la taqrau.pdf La taqra'u l-qur'ana `ala l-mushafiyyin wa-la tahmilu l-`ilma `ani l-sahafiyyin ... Some Notes on the Transmission of If adith M.J. Kister The Hebrew University of Jerusalem In memory of my brother Dr. Isaac Kister. The question of whether it is permissible to record, in writing, the utterances of the Prophet, caused a heated debate already in the early period of Islam. The reports concerning the subject are divergent and even contradictory. A scrutiny of these reports may shed some light on the development of social perceptions, in so far as the transmission of hadith is concerned. Several traditions state that the Prophet permitted some of his Companions to write down his utterances. `Abdallah b. 'Umar says that he was in the court of the Prophet with a group of Companions; he was the youngest among them. The Prophet said: "Whoever tells lies about me, let him be placed in his abode in Hell."l 1 See, e.g., different versions of this tradition: Nur al-DIn al-HaythamI, Kashfu l-astar 'an zawa'idi l-bazzar, ed. Habibu l-Rahman al-A`zami (Beirut, 1399/1979), I, 112-17, nos. 204-17. AI-QuQa'I, Musnad al-shihiib, ed.HamdI'Abd al-MajId al-Silaff (Beirut, 1407/1986), I, 324-31, nos. 547-66, and see the references of the editor. AI-TabaranI, Musnad al-shiimiyyfn, ed. HamdI 'Abd aI-MajId al-Silan (Beirut, 1409/1989), I, 137, nos. 218, 142, no. 227; see the references of the editor. And see al-Haytham b. KuIayb al-SMshI, al-Musnad, ed. Mahfiiz al-Ra.l].manZayn (al-Madlna al-munawwara, 1410), I, 96-101, nos. 33-42; 245, no. 206; 249-50, nos. 215-16; 320-23, nos. 283-89; II, 80, no. 598; 116-18, nos. 642-47j and see ibid. the references of the editorj al-MunawI, Faylju l-qadfr, shar~u l-jami'i l-~aghfr (Beirut, 1391/ 1972), VI, 214-15, no. 8993, and see the references of the editor, ibid. AI-QaQI'IYaQ al-Yal).l;!ubI,ai-lima' ila ma'ri/ati u~Uli l-riwaya wa-taqyfdi l-sama', ed. al-Sayyid A~mad ~aqr (Cairo, 1389/1970), 11, 12; Ibn Hajar al-'AsqalanI, Fat~u I-ban, sharI} Ifa~fl} al-bukhiin (Cairo, 1300, repr. Beirut), I, 178-81j and see al-DhahabI, Tadhkirat al-~uJJa~ (Hyderabad, 1375/1955), I, 3-4. And see I. Goldziher, Muslim Studies, trans!. C.R. Barber and S.M. Stern, ed. S.M. Stern (London, 1971), II, 127. AI-SuyutI, Jam'u l-jawami' (Cairo, 1978), II, 53j 'All b. al-Ja'd al-JauharI, Musnad al-Ja'df, ed. '.A.mir A~mad Haydar (Beirut, 1410/1990), nos. 140, 337, 541, 560,817, 1428, 2045, 2067. And see the different versions of the ~adith: man kadhaba 'ala7lya muta'ammidan /a·I-71atabawwa' maq'adahu mina l-nar in Mu~ammad Murtac;la al-HusaynI l-ZabidI's Laqtu I-la' alf l-mutanathira If l-a~adithi l-mutawatira, ed. Mu~ammad 'Abd al-Qadir 'A~a (Beirut, 1405/1985), 261-82, no. 61. And see this utterance thoroughly analysed by M. Muranyi in his article: "Man ~ala/a 'ala minban athiman," Die Welt des Orients (1987): 92, 131. And see Abu l-Qasim Sulayman b. A~mad al-Tabarani, Turuq ~adfth man kadhaba 'alaY7la muta'ammidan, ed. 'All Hasan 'All 'Abd al-Hamld and Hisham b. Isma'ii al-Saqqa ('Amman, 1410/1990). 128 M.J. Kister Later, Ibn 'Umar asked the people how they transmitted traditions about the Prophet and how they made efforts to report the Prophet's utterances after they heard his words. They laughed and said: "0 son of our brother, everything we heard from the Prophet is already recorded with us in writing."2 A similar tradition is reported by Rafi' b. Khadijr' he asked the Prophet whether he would be permitted to write down the utterances heard from him. The Prophet gave his permission and remarked: "There is nothing bad in it," uktubuhii wa-lii lJ,araj.4 Abu Hurayra is said to have abstained from recording the utterances of the Prophet. This can be deduced from his statement that there was nobody (scil. from among the Companions of the Prophet -k) who surpassed him in the knowledge of lJ,adith except 'Abdallah b. 'Amr,5 for the latter used to write down the traditions while Abu Hurayra did not.6 It is significant that the first tradition permitted by the Prophet to be written in the !!alJ,fja!!ii.diqa of 'Abdallah b. 'Amr is said to have been an official letter addressed by the Prophet to the people of Mecca," 2 Ibn 'AdI, al-Kamil /'f gu'afa'i I-rijal, al-muqaddima, ed. Subht l-Badrf l-Samarra'T (Baghdad, n.d.), 48; al-Ramhurmuzr, al-Mu1}addith al·fa~il, 378, no. 361. 3 On him, see Ibn Hajar al-'AsqalanI, ol-Isiiba /'f tamyfzi l-sohiibo, ed. 'All Muhammad al-Bijawi (Cairo, 1392/1972), II, 436-37, no. 2528 4 Ibn 'AdI, al-Kamil, al-muqaddima, 48. And see another version of the story in Ibn al-Hajj, al-Madkhal (Beirut, 1972), IV, 288; quoted from Abu Dawud's Sunan. 'Umar b. Ahmad b. 'Uthman b. Shahtn, Nasikhu 1-1}adfthi wa-mansukhuhu, ed. Samlr b. AmIn al-Zuhrr (al-Zarqa', al-Urdunn, 1408/1988), 470, no. 626; and see the references of the editor. 5 'Abdallah b. 'Amr b. al-'As 6 'Abdallah b.'AdI, al-Kamii, muqaddima, 48; Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalanr, ol-Istiba /'f tamyfzi I-~al,laba, IV, 194, no. 4850; Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, al-Isti'ab /'f ma'rifati l-a~1}ab, ed. 'All al-Bijawf (Cairo, 1380/1960), III, 957, no. 1618; al-Tal).awT,Sharl,l ma'anf I-iithar, IV, 318-19; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, I, 106; al-Dhahabt, Mfzan al-i'tidal, ed. 'All Muhammad al-Bijawl (Cairo, 1382/1963), II, 567, no. 4879; Ibn Hajar al'AsqalanI,Fatl,lu I-barf, I, 184-85; Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami'bayan al·'ilm wa-faglihi (al-MadIna al-munawwara, n.d.), I, 70; and see ibid., I, 72 sup., 'Abdallah b. 'Amr b. al-'A.!;l ays that two things stimulate him in his desire for life: the scroll dictated s to him by the Prophet, al-~al,lffa al-~adiqa, and the estate of Wah]. See this report: al-Ramhurmuzt, al-Mul,laddith al-falfil bayna I-rawf wa-I-wa'f, ed. Muhammad 'Ajjaj al-Khattb (Beirut, 1391/1971), 365-67, nos. 319-24; and see the references of the editor. And see Abu Bakr al-BayhaqI: al-Madkhal ila I-sunani I-kubra, ed. Muhammad Diya'u l-Rahman al-A'aamr (Kuwayt, 1405/1984), 412-13, nos. 748-51, and see the references of the editor; Shams al-Dtn Muhammad b. Ahmad al-DhahabI, Siyar a'lami I-nubala', ed. As'ad Talas (Cairo, 1962), III, 58 and vol. II, ed. Ibrahtm al-Abyart, p. 432. A peculiar statement of Ka'b (al-Ahbar) says that Abu Hurayra knew more about the Torah than any man who did not read the Torah; al-Dhahabl, Siyar, II, 432. 7Ibn AbI 'A.!i\im al-Shaybant, Kitab al·awa'il, ed. Muhammad b. N~ir al-'AjamT (al-Kuwayt, n.d.), 98, no. 140. Al Hasan b. 'Arafa mentions in his Juz", MS Chester Beatty 4433, fol. 141a, from the I!al,lffa al-I/adiqa a supplication which the Prophet advised Abu Bakr to utter in the morning and evening. Iii taqra'i: l-qur'iina 'alii l-mu~lJ,afiyyfn 129 The letters of the Prophet seem to have been especially appreciated. This is emphasized in the utterance of Muhammad b. SIrln:8 "Had I decided to write [these things) down [in) a book, I would record in writing the letters of the Prophet." The letters of the Prophet addressed to kings, rulers, governors and tribal chiefs are the earliest documents reflecting the problems of the nascent Muslim community, the policy of the Prophet towards his supporters and foes, his tactics and his military resolutions. Mujahid (d. 104 H) one day visited 'Abdallah b.'Amr and noticed a scroll under his head. 'Abdallah refused to allow him to peruse the scroll, tamanna' a 'alayya, asserting that it was the ~alJ,ffasiidiqa which the Prophet had dictated to him when they were alone." The servant of the Prophet, Anas b. Malik, is said to have been in possession of scrolls which contained the utterances dictated to him by the Prophet. lO There is a report recorded on the authority of AbU Juhayfa which mentions a ~alJ,ffa of 'All b. AbI Talib, 'All is said to have asserted that the ~alJ,fja contained only the prescriptions concerning the payment of the bloodwit, the freeing of prisoners, and the order not to kill a Muslim for (the crime of) killing an unbeliever. 11 Sa'd, al- Tabaqat al-kubra, VII, 194 Siyar a'lam al-nubala', III, 58, inf. Al-Suyntt, Jam'u l-jawami', II, 525 sup.; al-FliBI, al-'Iqd al-thamin Ii ta'n'khi 1baladi l-amin, ed. Fu'ad Sayyid (Cairo, 1385/1966), V, 225. 10 Al-Ramhurmust, al-Mul}addith al-fal/il, 367, no. 325; and see the references of the editor. And see the tradition iii BayhaqI's al-Madkhal ila l-sunani l-kubra, 415, no. 757 with the important correction of majall instead of mikhlat; and see the references of the editor. 11 Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 71. And see al-Tabart, Tafstr = Jiimi' al-bayan 'an ta'wil ayi l-qur'an, ed. Mahmtld and Ahmad Shakir (Cairo, 1958), XIII, 135-36, no. 15150, containing the tal}nm al-madina .... See also Abi1Ya'Ia al-Mausilr, Musnad, ed. Husayn SalIm Asad (Beirut-Damascus, 1404/1984), I, 228-29, no. 263; and see the references of the editor and his comments. Al-Suytrtr, Jam'u l-jawami', II, 56, 60, 63. It is evident that this statement is attributed to 'AlI in order to refute the belief held by some of his adherents that the I/al}ifa contained God's decree about the inheritance of the caliphate by 'All and his descendants. 'Abdallah b. al-Mubarak al-MarwazI, al-Juz' al-thalith min musnad abi 'abel al-ral}man 'abdallah b. al-mubarak ... , MS aI-~ahiriyya 18, majmi1'a, fol. 121b: ... fa-qala: ma 'ahida ilayna rasulu llahi, I/alla llahu 'alayhi wa-sallam, shay' an lam ya' hadhu ila I-nasi kaJJatan. It is not rare to find in a collection of traditions a refutation of a claim put by opponents into the mouth of the claimant; see I. Goldziher, Muslim Studies, 11,114-15. 'All is said to have allowed Abtl l-Shah to copy from this I/al}ifa the injunctions concerning the payment of bloodwit, the payment of charity, I/adaqa, and other religious obligations; see al-Dhahabt, Siyar a'lami l-nubala', III, 58; and see the discussion on this subject: Ibn Hajar aI-'AsqalanI, Fatl}u I-ban, I, 182-83. Another case of a piece of writing, a I/al}ifa, sent by 'All to 'Uthman is recorded in Ibn Haem's al-Il}kam Ii ul/uli l-al}kam, ed. Muhammad Ahmad 'Abd aI-'AzTz (Cairo, 1398/1978), I, 396. 'All stated that a certain spot to which 'Uthman sent his tax 9 Al-Dhahabt, 8 Ibn 130 M.J. Kister Another l!alJ,zfa is said to have been kept in the sheath ofthe Prophet's sword. It contained a curse on people who steal the land of their neighbours by changing the boundary markings and a curse on those who deny the favours granted them by forging their genealogy and by attaching themselves falsely to tribal factions.P Sulayman al-Yashkuri, when staying in Mecca, wrote a l!alJ,zfa dictated by the Companion of the Prophet Jabir b.'Abdallah. The l!alJ,zfa remained after his death in the house of his mother in Basra, She was asked by the people of Basra to lend it to them, but she refused. She only allowed some people to read the l!al],Zfa. Among those who came and read the l!alJ,ifa was the famous Qur'anic commentator, Qatada.13 AbU l-Nadr stated that he memorized this l!alJ,zfa of Jabir b.'Abdallah with greater concentration than the Silrat al-Baqara.J! The commentator of the Qur'an, Mujahid, is said also to have transmitted traditions from the l!alJ,zfa of the Companion of the Prophet Jabir b. 'Abdallah.P Ibn Jurayj is said to have brought a l!alJ,zfa to Hisham b. 'Urwa and asked him for permission to transmit, on his authority, the traditions heard from him and written down in the l!alJ,zfa. Hisham b.'Urwa granted him the permission.l" Abu Hurayra seems, at some stage, to have been given the permission to write down the utterances of the Prophet. One day he approached the Prophet and complained that he was forgetting the numerous utterances. The Prophet advised him: "Get help by your right hand," ista'in biyamznika, i.e., write down the utterances with your right hand.l" collectors, su'at, is a ~adaqa of the Prophet. This statement, of course, made it necessary for 'Uthman to recall the tax collectors. 12 Ibn 'Abd ai-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 71, inf. Cf. the tradition recorded by Abu Ya'la al-Mausill, Musnad, VIII, 197, no. 4757: ... wajadtu Ii qa'imi sayfi rasiili llahi (i!) kitaban ... ; and see ibid. I, 424, no. 562. 13 AI-FasawI, al-Ma'rifa wa-l-ta'n""kh, II, 279. 14 AI-FiUlawI,al-Ma'rifa wa-l-ta'rfkh, II, 278, inf. 15 See al-FasawI, Kitab al-ma'rifa wa-l-ta'rfkh, ed. Akram Qiya' al-'UmarI (Beirut, 1401/1981), III, 11. 16 Al-Fasawt, Al-ma'rifa wa-l-ta'n""kh, II, 824; and see the references of the editor. 17 Ibn Shahtn, Nasikhu l-I}adfth, 469, no. 625; and see the references of the editor. 'Abdallah b.'AdI, op. cit., muqaddima, 49, and see the references of the editor; on other cases of the Prophet's permission to write his utterances, see Ibn 'Abd alBarr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 72-75. And see the report saying that Sa'Id b. alMusayyab permitted 'Abd al-Rahman b. Harmala to note I}adfth in writing because of his weak memory: YaJ:!.yab. Ma'In, Ta'n""kh, ed. Ahmad Muhammad Nnr Sayf (Makka al-mukarrama, 1399/1979), II, 346, no. 950; al-Dhahabt, Mfzan al-i'tidal, II, 556, no. 4848. And see I. Goldziher, Muslim Studies II, 183, 184. As for the injunction qayyidii l-'ilma bi-l-kitab see: al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, I, 106, reported on the authority of the Prophet and transmitted by Anas b. Malik. Ibn Shahtn, Nasikhu l-I}adfth, 466, no. 624, and see the references of the editor. la taqra'u l-qur'tina 'ala I-mulJlJ,ajiyyfn 131 A book of traditions transmitted by Abu Hurayra is mentioned in a report of 'Ali b. al-Madtni. The book was in the possession of yaJ:tya b. Sirin.18 It was written on old vellum, kitab /f raqqin 'cuq, and preceded by the sentence: hadha ma lJ,addathana abii. hurayra, qala abii. l-qiisim .... Every lJ,adfth ended with the sentence hiidhii lJ,adfth abf hurayra and was separated by a line which was followed by a sentence qala abu hurayra .... Every line of separation was marked by the word 'iishiratun, surrounded by dots.l" The servant of the Prophet, Anas b. Malik, used to transmit the traditions of the Prophet. When the listeners swarmed around him, he used to bring forth some scrolls and handed them over to the Iisteners.P? He said that he had heard the traditions from the Prophet, had written them down, and had read them aloud in front of the Prophet, 'orada 'alayhi, and the Prophet had given his approval to transmit them.21 Ibrahim al-Nakha'i admitted that the traditions transmitted by Salim b. Abi l-Ja'd were more accurate because he used to record them, while he (i.e., Ibrahim al-Nakha'I) merely memorised them.22 A tradition recorded by Ahmad b. Hanbal says that the Prophet permitted to write down his injunctions concerning the sacred area, the lJ,aram of Mecca, which he issued on his conquest of the city.23 The traditions about the recording of lJ,adfth at the time of the Prophet vary as to whether the Prophet permitted or prohibited to do that.24 The Companions of the Prophet were in the habit of circulating the utterances of the Prophet among themselves. Some of them used to write them down, like 'Abdallah b. 'Amr b. al-'A.S.25 After the death of the Prophet, some of the Companions recorded the traditions, others did not. Ibn Rajab provides us with important in18 Because Muhammad b. STrin did not like to keep a book of lJadiths in his abode; see al-FasawI, Al-ma'rifa wa-l-ta'rfkh, II, 54, 59. 19 AI-FasawI, Al-ma'rifa wa-l-ta'n"kh, II, 54-55. 20 See above note 10 concerning the emendation by Muhammad I;>iya'u l-Rahrnan, who reads majall; this emendation should be applied to this text as well, and the word to be read thus instead of mujalis. 21 'Abdallah b.'AdI, op, cit., Muqaddima, 49. 22 'Abdallah b. 'AdI, op. cit., Muqaddima, 50. 23 Ahmad b. Hanbal, al-Musnad, ed. Ahmad Muhammad Shakir (Cairo, 1373/ 1953), XII, 232-35, no. 7241, and see ibid., the abundant references and notes to this lJadfth; Ibn 'Abd ai-Barr, Jami' bayan, I, 70; al-Ramhurmuzt, al-MulJaddith al-fal!il, 363, no. 314, and see the references of the editor; Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalli.nI, alIsiiba, VII, 202, no. 1090; al-BayhaqI, al·Madkhal ila l-sunani l-kubra, 411, no. 745; and see the references of the editor. 24 The different reports are mentioned in Ibn Rajab's (d. 795 H) SharlJ 'ilali 1tirmidhf, ed. Subhi l-Samarra'I (Beirut, 1405/1985), 49-50. 25 See above, note 6. 