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Hafiz Shirazi
Hafiz Shirazi (Muhammad Shams al-Din Hafiz Shirazi) (Shams al-Din Muhammad Shirazi) (Khwāja Šams ud-Dīn Muḥammad Hāfez-e Šīrāzī) (Hafez) (1315-1390). Known by his pen name Hāfez, Hafiz Shirazi was the most celebrated Persian lyric poet and is often described as a poet's poet. His collected works (Divan) are to be found in the homes of most Iranians, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day. His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, and have influenced post-Fourteenth Century Persian writing more than anything else has.
Hafiz was a Persian poet who, by common consent, is deemed to be the greatest and most popular poet of ghazals (lyrics) in the Persian language. Originally named Muhammad Shams al-Din, he gained the respectful title Hafiz, meaning “one who has memorized the Qur’an,” as a teacher of the Qur’an. He was a member of the order of Sufi mystics and also, at times, a court poet. His poems on one level celebrate the pleasures of drinking, hunting, and love at the court of Shiraz. On a deeper level, according to some scholars, they reflect his consuming devotion as a Sufi to union with the divine. They also satirize hypocritical Muslim religious leaders.
Hafiz was born in Shiraz (now in Iran) into a poor family. His father, Baha al-Din, was a petty businessman from Isfahan who had settled in Shiraz. The poet’s mother was from Kazirun, a town to the southwest of Shiraz. The death of Baha al-Din left the family in dire poverty. Shams al-Din had to earn his living (reportedly as a baker’s apprentice) at a young age, but he managed to receive a sound education in his hometown, which, despite repeated political turmoil, was still a major center of learning in the Islamic world. He mastered the Arabic language, studied religious sciences, and attained the status of hafiz. His poetry bears witness to his thorough knowledge of the early masters of Persian poetry.
Hafiz lived in troubled times, witnessing the fall of two dynasties. His first royal patron was Shaikh Abu Ishaq Inju, under whose liberal rule Hafiz seems to have enjoyed the comforts of life. But Abu Ishaq was defeated and killed in 1353 by the Muzaffarid Mubariz al-Din Muhammad, who decided to make Shiraz his capital. Muhammad was a ruthless religious zealot who had no use for Hafiz and his poetry, although his vizier seems to have patronized the poet. Muhammad’s stern religious restrictions imposed on the wine-loving Shirazis gave him the sobriquet Muhtasib (“one who restricts”) that Hafiz immortalized in more than one ode. However, in 1358, Muhammad was deposed and blinded by his son, Shah Shoja, himself a poet of some merit. Hafiz could not but express his delight at the turn of events, but for reasons that are not entirely clear he lost the new monarch’s favor and had to try his fortune at Isfahan and Yazd, other centers of Muzaffarid rule. Disappointed, he returned to Shiraz after a year or two, calling Yazd “Alexander’s Prison.” In 1387, Shiraz was captured by Timur, who reportedly had an encounter with the poet and, impressed with his wit, granted him royal favor.
Except for short sojourns in Isfahan and Yazd and a reported trip as far as Hormuz on the way to India, Hafiz spent all of his life in his beloved Shiraz, which he has characterized as “Solomon’s Dominion” (Mulk-i Sulayman). He is reported to have had a teaching job at a religious college in Shiraz, but his main source of income seems to have been the allowances and gifts he received from the court and the nobles whom he panegyrized. Particularly in his old age, however, he led a life of poverty. His poetry is rich in Sufi symbolism and imagery, but we have no report concerning his attachment to any particular Sufi order.
Hafiz died and was buried in Shiraz. His wife and son predeceased him. His mausoleum (the Hafiziyya) in Shiraz is the best-known monument there and a site frequenty visited by tourists. During the last ten years of the Pahlavi regime parts of the much-publicized annual art festival of Shiraz were held in the Hafiziyya.
Hafiz is considered the pre-eminent master of the ghazal form of poetry. He excelled not only in selection of lyrical phrases but also in juxtaposition of metaphors that maximize the ambiguity of his dominant theme. For Hafiz, the theme of love in all its variations (bodily and spiritual, profane and sacred, terrestrial and celestial) absorbs the attention of man and draws man to the heights, and the depths, of emotional, aesthetic and mystical experience.
Hafiz’s poems have traditionally been interpreted as mystical allegories, to such an extent that his poems, like Virgil’s in Europe, were opened at random in search of a guide to conduct. However, Western scholarship now inclines to take them literally. Thus, the use of the term “Beloved” in his love poems is today taken to stand for a human beauty and not for God.
Hafiz’s work, collected under the title of Divan, contains more than 500 poems, most of them in the form of a ghazal, a short traditional Persian form that he perfected. Each consists of up to 15 highly structured rhyming couplets dealing with one subject. The language is simple, lyrical, and heartfelt. Hafiz is greatly admired both in Iran and, in translation, in the West. Especially appealing are his love for the common person and his relation of daily life to the search of humanity for the eternal.
Shirazi, Hafiz see Hafiz Shirazi
Muhammad Shams al-Din Hafiz Shirazi see Hafiz Shirazi
Shams al-Din Muhammad Shirazi see Hafiz Shirazi
Muhammad Shams al-Din see Hafiz Shirazi
Khwaja Sams ud-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Sirazi see Hafiz Shirazi
Hafez see Hafiz Shirazi
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Hallaj
Hallaj (Abu’l-Mughith al-Hallaj) (Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj) (Mansur al-Hallaj) (Mansūr-e Hallāj) (Abū al-Mughīth Husayn Mansūr al-Hallāj) (c. 858 - March 26, 922). Arabic speaking mystic theologian of Persian origin. A monogamist and profoundly faithful to Sunnism, he led a fervently ascetic life. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca three times and travelled far and wide in the Islamic world. The main aim of his preaching was to enable everyone to find God within his or her own heart, but he was accused of deception, false miracles, magic and sorcery by Mu‘tazilites, Sufis and Shi ‘is. According to a hostile account of the grammarians of Basra, he proclaimed: “I am (God) the Truth.” Having been imprisoned in Baghdad for nine years, he finally was executed.
