharpness of mind.
Al-Layth had high aspirations to learn. For him, learning in Egypt
alone was not sufficient. In 113, A.H., he decided totravel to Hijaaz
to perform Hajj and seek knowledge. He was twenty years old at that
time.
In Makkah and Al-Madeenah, which were considered the most outstanding
sourcesof religious knowledge in the Muslim World, Al-Layth started to
learn from a unique group of scholars of jurisprudence and Hadeeth.
Ibn Shihaab Az-Zuhari was known as the most knowledgeable haafith and
one of the first scholars to write down the Hadeeths of the Prophet ,
and he was one of Al-Layth's teachers. Al-Layth also received
religious knowledge from `Ataa' Ibn Abi Rabaah who was the Mufti and
Jurist of Makkah, Ibn Abi Maleekah, Naafi` Ad-Daylami who was the
freed slave of the reveredcompanion `Abdullaah Ibn `Umar Ibn
Al-Khattaab, Sa`eed Ibn Sa`eed Al-Maqbari, Abu Az-Zubayr Al-Makki, and
many others.
He remained fond of knowledge and had an unmitigated desire to
actively and studiously attend classes even whenhe reached the rank of
the great scholars. When he went to Baghdad in 161 A.H. in order to
teach,though he was over sixty five years old, he asked about the
house of the great scholar Hushaym Ibn Basheer who was themaster of
Hadeeth scholars in Iraq. Al-Layth asked Hushaym to send him some of
his books to study them. When Hushaym did, Imaam Al-Layth started to
read through their valuable and priceless information.
The Imaam's sessions
After spending long yearsacquiring knowledge, Imaam Al-Layth was
prominent among his contemporary scholars asa genius jurist and a
mosttrustworthy narrator of Prophetic Hadeeths. He started a class in
his mosque to teach people. A short period later, he became very
famous and students from everywhere came to learn from him. Thus he
ended up having four sessions every day:
- A session for discussing the practices of the Sultan of
Egypt. Imaam Al-Layth Ibn Sa'd attained a high rank and prestigious
standing in the sight of the `Abbasid Caliphs to the extent that if
the Sultan or the Judge of Egypt committed any wrong, Al-Layth would
write to the Emir of the Believers who, in turn, would depose them.
- A class for teaching the noble Prophetic Hadeeths
- A class for answering people's religious questions
- A session for fulfilling the requests of the poor and the
needy. The Imaam, may Allaah have mercy on him, never turned down any
request for help.
The Imaam's rank and hisknowledge
He was one of the most prominent jurists of his time. He was
well-known among people everywhere. The caliphs and Emirs came to know
him and scholars praised him and testified to his profound knowledge,
abilities of memorization,and mastery of religious affairs.
Al-'Alaa' Ibn Katheer said:
"Al-Layth Ibn Sa'd is our master, Imaam and scholar."
Imaam Ahmad Ibn Hanbalsaid:
"Al-Layth had profound knowledge and his narration of Hadeeths is authentic."
Imaam Ash-Shaafi`i said:
"Al-Layth is more knowledgeable than Maalik."
He means Maalik Ibn Anas, the Imaam of the people of Al-Madeenah.
Al-Layth as a ruler
Imaam Al-Layth occupied several posts. He was the head of the
Administration of Financeduring the reign of Saalih Ibn `Ali Ibn
`Abdullaah Ibn `Abbaas ofEgypt. He was also its head during the
caliphate of the `Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mahdi. Previously, the `Abbasid
Caliph Abu Ja'far Al-Mansoor asked him to be the ruler of Egypt, but
Imaam Al-Layth refused.
The character of the Imaam
Imaam Al-Layth Ibn Sa'd was an authentic narrator of Prophetic
Hadeeths and a talented jurist. He was known for his piety,
asceticism, and generosity. The Imaam was one of the wealthy scholars.
His son Shu'ayb said that his annual income was between twenty and
twenty five thousand Deenaars (golden coins). He used to spend all
this money inthe cause of Allaah. He was never liable to pay Zakaah,
simply because he would spend all his money before the year had
passed.
Imaam Al-Layth used to give out charity to three hundred needy people
every day. He never ate his food exceptin the company of people.
One day, a woman came to him and said: "O Abu Al-Haarith! My son is
sick and he craves to eat honey."
Al-Layth called his servantand said:
"Give her one hundred and twenty pounds of honey."
Imaam Al-Layth was very generous with scholars, to the extent that he
used to send one hundred Deenaars to Imaam Maalik Ibn Anas every year.
Once Imaam Maalik wrote to him that he was in debt. Imaam Al-Layth
sent him five hundred Deenaars. WhenImaam Al-Layth went to perform
Hajj and he passed by Madeenah, Imaam Maalik sent him a plate of
dates. Imaam Al-Layth Ibn Sa'd put one thousand Deenaars on the plate
and sent it backto Imaam Maalik.
When the books of Ibn Luhay`ah, a great jurist and narrator of
PropheticHadeeths, were burnt, Imaam Al-Layth immediately sent one
thousand Deenaars to him.
His death
Imaam Al-Layth Ibn Sa'd died on Friday, the fifteenth of Sh`abaan
175A.H., 791 A.C. He was buried in Cairo and his funeral was attended
by a large number of people. The people were very sad and consoled one
another.