A modern picture of the medieval Arba Rucum Mosque in Mogadishu
Ibn Nasir al-Din: Tawdih al-Mushtabah (To clarify the suspect) (d1438)
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Imam Ibn Nasir-ud-din al-Dimashqi [1375-1438] Was a famous Syrian Hadith master, who was taught by Imam Abu Hurayra Abd al-Rahman, who was the son of adh-Dhahabi [d. 1348]

Taken from: كتاب توضيح المشتبه by ابن ناصر الدين الدمشقي   al-maktaba.org

 

Vol1 p413-414

Berber

The first is a nation in the Maghrib…..

Another Berber nation in the last land between Yemen and the land of Abyssinia.

They are black and Zinj who make their wives' dowry by cutting the penis of man.(8)

 

Vol4 p249-250-251

He said: alzanji nisbat (1) of the  al-Zunj.

I said: …..a known territory.

(then follows a list of personalities whose nisba was alzanji, I abbreviate)

-The nickname of Muslim bin Khalid al-Zangi (2), Sheikh Shafi'i, who was white

-And Yusuf bin Zanji Yamami, reported from Abdul Malik bin Khashk Yamami

-Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Sattaib, known as Zanji, as Ibn Abi Dabit said

-Muhammad ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Zangi, Abu Mansur al-Shirazi, heard from Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Ali, and he had knowledge of the hadeeth. He died fifty-five and four hundred years, as Yahya Ibn Manda (3) said in his History.

 

Vol5 p346

Shuqran (4): ….. And also a country of Zinj mentioned in Yaqut’s fi almushtarak but God knows best.

 

Vol8 p244

…after 700AH…

Jerusalem …, a city famous by the Al-Aqsa Mosque (5) and the Dome of the Rock (6) and the place of the Prophets (7), peace be upon Them; Elijah's largest country and Palestine,…….

He said: Faqih Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ali bin Abi Bakr al-Maqdashi, is a teaching assistant in Al-Badriya (Al-Bathari School) with Sheikh Alaa Al-Din Al-Maqdisi, where it is said: Al-Maqdashawi, Oh, tell us on the authority of Ibn Al-Dhakhamisi (10); I said: It is the son of Ali bin Abi Bakr bin Ali bin Hassan bin Ahmed bin Yusuf bin Asad al-Tamimi Jawhari, known as Ibn Balawi, attributed to Mekdhoh (Mogadishu): The famous town of Habashah belonging to Zanzibar. (9)

(1) Nisbat: an adjective indicating the person's place of origin, tribal affiliation, or ancestry

(2) Muslim bin Khalid al-Zangi, Sheikh Shafi'i, who was white: (d796) Jurist from Mecca

(3) Yahya Ibn Manda: according to Ibn Khallikan a transmitter of traditional information and the author of a history of Ispahan. He died in 913-4AD.

(4) Shuqran: literally:’thanks’.Ibn Majid (1470) mentions Ras Shaka as Chika and also as Chikala. Also found at Yakut (1220) as Chouqar; Al Iskandari (1165) as Shaqar; Ibn Nasir al-din (1438) as Shuqran.

(5) Al-Aqsa Mosque: , located in the Old City of Jerusalem, is the third holiest site in Islam. The mosque was built on top of the Temple Mount.

(6) Dome of the Rock: is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

(7) and the place of the Prophets: the ‘Cave of the Prophets’ is an ancient burial site located on the upper western slope of the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem.

(8) list of authors who mention emasculating enemies in this area:

Buzurg ibn Shahriyar (955)

Ch'en Yuan-Ching (late12 century)

Chou Chih-Chung: (1366)

Zare'a Ya'kob ruler of Ethiopia (1445)

Yakut (or Jakut) al Hamawi (1220)

Al Marvazi (1120)

Ibn Nasir al-Din (d1438)

Ning Xian Wang (1430)

(9) This is the Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. Abi Bakr, the Great Jurist, the scholar, Shams al-Din, al-Tamimi, al-Maqdishawi al-Shafi‘i (648/1250—718/1318). He is mentioned by al-Asqalani (1448); Al-Dhahabi (1348); Ibn Nasir al-Din (1348). This last author mentions adds that he is from Mogadishu in the land of Zanzibar.

(10) Kamal al-Din Ahmad b. Abi al-Fada’il b. Abi al-Majid al-Hamawi b. al-Dakhmisi, he died somewhere in India. (600/1204—671/1273).