Al-Hallaj was the most famous and controversial Sufi figure in medieval Islam. Born in Fars, a cotton-carder -- an hallaj -- by trade, al-Hallaj pursued the mystical path under two spiritual masters, one of whom, Junayd, was lauded for his “sobriety.”
Al-Hallaj, however, has been viewed as the exemplar of “intoxication,” since he once declared: “Ana’l-Haqq” (“I am Truth!”). Since “Truth” is one of the names of God, this was considered blasphemy.
Al-Hallaj traveled widely, performing the pilgrimage -- the hajj -- three times, and making numerous enemies as well as friends in the Muslim communities of Central and Southern Asia.
A book of poetry and one of anecdotes are among the numerous writings ascribed to al-Hallaj. He never tired of talking about the relationship of love between man and God. For al-Hallaj, this relationship entails endless suffering, but it also brings a strange kind of joy, known only to the devotee.
Al-Hallaj became the first Sufi martyr -- the first shahid -- when he was executed by dismemberment, and his corpse was crucified (or hanged) and burned. Each act of his degradation has become a topic of his subsequent exaltation among Sufi poets, including Jalal ad-Din Rumi, the founder of the “Whirling Dervishes.”
Abu’l-Mughith al-Hallaj see Hallaj
Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj see Hallaj
Mansūr-e Hallāj see Hallaj
Mansur al-Hallaj see Hallaj
Abū al-Mughīth Husayn Mansūr al-Hallāj see Hallaj
Al-Hallaj was born around 858 in Fars province of Persia to a cotton-carder (Hallaj means "cotton-carder" in Arabic) in an Arabized town called al-Bayḍā'. His grandfather was a Zoroastrian. His father moved to a town in Wasit famous for its school of Qur'an reciters. Al-Hallaj memorized the Qur'an before he was 12 years old and would often retreat from worldly pursuits to join other mystics in study at the school of Sahl al-Tustari. During this period Al-Hallaj lost his ability to speak Persian and later wrote exclusively in Arabic. Al Hallaj was a Sunni Muslim.
When he was twenty, al-Hallaj moved to Basra, where he married and received his Sufi habit from 'Amr Makkī, although his lifelong and monogamous marriage later provoked jealousy and opposition from the latter. Through his brother-in-law, al-Hallaj found himself in contact with a clan which supported the Zaydi Zanj rebellion, which had elements of Shi'i school of thought.
He later went to Baghdad to consult the famous Sufi teacher Junayd Baghdadi, but he was tired of the conflict that existed between his father-in-law and 'Amr Makkī and he set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca, against the advice of Junayd Baghdadi, as soon as the Zanj rebellion was crushed.
In Mecca, he made a vow to remain for one year in the courtyard of the sanctuary in fasting and total silence. When he returned from Mecca, he laid down the Sufi tunic and adopted a "lay habit" in order to be able to preach more freely. At that time a number of Sunnis, including former Christians who would later become viziers at the Abbasid court, became his disciples, but other Sufis were scandalized, while some Mu'tazilis and Shias who held high posts in the government accused him of deception and incited the mob against him. Al-Hallaj left for eastern Iran and remained there for five years, preaching in the Arab colonies and fortified monasteries that housed volunteer fighters in the jihad, after which he was able to return and install his family in Baghdad.
Al-Hallaj made his second pilgrimage to Mecca with four hundred disciples, where some Sufis, his former friends, accused him of sorcery and making a pact with the jinn. Afterwards he set out on a long voyage that took him to India and Turkestan beyond the frontiers of Islamic lands. About 290 AH/902 CC, he returned to Mecca for his final pilgrimage clad in an Indian loin-cloth and a patched garment over his shoulders. There he prayed to God to be made despised and rejected, so that God alone might grant grace to Himself through His servant's lips.
After returning to his family in Baghdad, al-Hallaj began making proclamations that aroused popular emotion and caused anxiety among the educated classes. These included avowing his burning love of God and his desire to "die accursed for the Community", and statements such as "O Muslims, save me from God" ... "God has made my blood lawful to you: kill me". It was at that time that al-Hallaj is said to have pronounced his famous shath "I am the Truth". He was denounced at the court, but a Shafi'i jurist refused to condemn him, stating that spiritual inspiration was beyond his jurisdiction.
Al-Hallaj's preaching had by now inspired a movement for moral and political reform in Baghdad. In 296 AH/908 CC Sunni reformers made an unsuccessful attempt to depose the underage caliph Al-Muqtadir. When he was restored, his Shi'i vizier unleashed anti-Hanbali repressions which prompted al-Hallaj to flee Baghdad, but three years later he was arrested, brought back, and put in prison, where he remained for nine years.
The conditions of Al-Hallaj's confinement varied depending on the relative sway his opponents and supporters held at the court, but he was finally condemned to death in 922 on the charge of being a Qarmatian rebel who wished to destroy the Ka'ba, because he had said "the important thing is to proceed seven times around the Kaaba of one's heart." According to another report, the pretext was his recommendation to build local replicas of the Kaaba for those who are unable to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The queen-mother interceded with the caliph who initially revoked the execution order, but the intrigues of the vizier finally moved him to approve it. On 23 Dhu 'l-Qa'da (March 25) trumpets announced his execution the next day. The words he spoke during the last night in his cell are collected in Akhbar al-Hallaj. Thousands of people witnessed his execution on the banks of the Tigris River. He was first punched in the face by his executioner, then lashed until unconscious, and then decapitated or hanged. Witnesses reported that Al-Hallaj's last words under torture were "all that matters for the ecstatic is that the Unique should reduce him to Unity", after which he recited the Quranic verse 42:18. His body was doused in oil and set alight, and his ashes were then scattered into the river. A cenotaph was "quickly" built on the site of his execution, and "drew pilgrims for a millennium" until being swept away by a Tigris flood during the 1920s.
