|
He studied under his father as well as
the scholar of Qur'an and hadith Ibrahim Haqqi (d. 1345), Shaykh Zayn
al-`Abidin al-Alsuni (d. 1336), Shaykh Muhammad Khalis al-Shirwani,
al-Hasan al-Aztuwa'i, and others. When the Caliphate fell he moved to
Cairo, then Sham, then Cairo again until his death, where the late Shaykhs
`Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda and `Abd Allah al-Ghumari became his students.
Following is his prestigious chain of transmission in fiqh:
Imam al-Kawthari (d. 1371) took fiqh from his father, and also from the
hadith master Ibrahim Haqqi (d. 1345) and from Shaykh Zayn al-'Abidin
al-Alsuni (d. 1336).
Al-Kawthari's father took fiqh from the hadith master Ahmad Dya' al-Din
al-Kamushkhanawi al-Naqshbandi (d. 1311) the author of the hadith index
Ramuz al-Ahadith.
who took fiqh from Sayyid Ahmad al-Arwadi (d. 1275)
who took fiqh from the hadith master Muhammad Amin, Ibn `Abidin (d. 1252),
whose chain is given elsewhere.
Both Haqqi and Alsuni took fiqh from the hadith master Ahmad Shakir (d.
1315)
who took fiqh from the hadith master Muhammad Ghalib (d. 1286)
who took fiqh from Sulayman ibn al-Hasan al-Kraydi (d. 1268)
who took fiqh from Ibrahim al-Akhiskhawi (d. 1232)
who took fiqh from Muhammad Munib al-'Aynatabi (d. 1238)
who took fiqh from Isma'il ibn Muhammad al-Qunawi (d. 1195)
who took fiqh from `Abd al-Karim al-Qunawi al-Amidi (d.1150)
who took fiqh from Muhammad al-Yamani al-Azhari (d. 1135)
who took fiqh from `Abd al-Hayy al-Shurunbulali
who took fiqh from Abu al-Ikhlas al-Hasan al-Shurunbulali (d. 1069)
who took fiqh from `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Nuhrayri
and from Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Muhibbi al-Qahiri (d. 1041)
who both took fiqh from `Ali al-Maqdisi (d. 1004)
who took fiqh from Ahmad ibn Yunus al-Shalabi (d. 948)
who took fiqh from `Abd al-Barr ibn al-Shahna (d. 921)
who took fiqh from Imam al-Kamal ibn al-Humam (d. 861)
who took fiqh from Siraj al-Din `Umar ibn `Ali Qari' al-Hidaya (d. 829)
who took fiqh:
1) from `Ala's al-Din al-Sirami (d. 790)
who took fiqh from Jalal al-Din al-Karlani
who took fiqh from `Abd al-'Aziz al-Bukhari (d. 730) [the author of Kashf
al-Asrar, a manual of Usul al-Fiqh]
who took fiqh from Hafiz al-Din Imam `Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Nasafi (d.
701)
who took fiqh from the Sun of Imams Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Sattar al-Kardari
2) from Akmal al-Din Muhammad al-Babarti (d. 796)
who took fiqh from Qawwam al-Din Muhammad al-Kaki (d. 749)
who took fiqh from al-Husayn al-Saghnaqi (d. 711)
who took fiqh from Hafiz al-Din al-Kabir Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Nasr
al-Bukhari (d. 693)
who also took fiqh from Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Sattar al-Kardari (d. 642)
Al-Kardari took fiqh from the author of the Hidaya, Imam `Ali ibn Abi Bakr
al-Marghinani (d. 593)
who took fiqh from al-Najm Abu Hafs `Umar al-Nasafi (d. 537)
who took fiqh from the two Pazdawi brothers, Fakhr al-Islam (d. 482) and
Sadr al-Islam (d. 493),
the first of whom took fiqh from the Sun of Imams al-Sarkhasi (d. 483) the
author of the Mabsut,
who took fiqh from the Sun of Imams al-Halwa'i (d. 448)
who took fiqh from al-Husayn ibn Khidr al-Nasafi (d. 423)
who took fiqh from Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Bukhari (d. 381)
who took fiqh from `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Harithi (d. 340)
who took fiqh from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hafs (d. 264)
who took fiqh from his father Abu Hafs al-Kabir (d. 217)
who took fiqh from the Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani (d. 189) the
companion of Imam Abu Hanifa - Allah be well-pleased with him -,
while Sadr al-Islam took fiqh from Isma'il ibn `Abd al-Sadiq
who took fiqh from `Abd al-Karim al-Pazdawi (d. 390)
who took fiqh from the Imam of Guidance Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d. 333)
who took fiqh from Abu Bakr al-Jawjazani
who took fiqh from Abu Sulayman Musa ibn Sulayman al-Jawjazani
who also took fiqh from the Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani.
Al-Shaybani took fiqh from the founder of the madhhab Imam Abu Hanifa
al-Nu`man (d. 150)
who took fiqh from Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman (d. 120)
who took fiqh from Ibrahim ibn Yazid al-Nakha`i (d. 95)
who took fiqh from [1] `Alqama ibn Qays (d. 62), [2] al-Aswad ibn Yazid
(d. 75), and [3] Abu `Abd al-Rahman `Abd Allah ibn Hubayyib al-Sulami (d.
74 or 73)
`Alqama and al-Aswad took fiqh from `Abd Allah ibn Mas`ud (d. 32) - Allah
be well-pleased with him -,
while al-Sulami took fiqh from Sayyiduna `Ali - Allah be well-pleased with
him - who was martyred in Kufa in the month of Ramadan of the year 40.
Both Ibn Mas`ud and Sayyiduna `Ali took from the Seal of Prophets and
Leader of the Radiant-faced ones, the Master of the First and the Last
among angels, jinn, and human beings including Prophets and Messengers:
who was taken to the Highest Company in the late morning of the Second Day
of the week, the 13th of the month of Rabi` al-Awwal in the year 11, the
blessings and greeting of Allah upon him, honor, generosity, and mercy,
and upon his excellent and chaste Family as well as his pure and
Godfearing Companions.2
A tireless scholar, there is apparently no field of the Islamic sciences in which al-Kawthari did not have a well-founded claim to authority. He edited and brought back into circulation countless classical books of fiqh, hadith, and usûl after he moved to Cairo. A staunch Ash`ari, he held an extremely critical view of anti-Ash`aris, considering Ibn Taymiyya an unmitigated anthropomorphist. Among the books he authored as listed by his student Ahmad Khayri:
* Bulugh al-Amani fi Sira al-Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, a biography of the foremost Hanafi authority after Imam Abu Hanifa.
* Al-Fara'id al-Wafiya [or: al-Fawa'id al-Kafiya] fi `Ilmay al-`Arud wa al-Qafya ("The Abundant Peerless Matters in the Two Sciences of Prosody and Rhyme"), published without the name of the author.
* Fiqh Ahl al-`Iraq ("The Jurisprudence of the Iraqi Scholars"), less than a hundred pages in length, it is one of the great works on the remarkable character of Hanafi fiqh and its school and contains useful definitions of key concepts such as analogy (qiyâs), scholarly exertion (ijtihâd), and discretion (istihsân) as well as biographical notices on the most eminent figures of the Hanafi school. It was meticulously commented upon by Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda. Excerpts:
- (In praise of al-Zayla`i) "If the students of fiqh find one among the hadith masters who is profoundly learned and truly insightful without being taken over by vain lusts - let them hold onto him tooth and nail, for such a type is, among them, as rare as red sulphur."
- "There is no jurisprudence without juridical opinion" (lâ fiqh bidûn ra'î).
- "Ra'î in this sense is a positive term for the quality of every
jurisprudent and refers to perspicuity and complete insight. This is why
you find Ibn Qutayba in al-Ma`arif mentioning the fuqahâ' under the
heading, `The People of Juridical Opinion' (ashâb al-ra'î), counting among
them al-Awza`i, Sufyan al-Thawri, and Malik ibn Anas. So does the hadith
master Muhammad ibn al-Harith al-Khushani in his Qudat Qurtuba refer to
Malik's companions as `The People of Juridical Opinion.' So does the
hadith master Abu al-Walid ibn al-Faradi in his Tarikh `Ulama' al-Andalus.
