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Al-Layth ibn Sa'd

Egyptian faqih, author and muhaddith (0713-0791)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ2813852 ↗
Source-derived summary

Al-Layth ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Fahmī al-Qalqashandī (Arabic: الليث بن سعد بن عبد الرحمن الفهمي القلقشندي) was an Egyptian and the chief representative, imam, and eponym of the Laythi school of Islamic Jurisprudence. He was regarded as the main representative of an Egyptian tradition of law.

He was born in 713 CE in Qalqashanda, a village in Egypt and so his nisba is Al-Qalqashandī. Despite his Arabic nisba (Al-Fahmi), in his encyclopedic magnum opus entitled "Siyar a`lam al-nubala", the prominent scholar Al-Dhahabi mentioned that his family claimed a Persian origin from Isfahan, and this in turn became a common reference for later writers, maintaining that his Arabic nisba was the result of familiar loyalty to Khalid ibn Thabit ibn Dhain Al-Fahmi.

Despite being among the most famous of jurists at the time, his students did not write down his teachings and spread it like the students of another famous jurist of the time, Malik ibn Anas.

He presided over the first trial of Elias of Heliopolis for apostasy in 779.

According to al-Shafi'i, founder of Shafiʽi school, al-Laythi were even greater jurist than Malik ibn Anas, founder of Maliki Madhhab school and al-Shafi'i own teacher.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Al-Layth ibn Sa'd” as egyptian faqih, author and muhaddith (0713-0791). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Al-Layth, Sa'd and Egyptian.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current 196-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 0713-06. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Al-Layth, Sa'd and Egyptian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Al-Layth ibn Sa'd”, the useful work is to connect “egyptian faqih, author and muhaddith (0713-0791)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2813852. VIAF identifies the subject as 5741801. The Library of Congress control number is n88280960. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Al-Layth ibn Sa'd” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.