Some question whether al-Hallaj was executed for religious reasons as has been commonly assumed. According to Carl W. Ernst, the legal notion of blasphemy was not clearly defined in Islamic law and statements of this kind were treated inconsistently by legal authorities. In practice, since apostasy was subsumed under the category of zandaqa, which reflected the Zoroastrian legacy of viewing heresy as a political crime, they were prosecuted only when it was politically convenient. Sadakat Kadri points out that "it was far from conventional to punish heresy in the tenth century," and it is thought he would have been spared execution except that the vizier of Caliph Al-Muqtadir wished to discredit "certain figures who had associated themselves" with al-Hallaj. (Previously al-Hallaj had been punished for talking about being at one with God by being shaved, pilloried and beaten with the flat of a sword, not executed because the Shafi'ite judge had ruled that his words were not "proof of disbelief.")
Al-Hallaj addressed himself to popular audiences encouraging them to find God inside their own souls, which earned him the title of "the carder of innermost souls" (ḥallāj al-asrār). He preached without the traditional Sufi habit and used language familiar to the local Shi'i population. This may have given the impression that he was a Qarmatian missionary rather than a Sufi. His prayer to God to make him lost and despised can be regarded as typical for a Sufi seeking annihilation in God, although Louis Massignon has interpreted it as an expression of a desire to sacrifice himself as atonement on behalf of all Muslims. When al-Hallaj returned to Baghdad from his last pilgrimage to Mecca, he built a model of the Kaaba in his home for private worship.
Al-Hallaj was popularly credited with numerous supernatural acts. He was said to have "lit four hundred oil lamps in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre with his finger and extinguished an eternal Zoroastrian flame with the tug of a sleeve."
Among other Sufis, Al-Hallaj was an anomaly. Many Sufi masters felt that it was inappropriate to share mysticism with the masses, yet Al-Hallaj openly did so in his writings and through his teachings. This was exacerbated by occasions when he would fall into trances which he attributed to being in the presence of God.
Hallaj was also accused of incarnationism (hulul), the basis of which charge seems to be a disputed verse in which the author proclaims mystical union in terms of two spirits in one body. This position was criticized for not affirming union and unity strongly enough; there are two spirits left whereas the Sufi fana' texts speak of utter annihilation and annihilation in annihilation (the annihilation of the consciousness of annihilation), with only one actor, the deity, left. Saer El-Jaichi has argued "that in speaking of the unity with the divine in terms of ḥulūl, Hallaj does not mean the fusion (or, mingling) of the divine and human substances." Rather, he has in mind "a heightened sense of awareness that culminates in the fulfillment of a spiritual – super-sensory – vision of God’s presence."
There are conflicting reports about his most famous shath, Anā l-Ḥaqq "I am The Truth, " which was taken to mean that he was claiming to be God, since al-Ḥaqq "the Truth" is one of the Ninety Nine Names of Allah. The earliest report, coming from a hostile account of Basra grammarians, states that he said it in the mosque of Al-Mansur, while testimonies that emerged decades later claimed that it was said in private during consultations with Junayd Baghdadi. Even though this utterance has become inseparably associated with his execution in the popular imagination, owing in part to its inclusion in his biography by Attar of Nishapur, the historical issues surrounding his execution are far more complex. In another controversial statement, al-Hallaj claimed "There is nothing wrapped in my turban but God, " and similarly he would point to his cloak and say, Mā fī jubbatī illā l-Lāh "There is nothing in my cloak but God." He also wrote:
Al-Hallaj's principal works, all written in Arabic, included:
- Twenty-seven Riwāyāt (stories or narratives) collected by his disciples in about 290/902.
- Kitāb al-Tawāsīn, a series of eleven short works.
- Poems collected in Dīwān al-Hallāj.
- Pronouncements including those of his last night collected in Akhbār al-Hallāj.
His best known written work is the Book of al-Tawasin, in which he used line diagrams and symbols to help him convey mystical experiences that he could not express in words. Ṭawāsīn is the broken plural of the word ṭā-sīn which spells out the letters and sīn placed for unknown reasons at the start of some surahs in the Qur'an. The chapters vary in length and subject. Chapter 1 is an homage to the Prophet Muhammad, for example, while Chapters 4 and 5 are treatments of the Prophet's heavenly ascent to Mi'raj. Chapter 6 is the longest of the chapters and is devoted to a dialogue of Satan (iblis) and God, where Satan refuses to bow to Adam, although God asks him to do so. Satan's monotheistic claim—that he refused to bow before any other than God even at the risk of eternal rejection and torment—is combined with the lyrical language of the love-mad lover from the Majnun tradition, the lover whose loyalty is so total that there is no path for him to any "other than" the beloved. This passage explores the issues of mystical knowledge (ma'rifa) when it contradicts God's commands for although Iblis was disobeying God's commands, he was following God's will. His refusal is due, others argue, to a misconceived idea of God's uniqueness and because of his refusal to abandon himself to God in love. Hallaj criticizes the staleness of his adoration (Mason, 51-3). Al-Hallaj stated in this book:
— Ana al-Haqq
Few figures in Islam provoked as much debate among classical commentators as al-Hallaj. The controversy cut across doctrinal categories. In virtually every major current of juridical and theological thought (Jafari, Maliki, Hanbali, Hanafi, Shafi'i, Ash'ari and Maturidi) one finds his detractors and others who accepted his legacy completely or justified his statements with some excuse. His admirers among philosophers included Ibn Tufayl, Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra.