So does the hadith master Abu al-Walid al-Baji in his commentary on
al-Malik's Muwatta'."3
"What is found in the words of Ibrahim al-Nakha`i and those of his
biographical layer to the effect that `the people of ra'î are the enemies
of the Sunan'4 is in the sense of the ra'î that contradicts the Sunna that
is transmitted concerning doctrine.
They meant by it the Khawârij, the
Qadariyya, the Mushabbiha, and similar innovators. They did not mean ra'î
in the sense of scholarly exertion (ijtihâd) in the branches of the Law
that concern legal rulings. To give this any other sense is to tamper with
their wording. How can it be otherwise when al-Nakha`i himself and Ibn
al-Musayyib himself are among those who express personal juridical opinion
in the branches, in spite of those who cannot picture them doing so?" Ibn
`Abd al-Barr mentioned the same explanation.5
* Hanin al-Mutafajji` wa Anin al-Mutawajji`, a poem on the horrors of the First World War.
* Al-Hawi fi Sira al-Imam Abi Ja`far al-Tahawi, a biography of one of the foremost authorities in the early Hanafi school in which he states:
The `Aqida Tahawiyya received several commentaries, among them that of
Najm al-Din Abu Shuja` Bakbars al-Nasiri al-Baghdadi - one of Sharaf
al-Din al-Dimyati's shaykhs -, that of Siraj al-Din `Umar ibn Ishaq
al-Ghaznawi al-Misri, that of Mahmud ibn Ahmad ibn Mas`ud al-Qunawi, that
of Sharh al-Sadr `Ali ibn Muhammad al-Adhra`i, and others. A commentary
was published, authored by an unknown ["Ibn Abi al-`Izz"] spuriously
affiliated with the Hanafi school, but whose handiwork proclaims his
ignorance of this discipline and the fact that he is an anthropomorphist
who has lost his compass.6
* Husn al-Taqadi fi Sira al-Imam Abi Yusuf al-Qadi, a biography of the second foremost Hanafi authority after Imam Abu Hanifa.
* Ibda' Wujuh al-Ta`addi fi Kamil Ibn `Adi ("Exposing the Different Sides of Enmity Found in Ibn `Adi's al-Kamil fi Du`afa' al-Rijal") in which al-Kawthari demonstrated the many flaws of the reports adduced by Ibn `Adi whereby Abu Hanifa was supposedly criticized by Sufyan al-Thawri, Malik, and Ibn Ma`in. Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda said in his annotations of al-Lacknawi's al-Raf` wa al-Takmil that al-Kawthari refuted Ibn `Adi's excesses against Abu Hanifa in three works: Ta'nib al-Khatib, al-Imta` bi Sirat al-Imamayn, and the unpublished Ibda`. Ibn `Adi shows enmity to Abu Hanifa as he reports nothing but criticism, relying entirely on weak and inauthentic reports. Al-Kawthari said in his introduction to Nasb al-Raya and in Fiqh Ahl al-`Iraq, "Among the defects of Ibn `Adi's Kamil is his relentless criticism of Abu Hanifa with reports that are all from the narration of Abba' ibn Ja`far al-Najirami, one of Ibn `Adi's shaykhs, and the latter tries to stick what al-Najirami has directly to Abu Hanifa, and this is injustice and enmity, as is the rest of his criticism. The way to expose such cases is through the chain of transmission."
* Al-Ifsah `an Hukm al-Ikrah fi al-Talaq wa al-Nikah ("The Eloquent Proclamation of the Ruling Concerning Forced Divorce or Marriage").
* Ihqaq al-Haqq bi Ibtal al-Batil fi Mughith al-Khalq, a refutation of Imam al-Haramayn's pamphlet entitled Mughith al-Khalq fi Tarjih al-Qawl al-Haqq proclaiming the superiority of the Shafi`i school to the Hanafi and Maliki schools. He followed it up with a tract titled Aqwam al-Masalik fi Bahth Riwayati Malik `an Abi Hanifa wa Riwayati Abi Hanifa `an Malik in which he cited narrations showing that Imam Malik had narrated from Imam Abu Hanifa and vice-versa - may Allah have mercy on both of them.
* Al-Imta` bi Sirat al-Imamayn al-Hasan ibn Ziyad (al-Lu'lu'i d. 204) wa Sahibihi Muhammad ibn Shuja` (al-Thalji d. 266), a biography of two great figures of the Hanafi school.
* Is`ad al-Raqi `ala al-Maraqi on Hanafi fiqh, in which he documented the
hadiths of al-Shurunbulali's Maraqi al-Falah.7
* Al-Ishfaq `ala Ahkam al-Talaq fi al-Radd `ala Man Yaqul Inna al-Thalatha Wahida, a refutation of Ibn Taymiyya's position on divorce in which the latter dissented from the Consensus of the scholars.
* Al-Istibsar fi al-Tahadduth `an al-Jabr wa al-Ikhtiyar ("The Obtainment of Insight Concerning Determinism and Freedom of Choice").
* Izaha Shubha al-Mu`ammam `an `Ibara al-Muharram, resolving the ambiguity of a certain expression used by a shaykh named al-Muharram in his supercommentary on al-Jami's commentary on Ibn al-Hajib's al-Kafiya in Arabic grammar.
* Al-Jawab al-Wafi fi al-Radd `ala al-Wa`iz al-Awfi. An extemporaneous 20-page reply to a preacher from the town of Awf (on the shore of the Black Sea) who had attacked Sufis.
* Lamahat al-Nazar fi Sira al-Imam Zufar, a biography of the third foremost Hanafi authority after Imam Abu Hanifa.
* Mahq al-Taqawwul fi Mas'ala al-Tawassul, a refutation of those who deny
the validity of using the Prophet 
and the
righteous as means in supplicating Allah Most High.
* Maqalat al-Kawthari, a collection of important articles written in Egypt in the thirties and fourties on a variety of contemporary issues and ranging from two to twenty pages. Among them:
* Bid`a al-Sawtiyya Hawl al-Qur'an ("The Innovation of Asserting
Pre-Existence for Qur'an-Recitation") in which he states: "It is a fact
that the Qur'an as found on the Tablet, on Gibril's tongue and that of the
Prophet , as well as the tongue of all those
who recite it, their hearts, and their tablets, is created, originated,
and necessarily brought to be. Whoever denies this is a sophist who is
unworthy of being heard. The pre-existent is only the concept that
subsists in Allah Most High in the sense of Allah's own self-discourse
(al-kalâm al-nafsî) within His Knowledge, as expressed by Ahmad ibn Hanbal
and Ibn Hazm."8
* Hadith Man Tashabbaha bi Qawmin fa Huwa Minhum ("The Hadith: `Whoever
Outwardly Imitates A People, He is One of Them'")9 in which he says: "This
hadith is one of the pithy statements of the Prophet . Al-Najm al-Ghazzi - one of the great Shafi`i scholars of the
eleventh century - authored a large volume titled Husn al-Tanabbuh li
Ahkam al-Tashabbuh ("The Excellent Awakening to the Rulings That Pertain
to Outward Imitation") in which he examines at length the rulings inferred
from this hadith. This volume is in Damascus' Zahiriyya library and
deserves to be published."10 In the corollary article entitled Mansha'
Ilzam Ahl al-Dhimma bi Shi`arin Khassin wa Hukmu Talabbus al-Muslimi bihi
`Inda al-Fuqaha' ("The Origin of the Imposition of a Distinctive
Vestimentary Sign on Non-Muslim Citizens and the Juridical Status of Its
Donning by a Muslim") - written in response to Muhammad `Abduh's fatwa
permitting the donning of fedoras and top hats by Muslims - he cites the
hadith of the Prophet : "Dye your white hair
and do not imitate the Jews"11 and mentions that Ibn Taymiyya adduced it
as evidence that tashabbuh may take place passively on our part and
without specific intention.12 This is a proof against beardless Muslims
that wear a suit and tie "without intending to imitate non-Muslims" let
alone those who endorse their fashions.
