Qadi Iyyad, also known as Abu al-Fadl Iyyad ibn Amir ibn Musa ibn Iyyad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullahi ibn Musa ibn Iyyad al-Yahsubi as-Sabti أبو الفضل عياض بن موسى بن عياض بن عمرون بن موسى بن عياض بن محمد بن عبد الله بن موسى بن عياض اليحصبي السبتي
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Qadi Iyyad was born in the year 1083 in Gibraltar and passed away in 1149.
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He was the Imam of Ceuta and then he went on to become the Qadi {High Judge} of the city of Granada.
He was a true man of Allah who had no fear and he actually headed a revolt against the Almohades to Ceuta, al~Andalusia but he lost and was banished to Tadla, Morocco and later Marrakech.
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Qadi Iyyad is one of the 7 saints of Marrakech and is buried near Bab Aïlen.
The others being Sidi as-Suhayli
Sidi Yusuf ibn Ali
Sidi Bel Abbas
Sidi ibn Sulayman al-Jazouli
Sidi Abd al-Aziz at-Teba’
Sidi Abdullah al-Ghazwani
~ May Allah have mercy on their souls.
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Qadi Iyyad’s most famous books are called = Kitab As-Shifa bi-ta’rif Huquq al-Mustafa ~ on the virtues and manners of the Prophet Muhammad {peace and blessings of Allah be upon him} and Tartib al-Mardarik wa-Taqrib al-masalik li-Ma’rifat ala’m Madhab Malik, this book is a collection of biographies of eminent Maliki Scholars.
~ He is so famous that the University of Marrakech {Cadi Ayyad, Qadi Iyyad} was named after him.