Although the majority of early Sufi teachers condemned him, he was almost unanimously canonized by later generations of Sufis. The principal Sufi interpretation of the shathiyat which took the form of "I am" sayings contrasted the permanence (baqā) of God with the mystical annihilation (fanā) of the individual ego, which made it possible for God to speak through the individual. Some Sufi authors claimed that such utterances were misquotations or attributed them to immaturity, madness or intoxication, while others regarded them as authentic expressions of spiritual states, even profoundest experience of divine realities, which should not be manifested to the unworthy. Some of them, including al-Ghazali, showed ambivalence about their apparently blasphemous nature while admiring the spiritual status of their authors. Rumi wrote: "When the pen (of authority) is in the hand of a traitor, unquestionably Mansur is on a gibbet"
The supporters of Mansur have interpreted his statement as meaning, "God has emptied me of everything but Himself. " According to them, Mansur never denied God's oneness and was a strict monotheist. However, he believed that the actions of man, when performed in total accordance with God's pleasure, lead to a blissful unification with Him. Malayalam author Vaikom Muhammad Basheer draws parallel between "Anā al-Ḥaqq" and Aham Brahmasmi, the Upanishad Mahavakya which means "I am Brahman" (the Ultimate Reality in Hinduism). Basheer uses this term to intend God is found within one's 'self'. There was a belief among European historians that al-Hallaj was secretly a Christian, until the French scholar Louis Massignon presented his legacy in the context of Islamic mysticism in his four-volume work La Passion de Husayn ibn Mansûr Hallâj.
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Hanbal, Ahmad ibn
Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780 - 855 C.C.) was an important Muslim scholar and theologian born in Khorasan to a family of Arab origin. He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). His full name was Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani. Shayban or Banu Shaybah is Ibn Hanbal's tribe. It is an Arabic tribe located in Arabia and it still exists in Saudi Arabia.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal was born at Merv, in Khorasan in 780. Ibn Hanbal's family was of Arabic origin and they spoke Arabic. He started his career by learning jurisprudence (fiqh) under the celebrated Hanafi judge Abu Yusuf, the renowned student and companion of Abu Hanifah. He then discontinued his studies with Abu Yusuf in the pursuit of hadith, travelling around the Caliphate, at the age of 16. It is said that as a student he highly impressed his teachers. Ibn al-Jawzi states that Ibn Hanbal had 414 hadith masters whom he narrated from. Imam al-Shafi’i was one of Ibn Hanbal's teachers with whom he had a mutual respect.
Ibn Hanbal did not content himself with merely seeking knowledge. He also acted, by making jihad, performing the guard duty at Islamic frontiers (ribat) and making hajj five times in his life, twice on foot.
Nevertheless, Ibn Hanbal did spend 40 years of his life in the pursuit of knowledge, and only thereafter did he assume the position of a mufti. By this time, he had mastered six or seven Islamic disciplines, according to al-Shafi'i. He became a leading authority in hadith and left a colossal hadith encyclopaedia, al-Musnad, as a living proof of his proficiency and devotion to this science. He is also remembered as a leading, and the most balanced, critic of hadith in his time. Ibn Hanbal became a principal specialist in jurisprudence, benefitting from some of the famous early jurists, such as Abu Hanifah, Malik ibn Anas, al-Shafi'i, and many others. His learning, piety and unswerving faithfulness to traditions gathered a host of disciples and admirers around him. He further improvised and developed upon previous schools, becoming the founder of a new independent school of jurisprudence, known as the Hanbali school. Some scholars, such as Qutaiba ibn Sa’id, noted that if Ibn Hanbal had witnessed the age of Sufyan al-Thawri, Malik, al-Awza’i and Laith ibn Sa’d, he would have surpassed them all. Despite being bilingual, he became an expert in the Arabic language, poetry, and grammar.
The Caliph Al-Ma'mun subjected scholars to severe persecution at the behest of the Mu'tazili theologians, most notably Bishr al-Marrisi and Ahmad ibn Abi Du’ad, mainly to establish the notion that God created the Qur'an as a physical entity (rather than saying that the Qur'an is God's speech in an indescribable way, as held by the orthodox view).
Almost all of the scholars in Baghdad acknowledged the creation-of-Qur'an doctrine, with the notable exceptions of Ibn Hanbal and Muhammad ibn Nuh. This greatly pained and angered Ibn Hanbal, so that he boycotted some of the great traditionists for their acknowledgement and often refused to narrate hadith from them. Amongst those boycotted were a close companion and a colleague of Ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma’in, about whom it is said that Ibn Hanbal refused to speak to him until he died.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Muhammad ibn Nuh were also put to the test on the order of al-Ma’mun, but they refused to acknowledge the literal creation of the Qur'an as created like the other of Allah's creatures. Consequently, they were dispatched in irons to be dealt with by al-Ma’mun himself. On the way, Ibn Hanbal supplicated to Allah to prevent him from meeting al-Ma’mun. His prayer was answered in the sudden death of al-Ma’mun.
Due to the death of al-Ma'mun, both Ibn Hanbal and Muhammad ibn Nuh were sent back. Muhammad ibn Nuh passed away on their return journey, and there was none to prepare his funeral, pray over, and bury him except Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
The policy endorsing the created-Qur'an premise was continued by al-Mu'tasim (who is reported to have had Ibn Hanbal flogged) and by al-Wathiq (who banished Ibn Hanbal from Baghdad).
