# al-Khatib al-Qazwini
**al-Khatib al-Qazwini** (الخطيب القزويني), full name Jalal al-Din Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Qazwini, kunya Abu'l-Ma'ali, was a Mamluk-era preacher, judge, and rhetorician born in Mosul in 666 AH and died in Damascus in 739 AH (1267/8–1338 CE), best known for his *[Talkhis al-Miftah](https://www.edgepedia.org/talkhis-al-miftah)*, the summary of the rhetoric section of al-Sakkaki's *Miftah al-'Ulum*, which, together with his *al-Izah*, received much attention[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib) • [2](https://www.idref.fr/069917310) • [5](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir). He is known by the title al-Khatib, "the preacher," and delivering the Friday sermon was among the offices he held, most visibly at the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Identity | Jalal al-Din Muhammad b. Abd al-Rahman al-Qazwini, kunya Abu'l-Ma'ali, title al-Khatib; born Mosul 666 AH, died Damascus 739 AH, buried at Maqbarat al-Sufiyya before the Umayyad Mosque[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib) |
| Dates in CE | 1267/8–1338; library authority records give 1267–1338 and "1267 or 8–1338"[2](https://www.idref.fr/069917310) • [3](https://www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/person_27296672) |
| Offices | Qadi in Anatolia (Niksar) before age twenty; Damascus judgeship in 724 AH after preaching at the Citadel Mosque; Cairo judgeship in 727 AH succeeding Ibn Jama'a; khatib of the Umayyad Mosque; exiled to Damascus in 738 AH[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib) • [4](https://islhornafr.tors.ku.dk/backend/people/2505) |
| Main work | *Talkhis al-Miftah*, a summary of the rhetoric section of Sakkaki's *Miftah al-'Ulum*, with his own commentary *al-Izah*[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib) |
| Systematic contribution | Divided 'ilm al-ma'ani into eight fundamental topics on a logical approach, adopted unchanged by later scholars; raised the number of badi' devices to 38[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib) |
| Print and manuscript record | First printed Calcutta 1813; *al-Izah* printed Cairo 1980; manuscripts at Köprülü Library no. 1413 and Cambridge Add. 802[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib) • [3](https://www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/person_27296672) |
| Chief commentator | Sa'd al-Din Taftazani wrote the most important commentary on the *Talkhis*[5](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir) |
## Name and identity
The title al-Khatib denotes the deliverer of the khutba, the ritual sermon of the weekly Friday and feast-day prayers; a person who delivers a khutba is called a khatib[6](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kotba-sermon/). His Damascus judgeship in 724 AH followed a Friday sermon delivered at the Citadel Mosque at the sultan's command, and he later held the pulpit of the [Umayyad Mosque](https://www.edgepedia.org/umayyad-mosque) itself[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib).
**The nisba al-Qazwini is ancestral, not a birthplace.** According to the *Dictionary of Notable Figures of Qazvin*, his family originally resided in Tabriz, having migrated there from Qazvin because of the insecurity caused by the Ismaili uprisings and later the Mongol invasion[5](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir). Arabic sources report that he was born in Mosul in 666 AH, while his brother was born in Tabriz[5](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir). The nisba works the same way for other bearers of the name: the Encyclopaedia of Islam notes that the cosmographer Zakariya al-Qazwini drew his origin from an Arab family descended from Anas b. Malik that had been Persianised after settling at Qazwin[7](https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-4093.xml).
He must not be confused with that Zakariyya b. Muhammad, the famous cosmographer and geographer (ca. 1203–1283), a jurist who served as qadi in Wasit and Hilla under the last Abbasid caliph and wrote *'Aja'ib al-makhluqat* and *'Aja'ib al-buldan* (1262)[7](https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-4093.xml) • [8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/al-qazwin).
## Life and career
[Ibn Kathir](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-kathir) (701–774 AH) writes in *al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya* that al-Qazwini and his brother "entered Damascus from their homeland during the Tatar era," placing the family's move to Mamluk territory in the period of the Mongol invasions[5](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir). "Mamluk period" here means the sultanate of Egypt and Syria under which he spent his career: his posts were held in Damascus and Cairo, and his patron was the sultan al-Nasir[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib) • [4](https://islhornafr.tors.ku.dk/backend/people/2505).
He settled with his father and brother in Niksar in Tokat, in Anatolia, where he served as qadi before the age of twenty[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib). In 724 AH (1324) he went to Sultan al-Nasir on a Friday, preached at the sultan's command, and was appointed to the Damascus judgeship, with the sultan paying off his debts[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib). In 727 AH (1327) he was summoned to Egypt and appointed to the judgeship in place of Ibn Jama'a, while also serving as khatib of the Umayyad Mosque[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib).
The end of his career is reported differently by different sources. The prosopographical record states that he was exiled to Damascus in 738 AH by Sultan al-Malik al-Nasir and kept his office of qadi there until his death[4](https://islhornafr.tors.ku.dk/backend/people/2505); the Turkish biographical compilation instead describes the 727 AH summons to Egypt as an appointment[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib). Both agree that he died in Damascus in 739 AH (1338)[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib).
