Imam Ibn Abi Zayd Al-Qayrawani
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Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (rahmatullahi alaihi) (310/922 - 386/996) The author of Ar-Risala Translated by Aisha Bewley Shaikh Abu Muhammad 'Abdullah ibn Abi Zayd (rahmatullahi alaihi) was one of the people North Africa. Shaikh Abu Zayd's (rahmatullahi alaihi) name was 'Abdu'r-Rahman according to Shaikh ibn Makula (rahmatullahi alaihi) and Qadi ibn al- Hadhdha' (rahmatullahi alaihi). He was from the tribe of Nifza and lived in Qayrawan. His (rahmatullahi alaihi) position in knowledge He was the Imam of the Malikis in his time and their model. He had a comprehensive grasp of the school of Imam Malik (rahmatullahi alaihi) and explained his statements. He had extensive knowledge and a prodigious memory and transmission. His books are ample testimony of that. His writing was fluent, clarifying and defining what he said. He defended the school of Imam Malik and established evidence in its support. He knew how to refute the people of sects. In addition to his writing, he was very righteous, scrupulousness and chastity. He obtained leadership in the deen and this world. and people from all regions traveled to visit him. His companions were noble and many people took knowledge from him. He composed a summary of the school and undertook to spread it and defend it. His books filled the lands and were well-known to most of its people. Shaikh ash-Shirazi (rahmatullahi alaihi) said, "He was known as 'little Malik'. Shaikh Abu'l-Hasan al-Qabisi (rahmatullahi alaihi) mentioned him and said that he was a reliable Imam in his perception and transmission. Shaikh Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn 'Abdullah al-Qattan (rahmatullahi alaihi) said, 'I did not imitate Shaikh Abu Muhammad ibn Abi Zayd until I saw Shaikh As- Saba'i imitated him.'" Shaikh Abu Bakr ibn at-Tayyib (rahmatullahi alaihi) mentioned him in his book, and esteemed his value and merit. The same was true among other scholars in the east. Shaikh ibn Mujahid al- Baghdadi (rahmatullahi alaihi) and other Baghadadi companions of him asked him for an ijaza. Shaikh Abu 'Abdullah al-Mayruqi (rahmatullahi alaihi) said, "He possessed knowledge, scrupulousness, excellence and intellect. He is too famous to need to be mentioned." Shaikh ad-Da'udi (rahmatullahi alaihi) said, "He was quick to follow the truth. He studied fiqh with the fuqaha' of his land and listened to its Shaikhs. He relied on Shaikh Abu Bakr ibn al- Lubbad (rahmatullahi alaihi) and Shaikh Abu'l-Fadl al-Mumsi (rahmatullahi alaihi), and also studied with Shaikh Muhammad ibn Masrur al-'Assal (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Abdullah ibn Masrur ibn al-Hajjam (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh al-Qattan (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh al-Ibyyani (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Ziyad ibn Musa (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Sa'dun al- Khawlani (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Abu'l-'Arab (rahmatullahi alaihi). Shaikh Abu Ahmad ibn Abi Sa‟id (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Habib (rahmatullahi alaihi), the client of Shaikh Ibn Abi Sulayman (rahmatullahi alaihi), and others. He traveled and went on hajj and listened to Shaikh ibn al-A'rabi (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mundhir (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Abu 'Ali ibn Abi Hilal (rahmatullahi alaihi), and Shaikh Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Hammad (rahmatullahi alaihi) the Qadi. He also listened to Shaikh Al-Hasan ibn Badr (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Muhammad ibn Al-Fath (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh al-Hasan ibn Nasr as-Susi (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Darras ibn Isma'il (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh 'Uthman ibn Sa‟id al-Gharabuli (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Habib ibn Abi Habib al-Jazari (rahmatullahi alaihi) and others. Shaikh ibn Sha'ban (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh al-Aburri (rahmatullahi alaihi) and Shaikh al-Marwazi (rahmatullahi alaihi) asked him for an ijaza. Many people listened to him and a lot of people learned fiqh with him. His adherents in Qayrawan included Shaikh Abu Bakr ibn 'Abdu'r-Rahman (rahmatullahi alaihi), Abu'l-Qasim al-Baradha'i (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh al-Lubaydi (rahmatullahi alaihi), the sons of Shaikh al-Ajdabi (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Abu 'Abdullah al- Khawwas (rahmatullahi alaihi), and Shaikh Abu Muhammad al- Makki al-Muqri' (rahmatullahi alaihi). The people of Andalusia who followed him (rahmatullahi alaihi) include Shaikh Abu Bakr ibn Mawhab al-Maqburi (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Abu 'Abdullah ibn al-Hadhdha' (rahmatullahi alaihi) and Shaikh Abu Marwan al-Qanazi‟i (rahmatullahi alaihi). The people of Ceuta