This was ended, however, by al-Mutawakkil who, unlike his predecessors, had the utmost respect and admiration for the Sunni school. Promptly after assuming the position as Caliph, he sent orders throughout the Caliphate to put an immediate end to all discussions regarding the Quran, released all the prisoners of faith, dismissed the Mu’tazili judges, and more significantly deported the chief investigator of the inquisition, Ahmad ibn Abi Du’ad along with his family. He further ordered that the Mu’tazili judges responsible for the inquisition be cursed from the pulpits, by name. Al-Mutawakkil is said to have treated Ibn Hanbal in a special way with great respect.
After Ibn Hanbal turned 77, he was struck with severe illness and fever, and became very weak. However, he never complained about his infirmity and pain. Nevertheless, after hearing of his illness, masses flocked to his door. The ruling family also showed the desire to pay him a visit, and to this end sought his permission. However, due to his desire to remain independent of any influence from the authority, Ahmad denied them access.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal died in Baghdad in Rabi' al-Awwal, 241 AH (Friday, July 31, 855). The news of his death quickly spread far and wide in the city and the people flooded the streets to attend his funeral. One of the rulers, upon hearing the news, sent burial shrouds along with perfumes to be used for the funeral. However, respecting Ibn Hanbal’s wishes, his sons refused the offering and instead used a burial shroud prepared by his female servant. Moreover, his sons took care not to use water from their homes to wash the body, as Ibn Hanbal had refused to utilise any of their resources because they had accepted the offerings of the ruler.
After preparing his funeral, his sons prayed over him, along with around 200 members of the ruling family, while the streets were teeming with both men and women, awaiting the funeral procession. The funeral was then brought out and the multitudes continued to pray over him outdoors, before and after his burial at his grave. According to the Tarjamatul Imam, over 800,000 men and 60,000 women attended the funeral of Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
Ibn Hanbal, Ahmad see Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Ibn Hanbal see Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Ahmad bin Hanbal see Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Ahmed ibn Hanbal see Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani see Ahmad ibn Hanbal
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Hanbalites
Hanbalites (in Arabic, Hanabila; in singular form, Hanbali). Followers of the Sunni school of theology, law and morality which grew up from the teaching of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Hanbalism is the youngest of the four orthodox schools of law in Sunni Islam and it is based on a system of law and theology decidedly traditionalist in orientation. Hanbalism recognizes no other sources than the Qur’an and the Sunna of the Prophet. It is hostile to speculative theology (in Arabic, kalam) and to esoteric Sufism.While not rejecting reason altogether as a source of law, the Hanbali school sought vigorously to circumscribe its scope, emphasizing rather the Qur’an and the sunna as the primary sources of law. Among the Sunni schools of law, Hanbalism was closest to that of the Shafi’is, differing from it mainly in the role assigned to reason. Under the Shi‘a Buyids, Hanbalism became a politico-religious opposition party in Baghdad, contributing decisively to Sunni restoration, as is clear from the works of many Hanbali theologians of this period. The final two centuries of the caliphate in Baghdad (1061-1258) are the golden age of Hanbalism. Some of the great Hanbalites of this epoch were ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Aqil (d. 1120), Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (d. 1166), and Ibn al-Jauzi (d.1200).
Under the Bahri Mamelukes, Hanbalism remained very active in Syria and Palestine, the most famous Hanbalite then being Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328). It lost some of its importance in Syria and Palestine under the Circassian Mamelukes, and was not favored by the Ottomans, who gave pre-eminence to Hanafism. In the eighteenth century, under Ottoman rule, Shaykh Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab won over to Hanbalism the amir Muhammad ibn Sa‘ud, the founder of the al-Sa‘ud dynasty of Saudi Arabia. Through the writings of Ibn Taymiyya and the efforts of the Wahhabi movement in the eighteenth century, Hanbali influences made their way to India and Southeast Asia, where even today they continue to be felt.
Hanabila see Hanbalites
Hanbali see Hanbalites
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Harun al-Rashid (Harun ar-Rashid) (English: "Aaron the Upright," "Aaron the Just," or "Aaron the Rightly Guided") (March 17, 763 – March 24, 809). Fifth and most famous Abbasid Caliph (r.786-809). He was the son of the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi (r. 775-785), and succeeded to the throne on the death of his brother al-Hadi (r. 785-786).
Thanks to the “Thousand and One Nights,” Harun al-Rashid is almost a legendary figure which obscures his true historic personality. In fact, his reign initiated the political disintegration of the Islamic empire.
Syria, inhabited by tribes with Umayyad sympathies, remained the bitter enemy of the ‘Abbasids and Egypt witnessed risings due to poor administration and arbitrary taxation. The Umayyads had been established in Spain in 755, the Idrisids in the Maghrib in 788 and the Aghlabids in Ifriqiya in 800. Besides, unrest flared up in Yemen, and the Kharijites rose in rebellion in Daylam, Kirman, Fars and Sistan. Revolts also broke out in Khurasan. A great part of Harun al-Rashid’s fame was due to his interest in Holy War against the Byzantines, in which he occasionally participated personally. From 791 to 809, Harun’s empire was at war with the Byzantine Empire, and in 807 his forces occupied the Byzantine province of Cyprus. He also paid attention to naval power.
The period of Harun al-Rashid’s reign marked a notable development of culture. Until 803, administrative power was entrusted to Yahya ibn-Khalid (d. about 803), the grand vizier, or councillor of state, and head of the illustrious family of the Barmakids. During this time, Baghdad, the capital of Harun’s realm, became the most flourishing city of the period. Tribute was paid to the caliph by many rulers, and splendid edifices were erected in his honor at enormous cost. He is said to have exchanged gifts with Charlemagne. However, Arabic sources do not substantiate that such an exchange ever occurred.
Harun was a generous patron of learning, poetry, and music, and his court was visited by the most eminent Muslims of the age. He was celebrated in countless songs and stories, and is perhaps best known to the Western world as the caliph whose court is described in the Arabian Nights. Toward the end of his reign, Harun was influenced to depose the Barmakids, and in 803 he imprisoned the grand vizier.
