Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī

al-Hibshī's account of Shaykh Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī's Friday lesson during his visit to Syria: “On Friday, we went to [the Umayyad Mosque] for the Friday prayer, and afterwards we attended the Hadīth lesson of Shaykh Badr al-Dīn It is a great and well-attended lesson, with over 300 people in attendance. The Shaykh mentions each Hadīth with both its Sanad and Matn, then discussed its narrators, then explains its text, and he may sometimes have a Sūfī approach in his explanation, may Allāh be pleased with him and benefit us by him [āmīn] We then got up from the lesson and visited Sayyidunā Yahyā (on him be peace), and it was a great visit with a great many of our brothers...” al-Shāhid al-Maqbūl, 116-117

Shaykh Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī used to wake his students up when it was time for the morning lesson by standing at the door and repeating “as-salāmu ‘alaykum”, without saying anything else (via Shaykh Husayn Sa‘biyyah)

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karīm al-Rifā‘ī said: Once, I went to Shaykh Badr al-Dīn for our usual lesson, when the Shaykh told me: Bring so-and-so book, open to page so-and-so, and place a mark there. Then he repeated this command for multiple books until I had a collection of them. Then the Shaykh told me: Take these to Shaykh ‘Alī al-Dakr So I went to him as he commanded me to, and when I gave Shaykh ‘Alī them, he began crying, and said: I had received difficult questions from Lebanon, and I told myself I didn't have time to research for their answers. And here they are, all their answers are marked in the books Shaykh Badr al-Dīn sent me! https://www.naseemalsham.com/subjects/view/37319

أخبرني شيخنا الشيخ محمود الدرة أنه سمع الشيخ د. أيمن سويد يقول: سأل الشيخ محمود الرنكوسي شيخه شيخ الشام بدر الدين الحسني عن الشيخ الأكبر محيي الدين بن العربي، فأجابه الشيخ: (تكلم فيه 360 عالِماً، ونَسَبه إلى الولاية خلائق لا يُحصون.. وكلاهما مأجور إن أراد وجه الله تعالى) والشيخ الإمام البدر كان من المعتقِدين بالشيخ الأكبر وكان مطلعاً على مؤلفاته، ففي كتابه «الدرر البهية في شرح البيقونية» (صـ 36) ينقل الحديث المسلسل بالقَسَم عن كتاب «الفتوحات المكية» ويقول: (قال الشيخ الأكبر سيدي محيي الدين ابن العربي رضي الله عنه...) ولعل سائلاً يقول: أين هؤلاء العلماء الـ360 الذين ذكرهم الشيخ؟ فإن عدد من تكلم في الشيخ الأكبر من العلماء فيما بين يدينا من المصادر أقل بكثير؟ إحدى التوجيهات المحتملة أن الشيخ البدر اعتمد في هذا القول على بعض المؤلفات التي حشدت نقولات عن العلماء بالطعن فيه، ككتاب «القول المنبي لترجمة ابن عربي» للسخاوي وكتاب «تسفيه الغبي في تنزيه ابن عربي» لابراهيم الحلبي، وقد تساهلوا في نقولاتهم عن كثير من العلماء -سنداً ومتناً-، فيحتمل أن الشيخ البدر سلّم لهم نقولاتهم وأجاب وفقاً لذلك والله تعالى أجلّ وأعلم

Shaykh ‘Alī al-Tantāwī said: “Shaykh Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī was the shaykh of the scholars, and he was called ‘al-Muhaddith al-Akbar’. His whole worldly life was his house, the Umayyad Mosque, and Dār al-Hadīth, whose leadership ultimately came to him. He was not among those active in movement and travel, but when Shaykh ‘Alī al-Dakr and Shaykh Hāshim al-Khatīb undertook what came to be called ‘Nahdat al-Mashāyikh’ (the Revival of the Scholars), and he saw the people turning to them and benefiting from them, especially the people of Hawrān and al-Balqā’ (in eastern Jordan), he was pleased with them and encouraged them. They asked him to travel with them through the cities of Syria, preaching to the people, guiding them to Allāh, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. So he went with them. Whenever they approached a town, the people would come out to receive them and walk behind them. They would begin at the mosque, preaching, teaching, urging people to Jihād, and explaining its rulings and when it becomes obligatory. This tour was the spark that ignited the revolution. I do not say this from myself, nor merely quoting trustworthy and knowledgeable elders, although they all know this, as does everyone who lived through those days, but I am quoting it from an official report of the delegate of the French High Commissioner, published by the newspaper ‘al-Ahrār’ in Beirut: issue no. 678, issued on the 2nd of Sha‘bān, 1354 AH” al-Dhikrayāt (1/284)

