Shaykh Hasan al-Mashat ( 1317-1399 )

Salam.  Please find the biography of another of the famous scholars of the Hijaz from whom many of our teachers have benefitted from.  When I had the opportunity a while back to visit inside the blessed ‘Bayt al-Mawlid’ (which has been turned into a library) I found that a room to the left as you enter had what appears is the personal library of Shaykh Hasan al-Mashat. I assume it was donated to the library after his passing away, Allah have mercy on him.  Also note, as mentioned below, that due to his lengthy teaching career 3 generations of scholars took from him.

Shaykh Hasan al-Mashat ( 1317-1399 )
He is Hasan bin Muhammad bin Abbas bin Ali bin Abd al-Wahid al-Mashat.  The most learned scholar and gatherer of various sciences and distinguished in many of them.  He was Maliki by way of Madhab.

Birth And Studies
He was born in Makka on the 3rd of Shawal 1317 Hijri, the origin of his family being traced back to Fes in Morrocco.  He grew up in Makkah under the close care attention and upbringing of his father.  He read the Noble Quran with tajwid with Shaykh Muhammad al-Sanari and Shaykh Abdullah Hamudah al-Sanari.  He learnt writing, mathematics and other subjects with Sayyid Ali Hasan al-Labani (Allah have mercy on all of them).

In the year 1329 he entered the ‘Madrassa al-Sawlatiyyah’ and studied there until his graduation, during the time which he also attended the circles of knowledge in the noble Haram, and some times in the homes of some his teachers which include: 

Shaykh Abd al-Rahman bin Ahmad Dahhan, Shaykh Mushtaq Ahmad al-Kanfuri, Shaykh Jamal al-Amir al-Maliki, Shaykh Umar bin Abi Bakr Ba Junayd, Shaykh Muhammad Abdullah Zaydan al-Shinqiti, Shaykh Khalifah bin Hamd al-Nabhani, Shaykh Isa bin Muhammad Rawwas, Shaykh Muhammad Ali al-Maliki, Shaykh Umar Hamdan al-Mahrasi and others.

He narrated from other scholars from whom he had ijazah such as:  Habib Aydarus bin Saalim al-Bar, Habib Alawi bin Tahir al-Haddad, Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Shalabi al-Tarablisi, Shaykh Muhammad Abd al-Baqi al-Ansari and others than them from the people of the Haramain.

He narrated from others from outside the Haramain such as:  Shaykh Muhammad Bukhit al-Mutei, Shaykh Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari, Sharif Muhammad Abd al-Hayy al-Kattani, Shaykh Muhammad al-Arabi bin al-Mahdi al-Zarhuni, Shaykh Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Aquri bin Ibrahim al-Asri and others.

During his youth he would read with his teachers, exerting himself in his studies and not tiring and with great devotion.  This was along with utmost respect and manners for his teachers was such that he became well known for these qualities amongst them.

After being given permission to teach by his Shaykhs he began his teaching career in the Makkan Haram, in the ‘Sawlatiyyah’ and his home during which time many students took from him. Towards the end of his life he limited himself to the teaching of works on manners and purification of the heart.  It was his habit to read at his home on Friday mornings from the ‘Ihya Ulum al-Din’ of Imam al-Ghazali.

It is difficult to ennumerate all of his students, as Shaykh Hasan continuously taught for over half a century.  He had the unique honour of seeing his own students teach in the Haram al-Makki, and then the students of his students, all of this whilst he was still himself teaching.  Thus three generations of his students existed during his lifetime, similar to what was the case with Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyyah al-Ansari, and this is a blessing which Allah bestows on whom He wishes.