Harun ruled from 786 to 809, and his time was marked by scientific, cultural and religious prosperity. Art and music also flourished significantly during his reign. He established the legendary library Bayt al-Hikma ("House of Wisdom").
Since Harun was intellectually, politically and militarily resourceful, his life and the court over which he held sway have been the subject of many tales: some are claimed to be factual but most are believed to be fictitious. Among what is known to be fictional is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, which contains many stories that are fantasized about Harun's magnificent court and even Harun al-Rashid himself.
Harun virtually dismembered the empire by apportioning it between his two sons al-Amin and al-Ma’mun. The caliph died while on his way to put down an insurrection in the eastern part of his empire.
Harun ar-Rashid see Harun al-Rashid
“Aaron the Upright” see Harun al-Rashid
"Aaron the Just" see Harun al-Rashid
"Aaron the Rightly Guided" see Harun al-Rashid
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Hasan al-Banna'
Hasan al-Banna’ (Hassan al-Banna) (b. October 14, 1906, Mahmoudiyah, Beheira, Egypt – d. February 12, 1949, Cairo, Egypt), was an Egyptian social and political reformer, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential 20th century Muslim revivalist organizations. Al-Banna's leadership was critical to the growth of the brotherhood during the 1930s and 1940s. Convinced that Islamic society should return to the Qur’an and the hadith, Hasan al-Banna’ founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928. He was arrested several times and was assassinated in 1949 after the Brotherhood had been suppressed.
Hasan al-Banna’ was born on October 14, 1906 in Mohammediya in northern Egypt as the oldest son of a watch repairman. Banna’s family was very religious. In 1923, Banna went to Cairo Teachers College and finished his education as a teacher at the top of his class. He was then admitted to the famous al-Azhar University.
In 1927, Banna' began working as a teacher in a state school in the city of Ismailiyya near the Suez Canal. In March 1928, he established the al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Ikhwanu al-Muslimin) -- the Muslim Brothers -- together with his brother and five others.
The main inspiration for his religious involvement was from the magazine Al Manar which published the writings of Muhammad Rashid Rida. The organization he started when he was 22 was initially a moderate one in its instruments, but changes in the political climate and reorientations in its ideology, made the Brotherhood active in violent operations from the late 1940s.
The first Brotherhood was a youth club stressing moral and social reform, promoting this through education and propaganda.
In 1933, Banna' moved the headquarters to the capital Cairo, and, in 1942 to 1945, he travelled many times to Jordan, where he set up Brotherhood branches in many towns over the entire country.
In 1948, Banna' declared that the Egyptian government was responsible for the Arab weakness in the First Palestinian War against newly formed Israel.
On February 12, 1949, Banna' was shot dead in Cairo by secret service agents.
Banna' was a prolific writer. He wrote memoirs, as well as numerous articles and speeches. Among his most important books is his “Letter to a Muslim Student,” a book in which Banna' explains the principles of his movement.
Banna’s legacy is still active, and his movement has spread to many other Muslim countries.
Hasan al-Banna’ see Banna’, Hasan al-
Hassan al-Banna see Banna’, Hasan al-
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Hasan al-Basri (Abu Sa'id al-Hasan ibn Abi-l-Hasan Yasar al-Basri) (642-728). Preacher of Basra. The fragments of his sermons which have been preserved are among the best surviving specimens of early Arabic prose.
Hasan al-Basri, also known as Imam Hasan al Basri, was a well-known Muslim theologian and scholar of Islam who was born at Medina of Persian parents. His father, Pirouz (later called Abul Hasan, or Hasan's Father, in Arabic), was a Persian landowner in a village of Khuzestan who was enslaved during a military campaign of Umar, the Second Caliph, and taken back to Medina. In the course of dividing spoils of war, Pirouz, along with a woman from his own village, was given to Umm Salama, a wife of Muhammad. Umm Salama gifted both to one of her close relatives where they were ultimately wed and freed by the couple who received them.
Tradition says that Umm Salama often nursed Hasan in his infancy. He was thus one of the Tabi'een (i.e. of the generation that succeeded the Sahabah). According to Abu Zur'a, at the age of 14 years, Hasan became the murid of 'Ali. Thereafter, Hasan migrated to Iraq.
Hasan did not take sides in the fitna of Ibn al-Zubayr. In 700 C. C., he joined the camp of Ibn al-Ash'ath during his revolt, as an amir. Hasan is not known to have supported any Caliph after Abu Bakr, but he was on decent terms with Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.
After the revolt Hasan became a teacher in Basra (Iraq) and founded a madrasa (school) there. Among his many followers were Amr Ibn Ubayd (d.761) and Wasil ibn Ata (d.749), the founder of the Mu'tazilites - which name derives from the Arabic verb i'tizàl ("to part from", "to separate from"). Wasil ibn Ata broke all relations with his ancient Master. Among Hasan's juristic students were the Imam Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani and also Humayd.
Hasan married a woman of the Ahl al-Kitab (that is, he married a Jew or a Christian). They had three sons: 'Ali, Muhammad, and Sa'id. Hasan was buried in Basra.
Under the reign of Caliph 'Abd al-Malik and his governor in Iraq al-Hajjaj, Hasan came to oppose the inherited caliphate of the Umayyads (r.660-750).
Hasan held to a doctrine of human free will, called "Qadarism" by its enemies, as opposed to predestination. In particular, he refused to believe that a just God would predetermine a man to sin. His stance on this upset his non-Mutazil pupils Ayyub and Humayd, and embarrassed later Sunnis. Some, like Dawud bin Abi Hind, went so far as to forge anti-"Qadarite" opinions in Hasan's name.