132 M.J. Kister formation about the first collections of lJadfth. In the initial period after the death of the Prophet, at the time of the Companions and the generation following the Companions, namely the tiibi'ii.n, the collections were not divided into chapters according to subject; the purpose of those collections was merely to preserve, in script, the traditions of the Prophet. In the following generation, that of the tiibi'ii. l-tiibi'fn, the collections were arranged according to subject, ~unnifat al-ta~iinff; some scholars recorded the utterances of the Prophet, others collected the sayings of the Companions.P'' Ibn 'Abd al-Barr gives an interesting exposition on the evolution of ideas concerning the writing down of the traditions and utterances of the Prophet. The natural disposition of the Arabs, he says, was revealed by the fact that they preserved the sayings of the Prophet in their memory .... They were granted this disposition and were equipped with the gift of an unusual memory; they would not forget what they heard. The men who were endowed with this rare capacity of memory were Arabs, among whom were people like al-Zuhri, al-Sha'bt and Ibn 'Abbas. Times have changed, however, and people nowadays do not possess this. faculty of memory. Had the utterances of the Prophet not been written down, many traditions would have been lost. The Prophet gave permission to write down the knowledge of the traditions, 'ilm, and a group from among the Companions did SO.27 The injunction of the Prophet concerning the recording of lJadfth was formulated in a brief sentence: "Do not write anything on my authority except the Qur'an; whoever has written anything else on my authority should erase it.,,28 'All is said to have enjoined people who were in the possession of pieces of writing to erase them. "People perished," he said, "because 26Ibn Rajab, op. cit., 50. 27Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 69-70. 28See the different versions in al-Khatlb al-Baghdadt's, Taqyfd al-'ilm, ed. Yusuf al'Ishsh (Dar i~ya'i I-sunnati I-nabawiyya, 1974), 29-35. Ibn Shahin, Nasikhu I-I}adfth, 471, no. 629j and see the references of the editor and his notes. See I. Goldziher, Muslim Studies, II, 184. And see Ibn Abi Shayba, al-MulJannaJ, ed. 'Abd al-Khaliq Khan al-Afghant (Hyderabad, 1386/1966), I, 293: ... Ja-qala abu sa'fd: kunna la naktubu shay'an ilia I-qur'ana wa-I-tashahhudaj and see ibid., 294: 'an ibni mas'udin qala: mii kunna naktubu Ii 'ahdi rasuli lIahi lJalla llahu 'alayhi wa-sallam min alal}adfthi ilia I-istikharata wa-I·tashahhudaj and see the report of Tawiis ibn Abr Khaythama Zuhayr b. Harb al-Nasa't's Kitab al-'ilm, ed. Muhammad N~ir al-Dtn al-Albant (Beiriit, 1403/1983), 11, no. 27: ... 'an tawus qala: in kana I-rajulu yaktubu ila bni 'abbasin yas'aluhu 'ani I-amri, Ja-yaqUlu li-l-rajuli lIadhija'a bi-I-kitab: akhbir lJal}ibaka bi-anna I-amra kadha wa-kadha, Ja-inna la naktubu Ii 1·lJul}ufiilia I-rasa'ila wa-I-qur'anaj "rasa'il" is rendered by the editor: ya'nf lIatf kana rasulu llahi (IJ) kataba biha ila ba'4i l-ashkhalJi wa-I-qaba'ili. And see Ibn al-Jauzt, Akhbar ahli 1rusukh Ii I-fiqhi wa-I-tal}dfth bi-miqdari I·mansukh mina I-I}adfth, ed. Taha 'Abd al-Ra'uf Sa'd (Cairo, n.d.), 13-14, no. 8. Iii taqra'ii l-qur'iina 'alii l-mu.~1}afiyyfn 133 they followed the traditions of their scholars and abandoned the Book of their God.,,29 'Alqama and al-Aswad brought a written piece to Ibn Mas'ud, asserting that it contains a "good tradition," 1}adfth hasan. But Ibn Mas'Iid ordered it be erased and said: "The hearts are vessels; keep them for the Qur'an only."3o One tradition couples the prohibition against recording the Prophet's utterances with the permission to transmit the stories of the Banil Isra'il: Abu Hurayra was sitting in the courtyard of the Prophet with some other Companions and was writing down the utterances of the Prophet when the Prophet came and, looking at their work, forbade them to do that. He gave them, however, permission to tell the traditions of the Banu Isra'i1.31 Abu Sa'Id al-KhudrI is said to have been asked to write down the traditions transmitted by him; he refused and said that 1}adfths should not be set down in ma~ii1}if; the Prophet issued his utterances and the Companions kept them in their memory. The people of 1}adfth should merely keep in memory what the transmitters tell them.32 The aversion to write down the 1}adfth went together with the aversion to the reading of the Qur'an from a written book without keeping the words in memory. A saying of the people of the 1}adfth which won wide circulation was as follows: Iii taqra'ii l-qu.r'iina 'alii l-mu.~1}afiyyfnwa-lii ta1}milii l-iilm« 'ani 1-~a1}afiyyfn,"Do not read the Qur'an to people who rely on Qur'an codices, and do not carry further the 1}adfth knowledge which you obtain from people who use scrolls.,,33 Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' ballan al-'ilm, I, 64, sup. 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' ballanal-'ilm, I, 66, inf.; and see ibid.: Abu 'Ubayd explains that Ibn Mas'nd assumed that the written piece was taken from the People of the Book, ahlu l·kitab, and did not like to see it. 31 Al-Dhahabt, Mfzan al·i'tidal, II, 265, no. 4868. And see the utterance of the Prophet forbidding writing anything on his authority except the Qur'li.n and demanding that 1}adfths already committed to writing be erased, at the same time encouraging people to transmit the traditions of the BanU IsrA'l1. The same utterance warns against transmitting deceitful traditions, which would be punished with torture in Hell. See NUr al-Dtn al-Haythamt, Kash/u l-astar 'an zawa'idi l-bazziir, I, 108-109, no. 194. And see ibid., 1,.109, no. 195, AbU Burda was requested to bring to his father written down traditions, which he had heard from him. The father ordered to erase the written traditions saying: "You have to memorize the traditions as we did when we heard them from the mouth of the Prophet." Also see the story concerning the traditions written down by AbU Burda and erased by his father: al-Dhahabt, Siyar a'lami l-nubala', II, 280, 287. 32 Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' ballan al·'ilm, I, 64. 33 I.e., people who read the scrolls, or dictated from the scrolls, without mastering the knowledge of the traditions by heart -k. See al-Ramhurrnuzr, al-Mu1}addith alla~il, 211, no. 101; and see the references of the editor; the opinion ofYaJ:!ya (b. Adam) 29 30 Ibn 134 M.J. Kister Malik b. Anas gave an opinion concerning a trustworthy transmitter, who presented a book of traditions which he had heard, but was unable to keep them in memory. Students of l)adfth, according to Malik b. Anas, should disregard this transmitter. 34 Ibn al-JauzI reports on the authority of Ibn Qutayba a significant explanation for the change in the Prophet's prohibition to write down the l)adfth. The Prophet initially forbade to write his utterances, but when the sun an increased in number and exceeded the quantity that could be kept in memory, the Prophet allowed to write them down.35 The high honour accorded to the memorization of ~adfth goes hand in hand with the low standing of written l)adfth. AI-Auza'I formulated it in the following saying: "This knowledge, 'ilm, was an honourable thing when it came from the mouths of men who collected and carried it in memory together with others; when it got written down in books, it lost its light, dhahaba nii.ruhu, and became the possession of unworthy people." 36 Hushaym (d. 183 H) gave a succinct definition of the proper people of ~adfth: he who does not know the l)adfth by heart cannot be counted as among the people of l)adfth; such a man comes (to attend the assembly of lJ,adfth people -k) with a large book that looks like a document of manumission. 37 It is evident that "a scholar with a large book" is one who dictates lJ,adfth to students because he does not know the traditions by heart. The main argument against recording the utterances of the Prophet was the desire to avoid creating another book, a book of prophetic l)adfth, for fear that it might be considered equal to the Qur'an. One of the Companions of the Prophet, Abu Sa'Id al-Khudrl, was asked by Abu Nadra to dictate a tradition of the Prophet transmitted by him. He refused, however, arguing that he was not going to transform the dictated utterances into a QUr'an.38 As mentioned above, orthodox men avoided writing down the collected utterances of the Prophet. Abu Bakr is said to have collected five hundred utterances; after consideration he ordered is indeed of some interest: kamj YUlJa"i/Una ma yujadu Ii l-kutub, "people treated the traditions recorded in books as weak," Ibid., 212 sup. And see Ibn 'AdI, al-Kamil, al-muqaddima,246. And see this advise in aI-FasawI's al-Ma'ri/a wa-l-ta'n1.:h, II, 412. 34AI-Kha~Ib al-Baghdadt, al-Ki/aya Ii'ilmi l-riwaya (Hyderabad, 1357), 227; and see ibid., 227-29 other stories of I}adfth scholars who transmitted from books. 35Ibn aI-JauzI, Akhbar ahli l-rusukh, 14. 36Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 68 sup.; aI-BayhaqI, al-Madkhal ila l-sunani l-kubra, 410, no. 741, and see the references of the editor. 37Al-Khattb al-Baghdadt, al-Ki/aya, 228; Ibn 'AdI, al-Kamil, al-muqaddima, 154. 38'Abdallah b. al-Mubarak, al-Musnad, 142, no. 232, and see the references of the editor; Abu Bakr aI-BayhaqI, al-Madkhal ila l-sunan al-kubra, 405-406, nos. 725, 727, and see the references of the editor. Iii taqra' u l-qur'iina 'alii l-mu~l],afiyyzn 135 the collection to be burned.P'' 'Umar is said to have intended to write down the traditions of the Prophet; however, he changed his mind fearing that it would bring forth a book in addition to the book of God.40 One report says that 'Umar wrote to the garrison cities (al-am~ar) enjoining them to erase the records of the traditions written down by some people.V 'Umar, who is said to have tried to restrict the number of the traditions reported on the authority of the Prophet, threatened that he would banish Abu Hurayra to the territory of Daus if the latter did not refrain from transmitting a great number of l],adzth utterances.V While transmitting prophetic traditions after 'Umar's death, Abu Hurayra admitted that 'Umar would have severed his head if he transmitted these traditions during his lifetime.43 'Umar is said to have enjoined the transmitters of l],adfth to confine themselves to traditions which have to do with the observance of ritual duties, aqillu l-riwayata 'an rasuli llahi ~alla llahu 'alayhi wa-sallam ilia fima yu'malu bihi. Here Abu Hurayra recalls the angry reaction of 'Umar against the transmission of l],adzths of the kind narrated by him after the caliph's death.v' 'Umar's inclination to limit the transmission of l],adfth was submitted to harsh criticism by Ibn Hazm. In a series of arguments based on quotations culled from early collections of l],adzth and fiqh, Ibn Hazm refutes 'Umar's utterances against the transmission of l],adzth. He also refutes similar utterances of Malik b. Anas, mentioning the fact that Malik himself collected a large number of traditions. In some of his arguments, Ibn Hazm goes as far as stating that such restrictions on the transmission of sound l],adzth are tantamount to kU/r.45 Early transmitters of l],adfth were divided as to their opinion concerning the reliability of utterances transmitted by Abu Hurayra. 'Abdallah b. 'Umar states that he did not reject any tradition transmitted by Abu Hurayra; "he was courageous, [ijtara'a]," he said, "we were faint hearted Tadhkirat al-l}uJJa~,I, 5. See Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bagan al-'ilm, I, 64; Abii Bakr al-Bayhaqt, alMadkhal ila I-sunani I-kubra, 407, no. 731, and see the references of the editor; alKhattb al-Baghdadt, Taqyfdu I-'ilm, 49-51; 'Abd al-Raasaq, al-Muljannaf, XI, 257-58, no. 20484. 41 Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 65. 42 AI-DhahabY, Siyar a'lami I-nubala', II, 433. Cf. Ibn Rajab al-l;IanbalY,Fa41u 'ilmi I-salaf 'ala I-khalaf (Cairo, n.d.), Maktabat al-kulliyyat al-azhariyya, 23 the opinions of al-Auza'I and Ahmad b. Hanbal: qala al-auza'f: al-'ilmu ma ja'a bihi aljl}abu mul}ammadin Ijalla llahu 'alayhi wa-sallam, fa-ma kana ghayra dhalika fa-Iaysa bi'ilmin. wa-kadha qala I-imamu al}mad, wa-qala /f l-tabi'fna anta mukhayyarun, ya'nf mukhayyaran [sic] /f kitabatihi wa-tarkihi; wa-qad kana al-zuhri yaktubu dhalika, wakhalafahu Ijalil}u bnu kaysan, thumma nadima 'ala tarkihi kalama I-tabi'fn. (On the differences between the opinions of al-Zuhrf and 1?lUi~ Kaysan see below, note 50). b. 43 Al-Dhahabt, Siyar a'lam al-nubala', II, 433. 44 'Abd al-Razaaq, al-Muljannaf, XI, 262, no. 20496. 45 Ibn Hazm, al-Il}kam /f uljuli I-al}kam, I, 311-23. 40 39 Al-Dhahabt, 136 M.J. Kister [jabunna].,,46 Another report says that people used to transmit from the traditions recorded by Abu Hurayra only utterances concerning Paradise and Hell.47 It is significant that the soundest traditions of Abu Hurayra were transmitted by al-ZuhrI.48 It was, again, 'Umar who enjoined people who went out to Iraq to reduce the number of traditions which they transmitted.t'' The scope which traditions should cover was not defined. $alil:l b. Kaysan and al-ZuhrI worked together collecting traditions on sunan; they collected the sunan of the Prophet. They were not, however, in agreement as to the sunan of the Companions. $alil:l b. Kaysan did not consider it appropriate to transmit the sunan of the Companions, as this was not a sunna in his opinion. AI-ZuhrI, however, wrote down both the sunan of the Prophet and of the Companions. "He won the day," says $aJ.il:l,"and I lost [{layya' tu]." 50 There was a need to draw a line between the Qur'an and the I}adith. Abu Sa'Id al-KhudrI warns the transmitters from turning the collected I}adiths into a "book," a kind of Qur'an; "learn by heart what we transmit as we did with the Prophet," he said.51 Stories about other peoples who collected the sayings and utterances of their prophets, sages, and saints were used as warnings for the believers. 'Umar asked the Prophet to grant him permission to write down the stories circulated by Jews and Christians, inn a nasan min a l-yahud wa-lna~ara yul}addithUna bi-al}aditha, a-Ia-la naktubu ba'{laha. The Prophet refused to give his permission and explained that Jews and Christians had become too deeply involved in writing: "I brought you a faith white and pure; were Moses alive he would have to follow me.,,52 46See al-Dhahabt, Siyar a'lam, II, 437. 47Ibid., II, 438. 48See ibid., II, 438. 49'Abdallah b. al-Mubarak, al-Musnad, 139-40; al-Dhahabl, Siyar a'lam al-nubala', 11,433. 50'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Mu~annaf, XI, 258, no. 2487; and see this report: Ibn 'Asiikir, Ta'rfkh, tahdhw, VI, 281; Ibn Kathtr, al-Bidaya wa-l-nihiiya (Beirut-al-Riyad, 1966), IX, 344; Ibn 'Abd ai-Barr, Bayan farf,l al-'ilm, II, 187; Ibn Khalfun al-Andalust, Asma'u shuyukhi I-imam malik b. anas, ed. Muhammad Zaynham Muhammad 'Azb (Cairo, n.d.), 154; Abu Nu'aym, Ifilyat al-auliya', III, 360 inf.-361 sup. al-Suyutt, Jam'u l-jawami', II, 813. 51Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 64; and compare the report of Abu Burda about his father who erased the traditions transmitted by him, arguing that traditions should be transmitted orally and learnt by heart as he and his generation had done: al-DhahabI, Siyar a'lam al-nubala', ed. Ibrahtm al-Abyl!.ri (Cairo, 1957), II, 280, 287 ult.; Ibn 'Abd ai-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 65-66. 52 Nasr b. Muhammad aI-Samarqandi, Bustan al-'ari/fn (Cairo, 1348),4, ult.-5 sup. And cf. Abu Bakr b. Abi 'Af.limal-Shaybanr, Kitab al-sunna, ed. Muhammad Nasir alDin al-Albant (Beirut, 1400/1980), I, 26-27, nos. 47-50. Cf. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jiimi' bayan al-'ilm, I, 65: The Banil Isra'tl went astray because of the written scriptures which they inherited from their fathers. And cf. above, no. 29. Iii taqra'u l-qur'iina 'alii l-mu~l],afiyyfn 137 Knowledge of I],adfth should be kept in memory. Al-Khalil b. Ahmad said in a verse: "Knowledge is not what is contained in a book case, knowledge is only that which is contained in the heart."53 Ibn 'Abd al-Barr explains the reasons which brought about the dislike of writing down I],adfth. A collection of I],adfth should not be like a Qur'an, for a collected volume impedes the way of oral transmission. People would then rely on the book and neglect to learn by heart the transmitted knowledge.54 A I],adfth attributed to 'AlI b. AbI Talib says that 'All was told that people engaged in I],adfth and abandoned the Qur'an. Then, the angel Jibrtl descended to the Prophet and predicted that his community would fall in temptation after his death55 and would leave the Qur'an. When asked about the way of escape, the angel answered: "The revealed Qur'an": he repeated this three times.56 A similar prediction is recorded on the authority of al-Dahhak: "Time will come," he said, "when the I],adfths will increase until the book of the Qur'an will be abandoned, covered with dust, with nobody looking at it.,,57 This warning is given in the traditions attributed to AbU Sa'Id alKhudrI and other Companions of the Prophet, recorded in al-Khatib's Kitiib taqyfd al-'ilm.58 It was Shu'ba, a scholar with deep insight and a committed searcher of truth in this field,59who spoke out against the activities of the transmitters of I],adfth: "It is better to sit in the company of Jews and Christians than to sit with you," he said addressing these transmitters. He accused them of departing from the recollection of God, dhikru lliih, and from prayer, and called upon them to desist from their activities.P? bayan al·'ilm, I, 68: laysa bi-'ilmin ma I}awa l-qimatru: illa ma I}awahu l-~adru. And see Abu Talib al-Makkt, Qii.t al-qulii.b (Cairo, 1351/1932), II, 17 sup.; al-Bayhaqt, al-Madkhal ila l-sunani l-kubrii, 410. 54Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 68; and see ibid., the saying of a scholar of I}adfth: la taktubii. fa-tattakilii., 55Scil. by being engaged in learning I}adfth -k. 56Ibn 'Asakir, Ta'rfkh dimashq, (Tahdhw), VII, 348. 57Ahmad b. Hanbal, Kitabu l-zuhd (Beirut, 1398/1978), 213. 58Taqyld, 36-40; and see Ibn 'Asakir, Ta'rfkh dimashq, VI, 14: ... turfdii.na an taj'alii.hii malfal}ifa .... And see the warning of Shu'ba (d. 160 H) stating that I}adfth distracts the believers from recalling the name of Allah, dhikru llah, and the obligatory prayers. Shu'ba asks the believers to refrain from busying themselves with I}adfth: Yahya b. Ma'tn, al-Ta'rfkh, ed. Ahmad Muhammad Nnr Sayf (Makka al-mukarrama, 1399/1979), II, 255, no. 4276; al-Fasawt, al-Ma'rifa wa-I-ta'rfkh, II, 284; Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahant, lfilyatu l-auliya', VII, 156. 59See al-Shiblt, Mal}asin al-wasa'il, 330: ... awwal man takallama /f l-rijali shu'ba; ma l·'ilmu 53 Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jiimi' and see ibid., the reports concerning the permissibility of examination of the validity of the traditions and the truthfulness of the transmitters, 331 60Ibn 'AdI, al-Kamil, muqaddima, 125. And see al-Khatrb al-Baghdadi, Mukhta~ar na~fl}ati ahli I-I}adfth, 31, inf.: ... malik b. anas qala li-bnay akhlhi abl bakrin wa- 138 lJ,adfth M.J. Kister Some scholars, however, pointed out the utility of dissemination of for a better understanding of the Qur'an and of the ritual practices. 'Imran b. Husayn justifies the study and the transmission of lJ,adfth by saying that lJ,adfth may serve as a tool to explain many ritual practices not included in the Qur'an.61 The opinions of the scholars of lJ,adfth as to the importance of tradition for the understanding of the Qur'an and for establishing the prescribed ritual practices are clearly reflected in the report of Abu Nadra. It is true, said 'Imran b. Husayn, that the prescribed prayers were mentioned in the Qur'an, but the number of rak' as in every prayer was only specified in the lJ,adfth.62 It was because of the importance of lJ,adfth that the believers should be careful not to transmit traditions of dubious transmitters. The famous scholar of lJ,adfth, Shu'ba, said that one should only record well-known traditions related by well-known scholars, uktubii 1mashhiir 'ani l-mashhiir.63 The Prophet is said to have told the believers to pay attention as to the persons with whom they talked and from whom they derived their faith, un~urii man tujalisiina wa-'an man ta'khudhiina dfnakum. At the end of time, Satans will appear in the garb of people of lJ,adfth, using the formulae lJ,addathana and akhbarana; people should, therefore, be cautious and inquire about the names of those persons and their Iathers.P" isma'ila bnay aM uwaysin: arakuma tul}ibbiini hadha l-sha'na wa-tatlubiinihi. qala: na'am. qala: in al}babtuma an tantafi'a bihi wa-yan/a'a llahu bikuma/a-aqilla minhu wa-ta/aqqaha. 61 'Abdallah b. al-Mubarak, Musnad, 143, no. 233; and see references of the editor. 62 'Abd al-Raszaq, al-Muljanna/, XI, 255, no. 20474. 63'Umar b. Ahmad b. Shahln, Ta'n1r.h asma'i l-thiqat mimman nuqila 'anhumu l-'ilm, ed. Athar al-Mubarakpnrt (Bombay, 1406/1986), 78. 64 Al-Nasilr, Ma/za' al-khala'iq, 15; Shirawayh b. Shahridar al-DaylamI, Firdausu 1akhbar, ed. Fawwaz Ahmad al-ZimirlI and Muhammad al-Mu'tasim bi-llah l-Baghdadt (Beirut, 1407/1987), I, 144, no. 358; and see the references ofthe editors. And see Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqiit al-kubra (Beirut, 1377/1958), VII, 194: ... Ibn SIrln: inna hadha l-'ilma dfnun /a-n~urii. 'an man ta'khuclhunahu. Cf. Ibn 'AdI, al-Kamil, Muqaddima, 227-29: "My people will perish for three vices-the 'aljabiyya, the qadariyya and the transmission of l}adfth on the authority of an unreliable transmitter," said the Prophet. And cf. al-Suyutt, Jam'u l-jawami' = al-Jami' al-kabfr (Cairo, 1978), I, 904, sup.: lii taqumu l-sa'atu l}atta yamshr iblfsu If l·turuqi wa-l-aswaqi yatashabbahu bi-l'ulama'i yaqUlu l}addathanf /ulanu bnu fulanin 'an rasuli llahi Ijalla llahu 'alayhi wasallam bi-kadha wa-kadha. And see al-Suyutt, Jam'u l-jawami', I, 1012: ... yakunu If akhiri I-zaman dajjalUna kadhdhabuna ya'tunakum mina l-al}adfthi bima lam tasma'u antum wa-la abii'ukum, /a-iyyakum wa-iyyahum la YUlJillunakum wa-la yaftinunakum. la taqra' U l-qur' ana' alii I-mufilJ,afiyyin 139 The prediction about forgers and Satans walking in the streets and markets, claiming false knowledge, quoting the isnads of "reliable" scholars and transmitting forged traditions, reflects, truly, the situation during the period of decline when forgers of isnads did not hesitate to appear in the market place and disseminate invented traditions. The flood of traditions circulating in the Muslim community in the early period is said to have aroused the concern of 'Umar, who tried to curb the activity of these transmitters. According to a report, 'Umar ordered to detain in Medina three Companions of the Prophet because of their efforts to disseminate the numerous IJ,adiths of the Prophet. The detained persons were Abu Darda', Ibn Mas'ud, and Abu Dharr.P'' Ibn Hazm refutes this report with great vigour.66 'Umar, as mentioned above, is said to have enjoined limiting the number of IJ,adiths transmitted by the Companlons.f" An utterance attributed to the Prophet recommends reducing the number of transmitted traditions: "It is sinful enough to transmit everything which a man has heard," said the Prophet.P'' In an interesting passage al-Dhahabi draws a line between the old times of the righteous 'Umar and his own time. In 'Umar's time, transmitters were prevented from circulating large amounts of traditions, even though they were people of truth and righteousness, and the IJ,adith itself was reliable. Now people transmit strange traditions and unknown stories, riwayat al-ghara'ib wa-l-manakir, provided with long chains of isnad, containing many groundless opinions and mistakes. Some of these people transmit forged traditions, groundless stories, abiitll, and untenable doctrines concerning the essentials and ramifications of religious law, al-mustalJ,ll Ii l-UfiUl wa-l-furii,', stories of asceticism and atrocious and bloody civil wars, malalJ,im.69 An early development, connected with the social standing of the scholars of IJ,adith and their ambitious striving to gain recognition and respect in the Muslim community, brought about the appearance of a special branch which originated on the margin of IJ,adith literature: treatises and books examining the reliability of the transmitters of IJ,adith, which contain praises for the righteous and reliable transmitters of traditions. 65 AI-DhahabI, Siyar a'lam al-nubala', II, 249; al-Dhahabt, Tadhkirat al-I}uffa~, I, 7; the list of the detained includes three names: Ibn Mas'ud, Abu Darda' and Abu Mas'nd al-Ansart, Al-Khatrb al-Baghdadr, Shara] a~l}ab al-I}adith, 87, no. 190. 66 Ibn Hazm, al-Il}kam Ii u~uli l-al}kam, I, 316 67 Al-Dhahabt, Siyar a'lami l-nubala', II, 433. 68 Al-Hakim al-Naysabart, al-Mustadrak, I, 112; 'Abdallah b. al-Mubarak, 01Musnad, 10, no. 19, and see the references of the editor; al-Munawt, Fay4u l-qadlr, IV, 551, no. 6236; and see the version in al-QayrawanI, al-Jami', 149 of a similar utterance attributed to Malik: laysa yaslamu rajulun I}addatha bi-kulli mii sami'a wa-la yakunu imaman abadan. 69 AI-DhahabI, Siyar a'lami l-nubala', II, 433. 140 M.J. Kister Compilations dealing with faults, vices and deficiences of scholars of lJ,adfth also came into being. The beginning of this branch of lJ,adfth scholarship is traced back to the very early period of Islam.?" 'All b. al-Madini (d. 234 H) interpreted the utterance of the Prophet: "there will remain a steadfast group of people who will fight for the cause of truth ... " as referring to the people of hadith; they care for the implementation of the Prophet's customs and protect the knowledge, 'ilm, i.e., the knowledge of I],adfth. Were it not for their activity, one would not be able to find any trace of the sunan of the prophets in the books of the Mu'tazila, the Jahmiyya, the Rafida, (i.e., the ShI'a -k), and the schismatic ahl al-ra'y.71 Muhammad b. al-Munkadir states that the word riiwiya was used exclusively to denote the transmitters of poetry; the transmitter of lJ,adfth was named 'iilim. 72 A significant tradition reported on the authority of the Prophet says that the Prophet named the people of lJ,adfth "Caliphs," successors of the Prophet. "They transmit my I],adfths and my sunna and teach them to the people," the Prophet said.73 Knowledge of lJ,adfth endowed the scholar a high position in society. The lJ,adfth scholar al-A'mash explained his success in society in unequivocal terms: "Were it not for the [knowledge]of Qur'an and lJ,adfth, I would have been a greengrocer in Kufa, selling onions.,,74 Reading the traditions of the Prophet was considered a kind of worship. According to one tradition the reader of lJ,adfth will be granted forgiveness of sins as if he were a reader of the Qur'an.75 A gifted and able scholar who memorised 100,000 lJ,adfths, including their isniids, gained the honorific title al-I],iifi~. 76 According to the Prophet, he who trans70See al-ShiblI, Mal}asinu I-wasa'il fi ma'riJati I-awa'il, ed. Muhammad al-Tunjf (Beirut, 1412/1992), 330-31: ... awwalu man Jattasha 'an amri l·mul}addithrn wajanaba 1-tf,u'aJa'a wa-I-matrtlkfn shu'batu bnu I-I}ajjaj .... Some scholars traced back the history of testing the reliability of the transmitters to the Prophet himself; see ibid., 330 inf. 71Ibn 'Adr, al-Kamil, muqaddima, 195. And see the different versions of this interpretation in al-Khatlb al-Baghdadt's SharaJ a~l}ab al-I}adlth, 26-27, nos. 46-51. Cf. al-Qagl 'Iyad, al-Ilma', 26. 72 Al-Ramhurmuzt, al-Mul}addith al-Ja~il, 180, no. 34. 73 Al-Ramhurrnuzt, al-Mul}addith al-Ja~il, 163, no. 2; al-Khatfb al-Baghdadt, SharaJ a~l}abi I-I}adrth, 30-32, nos. 58-59; al-Zurqant, Sharl) al-mawahib al-Iadunniyya (Cairo, 1328), V, 304; al-QagI 'Iyag al- Yahsubt, aI-lIma', 17. Nizam al Mulk, Abu 'AlI l-Hasan b. 'All, Juz' fihi majlisani min amalr l-~al}ib, ed. Abu Ishaq al-Huwaynr l-Atharf (Cairo, 1413/1993), 53, no. 22. And see ibid., 41, no. 11: '" sami'tu alshaft'r ratf,iya lliihs: 'anhu yaqiilu: "ldha ra'aytu rajulan min a~l}abi I-I}adfth [a-kaannr ra'aytu rasiila llahi §alla llahu 'alayhi wa-sallam." 74Cf. al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, SharaJ a~l}ab al-I}adfth, 135, no. 320; Ibn 'AdI, alKamil, al-muqaddima, 112. 75Al-Diyarbakrt, Ta'n"khu I-khamfs (Cairo, 1283), I, 219, inf.; it is noteworthy that some distinguished scholars got the honourable title amfru I-mu'minfna fi I-I}adfth; see ibid. 76 Al-Zurqant, al-Mawahib al-Iadunniyya, V, 304. Iii taqra'u l-qur'iina 'alii l-mu~lJ,afiyyfn 141 mits forty traditions concerning the sunna, will stand among a chosen group of scholars and fuqahii' on the Day of the Resurrection. 77 According to some traditions, the reading of lJ,adfth is not inferior to the reading of a Qur'anic sura.78 We can even find a tradition which states, outright, that the words of the Prophet, in matters of faith, are on the same level as revelation.P Another tradition formulated the standing of the lJ,adfth, in relation to the Qur'an, as a revelation granted to the Prophet by God, being, like the Qur'an, the Word of God.8o One tradition says that the reading of a lJ,adfth has a reward superior to voluntary prayer"! and voluntary fasting.82 The transmitters of lJ,adfth should be scrupulous of their ritual purity when communicating traditions. They should act with dignity during transmission and refrain from reporting traditions while walking or standing on a road.83 Malik b. Anas and Layth b. Sa'd never touched books of lJ,adfth except after attending to their ritual purity. 84 The initiation of a young scholar in order to join the circle of lJ,adfth was a serious event. The mother of Malik b. Anas dressed him in especially nice clothes before sending him off to attend his first lJ,adfth lecture.f" The atmosphere of lJ,adfth lectures was solemn and' serious. The lecture was sometimes accompanied by marks of awe such as sweating and trembling on the part of the transmitter. Being emotionally affected, the transmitter of lJ,adfth was often unable to quote the exact words of a tradition, and could only state that the wording is similar, but not al-QaQi 'Iyad , ol-Itmn'; 12-13. Al-Khatlb al-Baghdadt, Sharaf a~l}abi I-I}adath, 83, no. 180; al-Ramhurmuzt, alMul}addith al-fa~il, 178, no. 29. 79 See 'Alr b.Hazm, al-ll}kamfiu~uli I-al}kam, ed. Muhammad Ahmad 'Abd al-'Aziz (Cairo, 1398/1978), I, 135; and see ibid., 136: ... wa-I-dhikru ismun waqi'un 'ala kul/i ma anzala l/ahu 'ala nabiyyihi min qur'anin au min sunnatin wal}yun yubayyinu biha I-qur' ana .... 80 See Jalal al-DIn al-Suyutt, al-lfawali-I-fatawl, ed. Muhammad Muhyt l-Dtn 'Abd al-Harntd (Cairo, 1378/1959), 1,471: ... wa-amma hal yajuzu an yuqala "al-al}adlthu kalamu llahi" fa-na'am, bi-ma'na annaha min 'indi llahi ... ; and see ibid., 472, sup.: ... wa-qala I}assan b. 'atiyya: "kana jibn1 yanzilu 'ala I-nabiyyi, ~al/a llahu 'alayhi wa-sallam, bi-I-sunnati kama yanzilu bi-I-qur' ani. " 81 Al-Khatlb al-Baghdadt, Sharaf, 84-85, nos. 182-85. 82 Al-Khatlb al-Baghdadt, Sharaf, 85-86, nos. 186-88. 83 Al-Zurqanf, SharI} al mawahib, V, 304; and see al-Qa<;li'IYaQ al-Yahsubl, al-Ilmii", 50. 84 AI-QaQI 'IYaQ al- Yahsubr, Tartabu I-madarik wa-taqrfbu I-masalik li-ma'rifati a'iam madhhab malik, ed. Ahmad Bakir Mahmild (Beirut, 1387/1967), I, 161; and see ibid., I, 155: .,. kana miilik: idha jalasa li-I-I}adfth tawarjrja'a wa-jalasa 'ala ~adri firashihi wa-sarral}a lil}yatahu wa-tamakkana fi julusihi bi-waqarin wa-hayba. Thumma baddatn«, fa-qua lahu fi dhalika, [a-qiil«: ul}ibbu an u'a-Hima I}adatha rasuli l/ahi ... ; and see ibid., 179. 85 Al-Ramhurmuzt, al-Mul}addith al-fa~il, 201, no. 80. 78 77 See 142 M.J. Kister exact. 86 The inability to transmit exactly the traditions was a wellknown phenomenon. It is not surprising, then, that the Prophet is said to have given permission to transmit the meaning of the tradition, even if the transmitter added or omitted some expression. One should only be careful not to prohibit a permissible deed or allow a prohibited deed.87 The high opinion accorded to 1}adfth made it necessary to use special measures in order to eliminate unreliable transmitters, tendentious scholars and even forgers of 1}adfth. The most commonly adopted measure was the isniid, the chain of transmitters. The transmitters, or musnidun, had to be noble, sincere, just and truthful people. During the first period of Islam, before the fitna, transmitters of 1}adfth were not concerned about isniid; people were decent and truthful and did not transmit untrue traditions. In the early period of Islam, the respect for a noble and righteous transmitter was so high that a student of 1}adfth did not dare ask the master from whom he had received the tradition.f" At a later time, people started to inquire about isniids in order to ensure that those suspected of bid' a did not infiltrate into the ranks of mu1}addithUn and did not include innovations in their transmission.P'' Ibn al-Mubarak 86 See 'Abdallah b. al-Mubarak, al-Musnad, 140, nos. 227-28, and see the references of the editor. Cf. the interesting argumentation of Wathila b. al-Asqa' as to the permissibility of the transmission of the tradition bi-I-ma'na, comparing it with the transmission of the Qur'an in al-Tabaranf's Musnad al-shamiyyrn, ed. Hamdt 'Abd al-Majld al-Salafi (Beirut, 1409/1989), II, 368, no. 1510; and see the references of the editor. Al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, I, 111; al-FasawI, al-Ma'rila wa-I-ta'rfkh, I, 817; al-Tabarant, al-Mu'jam al-kabrr (n.p., 1400/1980), IX, 129-33, nos. 8612-27; al-Shasht, al-Musnad, I, 394, II, 194, no. 762; Khaythama b. Sulayman al-Atrabulst, Min I}adrth khaythama ... , ed. 'Umar 'Abd al-Salam al-Tadmurl (Beirut, 1400/1980), 167. See also the tradition related about the Companion of the Prophet, 'Abdallah b. Mas'ad, in al-QaQr 'Iy~ 's ai-lima', 177: Ibn Mas'ud sometimes refrained for a whole year from mentioning the expression qiila rasulu lliihi ~allii lliihu 'alayhi wa-sallama. When he uttered this formula he would tremble and transmit the tradition saying: so or so, or a similar wording, aw hiikadhii aw nal}wahu aw shibhahu; and see the copious references of the editor. 87 AI-NazilI, Malza' al-khalii'iq, 13, ult.: '" qiilu: yii rasula lliihi, innii nasma'u minka I-I}adrtha wa-lii naqdiru 'ala ta'diyatihi. Fa-qala: Iii ba'sa bihi in zidtum au naqostum idhii lam tul}illu I}ariiman wa-Iam tul}ammu I}aliilan wa-a~abtumu I-ma'na. And cf. al-FasawI, al-Ma'rila wa-I-ta'n'kh, II, 19: 'Amr b. DInar used to transmit the prophetic tradition 'alii I-ma'nii, while Ibrahtm b. Maysara used to transmit according to what he heard; this way.of transmission is called 'alii I-Ial:f; and see the references of the editor. 88 See, e.g., al-FasawI, al-Ma'rila wa-I-ta'n'kh, 11,18: qiila qatiida: wa-lliihi in kunnii la-nahiibuhum an nas'alahum mimman sami'ta. 89 See, e.g., al-Ramhurmust, al-Mul}addith al-Ialfil, 208 inf.-209 sup.; Ibn 'AdI, alKiimil, al-muqaddima, 194. There were, however, some reservations as to the measures taken with regard to checking the reliability of those constituting an isnlid: alShafi'l states that the evidence of people with sectarian leanings, ahl al-ahwii', may be accepted; but the evidence of people of the ShI'I khaHiibiyya should be rejected, because they approve of false evidence, al-shahadatu bi-I-zur, given by their adherents. See Ibn ~alal], al-Muqaddima, 228-29; but see ibid., the contradictory opinions Iii taqra'ii. l-qur'iina 'alii l-m1.l.lj1J.aJiyyfn 143 stated that were it not for isniid, anyone could say what he wanted.P? The 1].adfth should not deal with injunctions touching upon Islamic law. God, therefore, prevented the mu1].addithii.n from finding a report based with an isniid on the authority of the Prophet or his Companions concerning such mattera.P! AI-Zuhri used severe language to reprimand the mu1].addith Ibn Abi Farwa, who reported traditions without isniids.92 The increase in the number of isniids, and in particular artificial and forged isniids which were made to show the veracity or reliability of a 1].adfth, undermined people's confidence in the voluminous collections of 1].adfth. Y~ya (b. Ma'in -k) is said to have invoked against the scholars who quoted complicated traditions with elaborate isniids: "May God punish these people who take care of the isniid traditions because they have made the people lie.,,93 The political struggles within the Muslim community, which began a short time after the death of the Prophet, the clashes between the different ideological factions like the Shi'a and the Khawari], the rise of the madhiihib, the struggle between the mawiilf, and the Arab population all these factors brought about the development of a rich 1J.adfth literature in the very early period of Islam. The events which took place during the life of the Prophet, and in the stormy period after his death, were duly recorded in the books of the sfra, the maghiizf, the ridda and the books of ta'n"kh. These books were usually arranged in the form of 1].adfth collections and the different reports were usually furnished with of other scholars who refuse the evidence of a bad innovator, a mubtadi'. And cf. 'Abdallah b. AbI Zayd al-QayrawH.nI, Kiiiibu I-jiimi', ed. Muhammad Abii l-Ajtan and 'Uthrnan Bi~~Ikh (Beirut-Tunis, 1402/1982), 147: qiila ma'n b. 'rsii: sami'tu miilikan yaqiilu: Iii yu'khadhu I-'ilmu 'an arba'atin wa-yu'khadhu 'amman siwiihum: Iii yu'khadhu min mubtadi'in yad'u ilii bid'atihi, wa-lii 'an sajfhin mu'linin bi-Isa/ahi, wa-lii 'an man yakdhibu If al}iidrthi I-niisi wa-in kiina yafduqu If al}iidrthi I·nabiyyi fallii lliihu 'alayhi wa-sallam wa-lii 'an man Iii ya'ri/u hiidhii I-sha'n; and see another version of the utterance of Malik, provided by the editors, ibid. 90 Al-RAmhurmuzI, al-Mul}addith al-/iil/il, 209, no. 96. Ibn al-Mubarak is even more outspoken: The isniid is a part of faith, al-isniid mina I-drn; were it not for the isniid anyone could say whatever he wanted; see Ibn 'AdI, al-Kiimil, al-muqaddima, 194-95; and see Ibn al-!;;allil}.,Muqaddimatu bni I-I/aliil} wa-mal}iisinu I-il!tiliil}, ed. 'A'isha 'Abd al-Rehman, (=Bint al-Shli~i') {Cairo, 1396/1976),378. 91 Ibn 'AdI, al-Kiimil, muqaddima, 195: wa-qiila ghayruhu: (in the text: ghayr -k) abii lliihu. an yaj'ala sunnatan au shanrlrejected was the permission to pray anywhere on Earth; every place on Earth would be considered a masjid, a place of prayer and prostration.P" See al-Tabart, Ta/sfr=Jami'u I-bayiin 'an ta'wl/i ayi I-qur'iin, XIII, 123-25, nos. 15132-33; cf. the sentence: .,. wa-kana man qablahum yaqro'una kitabahum na"aron, ~atta idha ro/a'uha lam yaMa"u shay'an wa-Iam ya'rifUhu ... ; and see ibid., 123, no. 15131: the wrath of Moses was caused by the fact that he found in the Tablets the virtues of another people, not of Bann Isra'Il. Al-Mawardt, Ta/sfr=al-Nukat wa-I.'uyun, ed. Khadir Muhammad Khadir (Kuwayt, 1402/1982), II, 62. Ibn Kathtr, Ta/sfru I-qur'ani I-'a"fm (Beirut, 1385/1966), III, 225-26. Idem, Shamii'ilu I-rosul, ed. MUI1~afa.Abd al-Wahid (Cairo, 1386/1967), ' 114-15. AI-Suyu~I, al-Durr al-manthUr (Cairo, 1314), III, 129. Ibn 'Asakir, Ta'rikh dimashq, tahdhrb, ed. 'Abd al-Qli.dir Badran (Beirut, 1399/1979), V, 264-65. Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyya, Bada'i' al-/awa'id (Beirut, n.d.), repr., IV, 78. cr. Ibn Qayyirn al-Jauziyya, Hidayat al-~ayara /f ajwibati l-yahUd wa-I-na~ara (Beirut, n.d.), 127-28. AI-MajlisI, Bi~ar al-anwar, LVII, 317-18. See a fragment of the Munajat musa, recorded by Ma'mar on the authority of alZuhrI: Abil Nu'aym, lfilyat al-auliyii', III, 375--76 and see the note of Abil Nu'aym: hadha ~adrthun ghano min ~adfthi I-zuhriyyi, lam naktubhu ilia min 1}adrthi roba1}i bni ma'mar, wa-robah wa-man /auqahu 'udulun, wa-I-jababiri /f 1}adrthihi Ifnun wa·nakarotun; cf. this version on the authority of al-Zuhrf in Ibn AbI 'Al!im alShaybant, Kitabu I-sunna, ed. Muhammad N~ir al-Dtn al-Alban! (Beirut, 1400/ 1980), I, 305-306, and see the notes of the editor. And see the 1}adrth quoted from the Sunna of Ibn AbI 'A~im in al-Dhahabt's Mfzan al-i'tidal, II, 159--160, no. 3280, s.v., Sa'Id b. Musa al-Azdt. 146 Al-Husayn b. Mas'nd al-Baghawt, ai-Anwar /f shama'ili I-nabiyyi I-mukhtiir, ed. Ibrahtm al-Ya'qnbr (Beirut, 1409/1989), I, 8-9, nos. 7-9, and see the copious references of the editor. Al-Suyu~I, al-Khafa'i~ al·kubra, ed. Muhammad Khaltl Harras (Cairo, 1386/1967), III, 154, 186. Ibn Babnyah al-QummI, al-Khi~al, ed. 'All Akbar al-Ohaffarr, (Tehran, 1389), I, 201, no. 14. Ibn Khuzayma al-Naysabnrt, $a1}r1}, ed. Muhammad MUI!~afa.al-A'aamt (Beirut, 1391/1971), II, 6-7, nos. 788-91. AIMunawt, Fay~u I-qadlr (Beirut, 1391/1972), IV, 438-39, nos. 5880-83: (a) fu~~iltu 'ala I-anbiya' bi-sittin ... (b) fu~~iltu 'alii I-anbiyii' bi-khamsin ... (c) fu~~iltu biarba'in ... (d) fu~~iltu bi-arba'in bi-arba'fna. Idem, I, 566-68, no. 1174: ... u'tftu khamsan lam yu'tahunna a~adun wa-ju'ilat II al-ar~u masjidan wa-tahuron, [aayyuma rojulin min ummatf adrokathu I-faliitu /a-I-yufalli ... j and see the comments of al-Munawt: '" masjidan, ma1}alla sujudin wa-Iau bi-ghayri masjidin wuqi/a li·lfalati, /a-lii yakhtaHu bi-ma1}allin, bi-khilafi I-umami I-sabiqati, /a·inna I-falata la ta~iMu minhum iIIii /f mawii~i'a makhfu~atin, min na1}wi bay'atin au kanlsatin, /aubr1}at al-~alatu lana bi-ayyi ma1}allin kana .... Najm al-Dtn 'Umar b. Muhammad al-Nasaft, al-Qand /f dhikri 'ulama'i samarqand, ed. Muhammad al-FariyabI, alMarba' (Su'udiyya, 1412/1991), 368, no. 667: ... ju'ilat II al-ar~u masjidan ... And seeal-Suyntr, Jam'u I-jawami', I, 392, II, 522. Cf. Muwaifaq al-Dln Ibn Qudllma al-Maqdist, Dhammu I-muwaswisln, ed. Abu l-Ashbal aI-ZuhayrI Hasan b. Amtn Al Manduh (Cairo, Jlza, 1407), 33: ... wa-qala 'alayhi I-faliitu wa-I-salam: ju'ilat II al-ar~u kulluha masjidan wa-tahuron /a-~ay1}tuma adrokatka I-falatu /a-~al/i. Muhammad b. Ibrahtm b. aI-Mundhir al-Naysaburt, al-Ausat, ed. Abu Hammad Saghtr Ahmad b. Muhammad Hantf (Riya.Q., 1405/1985), II, 11-12, nos. 505-507. See no. 505:fu~~ilnii 'ala I-nasi bi-thaliithin: ju'ilati I-ar~u kulluha lana masjidan wa-ju'ilat turbatuhii lanii tahuron ... and see no. 507: ... wa-ju'ilat If kullu ar~in tayyibatin masjidan wa-tahflronj and see the note of the author: "qiila abu bakrin: wa-/f hadha I-~adrthi dall/un 'ala anna lIadhr yajuzu an yutayammama bihi mina I-ar~i al-tayyibu duna mii huwa minha najisun." lii taqra'u l-qur'iina 'alii l-mu§lJaJiyyzn 155 The idea that the "whole earth is a place of prayer and prostration," a masjid, for the believer seems to have survived in the Muslim community. It remained similar to the concept of pure faith, free from dependence on sumptuous mosque buildings, erected by kings and rich donors.lf? The idea that a mosque should be a modest building, not put up for profit or for parading luxury, or in order to vie with sanctuaries of other religions, was expressed in a seminar in Cairo in 1989, following the presentation of the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture. A famous builder and architect, Abdel Wahed al-Wakil was accused of trying to transplant Western and Judaeo-Christian ideas about "sacred art" into Islam. The point made by his critic, the Moroccan Professor Mahdi al-Mandjara, as summarized by Neal Ascherson.P" was that Islamic architecture was not sacred: the mosque was just a place of praying and teaching. "Islam came to desacralise the material world and to make the immaterial sacred instead." Further, he stated that "politics and reactionary movements were behind the attempt to give the mosque a significance it should not have." The discussion in this seminar is instructive for seeing how the idea that the "whole earth is a masjid," a place of prayer and prostration for the Muslim believer, has lived on to the present day. The end of the first century of Islam was a period of profound change in the transmission of lJadfth. The Umayyad rulers did their best in order to gather around them scholars of lJadfth who would support their ideas concerning authority and government control, basing themselves on traditions attributed to the Prophet, whether authentic or forged. The rulers did not refrain from using various stratagems in order to have the lJadzths of the Companions of the Prophet recorded.P'' Those who The I}adfth mentioned above in the version: u'tftu khamsan lam yu'tahunna al}adun qablr. .. , recorded by Ibn l,Iazm, is preceded by a note of the author, who writes: ''we are not permitted to follow a religious law, sharra, which existed before the Prophet." Ibn Hasm argues that the prophets preceding Muhammad were sent to their peoples and their prescriptions of the religious law, the ahara' i', were incumbent merely on the peoples to whom tliey were sent. See Ibn Hazm, al-Mul}alla, ed. Ahmad Muhammad Shakir (Cairo, n.d.), I, 65, no. 102. Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyya, Hidayatu 1-l}ayara If ajwibati l-yahUd wa·l-na~ara (Beirut, n.d.) 77, ll. 2-3, 84. Al-Suyutl, al-Durr al-manthur, III, 125, ll. 4-5. l47See M.J. Kister, " 'A Booth Like the Booth of Moses': A Study of an Early Hadlth," BSOAS 25(1962): 150-55; repro "Variorum," Studies in Jahiliyya and Early Islam (London, 1980), no. VIII. 148"Islamic Visions, Ancient and Modern," Observer, Sunday, 22 October 1989. 149Cf. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 63: When Zayd b. Thabit visited the court of Mu'lI.wiya, he was asked about a tradition of the Prophet; Mu'awiya ordered a man of his court to write down his reply. Zayd b. Thabit reminded Mu'awiya of the Prophet's prohibition to write down his utterances and Mu'awiya ordered the tradition be erased. Al-Dhahabt, Siyar a'lami l-nubala', II, 431: Marwli.n ordered a scribe to sit behind a curtain and write down clandestinely the traditions transmitted by Abu Hurayra, 156 M.J. Kister kept company with governors were sharply condemned by pious scholars of lJ,adfth, who stated that a scholar of lJ,adfth loses part of his faith when he enters the court of a ruler. There was only one exception: the rule of the pious 'Umar b.'Abd al-'Azlz; the orthodox scholars of lJ,adfth gladly cooperated with the righteous Caliph. AI-ZuhrI says, probably with some satisfaction, that 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Azlz ordered to write down the sun an of the Prophet; he and others wrote them down, [akatabniihii, and the written documents, the daJiitir, were dispatched to the provinces, each province getting a da/tar.150 At the same time, the Abbasids developed their claims for the caliphate.P! It was natural that new elements from among the population were called to take part in the discussion concerning the rights of the different candidates for the rule and control of the Muslim Empire. There were some changes in the way the reliability of different groups of people was evaluated. Orthodox scholars warned that one should be cautious concerning the traditions of poor mulJ,addithii.n. Shu'ba was the scholar who expressed this in plain words: "Do not record the traditions reported by the poor, because they lie to you." A note attached to the utterance mentions that Shu'ba himself was at that time poorer than a dog.152 It is noteworthy that the critical attitude towards the Bedouins changed entirely. In contrast to the former assertions as to the bad character of the Bedouins, Shu'ba states that the Bedouins do not lie in questions of lJ,adfth.153 The Prophet predicted that there would be violent civil wars after his death; the best people in these wars would be the Muslims of the desert, muslimu ahli l-bawiidf, who had no blood on their hands and did not touch forbidden property. 1M It is evident that an essential change took place in the opinions of the scholars of lJ,adfth towards the Bedouins. They are the righteous people, untainted by spilled blood or wealth. They, of course, Ibn 'Asakir, Ta'rikh dimashq, tahdhib, VI, 59 inf.: Marwan ordered one of his mawalr, Slilim b. al-Zu'ayzi'a, to write down the utterances of the Prophet transmitted by Abu Hurayra, who was seated behind the throne of Marwan; Slilim carried out the order of Marwan, After a year, Marwan invited Abu Hurayra to his court and asked him about the traditions which he transmitted a year ago; he repeated them exactly. Marwan attempted to test him and sent him a hundred dInars. Later, he sent him a messenger and asked Abu Hurayra to give the hundred dInars back, claiming that he had intended to send them to another person. Abu Hurayra apologized, saying that he had already spent the money, but asked to detract the sum from his payment of 'ata'. 150 Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan, I, 76. 151 See, e.g., 'All Khan al-MadanI al-Shlrli.zI, al-Darajatu I-ra/i'a, 132-39. 152 Ibn 'AdI, al-Kamil, al-muqaddima, 247j Abu Nu'aym, Iftlyatu I·auliya', VII, 147, mentions that he was sustained by his nephew and his son in law. 153 See Ibn 'AdI, al-Kamil, al-muqaddima, 250. 154 Al-Tabaranr, Musnad al-shamiyyrn, II, 394, no. 1562: sa-yakunu ba'dr fitanun shidadun, khayru I-nasi fiha muslimu ahli I-bawadr lladhfna la yatanaddauna min dima'i I-nasi wa-amwalihim shay'an. Iii taqra'u l-qur'iina 'alii l-mu§~afiyyfn 157 need to obtain the required knowledge of l}adfth. It is not surprising that al-ZuhrI is said to have gone many times to visit the dwellings of the Bedouins to teach them ~adfth.155 The strong injunction against teaching knowledge of Muslim law to ruffians and people of the lowest classes, formulated in the saying of Makhul: "tafaqquhu l-ra'ii'i fasiidu l-dfn wa-tafaqquhu l-siflati fasiidu l-dunYii," 156 totally lost its importance. The new trend found its expression in the well known saying of alZuhrI: qad akrahanii hii'ulii'i l-umarii' .... This saying was given several contradictory interpretations.P? It may, however, be remarked that an expression resembling to some extent that of al-Zuhri, can be traced to an earlier authority. In a story reported by Shahr b. l,Iaushab158 about his journey to Syria at the time of Yazld b. Mu'awiya, he mentioned that he met Nauf (obviously al-Bikalt) and 'Abdallah b. 'Amr b. al-'AS. When Nauf noticed 'Abdallah b.'Amr b. al-'AS, he cut short the transmission of a l}adfth in which he was engaged. 'Abdallah encouraged him to continue, but Nauf refused, saying 'Abdallah was a Companion of the Prophet and it was more appropriate that he should transmit traditions. 'Abdallah said that: "These umarii' prevented us from transmitting ~adfth," inna hii'ulii'i qad mana'unii 'ani l-~adfth-ya'nf l-umarii', When Nauf beseeched him, he agreed to tell those present a l}adfth about the apocalyptic events preceding the advent of the Dajjiil.159 We have here a phrase reminiscent of al-ZuhrI's expression. The difference in time between the two phrases is interesting: 'Abdallah b. 'Amr b. al-'AI? died ca. 70 H. Muhammad b. Muslim al-ZuhrI died in 124 H. 'Abdallah b. 'Amr b. al-'AI? was prevented from transmitting traditions, al-ZuhrI had an aversion to writing them down, but was compelled to do it. In both cases we have an interference on the part of the Umayyad umarii'. The formulation of al-Zuhrf's statement deserves notice: kunnii nakrahu kitiiba l-'ilmi ~attii akrahanii 'alayhi hii'ulii'i 1umarii'u, fa-ra'aynii an Iii namna'ahu al}adan min a I-muslimfna.16o The logical construction of the statement of al-Zuhri is incoherent: the fact KathTr, al-Bidaya wa-l-nihiiya (Beirut-Riyad, 1966), IX, 345. 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 160 inf.; al-Tartusht, al-Ifawadith wal-bida', 72. 157 See T. Ivanyi, On the Linguistic Methods of I. Goldziher, Jubilee Volume 0/ the Oriental Collection: 1951-1976 (Budapest, 1978), 109-110. Sezgin's attempt in GAS I, 74 and 281, to correct Goldziher's reading and translation is far fetched. I would like to thank Dr. Miklos Muranyi for drawing my attention to this article and providing me with an offprint. 158 See on him Ibn 'Asakir, Ta'n"kh·tahdMb, VI, 345-46; Ibn Hajar al-'AsqalanT, TahdMbu l-tahdMb, IV, 369-72, no. 625. 159 'Abd al-Raazaq, al-Mul/anna/, XI, 377, no. 20790. Al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, (Hyderabad, reprint al-Riyaq, n.d.}, IV, 486-87. 160 Abu Bakr al-BayhaqT, al-Madkhal ila l-sunani l-kubra, 409, no. 739. 156 Ibn 155 Ibn 158 M.J. Kister that the umarii' compelled him to write down the 1J,adfth does not imply that he had to dictate the 1J,adfth to others.161 It would be too simple to suppose that al-Zuhri was angry at the fact that he had to gather traditions for the Caliph. He used to visit the court of the Caliph and received marks of respect and attention at the court. He was highly esteemed as a colleague and the mere mention of a scholar by him was considered a recommendation of that scholar to the Caliph.162 The large number of traditions left by al-ZuhrI after his death and found in his home and the numerous traditions of al-Zuhri found in the library of Malik b. Anas,163bear evidence to the fact that al-Zuhrl wrote down 1J,adfth, and not in negligible numbers. The great number of students that he had, and the books of 1J,adfth to which he often granted his consent, even without reading the text, imply that alZuhrI did not refrain from writing and dictating 1J,adlth. The construction of the sentence: ... akrahana 'alayhi hii'ulii'i I-umarii'u, fa-ra'aynii an Iii namna'ahu al)adan mina I-muslimln ... , "We had an aversion to the recording of knowledge, i.e., the I)adlth, until these amlrs compelled us to it, and we then considered it right not to prevent anyone of the Muslims to write down I)adlth" - is rather vague. It is not absolutely clear what the phrase "fa-ra' aynii ... " implies. A rare case of this kind is probably the following I)adlth of the Prophet: "kuntu nahaytukum 'an ziyiirati l-qubur, fa-zuril l-qubiira, fa-innahii tuzahhidu fi I-dunyii wa-tudhakkiru 161 See al-Khattb al-Baghdadt, Taqyidu I-'ilm, 107; and see the copious references of the editor. And see Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan, I, 77:... istaktabani l-mulUku fa-aktabtuhum, fa-stal}yaytu llaha idh katabahii l-mulUku alia uktibahii li-ghayrihim. And see ibid., I, 76:... kunna nakrahu kitaba I-'ilmi I}atta akrahana 'alayhi hii'ula'i I-umara'u, fa-ra'ayna an la namna'ahu al}adan mina I·muslimina. And see this version: 'Abd al-Razzliq, al-Muflannaf, XI, 258, no. 20486. A similar version is recorded in Abu Nu'aym's lfilyatu I-auliya', III, 363: kunna nakrahu I-katb I}attii akrahana 'alayhi I-sul~iin, fa-karihnii an namna'ahu I-nasa. And ibid., 363: Abu l-Mulayh: kunna Iii na~ma'u an naktuba 'inda I-zuhri I}atta akraha hishamun alzuhriyya [a-kataba li-banihi, fa-kataba I-nasu I-I}adith. Another tradition, ibid., 361, says that Hishim sent al-ZuhrI two scribes who wrote down traditions dictated by him for his son during the course of a year. 162 See Ibn KathIr, al-Bidiiya, IX, 345, inf.: AI-ZuhrI was asked at the court about Sa'Id b. al-Musayyab and gave a favourable opinion about him; when ZuhrI came to Medina and greeted Ibn Musayyab, he did not reply. When asked about his uncouth behaviour he answered: "You mentioned me to the Bann Marwin." The reaction of Ibn al-Musayyab indicates that al-ZuhrI was highly esteemed at the court of the Caliph and that the pious Ibn al-Musayyab was vexed about it, fearing that he might be invited to the court. See the comprehensive article of M. Lecker on the political and cultural activities of al-ZuhrI, in his "Biographical Notes on Ibn Shihab al-Zuhrl," Sixth International Colloquium: From Jiihiliyya to Islam (Jerusalem, 1993). 163 See Abu Nu'aym, lfilyatu I-auliya', III, 361 and al-QiQI 'IyiQ, Tartibu I·madiirik wa-taqnou I-masiilik li-ma'rifati a'liim madhhab malik, ed. Ahmad Bakrr Mahmild (Beirut, 1387/1967), I, 149. And see Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqatu I·kubrii, al-qismu 1mutammim, ed. Ziyad Muhammad Mansur (al-MadIna al-munawwara, 1408/1987), 170; and see the copious references of the editor. Iii taqra'u l-qur'iina l_iikhira.164 'alii l-mu~l}afiyyfn 159 The fa in fa-zurU denotes a reversal of the prohibition to visit graves into a positive injunction to visit them. In our case, the order to write l}adfth, which the speaker deplores, is followed by the fa of fa-ra' aynii, which may be explained: "and as a result of the ruler's command and of the fact that we were compelled to write l}adfth, we came to the conclusion that we shall not prevent any Muslim from writing of the 1],adfth." The only assumption which may be put forward is that the 1],adfths which ZuhrI was bidden to write down for the sons of the Caliph were of an official character. They may have touched upon events which affected peoples' opinions, such as those connected with the role of some Qurashi enemies of the Prophet who later embraced Islam and became virtuous believers.P" Other 1],adfths which may fall into this category are those that contain unknown injunctions of the Prophet concerning the women and children of enemies put to death,166 or the Prophet's injunction against killing hypocrites who pray and utter the shahiida, 167 or the behaviour of tax collectors in cases of attempted bribery,168 or the rules of jizya levied from the Zoroastrians.P? These kinds of traditions seem to be the reason why al-Zuhrf was vexed and decided to change his manner of transmission, permitting every Muslim to write down l}adfth. A puzzling case of such a tradition is recorded in Ibn Hazm's alI1J,kiim If u~uli l-al}kiim.170 AI-ZuhrI records a document of the Prophet concerning the ~adaqa. It begins with the phrase: "hiidhihi nuskhatu kitiibi rasuli lliihi M lladhf kataba If l-sadaqa" The document was in the possession of the family of 'Umar b. al-Khattab. AI-ZuhrI provides additional details: The document was read to him by Salim b. 'Abdallah b. 'Umar and he learnt it by heart. This document was copied by 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'AzIz from the text of 'Abdallah b. 'Abdallah b. 'Umar and Salim b. 'Abdallah b. 'Umar when he was the amir of Medina; he then ordered his officials to act according to this document. The later Caliphs continued to order the implementation of the document until Hisham b. Muhammad b. HanI ordered to copy the document and to send it to all of his governors and ordered them to act according to the document.F! Ibn Hazm criticizes sharply the fact that this document was granted legal authority. The document is, in fact, a sheet, ~al}f/a, not provided with proper isniids. Besides, only eighty years after the death of the 164Al-Munawt, Fa1l4U l-qadrr (Cairo, 1391/1972), V, 55, no. 6430. 165See, e.g., the story of !;lafwll.n Umayya and his wife, the daughter of aI-Waiid b. b. al-Mughtra, and their conversion to Islam: Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Tajrfdu l-tamhrd, 152-53, nos. 482-83, and see ibid., 152, no. 478. 166See, e.g., Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Tajrfdu l-tamhrd, 147, no. 468. 1611bn 'Abd al-Barr, al-Tajrfd, 144, no. 458. 168Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, al-Tajrfd, 138-39, no. 438. 169See, e.g., Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Tajrfdu l-tamhrd, 154, no. 487. 1101,289-90 111This is probably a mistake; read: until Hisham ordered Muhammad b. HlI.nI.... 160 M.J. Kister Prophet did people begin to act according to this ~alJ,ffa. The governors of 'Uthman followed another document. The governors of 'All, of Ibn al-Zubayr and Abu Bakr as well did not act according to this document. The Medinan family of Hazm, al hazm, was in the possession of another ~alJ,ffa. Thus, one wonders what caused the practice of the iniquitous Waltd and the caliphs who succeeded him, whose practices are not to be taken into consideration, mimman la yu'taddu bihi, (except 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'AzIz), to be regarded as preferable to the practice of Ibn al-Zubayr, of 'All, of 'Uthman and of AbU Bakr al-Siddlq, This difference of opinions must be resolved according to the injunctions of the Qur'an and the practice of the Prophet as proved by traditions with sound asanfd.172 The criticism of Ibn Hazm is an example of strict, unbiased and uncompromising evaluation of a legal practice according to the validity of recorded traditions. The transition into a new period of lJ,adfth transmission is highlighted by a statement of Malik b. Anas, the student and friend of al-Zuhrl. "If knowledge is barred from common people because of the chosen group, the kha~~a, the chosen group will not get any good from it, lam tantafi' bihi l-kha~~a," said Malik.l73 The idea that lJ,adfth should be spread and transmitted even by men who know less than those to whom the traditions are transmitted gained wide expression in books of lJ,adfth, compendia of ta~awwuf, collections of adab and books of ta'n"kh. A tradition of this kind which was in wide circulation in the second part of the second century is: naq.q.aralla;hu imra'an.174 172 Ibn Hazrn, al-Il}kam If u~uli I·al}kam, I, 289-93; see also the discussion concerning the legality of the practices of the governors in the different provinces of the Muslim Empire. And see, e.g., the information about the various documents concerning the ~adaqa in al-Haklm's al-Mustadrak, I, 390-97. 173 AI-Qii.Q.I 'IYaQ, Tartrbu I-madarik, I, 160: Ja·qala malik: inna I-'ilma idha muni'a mina I·'iimmati li-ajli I-khii~~ati lam tantafi' bihi I-khiiffatu. And see ibid., 188: ittaqu lliiha If hiidhii I·'ilmi wa-lii tanzilu bihi dara magi"atin wa-baththiihu wa-Ia taktumiihu. And see 189: ittaqii llaha wa-nshurU hadha I-'ilma wa·'allimiihu wa-/{i taktumiihu. 174 See Abu 'Ubayd al-Qasirn b. Sallam, al-Khutab wa-I-mawa'i~, ed. Ramadan 'Abd al-Tawwab (Cairo, 1406/1986), no. 140,205-207: (the first part of the combined tradition), ... Zayd b. Thabit-the Prophet: ... nar!-gara llahu imra'an sami'a minna I}adfthan Ja-I}amalahu I}atta yuballighahu ghayrahu, Ja-rubba I}amili fiqhin li-aJqaha minhu, wa-rubba I}amili fiqhin laysa bi-Jaqrhin. "... may God illuminate the man who heard from us a I}adrth and carried it until he forwarded it to another person, because it often happens that a man carries knowledge of the law to a man who is more familiar with the law than himself, and it often happens that a man who carries knowledge of the law is himself not a man of the law, laysa bi·Jaqrhin"; and see the references of the editor. Other versions of this tradition: Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jami' bayan al-'ilm, I, 38-43; II, 27. Ibn Taymiyya, al-Jawab al-I/al}rl} Ii-man baddala dina l-masi1.l, ed. 'All alSayyid Subh al-MadanI (Cairo, 1381/1962), III, 132; and see the arguments of Ibn Taymiyya concerning the understanding of the transmitter of the tradition. And see lii taqra'ij l-qur'iina 'alii l-mu~l],afiyy'n 161 Ibn Taymiyya, al-lfasanatu wa-l-sayyi'atu, ed. Hanan bint 'AIIb. f.Iafi~(Cairo, 1408/ 1988), 65; and see the references of the editor. AI-Qaq.I'Iyad al-Yahsubl, al-Ilmii", 13, 15, li-yuballigha l-shahidu l-gha'iba [a-inna I-shahida 'asa an yuballigha man huwa aw'a lahu minhu; and see the references ofthe editor Ahmad Saqr. Al-Munawt, Faytju l-qadir, IV, 29, no. 4443: ... ml,lima llahu imm'an sami'a minna l,Iadfthan fa-wa'ahu, thumma ballaghahu man huwa auw'a minhu; see the explication of al-Munawt, Al-Khattb al-Baghdadr, al-Faqfh wa-lmutafaqqih, ed. Isma'tl al-Ansarr (Beirut, 1400/1980), II, 71. Ibn al-'Arabi, Al,lkamu I-qur'an, ed. 'All Muhammad al-Bijawt (Cairo, 1387/1967), I, 49-50; and see the discussion concerning the duty of forwarding the l,Iadfth to another person. Ibn Kathir, 1'u/.lfatu l-talib bi-ma'rifati al,ladfthi mukhta~ari bni l,Iajib, ed. 'Abd al-Ghani b. Humayd b. Mahmnd al-Kubaysi (Makka al-mukarrama, 1406), 212-13, no. 102; and see the references of the editor and his evaluation of the l,Iadlth. Al-Tabarant, al-Mu'jam al-kablr, ed. Hamdr 'Abd al-Majtd al-Silaff (n.p., n.d.), XVII, 49, no. 106. And see the version in Abii Talib al-Makki's Qutu l·qulUb, II, 16 and his notes. AlMuttaqi l-Hindl, Kanzu l-'ummal (Hyderabad, 1382/1962), X, 127-28, nos. 1082-85, 131-32, nos. 1112-20, 154, no. 1394. Al-Shafi'I, al-Risala (Cairo, n.d.), 126. AlTa~awi, Mushkilu l-athiir (Hyderabad, 1333), II, 231 inf.-233; the word jiqh rendered by fahm. Al-Qastallant, Sharl,l al-mawahib al-Iadunniyya (Cairo, 1328), V, 304 inf. Khalifa b. Khayyat, Musnad, ed. Akram Qiya' al-'Umari (al-Madina al-munawwara, 1405/1985), 47-48, no. 46; and see the references of the editor, Abii Bakr Ahmad b. al-Husayn al-Bayhaql, al-Arba'una al-~ughra, ed. Abii Ishaq al-Huwaynr al-Athari (Beirut, 1408/1988), 11-18, no. 1; and see the copious references of the editor. AlRamhurmuzt, al·Mul,laddithu l-fa~il, 164-69, nos. 3-11; and see the notes and references of the editor. AI-Kha~Ib al-Baghdadt, Shamfu I-l,Iadlth, 17-19, no. 24-26. AI-Wa.qidi, al-Maghazf, ed. MarsdenJones (Oxford, 1966), 111,1103. Ibn Babtiyah al-Qummi, al-Khi~al, ed. 'Ali Akbar al-GhafIarI (Tehran, 1389), I, 149, no. 182. Abii Yiisuf, Kitabu l-kharaj (Cairo, 1382), 9 inf.-p. 10 sup. Malik b. Anas, Risalatu I-imam malik /f l-sunan wa-I-mawa'i~ wa-I-adab, ed. 'Abdallah Ahmad Abii Zaynab (Cairo, 1403/1983), 24. AI-Haytham b. Kulayb al-Shasht, Musnad, ed. Ma~fii~ al-Rahrnan Zaynullah (al-Madtna al-munawwara, 1410), I, 314-16, nos. 275-78; al-MundhirI, alTarghlb wa-I-tarhlb, ed. Muhammad Muhyi l-DIn 'Abd al-Hamtd (Cairo, 1379/1960), 1,85-86, nos. 150-53; Abu 'Abdallah al-Surt, Jus'; MS Leiden Or. 2465, fol. 2a, sup.; al-Snrt, al-Fawa'id al-muntaqat 'ani I-shuyukhi l-kujiyyfn, ed. 'Umar 'Abd al-Salarn TadmurI (Beirut, 1407/1987), 39, no. 2, and see references; al-Hakim, al-Mustadmk (Riyad, n.d.), repr. of the Hyderabad edition, I, 77; Ibn 'Asakir, Ta'nkh dimashq al-kablr, ed. 