* Hijab al-Mar'a ("Woman's Veil") in which he adduced the report of Ibn
`Abbas and `Ali's companion `Abida al-Salmani - narrated by al-Tabari in
his Tafsir - whereby the meaning of the verse {they [women] should cast
their outer garments (jalâbîb) over their persons} (33:59) included the
face but for one eye.13 Ibn Rushd said that this verse has been adduced as
proof that all of woman's body constitutes nakedness14 while al-Qurtubi in
his commentary on the verse said that the jilbâb is the cloak that
conceals all of the body including the head. Another verse states {And
tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display
of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their
headcovers (khumûrihinna) over their bosoms} (24:31), "only that which is
apparent" meaning their face and hands according to most jurists, provided
they pose no risk of enticement.15 The Hanbalis include the hands and face
among the limbs that must be covered, as they read the above verses in the
light of the Prophet's statement: "Woman is
nakedness (al-mar'atu `awra), so when she goes out the devil is facing
her, and the nearest she is to her Lord's countenance is in the privacy of
her house."16 `A'isha defined the headcover as follows:
"When a woman
reaches puberty she must cover whatever her mother and grandmother must
cover,"17 their khimâr being "nothing short of what covers both the hair
and skin,"18 "without transparency."19 She also said: "By Allah, I never
saw any better women than the women of the Ansar nor stronger in their
confirmation of the book of Allah! When Sura al-Nur was revealed {and to
draw their khumûr over their bosoms} (24:31) - their men went back to them
reciting to them what Allah had revealed to them in that [sura or verse],
each man reciting it to his wife, daughter, sister, and relative. Not one
woman among them remained except she got up on the spot, tore up her
waist-wrap and covered herself from head to toe (i`jtajarat) with it. They
prayed the very next dawn prayer covered from head to toe (mu`tajirât)."20
The two interpretations of the order to {draw their headcovers over their
bosoms} among the women of the Companions and the generation that
immediately succeeded them - on which are based the two views of the Four
Schools, to cover everything or leave out the face and hands - stem from
the fact that some women drew from the top down, some from the sides and
over. The result for the first category was to cover the face, while the
second category left the face uncovered.21
* Khutura al-Qawl bi al-Jiha ("The Gravity of the Doctrine That Attributes
Direction [to Allah Most High]") in which he reports al-Bayadi's
explanation of Imam Abu Hanifa's statement: "Whoever says, `I do not know
whether my Lord is in the heaven or on earth' is a disbeliever and,
similarly, whoever says, `He is on the Throne and I do not know whether
the Throne is in the heaven or on earth' is a disbeliever." Al-Bayadi said
in Isharat al-Maram: "This is because he implies that the Creator has a
direction and a boundary, and anything that possesses direction and
boundary is necessarily created. So this statement explicitly attributes
imperfection to Allah Most High. The believer in [divine] corporeality and
direction is someone who denies the existence of anything other than
objects that can be pointed to with the senses. They deny the Essence of
the Deity that is transcendent beyond that. This makes them positively
guilty of disbelief."22
* Al-Lamadhhabiyya Qantaratu al-Ladiniyya ("Anti-Madhhabism is the Archway
of Atheism").23
* Layla al-Nisf Min Sha`ban ("The Night of Mid-Sha`ban") in which he cites
the hadith whereby the Prophet said: "The
night of mid-Sha`ban let all of you spend in prayer and its day in
fasting, for Allah descends to the nearest heaven during that night
beginning with sunset and says:
`Is there no-one asking forgiveness that I
may forgive them? Is there no-one asking sustenance that I may grant them
sustenance? Is there no one under duress that I may relieve them? Is there
not such-and-such, is there not such-and-such, and so forth until until
dawn rises.'"24 Al-Kawthari commented: "The meaning of descent is His
opening the gate of response to His servants, and this is true Arabic
usage. As for explaining it as His displacement from top to bottom, it is
ignorance of what is permissible and impermissible to apply to Allah Most
High. Therefore, one has to explain it metaphorically as Allah's sending
down a herald sounding out this call, as indicated by al-Nasa'i's
narration; or, also metaphorically, as His `turning toward' (yuqbilu `alâ)
those who ask forgiveness etc. as related from Hammad ibn Zayd25 and
others. Also, sunset and the last third of the night differ for each
region, so both go on continuously according to each different region of
the world. It cannot be imagined that a sensory descending is meant in all
the formulations of the hadith of descent, and the hadith of mid-Sha`ban
is in the same category."26
* Ma Hiya al-Ahruf al-Sab`a? ("What Are the Seven Wordings?") in which he
expressed the positions that the ahruf al-sab`a were not dialects but
synonyms, most of which were either abrogated or retained in their known
current form.27
* Mahq al-Taqawwul fi Mas'ala al-Tawassul ("The Eradication of Gossip
Concerning the Use of Intermediaries"), a seminal article on the
question.28
* Tahdhir al-Umma Min Du`at al-Wathaniyya ("Warning the Community About
Those Who Call to Idol-Worship"), written in 1942, in which he lambasts
al-Azhar for allowing the publication of `Uthman ibn Sa`id al-Darimi's
al-Radd `ala al-Jahmiyya which contains phrases like "[Allah Most High]
moves if He wishes, descends and ascends if He wishes... stands and sits
if He wishes"; "Allah Most High has a limit... and His place also has a
limit, as He is on His Throne above His heavens, and these are two
limits"; "if He wished, He would have settled on the back of a gnat" and
other enormities.29 This is identical to Ibn Karram's doctrine whereby
"Allah has a body unlike bodies, and a limit."30 Yet Ibn Taymiyya ardently
defends al-Darimi's views,31 citing them time and again in his attack on
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's Asas al-Taqdis - a refutation of anthropomorphism -
entitled al-Ta'sis Radd Asas al-Taqdis,32 even claiming that Imam Ahmad
upheld the doctrine of that Allah Most High possesses a limit.33 At the
same time he admits that Ahl al-Sunna did hold the opposite view: "The
position that He is above the Throne but has no limit (hadd) nor dimension
nor body is that of many of the upholders of the Divine Attributes
(al-sifâtiyya) among the followers of Ibn Kullab and the Ash`ari Imams
including their early authorities and whoever agrees with them among the
jurists ... and the hadith scholars and the Sufis... among them Abu Hatim,
Ibn Hibban, and Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi."34 Then he states: "Al-Qadi [Abu
Ya`la] said that Ahmad asserts in absolute terms that Allah Most High had
a limit but he negates it in Hanbal's narration, saying: `We believe that
Allah is on the Throne in the manner He wishes and however He wishes,
without limit nor description anyone could give or define Him by.' So he
negated the limit that pertains to the description he mentioned, meaning
the limit known by creatures... And that is the meaning of Ahmad's
statement: `Allah Most High has a limit that only He knows.'"35 The latter
is in blatant contradiction of what is authentically reported from Imam
Ahmad by the major authorities of his school.36
* Naqd Kitab al-Du`afa' li al-`Uqayli ("Critique of al-`Uqayli's Du`afa"),
in which al-Kawthari denounced the Hanbali al-`Uqayli's excessive
anti-Hanafi bias in his book of discredited narrators titled Kitab
al-Du`afa'. Possibly the most fanatic and least reliable of
narrator-criticism authorities, his notice on Imam Abu Hanifa is a
collection of weak and fabricated reports but he also attacked the likes
of Thabit al-Bunani, Ibn al-Madini, al-Bukhari, `Abd al-Razzaq, Ibn Abi
Shayba, `Affan ibn Muslim, and others, for which he earned al-Dhahabi's
strong reprimand.37 Al-Kawthari said: "We find in al-`Uqayli's Du`afa' and
Ibn `Adi's Kamil much idle talk against our masters, the Imams of
jurisprudence, because of the former's anthropomorphist creed and the
latter's partisanship for his [Shafi`i] school, together with his
questionable creed."38
* Al-Naqd al-Tammi `ala al-`Iqd al-Nami `ala Sharh al-Jami, a supercommentary on the Turkish Shaykh Muhammad Rahmi al-Akini's commentary titled al-`Iqd al-Nami on `Abd al-Rahman al-Jami's al-Fawa'id al-Diya'iyya Sharh al-Kafiya in grammar.