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karīm al-Rifā‘ī studied ‘Aqīda, Usūl, Mantiq, and Falsafah with Shaykh Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī for 17 years These ‘Aqlī sciences were rare and not taught in that period in Damascus, and it was Shaykh Badr al-Dīn who mastered and revived them

Some people ask, did the readings of Sahīh al-Bukhārī end after Shaykh Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī? The truth is they did continue, but only for the scholarly class and not the laity Shaykh Nāyif al-‘Abbās (student of Sh. Badr) read al-Bukhārī with al-Qastallānī's Sharh in the Samīsatiyyah school Before that Shaykh Abu al-Khayr al-Maydānī used to read al-Bukhārī, as well as Shaykh Yūsuf ‘Arār and Shaykh Husayn Khattāb (Muslim) [Sh. Yahyā al-Ghawthānī] Other examples are Shaykh Husayn Sa‘biyyah who read the Sahīhayn in Dār al-Hadīth al-Ashrafiyyah, Shaykh Abu al-Hudā al-Ya‘qūbī in al-Shaykh al-Akbar Mosque, Shaykh Na‘īm al-‘Irksūsī in al-Imān Mosque, and others...

There were multiple instances where the opinions of Sayyidunā al-Fārūq ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattāb, may Allāh be pleased with him, coincided with and was affirmed by revelation al-Imām al-Suyūtī was asked about this, so he responded by a page's worth of poetry where…

Poetry by Shaykh Ahmad al-Habbāl for Shaykh Badr al-Dīn: يا علَماً جلَّ قدره ... ومن حوى البحر صدره الدين أعلى سماء ... وأنت لاشك بدرُه O scholar whose stature is great ... And whose chest contains the sea Dīn is the highest heaven ... And you are no doubt its Badr

Three reasons why Shaykh Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī's Madhab was not clearly known: 1. He was not as dedicated to Fiqh as he was to Hadīth, Usūl, Kalām, Mantiq, Lugha; as is evident from his authored works and lessons 2. He would rarely pass Fatwā, instead redirecting people to some of his students like Shaykh Sālih al-Farfūr and Shaykh Mahmūd al-‘Attār 3. When someone would ask him what his Madhab is, he would say his famous words: “We are laymen, my son”

This chart shows how the two different chains meet at Shaykh Khālid al-Naqshbandī Shaykh Badr al-Dīn through Shaykh Salīm Khalaf (who was in Homs, and is rare to see in Damascene chains) His brother Shaykh Bahā’ al-Dīn through Shaykh ‘Isā al-Kurdī, the Shaykh of the Naqshbandīs in Damascus

Although his father was a Qādirī and his brother a Naqshbandī, it's unknown which Tarīqah Shaykh Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī was himself affiliated with When people would approach him and ask for Tarīq, Shaykh Badr al-Dīn would tell them to follow the Sharī‘ah…

Shaykh Ahmad al-Habbāl said: When Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Ja‘far al-Kittānī was asked about Shaykh Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī, he responded: “If the scholars were to have a race, Shaykh Badr al-Dīn would be riding the Burāq” (إذا نزلت العلماء في السباق ، فالشيخ بدر الدين راكب البراق)

Students get influenced by their teacher in all aspects, down to the clothes they wear The contemporary Damascene style of wrapping a ‘Imāmah around a Tarbūsh dates back to Ottoman times and was worn by Shaykh Badr al-Dīn al-Hasanī, which explains its popularity until today