Hasan was a great supporter of asceticism in the time of its first development. According to him, fear is the basis of morality, and sadness the characteristic of his religion. Life is only a pilgrimage, and comfort must be denied to subdue the passions. Al-Basri is also held in high regard by the Sufis for his asceticism, though he predated Sufism as a self-aware movement. Many writers testify to the purity of his life and to his excelling in the virtues of Muhammad's own companions.
Hasan is associated with the authorship of several epistles, many of which are known to be forged. Among the forgeries is an epistle to Abd al-Malik espousing human free will, first attested to by Abd al-Jabbar (d. 1024). This epistle, despite claiming "some of the ... best examples of Arabic linguistic prose style", is based on the theology of al-Rassi's Kitab al-Radd and on the politics of the Zaydi Shi'a. That is, it comes from Abd al-Jabbar's circle if not from Abd al-Jabbar himself.
Abu Sa'id al-Hasan ibn Abi-l-Hasan Yasar al-Basri see Hasan al-Basri
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Husain ibn 'Ali
Husain ibn 'Ali (Husayn ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, al-) (3rd Sha‘bān 4 AH - 10th Muharram 61 AH; January 8, 626 - October10, 680). Grandson of Muhammad and the second son of Fatima and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. Encouraged to raise the claims of his family against the Umayyads and motivated by a personal vision of an ideal Islam, Husain went into battle and met a tragic end at Karbala in Iraq. The date, 10 Muharram 61 A.H. (October 10, 680), is commemorated as Ashura throughout the Shi‘ite world with an annual ritual lamentation and pilgrimage to the Shi‘ite shrines, especially Karbala. The figure of Husain gave rise to many legends, while the events surrounding his death are the subject of popular drama in Iran and elsewhere.Husayn ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib was the son of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (the final Rashidun Caliph and the first Shī‘a Imām) and Fātimah Zahrā (daughter of Muhammad). Husayn is an important figure in Islām as he is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt (the household of Muhammad) and Ahl al-Kisā, as well as being a Shī‘a Imām, and one of The Fourteen Infallibles of the Shī'a Twelvers.
Husayn ibn ‘Alī is revered by all Shi'a as a martyr who fought tyranny, as he refused to pledge allegiance to Yazīd I, the Umayyad caliph. He rose up to create a regime that would reinstate a "true" Islāmic polity as opposed to what he considered the unjust rule of the Umayyads. As a consequence, Husayn was killed and beheaded in the Battle of Karbalā in 680 (61AH) by Shimr Ibn Thil-Jawshan. The anniversary of his Shahid ("martydom") is called ‘Āshūrā ("tenth" day of Muharram) and is a day of mourning for Shia Muslims. Revenge for Husayn's death was turned into a rallying cry that helped undermine the Umayyad caliphate, and gave impetus to the rise of a powerful Shī‘a movement.
Imam Husayn and his brother Imam Hassan were the only descendants of Muhammad who remained alive. There are many of the accounts of Muhammad's great love for his grandsons, and refer to them together, and at times confuse them. Muhammad is reported to have said that "whoever loves them [his grandsons] loves me and whoever hates them hates me." Muhammad also said that "al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the sayyids of the youth of Paradise". This quote has been particularly important for Shias who have used it in support of the right of Muhammad's descendants to the imamate. Muhammad, according to other traditions, is depicted with his grandsons on his knees, on his shoulders, or even on his back during the prayer at the moment of prostrating himself. According to Madelung, Muhammad loved them and declared them as his Ahl al-Bayt frequently. The Quran has accorded the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet an elevated position above the rest of the faithful.
In addition to these traditions, a number of traditions also involve the presence of angels. From a Muslim point of view, these traditions do not create any problem but to non-Muslims they appear as legends created under the Shi'a influence.
Shi'as proclaimed that Ali's eldest son, Hassan, who was the successor to Ali's Imamate, should be the caliph and that the Islamic tradition should not be discarded again. Muawiyah had fought Ali for the leadership of the empire and now prepared to fight Hassan. After a few inconclusive skirmishes between the armies of Hassan and Muawiyah, Hassan reminded his followers of Ali's position that the Imamate is sufficient for successorship of Muhammad and that leading the Muslim state was not a criterion. Thus, to avoid the agonies of another civil war, he signed a treaty with Muawiyah and relinquished the control of what had turned into an Arabian kingdom. Hassan did indeed pledge his to Muawiyah. After making this treaty Hassan was poisoned by an unknown person. This left Husayn as the head of the Alids and the successor to Hassan's Imamate.
At the time of the siege of the caliph Uthman's residence in Medina, by rebels from Basrah and Egypt (led by Ibn Saba), when Uthman asked Ali to join the defender of his house, Ali sent Hassan and Husayn. While Hassan and Husayn guarded the gates of the Caliph's residence, the rebels entered from the back door and killed Uthman.
During Ali's caliphate, the brothers Hassan, Husayn, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, and their cousin 'Abd Allah ibn J'afar appear as his closest assistants within his household.
When Imam Hassan ibn Ali agreed to a peace treaty with Muawiyah I, the first Umayyad caliph, he left Kufa and went to Medina with his brother Imam Husayn.
According to Shi'a belief, he lived under the most difficult outward conditions of suppression and persecution. This was due to the fact that, first of all, religious laws and regulations had lost much of their weight and credit, and the edicts of the Umayyad government had gained complete authority and power. Secondly, Mu'awiyah and his aides made use of every possible means to put aside past disputes and move out of the way the Household of Muhammad and the lovers of Imam Ali and his sons and thus obliterate the name of Ali and his family.
Muawiyah I ordered public curses of 'Ali and his major supporters including Imam Husayn and his brother.
