Ibn Asakir (Arabic: ابن عساكر, romanized: Ibn ‘Asākir; 1105–c. 1176) was a Syrian Sunni Islamic scholar, who was one of the most prominent and renowned experts on Hadith and Islamic history in the medieval era. and a disciple of the Sufi mystic Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi. Ibn Asakir was an accomplished jurist, hadith specialist and a prolific writer. He was the pre-eminent figure of the Asakir dynasty, whose family members occupied the most prominent positions as judges and scholars of the Shafi'i school of the Sunni law in Damascus for almost two centuries.

His full name was ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh ibn `Abd Allāh, Thiqat al-Dīn, Abū al-Qasim, known as Ibn `Asakir al-Dimashqi al-Shafi`i al-Ash`ari (الحافظ المؤرخ علي بن الحسن بن ھبة اللہ بن عبداللہ بن الحسین الدمشقي الشافعي).

Ibn Asakir is often given the honorary epithets such as Al-Imam (The Leader), al-'Allamah (The Learned one), al-Hafidh (The Wise one) al-Kabeer (The Noble One), Al-Fakhruddin (The pride of the Religion), al-Mujawwad (The perfect Reciter), Muhaddith ash-Sham (Hadith Master of Levant) and Imam ash-Muhaddith (Leader of Hadith Masters).

Born in Damascus, during the reign of atabeg Toghtekin, he started his religious education at the age of six years old, attending with his father and older brother to the learning centres of several renowned Damascene scholars. Ibn Asakir received an extensive education, as befitting someone from a wealthy family. Between 520/1126 and 535/1141, Ibn Asakir embarked on his two major educational journeys that took him to the most important educational centers in the Islamic world, from Egypt to Hejaz (Mecca and Medina) to Iran and Central Asia (Khurasan and Transoxiana); he wrote a three volume book, Mu al-shuyukh, in which he mentioned some fourteen hundred teachers whom he met and studied with, including studying under 80 female Muslim scholars. The massive knowledge that he had gained, especially in hadith, law, and scriptural exegesis, earned him the title of Ḥāfiẓ (great memorizer), and he became the most learned and renowned scholar of his era.

Shortly after Ibn Asakir returned from his extensive travels to settle in his hometown of Damascus, Nur ad-Din Zangi conquered the city in (529/1154). Nur al-Din's political and religious plans had two ideas first, to unite both Syria and Egypt under the banner of Sunni Islam and to eradicate the Fatamid Shi'i dynasty; second on organizing an effective military campaign against the crusaders. Nur al-Din found Ibn Asakir as the perfect scholar who could help him achieve his plans: an ardent defender of Sunni Islam, in particular the Ash'ari school. Under the patronage of Nur ad-Din, Ibn Asakir wrote the Tarikh Dimashq. In 1170, Nur al-Din built the Madrasa Dar al-Hadith (School of Hadith) for Ibn Asakir.

He first began teaching hadith in the Umayyad mosque and was appointed as the hadith master there in Damascus, then in the Dar al-Sunna madrassa (which was then renamed Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyya) built for him by Nur al-Din as a recognition for his high scholarly prestige and reward for his relentless jihad propaganda. Ibn Asakir shunned all types of material goods and refused the office of head preacher, only to strictly focus on writing, teaching, and worshipping.

As he was world famous, he also lectured in many famous learning centers:

Ibn Asakir had a large number of students with some becoming world-class leading scholars in their times; amongst them: