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Kattan (4) considered Muhammad Ibn Ishak as a trustworthy authority, and quoted his Traditions in proof of their legal doctrines. Though al-Bukhari (vol. II. p. 594) did not quote from him (in his Sahih), he nevertheless held him for a trustworthy traditionist; and if Muslim Ibn al-Hajjâj cited only one of his Traditions, and that one relative to the stoning of adulterers, it was on account of the attack which Mâlik Ibn Anas had directed against him: Malik had 678 been told that he said: "Bring here Mâlik's Traditions; I am the doctor to "cure their infirmities ;" and this induced him to exclaim: "And what "is Ibn Ishak? He is one of the Dajjals (antechrists), but we shall drive "him out of the city!" alluding, perhaps, by these words, to (the declaration of Muhammad) that the Dajjal shall not enter al-Medina (the city). Muhammad Ibn Ishak went to (the khalif) Abu Jaafar al-Mansur at Hira, and put the Maghazi in writing for his use; from this it resulted that the learned men of Kûfa had the advantage of hearing him read and explain that work. He gave one or some of his Traditions on the authority of Fàtima, the daughter of alMundir Ibn az-Zubair, and the wife of Hisham Ibn Orwa Ibn az-Zubair; Hisham was informed of the circumstance and denied Ibn Ishak's statement, saying: "Did he then go and visit my wife?" The khâtib Abû Bakr Ahmad (vol. I. p. 75) relates, in his History of Baghdad, that Muhammad Ibn Ishak saw Anas Ibn Malik (vol. II. p. 587) with a black turban on his head, and all the little boys running after him and exclaiming: "There is one of the blessed Prophet's "companions, who is not to die till he meets the Dajjal (5)." Muhammad Ibn Ishak died at Baghdad, A. H. 151 (A. D. 768); other accounts place his death in 150 or 152, and Khalifa Ibn Khaiyât (vol. I. p. 492) says that his death took place in 153, according to one statement, or in 154, according to another. The date first given comes probably nearest the truth. He was buried in the cemetery at the Khaizurân Gate, on the east bank of the Tigris. This cemetery, the most ancient of those on that side of the river, is called also after al-Khaizurân, the mother of Harûn ar-Rashid and al-Hadi, because she was buried there.— It was from Ibn Ishak's works that Abd al-Malik Ibn Hisham (vol. II. p. 405) extracted the materials of his Sira tar-Rasûl (history of the Prophet), and every person who treated this subject has been obliged to take Ibn Ishak for authority and guide. We have spoken of Ain at-Tamr in the life of Abû 'l-Atâhiya ́vol. I. p. 202).

(1) The seekers of Traditions (talaba tal-Hadith); see Introduction to vol. I. p. xxxi.

(2) The hâfiz Abû Zakariya Yahya as-Sâji, a native of Basra, and one of al-Muzani's disciples, died in that city, A.H. 307 (A.D. 919-20). He is the author of some works.-(Tabakat al-Fokahd.) (3) His life will be found in this work.

(4) Abû Said Yahya Ibn Said al-Kattân, an imâm and hafiz of great reputation for veracity and piety, was a native of Basra. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal declared that he never saw his like, and Ibn Bendâr mentions that he frequented his society for twenty years, and thought him incapable of having ever offended God by an act of disobedience. "During twenty years,” says Ibn Mâîn, “Yahya read the Koran through once every night, and "for forty years he never missed the evening prayer at the mosque." He gave Traditions on the authority of Jaafar as-Sâdik, Mâlik, and Humaid at-Tawil; Ibn al-Madini and others delivered Traditions on his authority. He died in the month of Safar, A. H. 198 (Oct. A.D. 813).—(Al-Yâfî's Mirât; ad-Dahabi's Tab. alHuffaz.)

(5) See Sale's Introduction to the Koran, section IV.

AT-TIRMIDI THE TRADITIONIST.

Abû Isa Muhammad Ibn Isa Ibn Sûra Ibn Mûsa Ibn ad-Dahhâk as-Salami (1) ad-Darìr al-Bûghi at-Tirmidi (the blind, native of Bûgh, belonging to Tirmid), a celebrated hafiz, was one of those great masters in the science of the Traditions whose authority was generally followed. His work entitled al-Jâmî wa 'l-Ilal (collection of the Traditions, and motives of the Prophet's sayings) is the production of a well-informed man, and its exactness is proverbial. He had been pupil to Abû Abd Allah Muhammad al-Bukhâri (vol. II. p 594), and he received Traditions from some of those shaikhs to whom al-Bukhâri was indebted for his own; such were Kutaiba Ibn Said (2), Ali Ibn Hujr (3), Ibn Bashhar, and others. He died at Tirmid, on the eve of Monday, the 13th of Rajab, A.H. 279 (October, A. D. 892). As-Samâni (vol. II. p. 156) says that he died at the village of Bugh in 275; and he repeats this in his Ansab, under the article Bûghi. -Bugh is a village in the district of Tirmid, and at six parasangs from that city. -Of Tirmid and the different manners of pronouncing the name we have already spoken (vol. II. p. 602).

(1) The patronymical, if pronounced Salmi, means descended from a person called Salm; if pronounced Salami, it signifies belonging to the tribe of Salama, or native of Salamiya, and if pronounced Sulami, it means belonging to the tribe of Sulaim. I have not discovered which is the proper pronunciation in the present case.

(2) The imam and traditionist Abû 'r-Raja Kutaiba Ibn Said Ibn Hamid, a mawla to the tribe of Thakif, was a native of Ghalân, a village near Balkh. He travelled to various countries for the purpose of learning Traditions, and he taught some of his own on the authority of Mâlik Ibn Anas. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal gave Traditions on his authority. Born A. H. 150 (A. D. 767-8); died A. H. 241 (A. D. 855-6). — (Nujûm.)

(3) The imam Abû 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Hujr Ibn Aiyâs Ibn Mukâtil as-Saadi, a learned jurisconsult and mufti, a hafiz of great reputation and a poet, was born A.H. 134 (A D. 771). He ranked as one of the first doctors in Khorasan. The Traditions which he had collected in various countries were taught by him at Marw, his native place. He died A. H. 244 (A. D. 858-9). —(Nujûm.)

IBN MAJA.

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Yazid Ibn Mâja al-Kazwini, a mawla to the tribe of Rabia (ar-Rabai) and a celebrated hâfiz, is the author of the work on the Traditions entitled Kitâb as-Sunan (book of the sunna). He ranked as a high authority in the Traditions, and was versed in all the sciences connected with them, and acquainted with every thing respecting them. He travelled to 679 Irak, Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, Mekka, Syria, Egypt, and Rai, for the purpose of writing down the Traditions under the dictation of the masters who taught them in those countries. He is the author of a commentary on the Koran and a very fine historical work (1); as for his book on the Traditions, it is counted as one of the six Sahihs (authentic collections). His birth took place in the year 209 (A. D. 824-5), and he died on Monday, the 22nd of Ramadàn, A. H. 273 (February, A. D. 887). On the following day he was interred, and his brother Abu Bakr said the funeral prayer over the corpse, and deposited it in the tomb with the assistance of Abd Allah, the third brother.- Rabai means belonging to Rabia; a number of tribes bear this name, and I do not know which of them it was that counted Ibn Maja among its members.- Kazwini means belonging to Kazwîn, a celebrated city in Persian Irâk, which has produced many learned men.

(1) According to Hajji Khalifa, this work is a history of Kazwin.

AL-HAKIM IBN AL-BAII AN-NAISAPURI.

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Hamduyah Ibn Noaim Ibn al-Hakam ad-Dabbi at-Tahmàni (1), surnamed al-Hakim an-Naisàpûri (the magistrate of Naisâpûr), and known also by the appellation of the hâfiz Ibn al-Baii, was the most eminent traditionist of his time, and the author of some celebrated works of quite an original cast. This highly learned and accomplished individual studied jurisprudence under Abû Sahl Muhammad Ibn Sulaimân as-Sôlûki (vol. II. p. 609), the Shafite doctor; he then proceeded to Irâk and read (legal treatises) under the tuition of the jurisconsult Abu Ali Ibn Abi Huraira (vol. I. p. 375), after which he travelled to various countries for the purpose of collecting Traditions, and devoted himself to that object with such perseverance, that he established his reputation on that basis. The number of persons from whose lips he learned them was immense; the alphabetical list of his masters consisting of nearly two thousand names; he even cited as his authorities for part of the information which he conveyed, some persons who survived him; so great was the quantity of Traditions which he had acquired and the number of teachers from whom he received them. He composed upwards of one thousand five hundred juz (2) on the sciences connected with the Traditions, such as the Two Sahîhs (as-Sahîhân) (3); the Ilal (the motives of the Prophet's sayings); the Amâli (4); the Fawaid as-Shuyukh (instructive observations made by his masters); the Amali 'l-Ashiya (evening dictations); and the Tarajim as-Shuyukh (biographical notices of his masters). The works for which the public were indebted to his own special researches are: the Mârifa tal-Hadith (knowledge of the Traditions; the Tarikh Ulama Naisipûr (history of the doctors of Naisâpûr); the Mudkhil ila Ilm is-Sahih (introduction to the knowledge of the Sahih); the Mustadrak ala's Sahihain (strictures on the two Sahihs); a treatise on the distinguishing characteristics of the two imams (al-Bukhari and Muslim), and another on the merits of the imâm as-Shafi. He travelled twice to Hijaz and Irak, and, in his second journey, which he made in the year 360, he held discussions with the traditionists (huffâz), conferred with the shaikhs and wrote down under their dictation. He had also an argument with the hâfiz ad-Dàrakutni, and convinced

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him. In the year 359 (A. D. 969-70), he held the kadiship of Naisâpûr under the Sàmânide government during the vizirship of Abû 'n-Nasr Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Otbi, subsequently to which he was offered the kadiship of Jurjàn, but refused it. This dynasty occasionally sent him on political missions to the court of the Buwaih (Buide) princes. He was born at Naisàpur in the month of the first Rabi, A.H. 324 (March, A.D. 933), and he died in that city on Tuesday, the 3rd of Safar, A. H. 405 (August, A. D. 1014). (Abû Yala) al-Khalili (vol. I. p. 53) says, in his Irshad, that the Hâkim died A. H. 403, that he began to learn the Traditions in 330, and that he made dictations in Transoxiana in 355, and in Irak in 357; he adds, that ad-Dàrakutni attended his lessons with assiduity, and that Abu Bakr al-Kaffäl as-Shashi, with other doctors of the same period, obtained some of their information from him. He received the appellation of al-Hakim (the magistrate), because he had filled the 680 place of kâdi.

One of the Hâkim's ancestors must have borne this

(1) At-Tahmâni signifies descended from Tahmân. Ad-Dabbi signifies descended from the tribe of Dabba, or from a person named Dabba, or native of Dabba, a town in Hijâz. It may be added that three of the Arabian tribes bore the name of Dabba.

name.

(2) The word juz signifies volume, and section of a work. It probably means quire in this place. (3) Hajji Khalifa does not notice this work under the title given here; it may perhaps be a combination of the matter contained in the Sahihs of al-Bukhâri and Muslim.

(4) See vol. II. page 159.

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

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