## Works and attributions
**Talkhis al-Miftah and al-Izah.** His fame rests on the *Talkhis al-Miftah*, a summary of the third section (rhetoric) of al-Sakkaki's *Miftah al-'Ulum*. He removed much of Sakkaki's personal beliefs, disputed some of his views, replaced certain definitions, and enriched the text with material from [Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani](https://www.edgepedia.org/abd-al-qahir-al-jurjani)'s *Dala'il al-I'jaz* and *[Asrar al-Balagha](https://www.edgepedia.org/asrar-al-balagha)* and al-Zamakhshari's *Kashshaf*[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib) • [5](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir). He then wrote his own commentary on it, titled *al-Izah*, pioneering the tradition of commentaries on his own work[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib). The most important commentator on the *Talkhis* was Sa'd al-Din Ma'sud ibn Umar Taftazani[5](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir).
His systematic contribution explains the work's afterlife: he divided 'ilm al-ma'ani (the science of meanings) into eight fundamental topics on a logical approach, a division later scholars adopted unchanged, and he raised the number of badi' (embellishment) devices to 38 with new definitions[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib).
**Other attributed works.** A commentary (hashiya) on al-Zamakhshari's *Kashshaf* is attributed to him, and a treatise on weak hadiths in al-Baghawi's *Masabih al-sunna*, called *al-Ahadith al-mawdu'a al-waqi'a fi kitab Masabih al-Sunna*, survives in only two known manuscripts; a takhrij volume and a "Forty hadith" collection (arba'un) are also named among his works[9](https://medievalworlds.net/0xc1aa5572%200x00407405.pdf). The Turkish compilation adds *al-Shadhr al-marjan*, *Sharh lamiyyat al-sawi*, *Sharh al-Taiyya* and a *Kitab fi'l-usul*[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib).
**Survival and printing.** The *Talkhis al-Miftah* was first printed in Calcutta in 1813 and reprinted many times; a manuscript is registered at Köprülü Library no. 1413[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib). *Al-Izah* was printed in Cairo in 1980[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib). The Fihrist union catalog maintains an authority record for him linking manuscript holdings including Add. 802 at Cambridge University Library[3](https://www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/person_27296672).
## The khatib in Mamluk society
The Friday sermon is an essential worship rite in Islam and also a potent religio-political tool; the mention of the ruler's name in it was historically a mark of sovereignty, which gave the pulpit political weight in Mamluk Egypt and [Syria](https://www.edgepedia.org/syria-region)[6](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kotba-sermon/) • [10](https://www.divinityatlas.com/religious-roles-titles/khatib). The khatib delivers the khutba at the Friday midday prayer, where the sermon is a legally required part of the observance; the role is often held together with the imam's but the functions are distinct, and [Sunni Islam](https://www.edgepedia.org/sunni-islam) has no ordained clergy[10](https://www.divinityatlas.com/religious-roles-titles/khatib).
Credentialing ran through ijazas, licenses to teach or transmit, awarded by eminent ulama; preachers in late Mamluk society held ijazas for Qur'an teaching (tadris) and for issuing legal opinions (ifta') granted by scholars such as [Ibn Qadi Shuhba](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-qadi-shuhba) (d. 1448) and Alam al-Din al-Bulqini[11](https://doi.org/10.5356/orient.48.21). Al-Qazwini's own rise shows the other route to prominence: a sermon performed before the sultan could convert directly into a judgeship[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib).
## Sources and historiography
The Mamluk-era source most directly cited for his life is Ibn Kathir's *al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya*, which records his arrival in Damascus with his brother during the Tatar era[5](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir). Al-Dhahabi praised him as eloquent, generous, and soft-natured, noting that great scholars attended his funeral[1](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib). Al-Safadi (696–764 AH) attributed him doubtfully to Abi Dulaf al-'Ijli, and the Persian-language study concludes that his Arab versus Iranian origin cannot be definitively proven[5](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir).
## References
1. [KAZVİNÎ, Hatib, Türkiye Gazetesi (biographical compilation based on classical tabaqat literature)](https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/bizim-sayfa/biyografi/rehber-insanlar/kazvini-hatib)
2. [H̱aṭīb al-Qazwīnī, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al- (1267-1338), SUDOC/IdRef authority record](https://www.idref.fr/069917310)
3. [Qazwīnī, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān, 1267 or 8-1338, Fihrist](https://www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/person_27296672)
4. [al-Qazwīnī, Ǧalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad b. ʻAbd al-Raḥmān, Islamic Horn prosopographical database](https://islhornafr.tors.ku.dk/backend/people/2505)
5. [بررسی و تحلیل نسب و جایگاه «خطیب قزوینی» در تاریخ تطوّر علوم بلاغی, Rimag](https://www.rimag.ir/fa/Article/51361/rimag.ir)
6. [ḴOṬBA, Encyclopaedia Iranica](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kotba-sermon/)
7. [al-Ḳazwīnī, Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English), Brill](https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-4093.xml)
8. [Al-Qazwīnī, Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/al-qazwin)
9. [Baghdad: al-Qazwīnī's transmission, Medieval Worlds](https://medievalworlds.net/0xc1aa5572%200x00407405.pdf)
10. [Khatib, Religious Roles & Titles, Divinity Atlas](https://www.divinityatlas.com/religious-roles-titles/khatib)
11. [A Popular Preacher in Late Mamlūk Society](https://doi.org/10.5356/orient.48.21)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Philosophy, religion, and mythology › Religion and spirituality › Religious biographies › Jewish, Islamic, and Dharmic religious leaders › Islamic religious leaders and scholars › Sunni imams and classical Islamic scholars › Pre-modern Sunni religious officials and court scholars*
*Initially written Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license