According to Shi'a belief Imam Husayn became the third Imam for a period of ten years after death of his brother Imam Hassan in 669. All of this time but the last six months coinciding with the caliphate of Mu'awiyah.
Muawiyah designated his son, Yazid I, as his successor before his death in 680.
When Yazid I became caliph he forced Husayn ibn Ali and Abd Allah ibn Zubayr to pledge alliance with him, but they refused and migrated from Medina to Mecca in that year.
Husayn left Medina with his sisters, daughters, sons, brothers, and the sons of Hasan. He took a side road to Mecca to avoid being pursued, and once in Mecca Husayn stayed in the house of `Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib and remained there for four months.
Husayn opposed Yazid I and declared that Umayyad rule was not only oppressive, but also religiously misguided. In his view the integrity and survival of the Islamic community depended on the re-establishment of the correct guidance. Husayn also believed that the succession of Yazid I was an attempt to establish an illegitimate hereditary dynasty.
The religious attitudes of the Umayyad also inspired people who believed that leadership of the Muslim community rightly belonged to the descendants of Ali, so they urged Husayn to join them and come to Kufa to establish his caliphate since they had no imam. They told him that they did not attend the Friday prayer with the governor of Kufa, No'man ibn Bashir, and would drive him out of the town as soon as Husayn agreed to come to them.
To convince Husayn to come they sent him seven messengers with bags of letters of support by Kufan warriors and tribal leaders. Husayn wrote the Kufans and told them that he understood from their letters that they had no imam and they wished him to come to unite them by the correct guidance. He informed them that he was sending his cousin Moslem ibn Aqil to report to him on the situation. If he found them united as their letters indicated he would quickly join them, for it was the duty of the imam to act in accordance with the Quran and to uphold justice, proclaim the truth, and to dedicate himself to the cause of God. The mission of Moslem was initially successful. The Kufan Shi'as visited him freely, and 18,000 men are said to have enlisted with him in support of Husayn. Moslem wrote to Husayn, encouraging him to come quickly to Kufa.
Husayn was also visited by a Shi'a supporter with two of his sons from Basra, where Shi'a sentiment was limited. He then sent identical letters to the chiefs of the five divisions into which the Basran tribes were divided. He wrote them that Muhammad's family were his family and were the rightful heirs of his position, and that others had illegitimately claimed the right which belonged exclusively to Muhammad's family. The family had initially consented to the actions of the first caliphs for the sake of the unity of the Ummah. He said that the caliphs who had seized the right of Muhammad's family had done many good things, and had sought the truth. The letter closely reflected the guidelines set by Ali, who had strongly upheld the sole right of the family of Muhammad to leadership of the Muslim community but had also praised the conduct of the first caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar. While most of the recipients of the letter kept it secret, one of them suspected that it was a ploy of the governor Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziad to test their loyalty and turned it over to him. Ubayd-Allah seized and beheaded Husayn's messenger and addressed a stern warning to the people of Basra.
In Kufa the situation changed radically when Yazid replaced Noman ibn Bashir with Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziad, ordering the latter to deal severely with Husayn's cousin, Moslem ibn Aqil. Ubayd-Allah succeeded in intimidating the tribal chiefs, and a revolt collapsed when the rebels failed to capture the governor's palace. Moslem was found and delivered to Ubayd-Allah, who had him beheaded on the top of the palace and his body thrown down to the crowd. Yazid wrote to Ubayd-Allah, commending him highly for his decisive action and ordering him to set up watches for Husayn and his supporters and to arrest them but to kill only those who would fight him.
Yazid perceived Husayn's refusal to pledge allegiance as a danger to his throne because he was Muhammad's family, so he plotted to kill the grandson of Muhammad during the Hajj, in the precincts of the Holy Kaaba, thus defiling and desecrating it (killing a person in Mecca is prohibited in Islam). In order to avoid this sacrilege, Husayn took along his wives, children, a few friends and relatives and headed towards Kufa to fulfill the responsibility of the bearer of the Imamate and to fulfill his destiny as was prophesied by his grandfather, Muhammad.
On his way, he was offered military support by the tribe of Banu Tayy as well as sanctuary in their hills from where he could (if he wanted to) safely lead a revolt and overthrow Yazid. But Husayn refused the offer and continued his journey with his few companions.
Husayn in his path toward Kufa encountered the army of Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad, the governor of Kufa, led by al-Hurr al-Riyahi (a top commander in the Umayyad army who later changed sides).
On October 10, 680 (Muharram 10, 61 AH), Husayn and his small group of followers and family members, fought a large army of under the command of Umar ibn Sa'ad, son of the founder of Kufah. Husayn and all of his men were killed and beheaded. The bodies were left for three days without burial and survivors from Husayn's family were taken as prisoners to al-Sham (Syria and Lebanon today) to Yazid.
Today, the death of Husayn ibn Ali is commemorated during every Muharram by Shiite Muslims, with the most important of these days being its tenth day, Ashura. Ashura is also commemorated by Sunni Muslims, but not like Shi'a.
Husayn's body is buried in Karbala, near the site of his death. His head is said to have been returned from Damascus and interred with his body.
Husayn's grave became the most visited place for Shi'as. The Imam Husayn Shrine was later built over his grave. In 850 Abbasid caliph, al-Mutawakkil, destroyed his shrine in order to stop Shi'a pilgrimages. However, pilgrimages continued. It is now a holy site of pilgrimage for Shi'a Muslims.
The Day of Ashura is commemorated by the Shi‘a as a day of mourning for the death of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala. In some countries and regions such as Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Bahrain, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica Commemoration of Husayn ibn Ali has become a national holiday and all ethnic and religious communities participate in it.
Husayn ibn 'Ali see Husain ibn 'Ali Husayn ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, al- see Husain ibn 'Ali
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