'Abd al-Qadir Badran (Beirut, 1399/1979), III, 264; al-Nasillt, Maf~a' al-khala'iq manba' al·l,laqa'iq (Cairo, 1293), 13; al-Suyutr, Jam'u l-jawami' (Cairo, 1978), I, 853, II, 513; 'Abd al-Hakam al-Ishbili, al-Al,lkam al-kubrii, MS Br. Mus. Add. 27, 253, fol. 5b; al-HaytamI, al-Zawajir 'an iqtiraji l-kaba'ir (Cairo, 1390/1970), I, 97; al-Shafi't, al-Risala (Cairo, al-Maktaba al-tijariyya, n.d.), 106; al-Shiblt, Mal,lasin al-wasa'il ila ma'rifati I-awa'il, ed. Muhammad al-Tiinji (Beirut, 1412/1992), 37, penult.; al-Suhrawardt, 'Awarif al-ma'arif (Beirut, 1966), 19; Abii Nu'aym, lfilyatu I-auliya' (Beirut, 1387/1967), IX, 308; al-Subkr, Tabaqat al-shaji'iyya, ed. Mahmud Muhammad al-Tana~i and 'Abd al-Fattah Muhammad al-Hulw (Cairo, 1383/1964), I, 319-21, and see the discussion; al-Kultnt, al-Ka/f, ed. Najm al-Dln al-Amili and 'All Akbar al-Ghaflari (Tehran, 1386), I, 332-33, nos. 1-2; al-Haythamt, Majma' al-zawa'id (Beirut, 1967), I, 137-40; al-Bayhaqr, Ma'rifatu I-sunan wa-I-athar, ed. Ahmad Saqr (Cairo, 1969), I, 43, and see references; Muhammad b. Hibban al-Bustt, Kitab al-majrul,lfn, ed. Mahrnud Ibrahim Zayid (Beirut, n.d.), I, 5, and see note I; al-Majlisr, Bil,laru I-anwar (Tehran, 1384), XXI, 138. Shirawayhi b. Shahridar al-Daylamt, Firdausu I-akhbar, ed. Fawwas Ahmad al-Zimirli and Muhammad alMu'tasim bi-Ilahi al-Baghdadi (al-Ramla al-bayda', 1407/1987), V, 30, no. 7081; and see the references of the editors; 'Ali b. al-Hasan al-Khila't, al-Fawa'id al-muntaqat 162 M.J. Kister It is evident that this J:&adlthwas well known in the middle of the second century. This is proven by the fact that AbU Yusuf (d. 182 H) and Malik b. Anas (d. 179 H) recorded it in their books. One of transmitters of the 1}adlth, as recorded by AbU Yusuf, is Ibn Shihab al-ZuhrI. This is not surprising. The Banu Isra'Il, as already mentioned, heedlessly and stubbornly refused to accept the grace of God to read the Torah by heart; the Torah would then be read by a man, a woman, a free-man, a slave, a boy or an old man.175 It is startling how the idea that 'ilm may be transmitted by all classes of people was embraced by Muslim scholars. The old idea that 1}adlth should be transmitted only by ashraf was discarded. The new idea extolled the transmission of 1}adlth by every person in Muslim society, young or old, rich or poor, and is very reminiscent of the grace of God, which was to be granted to Banu Isra'tl. A 1}adfth recorded on the authority of Ibn 'Umar says: "The Prophet [I?] said: Write down this knowledge from every rich and poor man, from every young or old man. He who abandons knowledge because the man of knowledge is poor or younger than he, let him take his seat in Hell."176 The traditions quoted above bear witness to the fact that the idea of 1}adlth being transmitted only by the ashraf and that its transmission should be controlled by rigorous scholars and honourable transmitters, was gradually abandoned from the beginning of the second century onwards. The transmission of J:&adfths,edifying stories, stories of prophets and saints, was widely disseminated by the new generations of scholars, among whom the mawall probably formed the majority. al-~isan, MS Museum al-Aqllli., no. 91, fol. 35b. Muhammad b. Ja'far al-Kattant, Na~m al-mutanathir mina l-~adrth al-mutawatir (Cairo, n.d.), 33-34, no. 3. 175.,. wa-aj'alukum taqro'iina l-taurata 'an ~ahri qulUbikum, yaqro'uha l-rojulu minkum wa-l-mar'atu wa-l-~urru wa-l·'abdu wa·l-~aghfru wa-kabfru. See al-Qur~ubI, Ta/sfr, VII, 297. 176 Al-Samarqandi, Bustan al-'arifin, 6.: '" 'an nafi'in 'an ibn 'umaro rotjiya llahu 'anhum qala, qala rosiilu llahi ~alla llahu 'alayhi wa-sallam: "uktubii hadha l-'ilma min kulli ghaniyyin wa-/aqrrin wa-min kulli ~aghfrin wa-kabrrin. wa-man taroka 1'ilma min aj/i anna ~a~iba l-'ilmi /aqrrun au a~gharu minhu sinnan /a-l-yatabawwa' maq'adahu mina l-nari." 

sirah.pdf THE SIRAH LITERATURE Sirah literature (biography of the Prophet), inspired as it was by the imposing personality of the Prophet and bearing the marks of the stormy political events of the conquests, of the social changes in the Muslim community and of the struggle of the different factions, came into being in the period following the death of the Prophet. It developed in the first half of the first century of the hijrah, and by the end of that century the first full-length literary compilations were produced. The development of Sirah literature is closely linked with the transmission of the Hadith and should be viewed in connection with it. Most of the reports about utterances and orders of the Prophet were, during his lifetime, transmitted orally, and few of them seem to have been written down. Although some accounts about the recording of the utterances, deeds and orders dictated by the Prophet to his Companions are dubious and debatablel and should be examined with caution (and ultimately rejected), some of them seem to deserve trust. The pacts which the Prophet concluded with the different groupings in Medina after his arrival in that city were apparently written down so as to serve as the legal basis for their communal life. His letters to rulers, governors and chiefs of tribes are recorded in some of the compilations of the Sirah. The Sirah also contains accounts of pacts concluded between the Prophet and conquered tribes or localities and of grants bestowed upon tribal leaders. Information about tax-collectors appointed by the Prophet was conveyed to the tribal units to which they were dispatched. The news about the victories of the Prophet and his conquests were widely circulated in the vast areas of the Arabian Peninsula. All this material came to form an essential part of the Sirah. In addition to this, the affection of the Companions of the Prophet and 1 E.g., on the sahifah of' Ali, cf. Ahmad b. 1:1anbal,Musnad, II, nos 1306, 1307, 1297. The Prophet did not single out the' Alids by anything not granted to others; the only thing hy which they were singled out was the sahifah attached to the scabbard of' Ali's sword (or in other sources that of the Prophet or that of 'Umar). It contained some short utterances about taxes imposed on camels (or, according to some, sheep), about the sanctity of Medina, the obligation to give protection to the People of the Book, etc. 352 THE SIRAH LITERATURE 353 their loyalty, respect and awe for him, in contrast to the attitudes, customs and practices of other communities towards their rulers, leaders and chiefs, constituted a favourite topic of conversation at the gatherings of his Companions as well as of his enemies, and were embodied into the compilations of the STrah. The daily contacts of the Prophet with his family and relatives, his adherents and adversaries, formed the subject matter recorded by the transmitters. The STrah aimed at giving information about the men who aided the Prophet loyally and faithfully, about stubborn opponents and enemies who persecuted him and those who later fought him, about hypocrites who concealed unbelief and hatred in their souls and about Companions who suffered and fought for him. Consequently the STrah became a record of the life of contemporary society, reflecting as it did the mutual relations between tht> Prophet and this society. Every member of this society is therefore assessed as to his virtues, views and actions and is placed on a graded scale according to his rank as believer, fighter, adherent and supporter, or as enemy or hypocrite. It is thus plausible that, in the early compilations of the STrah, people eagerly compiled lists of the first men who embraced Islam, the first who suffered for the cause of Islam, the first who emigrated to Abyssinia, the first Medinans who gave the oath of allegiance, the men who opposed the Prophet in Mecca, etc. Later special treatises dedicated to such subjects, the awa'il, were compiled.2 The careful evaluation of the deeds and actions of the Companions of the Prophet gave rise to the compilation of biographies of the ~a4abah. Furthermore, certain passages in the Qur'an, pointing to some events in the life of the community, required explanation and elucidation. It was necessary to specify to what people or events certain expressions or phrases referred. For an interpretation to be reliable in the opinion of the Muslim community it had to be based on an utterance ascribed to the Prophet or to one of his Companions. These utterances, stories or reports expounded the background and the circumstances of the verses of the Qur'an, establishing to whom they referred and providing details of the event recorded. These groups of Traditions, forming an essential part of the Sirah, developed into an independent branch of Quranic exegesis, the asbab al-nuziil (" the reasons for the revelations "). The lengthy passages from the early Tafsir of al-KalbI recorded by Ibn Tawiis,3 the bulk of Traditions transmitted on this subject of the asbab al-nuziil by many scholars in their commentaries bear evidence to the richness of this material and its role in the interpretation of the Qur'an. On the other hand the Sirah compilations recorded verses of the Qur'an, providing corresponding 2 For the aw;li/literature, cf. Sezgin, GAS, I, 176, 196, l zz. 3 Sa'd, 20 9-20. 354 THE SiRAH LITERATURE material of the circumstances of the revelation. The development of Sirah literature thus ran on parallel lines with that of the Tafsir, intertwining and overlapping, corroborating and sometimes contradicting it. EARLY COMPILATIONS A subject of considerable importance in the formation of Sirah literature, comprehensively dealt with also in some commentaries on the Qur'an, was the stock of stories about the creation of the world, as well as about the messengers and prophets mentioned in the Qur'an, who were sent by God to different peoples. These stories were extended and supplemented by additional material derived from Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian sources, transmitted by converts from these religions to Islam. It is evident that these" biblical stories" had to get the approval of the orthodox circles. This could only be achieved, as is usual in Islam, by an utterance transmitted on the authority of the Prophet. The utterance used in this case (" Narrate [traditions] concerning the Children of Israel and there is nothing objectionable [in that]") legitimized the flood of the "biblical" legends and stories which poured into the domain of Islam. The first compilation of this kind seems to have been the book of Hamrnad b. Salamah (d. 167/783), a contemporary of Ibn Ishaq, entitled Akhbtir Bani Isrii'il. The process of elaborating and enlarging upon the stories of the Qur'an widened the scope of the Muslim conception of history. The biography of Muhammad and the formation of his community were decreed by God before the creation of Adam. Muhammad was destined to be a prophet long before the creation of Adam. Were it not for Muhammad, God would not have created Adam. Nine thousand years before things were created, says a Tradition, God created the Light of Muhammad, This Light turned around the Power (qudrah) and praised Him. From this Light God created a jewel; from this jewel He created sweet water and granted it His blessing. For a thousand years the water raged and could not come to rest. Then, from this Light God created ten things: the Throne, the Pen, the Tablet, the Moon, the Sun, the Stars, the Angels, the Light of the Believers, the Chair and Muhammad, The Light of Muhammad, which resided in the pure ancestors of the Prophet, was transmitted in the line of descendants until it reached the Prophet. God granted Adam the ku,!)ah (honorific name) Abu Muhammad, The name of Muhammad is written on the Throne of God; Adam saw this inscription when he was created. When he committed his sin, he begged God to forgive him by referring to the name of Muhammad, EARLY COMPILATIONS 355 The contact between the Muslim conquerors and the population of the conquered territories, bearers of ancient cultural and religious traditions with a rich lore of prophetical beliefs and stories, brought about the appearance of literature concerning the miracles of the Prophet. Stories about miracles, either performed by the Prophet himself or wrought for him by God, were widely current and were later collected; compilations of stories about his miracles were Amarii! al-nubuwwah, A'Iam al-nubuwwah, Dala'il al-nubuwwah. The miraculous power granted the Prophet by God, and his extraordinary feats, are often compared in these books with the miracles performed by the preceding prophets.! Tradition emphasizes that the Prophet was superior to other prophets in the graces granted to him and the miracles performed by him. God enjoined the prophets to tell their peoples of the appearance of Muhammad and to bid them embrace his faith. The assumption that this genre of the dala'il grew up under the impact of the contact with other faiths is confirmed by the account of a letter sent by Hartin al-Rashld to the Byzantine emperor in which he recorded the "proofs of the prophethood" (a'Iam al-nubuwwah) of Muhammad. The letter was compiled by Abii 'l-Rabi' Muhammad b. al-Layth al-Qurashi after a detailed perusal of the" books of the foreigners". 5 Al-Ma'miin, the son of Harun, is credited with a book entitled A'Iam al-nubuwwah; this seems to be the earliest compilation on this subject. It was followed by a treatise of al-j ahiz (d. 256/870), entitled Dala'il al-nubuwwah,6 and by al-j uzajani's (d. 259/873) Amaral al-nubuwwah. Later Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276/889) compiled his A'Iam al-nubuwwah. Books of dala"'il al-nubuwwah were compiled in the same period by Ibn Abi 'l-Dunya (d. 281/894) and Ibrahim al-Harbl, Other dala"'il books were compiled by al-Firyabi (d. 301/914), Ibrahim b. Harnmad b. Isbaq (d. 323/935), Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Naqqash (d. 351/962), Abii 'l-Shaykh al-Isfahanl (d. 369/979), Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Shashi (d. 365/975) and Abii Hafs 'Umar b. Shahin (d. 386/996). A comprehensive book of dala"'iI, entitled Sharaf al-Mu~(afa, was compiled by 'Abd ai-Malik b. Muhammad al-Khargiishi (d. 407/1016). The" proofs of prophethood " form a considerable part of this compilation; however, it contains extremely rich material about the life of the Prophet. The author touches upon the pedigree of the Prophet, his virtues, his battles, his proverbs, his dreams, virtues of his family, virtues of Medina and of the Mosque of the Prophet, virtues of his Companions, virtues of Mecca and stories foretelling the appearance of the Prophet. AlKhargushi's book was widely circulated and it is often quoted by both • See e.g. al-Mawardl, A'liim, 68-70. 5 'Abd al-Jabbiir, Tathbit, I, 77-8. • Cf. al-Sandiibi, Rasa~iI, 1'7-14; Ift9aj al-nlihli/ll/llah. THE SiRAH LITERATURE Sunni and Shl'i authors. The famous Mu'tazili scholar 'Abd al-jabbar al-Hamadhani (d. 415/1024) discusses in his Tathbit dala'il al-nubuwwah the miracles of the Prophet against a wide background of historical situation, having recourse to comparisons with other religions and entering into polemics with the unorthodox sects of Islam. The compilations of the first half of the fifth century, the Dala'il of Abu Bakr Ahmad al-Bayhaql (d. 458/1066) and the Dala'il of Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani (d. 430/1038), became very popular. Another book of dald'i! was written in the same period by Abu Dharr al-Harawi (d. 435/1043). Often quoted in later compilations of the Sirah literature is the compilation of the great scholar al-Mawardi (d. 450/1058), A'lam al-nubuwwah. In the same period, the Dala"'il of al-Mustaghfiri (d. 432/1040) was compiled. Among the many compilations of this genre the famous book of Qadl 'I ya<;l. al-Yahsubl (d. 544/ 1149), al-Shifa"' fi ta'rif I;uqiiq al-Mu{tafa, deserves special mention; it became one of the most popular and most admired books in some Muslim countries. The glorification of the person of the Prophet, as expounded in these compilations of the" proofs of prophethood ", was indeed a continuation of a very early trend which, as mentioned above, began shortly after the death of the Prophet. The miracles wrought by the Prophet, or for him, form an essential part of the Sirah of Ibn Ishaq ; in the Jami' of Ma'mar b. Rashid, a special chapter is devoted to this subject. Miraculous elements were included in the Sirah of Miisa b. 'Uqbah? and in the Sirah traditions reported by al-Zuhri.8 The earliest Sirah compilation, the Sirah of Wahb b. Munabbih (d. 110/728 or 114/732), contains an unusual amount of miraculous stories as attested by the fragments of the papyri." Flick was right in his conjecture, made before he read the fragments of the papyri, that the Sirah of Wahb was a work in which truth and legend about the life of the Prophet were interwoven, turning it into an entertaining story. 