Subkī, Taqī al-Dīn ʻAlī ibn ʻAbd al-Kāfī, 1284-1355

Abu Al-Hasan Taqī al-Dīn Ali ibn Abd al-Kafi ibn Ali al-Khazraji al-Ansari al-Subkī (Arabic: أبو الحسن تقي الدين علي بن عبد الكافي بن علي الخزرجي الأنصاري السبكي), commonly known as Taqī l-Dīn al-Subkī (Arabic: تقي الدين السبكي) was a Sunni Egyptian polymath and foremost leading Shafi'i jurisconsult, traditionist, Quranic exegete, legal theoretician, theologian, mystic, grammarian, linguist, rhetorician, philologist, lexicographer, genealogist, historian, logician, controversial debater, and researcher of his time. He served as the chief judge of Damascus for 17 years. He was the father of the great Taj al-Din al-Subki. Al-Subki was regarded as one of the most influential and highly acclaimed scholars of the Mamluk period. He was famous for being the leading scholar, judge and teacher of his time. He was universally recognized as a mujtahid and was the greatest jurist in the Shafi'i school of his time. He was given the special title Sheikh al-Islam for mastering every Islamic field and was a prolific writer who wrote books in every science. His books were considered authoritative, regardless of what science he wrote in.