Ibn Qudamah was born in Palestine in Jammain, a town near Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdīs in the Arabic vernacular, whence his extended name), in 1147 to the revered Hanbali preacher and mystic Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Qudāmah (d. 1162), "a man known for his asceticism" and in whose honor "a mosque was [later] built in Damascus."
Having received the first phase of his education in Damascus, where he studied the Quran and the hadith extensively, Ibn Qudamah made his first trip to Baghdad in 1166, in order to study law and Sufi mysticism under the tutelage of the renowned Hanbali mystic and jurist Abdul-Qadir Gilani (d. ca.
1167), who would go on to become one of the most widely venerated saints in all of Sunni Islam.
Although Ibn Qudamah's "discipleship was cut short by the latter’s death ... [the] experience [of studying under Abdul-Qadir Gilani] ... had its influence on the young" scholar,  "who was to reserve a special place in his heart for mystics and mysticism" for the rest of his life.

Ibn Qudamah's first stay in Baghdad lasted four years, during which time he is also said to have written an important work criticizing what he deemed to be the excessive rationalism of Ibn Aqil (d. 1119), entitled Taḥrīm al-naẓar fī kutub ahl al-kalām (The Censure of Rationalistic Theology).
During this sojourn in Baghdad, Ibn Qudamah studied hadith under numerous teachers, including three female hadith masters, namely Khadīja al-Nahrawāniyya (d. 1175), Nafīsa al-Bazzāza (d. 1168), and Shuhda al-Kātiba (d. ca.
1175).
In turn, all these various teachers gave Ibn Qudamah the permission to begin teaching the principles of hadith to his own students, including important female disciples such as Zaynab bint al-Wāsiṭī (d. ca.
1240).
Ibn Qudamah fought in Saladins Army during the battle to recapture Jerusalem in 1187.
He visited Baghdad again in 1189 and 1196, making his pilgrimage to Mecca the previous year in 1195, before finally settling down in Damascus in 1197, Ibn Qudamah died on Saturday, the Day of Eid al-Fitr, on July 7, 1223.
Ibn Qudamah was born in Palestine in Jammain, a town near Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdīs in the Arabic vernacular, whence his extended name), in 1147 to the revered Hanbali preacher and mystic Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Qudāmah (d. 1162), "a man known for his asceticism" and in whose honor "a mosque was [later] built in Damascus." Having received the first phase of his education in Damascus, where he studied the Quran and the hadith extensively, Ibn Qudamah made his first trip to Baghdad in 1166, in order to study law and Sufi mysticism under the tutelage of the renowned Hanbali mystic and jurist Abdul-Qadir Gilani (d. ca. 1167), who would go on to become one of the most widely venerated saints in all of Sunni Islam. Although Ibn Qudamah's "discipleship was cut short by the latter’s death ... [the] experience [of studying under Abdul-Qadir Gilani] ... had its influence on the young" scholar,  "who was to reserve a special place in his heart for mystics and mysticism" for the rest of his life.
Ibn Qudamah's first stay in Baghdad lasted four years, during which time he is also said to have written an important work criticizing what he deemed to be the excessive rationalism of Ibn Aqil (d. 1119), entitled Taḥrīm al-naẓar fī kutub ahl al-kalām (The Censure of Rationalistic Theology). During this sojourn in Baghdad, Ibn Qudamah studied hadith under numerous teachers, including three female hadith masters, namely Khadīja al-Nahrawāniyya (d. 1175), Nafīsa al-Bazzāza (d. 1168), and Shuhda al-Kātiba (d. ca. 1175). In turn, all these various teachers gave Ibn Qudamah the permission to begin teaching the principles of hadith to his own students, including important female disciples such as Zaynab bint al-Wāsiṭī (d. ca. 1240). Ibn Qudamah fought in Saladins Army during the battle to recapture Jerusalem in 1187. He visited Baghdad again in 1189 and 1196, making his pilgrimage to Mecca the previous year in 1195, before finally settling down in Damascus in 1197, Ibn Qudamah died on Saturday, the Day of Eid al-Fitr, on July 7, 1223.
Ibn Qudamah