10 Indeed, the fragments of the papyri of Wahb contain the same kind of miraculous elements as can be found in later compilations. The role of the Devil in the council of the Meccans, convened to get rid of Muhammad, corresponds to what we have in later biographies of the Prophet. The setting of the story of the hijrah in the papyrus is similar to the accounts in later compilations: it contains, for instance, the miraculous story of Umm Ma'bad, recorded, with few variants, in almost every later Sirah; the story of Suraqah ; the story of the dove and the spider at the entrance of the cave and the dust thrown at the heads of the watching Qurashi guard , Cf. e.g. Sachau, "Berliner Fragment", 469 (the story of Suraqah}; 470 (the Prophet sees in his dream Jesus performing the circumambulation of the Ka'bah). 8 Duri, "al-Zuhri", the story of Suraqah. • Khoury, Wahb b. Mllnabbih, 1I8-7j. 10 Fuck, Mllqammad, 4. EARLY COMPILATIONS 357 besieging the house. All these stories are essential elements of the later biographies. Some passages of the papyrus of Wahb cannot, however, be traced in later compilations; they were apparently discarded. Such are the cases of al-Tufayl b. al-Harith's letter to Ja'far b. Abl Talib in Abyssinia and the story of Abu Bakr's meeting with the Devil; neither could be traced in other stories. A part of the papyrus contains a record of an expedition of 'All against Khath'am. This story fully attests the impact of the Shl'l trend on the development of early Sirah literature. A number of scholars have analysed with insight the various stages of the early compilations. The fragments of Wahb's Sirah corroborate the conjectures of these scholars about the popular and entertaining character of the early Sirah stories, a blend of miraculous narratives, edifying anecdotes and records of battles in which sometimes ideological and political tendencies can be discerned. These stories were widely circulated among the believers; pious men used to narrate the Sirah in mosques and to discuss the maghazi at their meetings. It was considered less binding as a duty to narrate the maghazi than to transmit utterances of the Prophet. Scholars refrained from recording Hadith utterances transmitted by unreliable scholars while they did not hesitate to relate maghazi material on their authority. It was only later, in the first half of the second century, that Haditb scholars reacted strongly against the popular Sirah literature and made attempts to discard dubious folk-stories by applying strict rules of Hadith criticism. They did not, however, succeed; the Sirah literature absorbed these narratives and they continued to be transmitted there. The fragment of Wahb's papyrus reflects the very early stage of the formation of the legendary type of Sirah; the Sirah of Ibn ISQaq is in fact a selective collection of this material. Late compilations such as al-Sirah al-If.alabryyah, al-Sirah al-Shamryyah, al-Zurqanl's Shar4 al-Mawahib and Mughultay's al-Zahr al-bdsim contain references to early popular Traditions not incorporated in the generally approved Sirah compilations. POETRY IN THE SiRAH A characteristic feature of early Sirah literature is the numerous poetical insertions.P The heroes of the stories narrated often improvise verses referring to the events recorded; in these poetical passages opponents blame others in verse, fighters expound their virtues and extol the virtues of their clans or their leaders, poets or relatives bewail the warriors killed in battle. These poetical compositions are generally of rather poor quality. The poetical passages attached to the maghazi stories closely resemble the 11 Cf. below cap. 18, "The poetry of the Siroh literature". THE SIRAH LITERATURE poetry of the ~yam (days of battle). A part of this poetry is false, and some of these forgeries were convincingly shown to be so by 'Arafat;12 a certain portion seems, however, to be authentic. But even the fake poems, reflecting as they do the internal struggles in the Muslim community, are of some importance: the historical allusions in .these verses may help to gain an insight into the event referred to; the activity of the forgers had its inception in the first decades of the first century, and the forgers were closely acquainted with the details of the event. Of interest are popular verses in the Sirah literature. Some are attributed to unseen persons, who recited them to the jinn, to idols, to the Devil or to his progeny. Such specimens of popular poetry can be found in the fragments of Wahb's Sirah, in the compilations of Ibn ISQaq,al-Tabari, Abu Nu'aym, al-Bayhaql and in the later biographies of the Prophet. This trend is well represented in the Sirah compilations of Abu 'l-Hasan al-Bakrl, Poems in praise of the Prophet preserve elements of the laudatory poems addressed to tribal leaders. The contents of the eulogies of the Prophet differ, however, in some respects; they specially stress his prophetic mission, emphasize his spiritual qualities, praise the new religion and point out personal or tribal allegiance to the Prophet and Islam. They breathe a spirit of the new faith and stress the moral values of Islam, often coupling them with the old ideas of tribal pride and boasting. Some observations on the change of attitude towards poetry in the early period of Islam may help us to gain a better insight for evaluating the poetry of the Sirah. The attitude towards poets and poetry in the Qur'an was clearly and explicitly unfavourable.P Some pious circles persisted in their negative attitude towards profane poetry, further supporting their argument by the famous utterance attributed to the Prophet: "It is better for a man that his body be full of pus than that he be full of poems."14 It is in accordance with this view that 'A'ishah vigorously denies, in a Tradition attributed to her, the claim that Abu Bakr ever recited poetry. In a speech ascribed to Mu'dwiyah poetry is counted among the seven things forbidden by the Prophet. A version of the Prophet's saying contains the following addition, which demonstrates the tendency to restrict its scope: "than that he be full of poems by which I was satirized" .15According to this enlarged version the transmission of poetry which does not contain satirical verses against the Prophet is permitted. 12 'Ararat, "Aspect", 31-3; 'Ararat, "Early critics", 4l3-63. 13 Qur'an, xxvi.ZZI-8. 1. Goldziher, Mlls/im S tudies, II, 16. 16 AI-SubkI, Tabaqdt, I, zz6-8. POETRY IN THE SiRAH 359 The same trend of concession and compromise is reflected in another Tradition attributed to the Prophet. The Prophet is said to have stated that some poetry is wisdom. A considerable part of poetry containing aphorism, exhortation, edification or moralizing clearly won the approval of orthodox circles. Another utterance attributed to the Prophet permits poetry if its aim is to gain justice from oppression, to gain means of deliverance from poverty and expression of gratitude for a favour received. It was pointed out that the reason why the transmission of poetry was forbidden was the fact that it served to excite inter-tribal discussions and disunity. The libellous and defamatory verses which might threaten the peaceful relations in Islamic society were dangerous and harmful. Such poetry was censured and rejected. But poetry supporting the Prophet and his struggle against the Unbelievers and verses written for the cause of Islam were, of course, praiseworthy. The exceptive phrase in Qur'an xxvi.zzS was explained as referring to the poets of the Prophet, who were commended. They were described as striking the Unbelievers with their verses. Consequently Sirah literature and adab compilations record stories that the Prophet encouraged poets who composed poems in praise of God, and liked to listen to good and beautiful poetry recited by poets. Abu Bakr, a Tradition says, came to the Prophet and, in his presence, met a poet who recited a poem. Abu Bakr asked: "How is that? Qur'an and poetry?" "Sometimes Qur'an and sometimes poetry," answered the Prophet.P There was thus good poetry, which was permitted and which the Prophet even sometimes recited, and bad poetry, which was forbidden. 'A'ishah formulated it as follows: "There is good and bad poetry: take the good and leave the bad."17 A similar Tradition is attributed to the Prophet: "Poetry is like speech; good poetry is like good speech, bad poetry is like bad speech.Yl" According to this utterance the ban on poetry is almost entirely lifted; the listener had to distinguish between good and bad poetry and choose the good, just as he ought to distinguish between good and bad speech and choose the good. The pious Ibn 'Umar indeed acted in this way: he listened to a recitation of a poet; when the poet began to recite unseemly verses he stopped him. A further step in the development of the favourable attitude towards poetry was the legitimization of Jahiliyyah verse. A Tradition, attributed to the Prophet on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, states that the Prophet gave licence for the transmission of Jahiliyyah poetry with the exception 16 17 18 Al-Isfahanl, Muqa4arat, r, 79. AI-JIlini, Fadl, II, 314, no. 866. Qurtubl, Jam,', XIII, r 50. THE SIRAH LITERATURE of two poems (one of Vmayyah b. AbI 'I-Salt, the other of al-A'sha). The same idea is reflected in Traditions that the Prophet used to sit with his Companions and listen to their recitation of pre-Islamic poetry, smiling (that is, with approval). Among the pieces recited in the presence of the Prophet are verses of praise, of contemplation on life and death, of belief and piety; there are also some erotic verses, verses recited by women at a wedding celebration, and even a complaint of a poet deserted by his wife.l" The favourable attitude towards poetry is represented in Traditions stating that the four Orthodox Caliphs were poets, that they either quoted verses or listened to recitations of poems. 'A'ishah is said to have had a good know lege of poetry; she recited verses of JihilI poets and encouraged people to study poetry. Ibn Mas'fid used to recite poetry of the cryyam (battles of the pre-Islamic Arabs). Abu Dharr (d. 604/ I 2°7) quotes an opinion of a Muslim scholar, that the ban on the transmission of poetry was imposed when there were conflicts between Muslims and unbelievers. But once people had embraced Islam and animosities between believers had disappeared there was no objection to transmitting poetry. This view is in fact based on the actual situation in Muslim society of the first century. Poetry was widely transmitted; poems were recited at private meetings, in the markets and even in the mosques. The great scholar al-Sha'bI (d. 103/721) recited poetry in the mosque of Kufa. 'Abdullah b. al-Zubayr was surprised to find a group of people reciting poetry in the court of the mosque of Mecca; they argued that it was not the kind of poetry which was forbidden. When 'Vmar reproached Hassan for reciting poetry in the mosque of Medina, he said: "I recited poetry in this mosque in the presence of a man who was better than you." Hassan was referring, of course, to the Prophet. 'Vmar left him and permitted poetry to be recited in the mosque. Muhammad b. Slrln was asked, when in the mosque, whether it was permitted to recite poetry during the month of Ramadan (some people even went so far as to claim that recitation of poetry nullified the ritual ablution). He immediately recited a verse which was far from being chaste, and stood up straightaway to lead the prayer. It was Ibn SIrIn who, when rebuked for reciting a J ahilI verse, said: "What is disliked is poetry composed in Islam; poetry composed in the period of the Jahiliyyah has already been condoned." It is possible to guess at the identity of those who persisted consistently in stubborn opposition to the transmission of poetry from a significant remark by Sa'Id b. al-Musayyab. Having been told that some people in Iraq disliked poetry, he said: "They became ascetics in a non-Arab fashion." 19 See al-A'sha, Dfwiin, 218-19. POETRY IN THE SiRAH Transmission of poetry was encouraged by rulers and governors; poetry became one of the subjects essential to the education of the Umayyad prince. Poetry continued to be one of the most favoured preoccupations of Muslim society in the first century and even fighting troops on the battlefield showed a vivid interest in it. What poet surpasses others in the art of poetry? Who is the best poet? These were common subjects of talk and discussion. An alleged saying of the Prophet accurately reflects the love of poetry of the Arabs: "They will not give up poetry until camels give up yearning [for their resting places ]."20 Ibn AbI 'l-Sa'ib al-Makhziimi expounded it in an utterance very much to the point: "By God, were poetry banned, we would be punished at court several times every day [that is, for reciting it]. "21 The origin of the Sirab poetry, its formation and growth have to be viewed against the background of the uninterrupted transmission of poetry and the struggle for its legitimization. Simple, not elaborate, but vivid, it became a regular component of the early Sirab literature, and was popular and widespread. It was not earlier than the second/eighth century that the content of the early Sirahs came under the scrutiny of scholars and the criteria of ijad{th scholars were applied to assess their validity. This applied to the poetry in the S{rah as well as to its prose portions. GENEALOGY Genealogy was an essential subject of the S{rah literature. Traditions stress the purity of the Prophet's pedigree and the qualities of his ancestors. Special chapters were dedicated to the virtues of Quraysh and the family of the Prophet, the Hashimites. Utterances attributed to the Prophet tried to prove that there was a close link between the ancestors of the Prophet and Islam. Ka'b b. Lu'ayy is said to have foretold the appearance of the Prophet. The Prophet is said to have forbidden the disparagement of Mudar because he was a proto-Muslim. Other versions of the utterance of the Prophet forbid the disparagement of RabI'ah, Imru' al-Qays, Asad b. Khuzaymah, Tamlm and al-Harith b. Ka'b; they all were said to have been Muslims or believers in the faith of Abraham. Another list of the ancestors of the Prophet whom it was forbidden to abuse, because they were true believers, includes 'Adnan, Ma'add, Udad, Khuzaymah, Tamim, Asad and Dabbah. Khuzaymah b. Mudrikah was the first who uttered the testimony of faith. Al-Yas b. Mudar was also a true Believer; he was the first who offered 20 21 Ibn Rashiq, 'Umdah, Ibid. I, 17. THE SIRAH LITERATURE sacrifices in the baram of Mecca and it is forbidden to abuse him. Ma'add was a follower of the Hanlfiyyah of Ibrahim (Abraham), 'Adnan acted according to the Hanlfiyyah ; he was the first who clothed the Ka'bah with leather clothes. Nizar was endowed with the "light of prophethood", which was handed on to Muhammad, The glory of the pedigree of the Prophet was extended, as a matter of course, to include the whole of Quraysh; the idea of the excellency of Quraysh was embodied in the rich literature of Fac/ii'il QurC!Jsh. Quraysh, says a Tradition traced back to 'Abdullah b. 'Abbas, were the light in the presence of God two thousand years before the creation of Adam; this light, reposited first in Adam, passed on and was transmitted to the Prophet.V The excellence of the pedigree of the Prophet is formulated in an utterance of the Prophet: "The best of the Arabs are Mudar ; the best of Mudar are 'Abd Manaf; the best of 'Abd Manaf are Banu Hashim; the best of Banii Hashim are Bami 'Abd al-Muttalib, By God, since God created Adam never was there a division of people into two parts without my being in the better one.'