* Al-Nazm al-`Atid fi Tawassul al-Murid ("Poem on the Means Sought by the Student"), after which came its commentary entitled Irgham al-Murid fi Sharh al-Nazm al-`Atid.
* Nazm `Awamil al-I`rab ("Poem on Declensions"), in Persian, his first work.
* Nazra `Abira fi Maza`im Man Yankur Nuzul `Isa `Alyhi al-Salam Qabla al-Akhira ("A Cursory Look at the Claims of Those Who Deny `Isa's Descent Before the Next Life"), a 67-page epistle similar to Shaykh `Abd Allah al-Ghumari's subsequent `Aqida Ahl al-Islam fi Nuzul `Isa `Alayhi al-Salam ("The Doctrine of the Muslims Concerning the Descent of `Isa - peace upon him -") which lists all the authentic evidence to that effect and which al-Kawthari prefaced. Both works were written in refutation of a strange fatwa by Shaykh Mahmud Shaltut of al-Azhar.
* Al-Nukat al-Tarifa fi al-Tahadduth `an Rudud Ibn Abi Shayba `ala Abi Hanifa, a commentary on Ibn Abi Shayba's attack on Abu Hanifa in his Musannaf.
* Qawa`id `Aqa'id al-Batiniyya ("The Foundations of the Doctrines of the Esoterics").
* Qurra al-Nawazir fi Adab al-Munazir, a treatise on debate translated from the original Turkish of Jawdat Basha.
* Raf` al-Ishtibah `an Hukm Kashf al-Ra's wa Labs al-Ni`al fi al-Salat
("The Removal of Doubt Concerning the Status of Praying Bare-Headed and
Wearing Shoes"), a fatwa - also included in the Maqalat - which denounces
the then new "Salafi" fashion of praying "in the appearance of the
lowborn."39
* Al-Suhuf al-Munshara fi Sharh al-Usul al-`Ashara li Najm al-Din Kubra, an explanation of the "Ten Principles" by the Sufi master Najm al-Din Kubra.
* Tadrib al-Tullab `ala Qawa`id al-I`rab, a manual for training in grammatical analysis.
* Tadrib al-Wasif `ala Qawa`id al-Taswif.
* Tafrih al-Bal bi Hall Tarikh Ibn al-Kamal, on the way to solve the riddles contained in the history of the Ottomans entitled Tarikh Al `Uthman by Shams al-Din Ahmad ibn Sulayman ibn Kamal Basha (d. 940).
* Ta'nib al-Khatib `ala Ma Saqahu fi Tarjimati Abi Hanifata Min al-Akadhib
("Rebuking al-Khatib for Citing Lies in His Biography of Abu Hanifa") to
which the "Salafi" scholar `Abd al-Rahman ibn Yahya al-Mu`allimi al-Yamani
(1313-1386) responded with his two-volume al-Tankil Lima Warada fi Ta'nib
al-Kawthari min al-Abatil ("Repelling the Falsehoods Cited in
al-Kawthari's Ta'nib"). The Tankil contains a wicked attack on the early
Hanafi school engulfing Ash`aris and giving free vent to the author's
anti-madhhabi and anthropomorphist views, to the point that he states: "To
negate [from Allah] the corporeality that is necessarily forbidden some
said: `Allah has a body unlike bodies.'"40 Al-Kawthari countered with
al-Tarhib bi Naqd al-Ta'nib41 in which he revealed that the publication of
al-Mu`allimi's critique was financed by Muhammad Nasif, the same wealthy
Jeddah patron who had financed the printing of al-Qari's hapless fatwa
that the parents of the Prophet were in
hellfire, the dissemination in India of the derogatory part of al-Khatib's
biography of Imam Abu Hanifa with an Urdu translation, and the publication
of the anthropomorphist Kitab al-Sunna attributed to `Abd Allah ibn Ahmad
ibn Hanbal, concerning which book Shaykh Shu`ayb al-Arna'ut said that "at
least 50 percent of the hadiths in it are weak or outright forgeries."42
Al-Kawthari also revealed that al-Mu`allimi's editor, Muhammad `Abd
al-Razzaq Hamza, collaborated on the publication of `Uthman ibn Sa`id
al-Darimi's Naqd al-Jahmiyya, which contains similar Israelite reports,
anthropomorphist forgeries and other enormities.
* Tarwid al-Qariha bi Mawazin al-Fikr al-Sahiha, a treatise on logic translated from the original Turkish of Jawdat Basha.
Among the books al-Kawthari edited or forwarded:
* Al-Bayadi's Isharat al-Maram min `Ibarat al-Imam, on Imam Abu Hanifa's positions in kalâm and the terminologies he used.
* Al-Bayhaqi's al-Asma' wa al-Sifat.43
* Al-Ghaznawi's (d. 773) al-Ghurra al-Munifa fi Tahqiq Ba`d Masa'il al-Imam Abi Hanifa, a work of comparative fiqh between the Hanafi and Shafi`i schools similar to al-Bayhaqi's al-Khilafiyyat, written by request of the scholarly emir Sirghatmish al-Misri in refutation of al-Razi's al-Tariqa al-Baha'iyya fi al-Khilaf, a treatise on the differences of the jurists advocating the supremacy of the Shafi`i position. Al-Ghaznawi translated al-Razi's work into Arabic from the original Persian in the process.
* Ibn `Asakir's Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari `ala Abi al-Hasan al-Ash`ari, a biography of the Imam of Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a containing a statement of his doctrine and a refutation of positions falsely attributed to him.
* Ibn Qutayba's Al-Ikhtilaf fi al Lafz wa al-Radd `ala al-Jahmiyya wa
al-Mushabbiha ("The Difference of Opinion Concerning the Pronunciation [of
the Qur'an] and the Refutation of the Jahmis and the
Anthropomorphists").44
* Ibn Qatlubagha's (d. 879) Munyat al-Alma`i fima Fata min Takhrij Ahadith al-Hidaya li al-Zayla`i, a continuation of al-Zayla`i's Nasb al-Raya in the documentation of
* Al-Nabulusi's (d. 1143) Kashf al-Satr `an Fardiyya al-Watr ("The
Disclosure of the Obligatory Nature of the Witr Prayer"), in which the
author adduces the proofs of the Hanafi school on this topic. Al-Kawthari
mentioned in his introduction the sayings of the great Imams on this
prayer, notably the rejection of the legal testimony of one who did not
pray witr by Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad, and the saying of Imam al-Shafi`i
in al-Umm: "Whoever leaves the Sunna of fajr or Salat al-Witr, is in a
worse state than if he had left all the supererogatory prayers."45
* Al-Qaysarani's, Shurut al-A'imma al-Sitta ("The Criteria [of Hadith Authentication] According to the Six Imams: al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah") together with al-Hazimi's Shurut al-A'imma al-Khamsa ("The Criteria [of Hadith Authentication] According to the Five Imams: al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasa'i").
* Al-Shafi`i's Musnad and his Ahkam al-Qur'an.
* Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi's al-Intisar wa al-Tarjih li al-Madhhab al-Sahih ("The Defense and Advocacy of the True School of Law") in praise of Abu Hanifa and his school.
* Al-Tahawi's `Aqida.
* Ibn al-Jawzi's Daf` Shubah al-Tashbih ("The Repelling of the Insinuations of Anthropomorphism at the Hands of Divine Transcendence") in which al-Kawthari collected many of the most insightful explanations of the Sunni scholars on the verses and hadiths misquoted by the anthropomorphists to support their ideas.
* Tabdid al-Zalam, al-Kawthari's commentary on al-Subki's refutation of Ibn Qayyim entitled al-Sayf al-Saqil fi al-Radd `ala Ibn Zafil.
Al-Kawthari is criticized for what is perceived by some as excessive partisanship for the Hanafi school and a contentious style in refuting or attacking opponents. Shaykh `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari (1328-1413) wrote in Bida` al-Tafasir (p. 180-181):
"We admired al-Kawthari for his knowledge, wide reading, and modesty, just as we hated his bias for the Hanafis. This bias of his exceeded al-Zamakshari's bias for the Mu`tazili school to the point that my brother, the hadith master Abu al-Fayd [Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari] used to call him "Abu Hanifa's madman!" (majnûn Abi Hanifa).
"When he offered me his espitle entitled Ihqaq al-Haqq [bi Ibtal al-Batil
fi Mughith al-Khalq] ("Making Truth Prevail in Exposing the Falsehoods of
Mughith al-Khalq"), a refutation of Imam al-Haramayn's [Abu al-Ma`ali `Abd
al-Malik ibn `Abd Allah ibn al-Juwayni] epistle on the preferability of
the Shafi`i school [entitled Mughith al-Khalq fi Tarjih al-Qawl al-Haqq in
which the Imam attacked the Hanafi and Maliki schools], I found him
casting aspersions [cf. Ihqaq p. 19-20] on the [Qurayshi] lineage of Imam
al-Shafi`i, citing [the trustworthy hadith master Zakariyya ibn Yahya ibn
Dawud] al-Saji's statement [in his book Manaqib al-Shafi`i].46 I
criticized him for this aspersion and said to him: "Questioning lineages
does not constitute a scholarly refutation." He replied: "A sectarian
refuting a sectarian." He said this verbatim, so he acknowledges his
sectarianism.
"I visited him in his house once, together with the noble Sharîf, al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Baqir al-Kattani, and as we discussed certain scholarly issues the name of the hadith master Ibn Hajar came up. Al-Sayyid al-Baqir showed his admiration of Ibn Hajar's memorization and his commentary on al-Bukhari, and I echoed his opinion. Whereupon he deprecated that commentary and said: "Ibn Hajar used to depend upon hadith indexes (al-atrâf) when collating the different routes of the hadith," which is untrue. Then he said that he - Ibn Hajar - used to follow women in the streets and make passes at them, at one time following a woman thinking that she was beautiful, until she arrived at her house with him in her tracks; when she removed her face-veil (burqu`), she turned out to be an ugly black woman, so he turned back, frustrated.
"Now, the reason behind this attack, is that al-Hafiz used to assail some
of the Hanafis in his books of biography, such as al-Durar al-Kamina and
Raf` al-Isr [`an Qudat Misr].47 He said of the Hanafi al-`Ayni that he
used to take the manuscript pages of Fath al-Bari from one of his students
and use them in his commentary [on Sahih al-Bukhari, entitled `Umdat
al-Qari]. When al-Hafiz found out, he prevented the distribution of these
pages to students.
"Worse than this, al-Kawthari imputed senility to Anas bin Malik - Allah
be well-pleased with him - for relating a hadith that contradicts the
school of Abu Hanifa.48 Worse yet is his attempt to pass a fabricated
hadith as authentic because it might imply the tidings of Abu Hanifa,
namely, the hadith: "Were knowledge (al-`ilm) to be found at the Pleiades,
certain men from among the Persians would go there to obtain it." The
hadith is in the two Sahihs with the word "belief" ["Were belief (al-îmân)
to be found at the Pleiades, a man from those people would go there to
obtain it"49 ], and when the Prophet said it
he put his hand on the shoulder of Salman al-Farisi - Allah be
well-pleased with him -.
Some forger then changed the word "belief" to
"knowledge" as pointed out by my brother, the hadith master Abu al-Fayd,
in al-Mathnuni wa al-Battar, who said: "Even if it were authentic there
would not be in it any reference to Abu Hanifa but to the hadith masters
who came out of Persia, such as Abu al-Shaykh and Abu Nu`aym, for `ilm in
the terminology of Islamic law means the Book and the Sunna, not juridical
opinion (ra'î) and analogy (qiyâs)."50 Al-Kawthari took him to task in
Ta'nib al-Khatib for saying this and replied to him with some harsh words,
whereupon my brother wrote a reply to him in which he collected his
scholarly blunders and the self-contradictions caused by his odious
fanaticism, with some harshness, at the same time acknowledging his
knowledge and learning. That reply was not submitted for publication out
of deference for their friendship.The difference of opinion between two
scholars does not break up their friendship and, like two lawyers
differing in a court of justice, they meet as friends outside of it....
May Allah have mercy on my brother and on al-Kawthari, the two major
scholars of their time without contest, and may Allah gather us with them
in the Abode of His Mercy."51
Following is Imam Abu Zahra's eulogy of al-Kawthari after the latter's death:
"Islam has lost one of the Imams of the Muslims, who worked alone far from the trivialities of this life, devoting themselves to knowledge with the devotion of a believer in the worship of his Lord. That is because he knew that knowledge is part of the acts of worship whereby the scholar seeks the pleasure of Allah and none besides Him. He does not seek thereby a lofty station on the earth, nor corruption, nor influence on account of distinction and reputation. Nor does he seek any of the fleeting things of this world. He seeks only to bring victory to the truth, in order to please the True One - Most High and Exalted. That is Imam al-Kawthari. May Allah make his resting place pleasant, be pleased with him and make him pleased.
"I do not know of any scholar who has departed and left his position vacant these past years such as the position Imam al-Kawthari has left vacant. He was the Remnant of the Pious Predecessors, who did not take knowledge as a source of income, nor as a stepping-stone to a worldly goal.
"He was - Allah be well-pleased with him! - a scholar of learning who
personified the transmitted report, "The ulamas are the inheritors of the
Prophets."52 He did not consider this inheritance a mere title of honor by
which to pride himself and dominate others. Rather, he considered it a
jihad for the purpose of announcing Islam, showing its truths, and
banishing the illusions that conceal its essence. He would show it to
people pristine and radiant so that they rose to its light and were
well-directed by its guidance. He considered such an inheritance demand of
the scholar that he strive just as the Prophets strove, standing firm
against hardships and tribulations just as they did, remaining patient
like them when faced by the stubbornness of those he called to the truth
and guidance. Such inheritance is not an honor except to those who
practice the means that lead to it, give it its due rights, and know the
duties that come with it. Imam al-Kawthari did all of the above.
"That distinguished Imam was not an adherent of a new school of thought,
nor was he an inviter to a novel matter with no precedent, nor was he one
of those whom people label nowadays as reformers. Nay, he used to shy from
that, for he was a follower (muttabi`) and not an innovator. Yet, in spite
of that, I say that he was one of the Renewers (al-mujaddidîn) in the true
sense of Renewal. For Renewal is not what people today commonly think,
namely, casting off the noose and a return to the beginnings of
Prophecy;53 rather, it consists in returning to the religion its splendor
and dispelling the confusions that were cast over it, so that it will be
shown to people in the purity of its essence and in its original pristine
state. Renewal consists in giving life to the Sunna, causing innovation to
die, and for the column of Religion to stand among mankind.
"That is real and true Renewal and, indeed, Imam al-Kawthari undertook the
revival of the Prophetic Sunna. He uncovered what had lain hidden in the
alcoves of history out of the books of the Sunna; clarified the methods of
its narrators; and made known to the people the Sunna of the Prophet in its sayings, its deeds, and its tacit
rulings through his epistles and his books. Then he devoted himself
entirely to the efforts of the past ulamas who upheld the Sunna and gave
it its due right. He published the books in which they compiled their
works for the purpose of reviving the Sunna at a time when souls were
imbued with love of the Religion, hearts had not yet been corrupted, and
the scholars were not swayed by the world away from the hereafter nor
spent time at the beck and call of rulers.
"Imam al-Kawthari was a true scholar; the scholars knew his knowledge. I knew him years before meeting him. I knew him through his writings in which the light of truth shone forth. I knew him through his commentary of manuscripts which he undertook to publish. By Allah! My amazement at the manuscript did not match my amazement at the commentary of the editor. Even when the original manuscript was a brief epistle, yet the Imam's commentary on it would turn it into a major work that should be read. Truly one's insight and wide erudition show plainly in such commentaries. All this he did with an elegant style, subtle allusions, forceful analysis, accomplished accuracy, and total mastery over his own thought and writing technique. It could not occur to the mind of the reader that he was a non-Arab writer and not patently Arab. ... Yet it is not really astonishing, for he was Turkish in ancestry, education, and everyday life at the time he lived in Istanbul (al-Astana) but his scholarly life was purely Arabic, for he read nothing but Arabic, and nothing filled his head but the shining light of Muhammadan Arabic. ...
"He came from a Caucasus family, as reflected in his vigor, strength, handsome body and spirit, and the quality and depth of his thought. His father moved to Istanbul where he was born in surroundings of guidance and truth. He studied the Islamic sciences until he attained the highest rank in them at around twenty-eight years of age. Then he ascended the ladder of teaching positions until he reached their highest level quite early. He reached the point when he was confronted by those who wanted to separate the world from religion in order to rule the world by other than what Allah has revealed, but he stood in ambush for them despite the fact that he was yet without experience, with everything that a young man at the beginning of his career could hope for. But he chose his Religion over their world. He chose to defend what is still left of Islam rather than have a pleasant life. He preferred to face continuous enmity while obtaining the good pleasure of Allah Most High rather than pleasure and comfort amidst people's approval and the good pleasure of those who held the keys of the lower world. Obtaining the good pleasure of Allah is truly the goal of faith.
"He fought the promoters of atheism (al-ilhâdiyyîn) in power when they tried to shorten the period of study for the religious curriculum when he saw that to shorten it would jeopardize its preliminary and final parts, so he left no stone unturned until he did away with their wish and even lengthened the period that they were trying to cut short, so that students would be able to absorb and digest all the disciplines they needed, especially for non-natives learning in a patent Arabic tongue. ...
"He strove with all his might and effort - may Allah be well-pleased with him - on the loftiest paths until he became Deputy of the Office of Shaykh al-Islam in [Ottoman] Turkey. He was among those known to give such a post its due. He never exceeded bounds so as to please someone high-placed, no matter how great their power over him, eventually preferring to be expelled from his position for the sake of upholding the public good. It is better to be expelled for the sake of truth than to implement falsehood. ...
"Then the lofty-minded, abnegating, Godwary scholar was put to the severest test when he saw his dear country - the Great Land of Islam, the pivot of his strength, the locus of hopes for Muslims - overshadowed by atheism and taken over by those who do not wish any honor for this Religion. The one who clings to his Religion in such a place soon becomes like one clasping a burning coal. Then he finds himself targeted by persecution so that unless he escaped, he would be thrown into some forlorn prisons and blocked from all that is knowledge and teaching. At that point, the Imam faced three choices. Either to remain a prisoner in chains, his knowledge put out in the deep gaol; a harsh fate for a scholar of learning accustomed to teach and guide others, extracting the treasures of the Religion and bringing them to light for the benefit of humankind. Or grovel and flatter and kowtow, short of which he would remain in fetters or even risk losing his life. Or emigrate - and vast are the lands of Allah. He remembered the saying of Allah, {Was not the earth of Allah spacious that you could have migrated therein?} (4:97).
"So he emigrated to Egypt then moved to Syria. He then returned to Cairo, then went back to Damascus again, until he finally settled in Cairo.
"During his trips to Sham and his residence in Cairo he was a beacon of light. His residence expanded into a school to which flocked the students of true knowledge - not the students of schoolish knowledge. Those students were guided to the sources of knowledge through the books that were written when the marketplace of the Islamic sciences was vibrant and the souls of the ulamas thriving with Islam. He coached the minds of those searching students with those sources and directed them to them. At the same time he would explain whatever they found obscure and pour out the abundance of his learning and share the fruits of his thought. ...
"I bear witness that I have heard the praise of eminent personalities and scholars, but I never prided myself with any of it as much as I prided myself with the praise of this magnificent shaykh - for such is a scholarly badge from someone who is truly able to give it. ...
"That noble man who suffered many trials and overcame them, was also
afflicted with the loss of loved ones, for he lost his children during his
own lifetime, death taking them one after the other. By virtue of his
knowledge, he was able to be patient, uttering the statement of the
Prophet Ya`qub - peace upon him -, {Patience is beautiful, and the help of
Allah must be entreated} (12:18). ... He passed on to his Lord, patient,
thankful and praiseful, as the sincere and righteous pass on. May Allah be
pleased with him and make him pleased!"54
NOTES
1 Al-Qinnawji, Abjad al-`Ulum (3:96).
2 Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam (9:213); Ibn al-Najjar, Dhayl Tarikh Baghdad
(1:173).
3 As asserted by his son Ibn Abi Ya`la in Tabaqat al-Hanabila (2:204).
5 Al-Khatib, al-Jami` li Akhlaq al-Rawi (2:422 #1914).
6 The entire bracketed passage is omitted by al-Dhahabi in his citation of
al-Khatib's text in his youthful work al-`Uluw [cf. Mukhtasar al-`Uluw (p.
272 #332)] but it is mentioned in the mature Siyar and the Tadhkira.
7 Narrated by al-Dhahabi with his chain from Muhammad ibn Marzuq
al-Za`farani in Siyar A`lam al-Nubala' (13:598) and Tadhkira al-Huffaz
(3:1142-1143) from al-Khatib's epistle al-Sifat.
8 `Itr, introduction to al-Khatib's Rihla (p. 48).
9 Ibn Marduyah states that even during the time that Abu Nu`aym walked home
from his mosque gatherings, a student would be reading a volume of hadith
to him on the way. The philologist imam Tha`lab (200-291) died one day
after he was hit by a running horse while walking and reading at the same
time as narrated by al-`Askari in al-Hathth `ala Talab al-`Ilm (p. 77).
Al-Qifti narrated in Inbah al-Ruwat `ala Anbah al-Nuhat (3:79) in the
biographical notice on the Egyptian philologist Muhammad al-Sa`idi ibn
Barakat (d. 520) that the latter saw, when a boy, Abu Yusuf Ya`qub ibn
Khurrazad al-Najirami, "a swarthy shaykh with a long beard and round
turban, holding a book in his hand which he was reading while walking."
Ibn Rajan narrated in Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila (2:249-252) that Majd
al-Din ibn Taymiyya (the grandfather) had a book read to him even when he
entered the latrine! Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda related all these
anecdotes in his priceless book Qimat al-Zaman `ind al-`Ulama' (p. 40-41,
48, 51, 52, 68-69).
10 In al-Khatib, al-Jami` li Akhlaq al-Rawi (2:178). Cf. al-Dhahabi, Siyar
(Arna'ut ed. 11:458). The same is related about the Maliki jurist and
hadith scholar Ibn Suhnun by Qadi `Iyad in Tartib al-Madarik (4:217), and
something similar about al-Mundhiri by al-Nawawi in Bustan al-`Arifin
(1985 ed. p. 191).
11 This report is also found in the chapter on spiritual energy (himma) in
al-Qasimi's Qawa`id al-Tahdith.
12 Al-Isnawi, Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya (1:99 #174).
14 Narrated from Jabir by Ahmad in his Musnad, Ibn Majah in his Sunan, Ibn
Abi Shayba, al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad (3:179, 10:166) and al-Bayhaqi
with a good chain as stated by al-`Ajluni (hasan lighayrih) in Kashf
al-Khafa; from Ibn `Abbas by al-Hakim (1:473=1990 ed. 1:646) and
al-Daraqutni in his Sunan (2:289 #238); from `Abd Allah ibn `Amr by
al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra (5:148); and from Mu`awiya by al-Fakihi in
Akhbar Makka. Al-Busiri in Zawa'id ibn Majah and al-Nawawi declared its
chain weak but a number of other hadith masters said it is a fair (hasan)
narration due to the number of its chains and definitely sahîh as a mursal
narration, among them Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Hajar as reported by al-Suyuti
in al-Durar al-Muntathira (p. 243-244 #383) and al-Munawi in Fayd al-Qadir
(5:404), while al-Mundhiri, al-Dimyati (in al-Suyuti's Tadrib al-Rawi
[Faryabi ed. 1:158=`Abd al-Latif ed. 1:145=1:80] and Ziyada al-Jami`
al-Saghir), and al-Suyuti (in al-Sindi's edition of Ibn Majah, cf.
al-Durar) declared the hadith sahîh. Al-Sindi added: "The people of
knowledge have experienced its veracity." See also al-Shawkani, Nayl
al-Awtar, book of Manasik, chapter on Zamzam water. Ibn Hajar in Talkhis
al-Habir (2:268) cites al-Dinawari's narration: "We were with Sufyan ibn
`Uyayna when a man came and asked him: `O Abu Muhammad! Is the hadith you
told us about Zamzam water true?' He replied yes. The man said: `I just
drank it for the purpose that you narrate to me a hundred hadiths.' Ibn
`Uyayna said to him: `Sit' and he narrated to him a hundred hadiths.
15 Siyar (13:599-600). Dr. `Itr comments in his introduction to al-Khatib's
Rihla (p. 42): "Perhaps as a divine reward for al-Turaythithi, Allah
lengthened his life and he lived thirty years after this episode - Allah
Almighty have mercy on him!"
16 As per Dr. Yusuf al-`Ishsh's recension in his al-Khatib al-Baghdadi
Mu'arrikh Baghdad wa Muhaddithuha (p. 120-137).
17 Al-Khatib, Iqtida' al-`Ilm al-`Amal (p. 15-16).
18The Jami` has received two recent editions: by Shaykh Muhammad `Ajaj
al-Khatib (Beirut: Mu'assasa al-Risala, 1991) and by Mahmud al-Tahhan
(Ryad: Maktaba al-Ma`arif, 1983).
19 As a rule, the shorter the chain, the better, since the probability of
error is reduced.
20 Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (hasan), Ibn Majah, Abu Dawud - al-`Iraqi said:
"with a fair (hasan) chain" in al-Zabidi's Ithaf (6:280) -, Ahmad, Ibn
Sa`d (4:145), and al-Nahhas in al-Nasikh wa al-Mansukh (p. 185 without
mention of the kissing of the hand), all with a weak chain because of
Yazid ibn Abi Zyad according to al-Arna'ut in the Musnad (9:281-282
#5384), also by al-Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad (p. 388), al-Bayhaqi in
al-Sunan al-Kubra (7:101 #13352), and Ibn Abi Shayba (6:541). Ibn Hajar in
Fath al-Bari (1989 ed. 11:67) cited it in his list of the narrations
providing evidence for kissing the hand and he did not weaken it.
21Narrated by Ibn al-Muqri' in al-Rukhsa (p. 58 #2) with a chain Ibn Hajar
graded as "strong" (sanaduhu qawî) in Fath al-Bari (1989 ed. 11:67) and he
listed it among the "good" (jayyid) narrations of Ibn al-Muqri' on the
topic. Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi (hasan sahîh), Ibn Majah, Ahmad and al-Hakim
(4:399, sahîh) all narrated it without mention of the kiss unlike
al-Bayhaqi who cited it in Branch 15 of his Shu`ab al-Iman (2:200 #1528)
entitled: "The Fifteenth Branch of Faith, Namely A Chapter On Rendering
Honor To The Prophet, Declaring His High Rank, And Revering Him."
22 Narrated by al-Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad (#973), al-Mizzi in Tahdhib
al-Kamal (17:92), al-Tabarani in al-Awsat (#661), and Ahmad with a chain
of sound narrators according to al-Haythami (8:42) and Ibn Hajar in Fath
al-Bari (1989 ed. 11:57). On the assumption that `Abd al-Rahman is Ibn
Razin rather than ibn `Abd Allah ibn Ka`b the chain would be "probably
fair" according al-Arna'ut in the Musnad (27:83 #16551). Shaykh `Abd
al-Fattah Abu Ghudda emphasized the lawfulness of kissing the hand of
people of merit and eminence in Islam and its wide use among the Salaf,
cf. his book al-`Ulama' al-`Uzzab (p. 47) and his notes on Ibn `Abd
al-Barr's al-Intiqa' (p. 83 n. 1) as well as the monograph by his teacher
Shaykh `Abd Allah al-Ghumari, I`lam al-Nabil bi Jawaz al-Taqbil. See also
the hadith master Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Muqri's monograph
al-Rukhsa fi Taqbil al-Yad; the hadith master Ibn al-A`rabi's monograph
al-Qubal wa al-Mu`anaqa wa al-Musafaha; and Ibn Hajar's vast documentation
in Fath al-Bari (1959 ed. 11:56-57, Isti'dhân, chapter titled Bâb al-Akhdh
bi al-Yad).
23 See Imam Malik's remarks on the turban in the biographical notice on him
posted at the website http://sunnah.org/history/Default.htm.
24 Hadith Dictation Sessions could count over 100,000 attendants all
listening to a single hadith master by way of repeaters: al-Khatib,
al-Jami` (2:58-62 #1171-1178).
25 In al-Khatib, al-Jami` li Akhlaq al-Rawi (2:402 #1874 and n.). In
Western antiquity and late antiquity silent reading was unheard of, as
shown by Augustine of Hippo's (late 4th century CE) astonishment (in the
Confessions) at glimpsing Ambrose the Bishop of Milan "moving his lips in
silent reading" of his book. Dr. al-Khatib's remarks on mnemonics are
reminiscent of the Roman orator Cicero's method of not only reading his
speeches outloud to himself in order to memorize them, but also pacing
from one room of his house to another to create a mental reminder of each
different section of his text.
26 In al-Khatib, al-Jami` (2:402-416 #1875-1877, #1880-1889, #1899, #1904).
27 This is Abu Zur`a al-Razi of Ray, `Ubayd Allah ibn `Abd al-Karim ibn
Yazid (d. 264 or 268), "the master of hadith masters" (al-Dhahabi),
concerning whom Ahmad ibn Hanbal said that he had memorized 700,000
hadiths. Siyar (10:470-483 #2266).
28 Al-Khatib, al-Jami` (2:474 #1999).
29 In Tarikh Baghdad (11:359).
30 Dr. Nur al-Din `Itr, Manhaj al-Naqd (p. 63-64). The Kifaya was published
by Dr. Ahmad `Umar Hashim (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-`Arabi, 1986) and by
Abu `Abd Allah al-Sawraqi and Ibrahim Hamdi al-Madani (Madina: al-Maktaba
al-`Ilmiyya, n.d.).
31 Also published by Nasr Abu `Ataya in al-Nasa'i, Majmu`a Rasa'il (p.
137-238).
32 `Itr, preface to al-Khatib, al-Rihla (p. 9). In his twenty-four page
introduction titled "The Infinite Scholarly Challenge of Prophethood"
(I`jaz al-Nubuwwa al-`Ilmi), `Itr gives a valuable overview of hadith
science in Islam and puts to rest the claims of Goldziher et al. whereby
hadith travel began in Umayyad times and was motivated by politics.
33 2nd ed. Ed. Mahmud Sa`id Mamduh (Beirut: Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyya,
1988).
