Imam Badr al-Din al-Ayni بدر الدين محمود بن أحمد العيني

Badr al-Din Mahmud b. Ahmad al-Ayni (762-855 AH / 1361-1451 CE), rahimahullah, was among the most eminent Hanafi scholars and hadith masters of the Mamluk period. Born in Ayntab (present-day Gaziantep, Turkey), he settled in Cairo where he rose to serve as Chief Hanafi Judge and Supervisor of the Two Holy Sanctuaries. A close contemporary and intellectual peer of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, he composed major works across hadith, fiqh, and history. His Umdat al-Qari is a comprehensive multi-volume commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari and a foundational reference for the Hanafi legal reading of hadith. Nukhab al-Afkar, his 23-volume hadith commentary, is a substantial contribution to Sunni hadith scholarship that remained underutilized for centuries.