If we were to make mention of his most senior students who went on to teach a large number of students they are:  Sayyid Muhsin bin Ali al-Musawi, Shaykh Ahmad Mansur, Shaykh Zubair al-Falfalani, Shaykh Muhammad Yasin al-Fadani, Shaykh Zakariyyah bin Abdullah Bella, Shaykh Uthman Tonkal, Shaykh Ali Bakr al-Konwi, Sayyid Saalim al-Attas, Sayyid Tahir al-Maghribi, Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Mindili, Shaykh Abdullah Dardum, Shaykh Abd al-Karim al-Banjari, Shaykh Abd al-Fattah Rawah, Shaykh Abdullah bin Saeed al-Lahji, Shaykh Ismaeel Uthman Zayn, Shaykh Ahmad Jabir Jibran, Shaykh Muhammad Awd Minqash al-Zabidi, Sayyif Muhammad bin Alawi al-Maliki and others.

Works
Shaykh Hasan authored a number of works, a number of which were aimed at students of knowledge and their studies.  His works received acceptance, many of them being reprinted a number of times, being studied in the noble Haram, the ‘Sawlatiyyah’, ‘Dar al-Ulum’, homes of the scholars in Makka, and Islamic institutes of learning in Indonesia, Yemen, Hadramawt, Zanzibar and Somalia.  From his works are:

–‘Raf al-Astar an Mahya Mukhadarat Talat al-Anwar’ on hadith terminology.  It is a commentary of Allamah Abdullah bin Ibrahim al-Alawi al-Shinqiti’s abridgement of the Alfiyyah of Hafidh al-Iraqi.  The commentary was published a number of times.
–‘Taqrirat al-Sunniyah fi Hal Alfaz al-Manzumah al-Bayquniyyah’ printed a over ten times in the Hijaz and elsewhere.
–‘Inarah al-Duja fi Maghazi Khair al-Wara’ which is a commentary of Allamah Ahmad al-Badawi al-Majlisi al-Shinqiti’s poem, it was published in 2 volumes.
–‘Tuhfah al-Sunniyah fi Ilm al-Faraid’ this treatise on inheritance laws became well known and some of his students paid specific attention to it.  From those who wrote a commentary on it were Sayyid Muhsin al-Musawi who called it ‘Nafha al-Husseiniyyah’.  From those who put it in to a poetic form were Shaykh Zakariyyah Bella, Shaykha Abu Bakr Jumbi, Shaykh Zayn al-Din al-Amghanan.
–‘Isaf Ahl al-Iman bi Wazaif Shahr Ramadan’ printed ten times.
–‘Jawab al-Mubin fi Tahdhir al-Muslimin min Idkhal Abnahum Madaris al-Kafirin’
–‘Jawharah al-Thaminah fi Adillah Alim al-Madinah’
–‘Nayl al-Muna wal-Mamul ala Lub al-Usul’ manuscript.
–‘Bughyah al-Mustarshidin bi Tarajim Aimmatinah al-Arba’ah al-Mujtahidin’ published in Indonesia.
–‘Sharh Kharidah al-Bahiyyah fi al-Tawhid’ published in Indonesia.
–‘Hudud al-Bahiyyah fi Qawaid al-Mantiqiyyah’
–‘Irshad bi Dhikr Bad Ma li Min Ijazah wal-Isnad’
–‘Thabat al-Kabir’ manuscript.
–‘Nasaih Diniyyah Wa Wasaya Hamah’ published a number of times.

He began teaching in the ‘Sawlatiyyah’ in the year 1344 Hijri, and was oppointed as teacher in the secondary and higher levels.  He taught hadith, tafsir, fiqh, inheritance law, nahw and sarf.  In 1347 he was oppointed a member of the commitee of the school.  He also served in the capacity of a Qadi and other roles related to the Majlis al-Shura.

Passing Away
Shaykh Hasan al-Mashat passed away on Wednesday, 7th of Shawal in the year 1399 Hijri after a brief illness.  He was prayed over in the Majid al-Haram, then carried on the shoulders of his students and the scholars, his funeral procession extending from the noble Haram to the graveyard where he was buried in the enclosure of the Ba Alawi Sayyids (Allah have mercy on all of them).

He was survived by one son called Ahmad, and also left a large library containing rare books in addition to more well known works.  This collection also contained a large number of rare manuscripts, some of them being in the handwriting of Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyyah al-Ansari.