include Shaikh Abu 'Abdu'r-Rahman ibn al- 'Ajuz (rahmatullahi alaihi), Shaikh Abu Muhammad ibn Ghalib (rahmatullahi alaihi), and Shaikh Khalaf ibn Nasr (rahmatullahi alaihi). The people of the Maghrib include Shaikh Abu 'Ali ibn Amdakatu as-Sijilmasi (rahmatullahi alaihi). His (rahmatullahi alaihi) books He has the Kitab an-Nawadir wa'z-Ziyadat 'ala'l-Mudawwana which is famous and has more than a hundred sections, and the famous Mukhtasar (Summary) of the Mudawwana. Instruction in fiqh in the Maghrib is founded on these two books. He also wrote a revision of the 'Utibiyya, The Imitation of the People of Madina, The Defense of the School of Madina, the famous Risala, the Kitab an-Tanbih on the position of the children of apostates, Waqfs for the Children of Notables, Explanation of the Times of the Prayer, Trust and Reliance on Allah, The Book of Gnosis and Certainty, Insurance of Provision, Kitab al-Manasik, a treatise on those who are moved by the recitation of the Holy Qur'an and dhikr, a book on Turning Away the Beggar, the Protection of the Reputation of the Believer, Kitab al-Bayan on the inimitability of the Holy Qur'an, Kitab al-Wasawis, a treatise on giving relatives some of the zakat, a treatise prohibiting argumentation, a treatise refuting the Qadariyya and rebuttal to the treatise of al-Baghdadi al-Mu'tazili, the Kitab al-Istizhar on the refutation of the conceptualists [fikriya], Removal of Uncertainty on the same topic, Book of Admonition and Counsel, Treatise on the Seeker of Knowledge, The Excellence of Praying at Night in Ramadan, Excellent Warning for the People of Truthfulness, a letter to the people of Sijilmasa on recitation of the Holy Qur'an, and a treatise on the fundamentals of tauhid. All of his books are beneficial and extraordinary and full of knowledge. It is mentioned that one day he went to visit Abu Sa‟id (rahmatullahi alaihi), the nephew of Hisham (rahmatullahi alaihi), and found his gathering in session. Abu Sa‟id (rahmatullahi alaihi) said to him, "I have heard that you have written books." "Yes," he replied, "may Allah azza wa jall make you prosper!" He said, "Listen to a problem." Abu Muhammad (rahmatullahi alaihi) told him, "Mention it, may Allah azza wa jall make you prosper. If I am correct, you will tell me. If I am wrong, you will teach us." Abu Sa‟id (rahmatullahi alaihi) was silent and did not do that again. The rest of his (rahmatullahi alaihi) reports Shaikh Abu Muhammad (rahmatullahi alaihi) was one of the people of righteousness, scrupulousness and excellence. It is reported that he got up one night to do wudu' and poured water from the jug into the vessel and spilled it. Then he poured it again and spilled it. Then that happened a third time and he had some doubts and remarked, "You are recalcitrant towards us." He heard someone he could not see say, "The child wet the bed over the jug and we disliked for you to do wudu' from it." When he wrote his books about the conceptualists and criticized the book of 'Abdu'r-Rahman as-Siqilli in al-Kashf and al-Istizhar and refuted a lot of what they had transmitted regarding miracles (kharq al-'adat) according to what was affirmed in his book, the false Sufis and a lot of the people of hadith objected to that and spread it about that he denied miracles (karamat), which he did not do. Indeed, at the beginning of his book, he articulates his aim, which is to refute a certain group of people found in Andalusia and the east. Many well-known books have been written on that, including the books of Abu'l-Hasan ibn Jahdam al-Hamdani (rahmatullahi alaihi), Abu Bakr al-Baqillani (rahmatullahi alaihi), Abu 'Abdu'r-Rahman ibn Shaqq al-Layl (rahmatullahi alaihi), Abu 'Umar at-Talamanki (rahmatullahi alaihi) and others. The most correctly guided of them in that and had the best knowledge of his aim and its worth was the Imam of his time, Qadi Abu Bakr ibn at-Tayyib al-Baqillani (rahmatullahi alaihi). He made his aim clear. Al-Ajdabi (rahmatullahi alaihi) said, "I was sitting with Abu Muhammad (rahmatullahi alaihi) when Abu'l-Qasim 'Abdu'r- Rahman ibn 'Abdu'l-Mu'min (rahmatullahi alaihi) the mutakallim was with him (rahmatullahi alaihi). A man asked them about al- Khidr and whether it could be said that he was still in this world in spite of all this time and would not die until the Final Hour comes and whether this is refuted by the words of the Almighty, 'We did not give any human being before you immortality.' (Holy Qur‟an 21:34) They both replied to him that that was possible and permitted and al-Khidr could live until the Final Trumpet was blown. Immortality is connected to remaining as long as the Next World remains, and remaining until the Trumpet is blown is not immortality. Do you not see that Iblis - may Allah azza wa jall curse him - is not immortal, but he is one of those deferred until the Day of a Known Time. It is mentioned that Abu Muhammad (rahmatullahi alaihi) wrote to Abu Bakr al-Aburri (rahmatullahi alaihi): Hearts refuse the hearts of a people when they have no portion with them.