34 Ibn al-Salah, Fatawa wa Masa'il (1:235). See also Ibn Hajar's Ajwiba
(1:538-549) and al-Shawkani, al-Fawa'id al-Majmu`a (p. 57).
35 Al-Khatib, Sharaf Ashab al-Hadith (p. 52 #106).
36 Narrated from Ibn Mas`ud by al-Tirmidhi (hasan gharîb), Abu Ya`la in his
Musnad (8:428, 9:15), al-Bukhari in al-Tarikh al-Kabir (5:177), Ibn Abi
Shayba (11:505), al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunna (#686), al-Bayhaqi in Shu`ab
al-Iman (2:212), al-Haythami in Mawarid al-Zam'an (p. 594), al-Khatib in
al-Fasl li al-Wasl (2:770-773) and Sharaf (p. 34-35 #63) and Ibn Hibban
all with weak chains according to al-Arna'ut (3:192 #911) because of Musa
ibn Ya`qub al-Zam`i and `Abd Allah ibn Kaysan (cf. al-Mizzi, Tahdhib
al-Kamal [15:482], Ibn `Adi, al-Kamil [6:2342], al-Daraqutni, al-`Ilal
[5:112], Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib [5:326]). However, it has a
witnessing narration whereby the Prophet
said: "Invoke abundant blessings upon me on the day of Jum`a for my
Community's salât is shown to me [especially] on every Jum`a, therefore,
whoever among them invokes blessings upon me the most, is nearest to me in
station." Narrated from Abu Umama by al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan (3:249 #5785)
and Hayat al-Anbiya' (p. 11) with a fair chain according to al-Mundhiri in
al-Targhib (1994 ed. 2:390 #2519=1997 ed. 2:328=3:303) "except that it is
said Makhul did not hear from Abu Umama directly," while Ibn Hajar said in
Fath al-Bari (1959 ed. 11:167): "There is no harm in its chain." Ibn
al-Sakan included Ibn Mas`ud's hadith among the sound narrations in his
Sihah according to Ibn al-Mulaqqin in Tuhfa al-Muhtaj (1:527).
37 Narrated from `Umar by al-Bazzar in his Musnad (1:413) with a fair chain
as stated by al-Haythami (10:65), al-Khatib, Sharaf (p. 33-34 #62),
al-Hakim (4:85-86) with a weak chain because of Muhammad ibn Abi Humayd as
indicated by al-Dhahabi, Abu Ya`la in his Musnad (1:147) with a weak chain
according to Shaykh Husayn Asad, and from Ibn `Abbas by al-Tabarani in
al-Kabir (12:87) and al-Tahawi in Sharh Mushkil al-Athar (6:269-270 #2472)
with the statement "Those are my brothers" instead of the last sentence,
with a chain of sound narrators except for `Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib whose
narrations are confused.
38 Narrated from Anas by al-Khatib in Sharaf (p. 56-57 #113).
39 Al-Hudhli narrated that al-Zuhri asked him: "O Hudhli! Does hadith
please you?" Al-Hudhli said yes. Al-Zuhri continued: "Truly, it pleases
the virile among men, while the effeminate among them hate it." Al-Khatib,
Sharaf (p. 70 #150).
40 This is a notable example of the use of al-nâs to mean the major ulema
of the Sunna, as in `Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi's statement: "The People
(al-nâs) in their time were four: Hammad ibn Zayd in al-Basra, al-Thawri
in al-Kufa, Malik in al-Hijaz, and al-Awza`i in al-Shâm."
43 In al-Darimi's Sunan, Abu Hatim al-Razi, al-Jarh wa al-Ta`dil (2:12),
and others: Abu Sa`id al-Khudri - Allah be well-pleased with him - used to
say, whenever he saw the young Tâbi`î students of hadith: "Welcome to the
beneficiaries (wasiyya) of the Messenger of Allah while al-Ramahurmuzi's narration in al-Muhaddith al-Fasil (p. 175)
adds: "who ordered us to make you memorize the hadith and make room for
you in gatherings."
44 Narrated from Abu Sa`id al-Khudri by al-Hakim (1:88=1990 ed. 1:164) who
declared it sound, and al-Dhahabi concurred. The hadith master Mughaltay
also declared it sound according to al-Munawi in Fayd al-Qadir (2:400),
while it remains a fair (hasan) narration according to al-Zuhayri and
al-Suyuti. Also narrated from Abu Sa`id by Ibn `Abd al-Barr in his Jami`
(1:578 #991), al-Khatib in his (1991 ed. 1:305-306 #360=1983 ed. 1:202),
Ibn Wahb in his Musnad (8:167), and `Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi in al-`Ilm
(1:50), all with weak chains because of Layth ibn Abi Sulaym; and by
al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, `Abd al-Razzaq (11:252), Tammam al-Razi in his
Fawa'id (1:64, 1:69), al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunna (1:286), and
al-Ramahurmuzi in al-Muhaddith al-Fasil (p. 176), all with very weak
chains because of Abu Harun al-`Abdi (`Amara ibn Juwayn) who is discarded
as a narrator (cf. Ibn `Adi, al-Kamil [5:77] and Ibn Hajar's Taqrib).
45 Published in 1949 with an excellent introduction by Yusuf al-`Ishsh
(Repr. Dar Ihya' al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya, 1974).
46 Dr. Yusuf al-`Ishsh gave an extensive description of this work in his
al-Khatib al-Baghdadi Mu'arrikh Baghdad wa Muhaddithuha. See also Dr.
Akram Dya' al-`Umari, Mawarid al-Khatib al-Baghdadi fi Tarikh Baghdad. Dr.
Khaldun al-Ahdab provided a thorough authentication of those hadiths in
his Zawa'id Tarikh Baghdad.
47 Al-Sahm is also known as al-Tahqiq fi Ahadith al-Ta`liq.
48 Al-Dhahabi himself deliberately refrained from narrating a single report
detrimental to one of the great Imams of fiqh in his Mughni fi al-Du`afa',
Diwan al-Du`afa' wa al-Matrukin, and Mizan al-I`tidal, as he explained in
the introduction to the latter: "I did not mention in my book any of the
Imams that are followed in the branches of the Law due to their immense
standing in Islam and their greatness in the minds of people: such as Abu
Hanifa, al-Shafi`i, and al-Bukhari." Al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-I`tidal (1:3).
Abu Ghudda and others have shown that the disparaging notices on Abu
Hanifa found in today's editions of al-Dhahabi's works are interpolations.
See the exhaustive documentation of this issue in Shaykh Hisham Kabbani's
Encyclopedia (7:149-187).
49 Respectively in the introduction to al-Khatib's al-Rihla (p. 52) and
al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (p. 263-301). See also Shaykh Wahbi Sulayman Ghawiji
al-Albani's book Abu Hanifa (p. 205-277).
50 Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam (8:266, 9:214).
51 This is a common distinction, as established by the remarks of the
scholars cited in our notice on al-Tabari at the website
http://sunnah.org/history/Default.htm.
52 When al-Karabisi heard that Imam Ahmad had declared his statement an
innovation whereby the pronunciation of the Qur'an was created, he said:
"Pronunciation means other than the thing pronounced" (talaffuzuka ya`nî
ghayra al-malfûz). Then he said of Ahmad: "What shall we do with this boy?
If we say `created' he says bid`a, and if we say `not created' he says
bid`a." Narrated by al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad (8:65).
53 Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam (8:267).
54 Cf. al-Ahdab, Zawa'id (1:104).
55 Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam (8:143, 8:266).
56 Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam (8:268). Cf. al-Ahdal, Zawa'id Tarikh Baghdad (1: 86).
Wallahu ta`ala a`lam wa ahkam. Wa Salla Allahu `ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa Alihi wa Sahbihi wa sallam. Wal-hamdu liLlahi Rabbil-`Alamin.
GF Haddad ©
[2000-04-29]
vs.2.3