Ibn Ata Allah

Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari
Personal Details
Born	658 AH / 1259 CE
Died	709 AH / 1310 CE
Region	Alexandria
Religion	Islam
Jurisprudence	Maliki
Creed	Ashari

Taj al-Din Abu'l Fadl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Karim ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari al-Shadhili was a Malikite jurist, muhaddith and the third murshid (spiritual "guide" or "master") of the Shadhili Sufi order. He was born in Alexandria and taught at both the al-Azhar Mosque and the Mansuriyyah madrasa in Cairo. He was responsible for systematizing Shadhili doctrines and recording the biographies of the order's founder, Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili, and his successor, Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi. He is credited with having authored the first systematic treatise on dhikr, The Key to Salvation (Miftah al-Falah), but is mostly known for his compilation of aphorisms, the Hikam al-‘Ata‘iyya. Commentaries on the Hikam have been made by some of the most famous masters of the Shadhili order such as Ibn Abbad al-Rundi, Ahmad Zarruq and Ahmad ibn Ajiba as well as non-Shadhilis like the Islamic law Professor Sa'id Ramadan al-Bouti. The wide circulation of Ibn ‘Ata‘ Allah's written works led to the spread of the Shadhili order in North Africa, where the order's founder had been rejected in earlier attempts. The Wafai Sufi order was also derived from his works. He died in 1309 while in Cairo.

Ibn ‘Ata‘ Allah was one of those who confronted the controversial theologian Ibn Taymiyya, who was jailed several times for his views on religious issues and for his excesses in attacking the Sufis.

External links

• Hikam (maxims or aphorisms), partially translated here by Ayesha Bewley. Commentary by Ibn Abbad in English.
• Hikam in English and Arabic PDFs, and links to audio recordings.
• The Key to Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation (Miftah al-Falah) chosen excerpt here Translated by Mary Ann Koury Danner
• The Key to Salvation chapter available here by Ayesha Bewley.