?" An opposite tendency, that of depreciating the excellence of Quraysh, is evident in a Tradition stating that all the Arab tribes have their share in the pedigree of the Prophet. Pious circles in the Muslim community, struggling against the excessive study of genealogy, nevertheless stressed the value and importance of the genealogy of the Prophet. The interdiction on tracing genealogical lineages beyond Ma'add was not followed in the case of the pedigree of the Prophet; his genealogy was traced back to Abraham and the close link of descent and prophecy between him and Abraham was especially stressed. FACTIONALISM The constant struggles between the various political and ideological factions in Islamic society left their mark on the formation of the Sirah. Invented stories and alleged utterances served the cause of the rulers, pretenders and rebels. Some examples are quoted below. The 'Abbasid bias can be clearly seen in the story of the attempt to sacrifice the father of the Prophet, 'Abdullah. It was al-f Abbas, according to this version, who drew him out from under the feet of 'Abd al-Muttalib, trying to save his life. It was al-'Abbas who was the first to kiss the Prophet after he was born; his mother took him to the abode of Aminah, the Prophet's mother, and the women in the house drew him to the cradle of the Prophet, encouraging him and saying: "Kiss thy brother!" The same tendency is evident in the story that al-'Abbas took the oath of .2 Ghanamah, Maniiqil, fols 3b-4a. •• Suyutl, Durr, III, '94-j. FACTIONALISM allegiance from the An~ar for the Prophet at the 'Aqabah meeting. Not less tendentious is the report that al-'Abbas embraced Islam before the battle of Badr and served as a spy of the Prophet in Mecca. The utterance attributed to the Prophet, "Al-'Abbas is indeed my trustee (wa!i) and my heir; 'All and I are closely related",24 bears the mark of an 'Abbasid and anti-Shi'ite tradition, standing in contrast to the ShI'I tradition about the trusteeship of 'AII.25 The general expression '''AlI and I are closely related" merely serves to emphasize the special position of 'Abbas. The famous utterance of the Prophet known as the" Tradition of the Garment" (Ifadith al-kisa"'), when he is said to have covered 'AlI, al-Hasan and al-Husayn with a garment, establishes the entity of the" Family of the Prophet" (AM al-Bt!Yt) and provides an essential argument for the legitimacy of 'All's claim to the caliphate; it has its counterpart in an opposing Tradition, according to which the Prophet covered al-'Abbas and his sons with a garment and said that they were the Family. It is not surprising to find a ShI'I Tradition describing how al-'Abbas and Abu Lahab instigated people against the Prophet and publicly denounced him as a liar. The Tradition about the pact of fraternity (mu'akhah) between the Prophet and 'AII26 is contradicted by a Tradition that the Prophet said: "If I had chosen a friend I would have chosen Abu Bakr, but he is my brother and Companion.t'P? The Tradition which talks about the close fraternal relation between the Prophet and 'AlI is of crucial importance for proving 'AlI's legitimate claim to the caliphate. The contradictory reports about the first man to embrace Islam, whether it was Abu Bakr, 'Allor Zayd b. Harithah, reflect the different opinions of the religio-political parties. The ShI'ah vigorously affirm, of course, that the first believer was 'AlI. An Umayyad bias can be noticed in a peculiar Tradition reporting that the family of Abu Sufyan, himself an Umayyad, were the first to be admonished and warned by the Prophet. Abu Sufyan rejected the scornful words of his wife, saying that the Prophet was not a liar or a wizard. There are divergent and contradictory reports about various events in the life of the Prophet. Some incidents, even very prominent ones, are subject to debate by transmitters and scholars. Only a few cases may be reviewed here. Varying Traditions about the number and identity of the children of the Prophet were further blurred by the tendentious inventions of the AI-MuttaqI 'I-HindI, Kanz, XII, 280, no. ,649, .6 GanjI, Kifiiyat, 260-1. .8 Ibid., '92-3 . • 7 Ibn AbI 'l-Hadld, Shar~ nahj al-baliipha, XI, 49. .4 THE SIRAH LITERATURE religio-political factions. A ShI'I report stated that Ruqayyah and Zaynab were the daughters of Halah, the sister of Khadljah ; another Tradition claimed that they were the daughters of J ahsh, 28 This served as a weighty argument in ShI'I polemics against 'Uthman, who was called Dhii '1-Nurayn, it was said, because he had married two daughters of the Prophet. There are different reports also about the date of birth of the Prophet, of his revelation, about the age of Khadijah when she married the Prophet, about the hijrah, the change of the qiblah (direction of prayer) and about the chronology of the battles and raids of the Prophet. Lists of participants in crucial events were deliberately rearranged or changed. Some of the An~ar, says a report of Ibn al-Kalbi and al-WaqidI, omitted certain names from the list of participants at the' Aqabah meeting, substituting the names of their relatives, who had not attended the meeting. The lists of participants at the battle of Badr were also a subject of debate. Ibn Sa'd felt constrained to consult the genealogy of the Ansar, and having done this, he removed a spurious name from the list of those who took part in the battle of Badr.P" The reports about the number of the Companions who were present at the oath of allegiance at al-I:fudaybiyah are divergent. There were conflicting Traditions about the person appointed to take charge of Medina when the Prophet went out to Badr and the one bidden to divide the booty after the battle. Reports concerning the warriors who remained with the Prophet at Uhud and those who deserted the battlefield are similarly divergent; among the latter group ShI'I tradition counts Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthrnan, while' AlI was, of course, of those who stayed with the Prophet and defended him. How far political interests had a bearing upon the transmission of the Sirah can be seen in the following story. Al-ZuhrI told his student, Ma'mar b. Rashid, that it was 'AlI who had written out the treaty of al-Hudaybiyah, and added, laughing: "If you asked these people they would say it was 'Uthrnan who wrote the treaty." By" these people", Ma'mar remarks, "He meant the Umayyads.t'P" Another anecdote illustrates the attempts made by the Umayyads and their governors to denigrate 'AlI in the Sirah. Khalid b. 'Abdullah al-Qasri bade al-Zuhrl write down the Sirah for him. AI-ZuhrI asked: "If I come across events related to 'AlI, may I mention them?" "No," said Khalid, "except when you see him in the lowest part of Hell. "31 In another story al-Zuhri courageously refuses to transfer the guilt of slandering of' A'ishah from 'Abdullah b. Ubayy to 'AlI.32 28 2. 31 Ibn Shahrashub, Malliiqib iii Abi Tiilib, Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqdt, III, j' 3. Horovitz," Biographies ", 49. I, '38, '40. 30 32 'Abd al-Razzaq, Mu{allllaj, v, 343, no. 9722. Horowitz, "Biographies ", I. C. II, 41. FACTIONALISM The favours bestowed on al-Zuhri by the Umayyads and the close relations between him and the rulers aroused the suspicions of independent Haditb scholars as to his integrity. The pious Sa'd b. Ibrahim b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf chided al-ZuhrI for transmitting a qadith in which the Prophet said that a caliph may not be invoked. Sa'd mentioned a case in which the Prophet was invoked and said: " How can it be that the Prophet was invoked and ai-Wand should not be invoked P'" It is evident that the aim of the Tradition invented was to encourage respect for the Umayyad rulers. Salamah b. DInar Abu Hazim, a pious scholar, sent to al-Zuhri a lengthy letter censuring him for his co-operation with the oppressive Umayyad rulers and criticizing him severely for helping them in caring for their power and authority and in their aiming at worldly gain. He serves the oppressive rulers, "who have turned him into the axle of the wheel of their falsehood and into a bridge for their deceit and error", says Salamah. By his services they sow doubts in the souls of scholars and gain the favour of the ignorant. It is hard to deny that these accusations have some foundation, and the assertion that he (i.e. al-ZuhrI) "was not influenced by political parties and tried to give an impartial account of what he had seen in Medina "34 is open to doubt. The possibility that his Traditions concerning the STrah were influenced by his ties with the Umayyad court cannot be excluded. ShI'I scholars counted him among the Traditionists whose attitude towards' All was hostile. Although highly respected by Sunni scholars engaged in assessing the credibility of Ff.adTthtransmitters Uarq wa-ta'dTI), he was nevertheless recorded in the lists of the mudallisiin. An early report of al-Asrna'I, traced back to Hisham b. 'Urwah, states that al-ZuhrI used to expand or abbreviate the long accounts recorded by his father, 'Urwah. A closer examination of the activities of al-ZuhrI and of the Traditions transmitted by him may help us to acquire an insight into the formative stage of the development of Sirab lore and Haditb. It is, furthermore, important for the evaluation of the formation of Sirah literature to consider the differences between the various schools of Tradition, especially those between Medina and Iraq. These differences were often pointed out in the literature of Hadith and a special compilation was dedicated to this problem. The attacks against the Iraqi school were fierce and passionate, and the Traditions of its scholars were often stigmatized as lies. It is noteworthy also that divergences and contradictions could be found between the accounts transmitted by the disciples of the same Traditionist. 33 3' Ibn Durayd, Mujtana, II. Dud, "al-Zuhri", roff, THE SiRAH LITERATURE MAJOR SiRAH COMPILATIONS The section on the biography of the Prophet in the Ta'rikh of al-Tabari (d. 310/922) records a wealth of early Traditions carefully provided with isndds. The philologist and commentator on the Qur'an, al-Zajjaj (d. 3II/923) is credited with a Maghazicompilation.35 Muhammad b. Hartin al-Ansari al-DimashqI (d. 353/964) wrote a book entitled ~iJat al-nabi. The great scholar of Haditb, Muhammad b. Hibban al-Bustl (d. 354/965), the author of a book on the ~aqabah, compiled a biography of the Prophet. At the end of the fourth century the philologist Ahmad b. Faris compiled a book on the names of the Prophet and another about the life of the Prophet. A concise 5 irah compiled by Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064)36 was based on the terse biography of the Prophet composed by Ibn 'Abd ai-Barr (d. 463/1071), al- Durar .ft' khti!ari I-magnazi tua-l-siyar, The later compilations, like the commentary of al-SuhaylI (d. 581/1185) on Ibn Hisharn's Sirah, al-Rawq al-unuJ, the Bid4Jat al-su'iil of'Abd al-'AzIz b. 'Abd al-Salarn al-SulamI (d. 660/1262), the K. al-1lr-tiJa' of al-Kala'I (d. 634/1236), the Kheldsat siyar St!Yyid al-basbar of al-Muhibb al-Tabari (d. 684/1285), the 'Uyiin al-atbar of Ibn Sayyid al-Nas (d. 734/1333), the section of the Sirah in al-Nuwayri's (d. 732/1331), Nih4Jat al-arab, and the section of the Sfrah in Ibn KathIr's (d. 774/1372) al-Bid4Jah wa-'I-nih4Jah contain a great number of early Traditions derived from lost or hitherto unpublished compilations. Of special importance is the work of Mughultay (d. 762/1360), al-Zahr al-bdsim, Arguing in his polemic against al-SuhaylI's al-Rawq al-unuJ, Mughultay records an unusually large number of quotations from various recensions of diwans, collections of poetry, compilations of genealogy, philology, lexicography, commentaries on the Qur'an, biographies of the Prophet, books of adab and history. The painstaking efforts of Mughultay to establish correct readings, his checking of variants, his pursuit of every record and Tradition, his comprehensive knowledge, turn his compilation into a veritable treasure for the study of Sirah literature and help towards a better understanding of the controversial ideas of the scholars about the activities of the Prophet and his personality. Summarizing compilations of the Sirab were provided by Yahya b. AbI Bakr al-'Amiri (d. 893/1488) in his Babiab, and by Taql 'I-DIn al-Maqrlzi (d. 845/1441) in his Imtd', Three late compilations deserve special attention: theSubul( = Sfrahal-Shamryyah) of Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Salihi (d. 942/1535), the lnsdn al-'''!}'iin.ft sirat al-amin al-ma'miin (= al-Sirah al-fJalabryyah) of'AlIb. Burhan al-Dln (d. 1044/1634), and the commentary '5 Cf. cap. 16, "The Maghiizi literature". 38 Jawami'. MAJOR SiRAH COMPILATIONS by al-Zurqani (d. 1122/1710) on the al-Mawahib al-Iadunryyah of al-Qastallanl (d. 923/15 17)' Al-Sirah al-Shamryyah is one of the most comprehensive compilations of the biography of the Prophet. Al-~alil).I drew, according to his statement in the preface, on more than three hundred books. He accumulated an enormous number of Traditions, narratives and reports from sirab compilations, Haditb collections, books of dala"'il, shama"'il, kha{a"'i{, histories of cities and dynasties, biographies of transmitters of Haditb, and treatises of asceticism and piety, recording carefully the variants of the reported Traditions and attaching detailed lexicographical explanations of difficult words and phrases. AI-Sirah al-Fjalabryyah, although extracted mainly from al-Sirah alShamryyah, contains a great deal of additions by al-Halabi. It is one of the characteristic features of this compilation that al-Halabi records divergent and contradictory Traditions and strives to harmonize them. Al-Zurqani gives, in his meticulous commentary, a wealth of Traditions corroborating or contradicting the reports recorded by al-Qastallani. The late compilations thus contain an immense wealth of material derived from early sources. Some of these Traditions, stories, reports and narratives are derived from lost or hitherto unpublished sources. Some Traditions, including early ones, were apparently omitted in the generally accepted Sirab compilations, faded into oblivion, but reappeared in these late compilations. . Only a small part of the sirab compilations have been mentioned above. The uninterrupted flow of transmission of Traditions on the life of the Prophet embedded in the rich literature of Qur'an commentaries, collections of Haditb, works of adab, history, polemics of religio-political parties and works of piety and edification, is remarkable. The ramifications of Sirah literature, such as the literature on the ,$aqabah, on the ancestors of the Prophet, on his genealogy, servants, secretaries, on the habits and characteristics of the Prophet, on his birth, on the" night-journey" (isra"') and "ascent" (mi'rij), are indispensable for an adequate study of the development of the conception the Muslim community formed, throughout the ages, of the person of the Prophet. The narratives of the Sirah have to be carefully and meticulously sifted in order to get at the kernel of historically valid information, which is in fact meagre and scanty. But the value of thisJnformation for the scrutiny of the social, political, moral and literary ideas of the Muslim community cannot be overestimated; during the centuries, since Muslim society came into existence, the revered personality of the Prophet served as an ideal to be followed and emulated. 

shaban.pdf "SHA'BAN A STUDY IS MY MONTH ... " TRADITION OF AN EARLY "Sha'ban is my month": this utterance attributed to the Prophet is widely current and usually coupled with his statement about the status of Rajab and Ramadan.1 A corroborative utterance, linking the month of Sha'ban with the person of the Prophet, evaluates the status of Sha'ban in relation to other months as follows: "The superiority of Sha'ban over other months is like my superiority over other prophets".2 Peculiar is the commentary of Sura 28:69: "Thy Lord creates whatsoever He will and He chooses ... ", stating that this verse refers to the month of Sha'ban: "God adorns everything by something and He embellished the months by the month of Sha'ban".3 In numerous utterances attributed to the 1 AI-Munawi, Fayd al-qadir, sharb al-jami' al-saghir, Cairo 1391/1972, IV, p. 162, no. 4889; al-'Azizi, al-Siraj al-munir, Cairo 1377/1957, II, p. 369; 'Abd ai-Qadir aIJilllni, al-Ghunya li-!alibi lariqi I-baqq 'azza wa-ja/la, Cairo 1322 A.H., I, p. 211; al-Suyiili, al-La'ali al-masnu'a, Cairo n.d., II, p. 114; al-MajIisi, BiMr ai-an war, Tehran 1388 A.H., XCVII, pp. 68-69, 71, 75-77, 181-183; al-Saffiiri, Nuzhat al· majalis, Beirut n.d., pp. 190, 195 ult.; Ibn Oayba', Tamyiz al-!ayyib min al-khabith, Cairo 1382/1963, p. 81 (and see ibid., p. 91, 1. 1); Ibn Babiiyah, Thawab al-a'mal, Tehran 1375 A.H., p. 60; Id., Amali, Najaf 1389/1970, p. 17; al-Zandawaysiti, Raudat al-'ulama', Ms. BM, Add. 7258, fol. 255b; and see Kister, lOS, 1 (1971), p. 198 note 50. 2 Al·Oaylami, Firdaus al-akhbdr, Ms. Chester Beatty 3037, fol. 109b, penult.; al-Zandawaysiti, op. cit., fol. 255b; cf. al-SuYiili, al-Durr al-manthur, Cairo 1314 A.H., III, p. 236: ... sha'banu shahri fa-man 'a •• ama shahra sha'bana fa-qad 'a •• ama amr; wa-man 'a •• ama amr; kuntu lahu farlan wa-dhukhran yauma I-qiyamati ... (the badith is marked as munkar); and see Abmad b, 1:Iijazi, Tubfat al-ikhwan fi fada'il rajab washa'bdn wa-ramadan, Cairo 1308 A.H., p. 41: ... kana rasulu /lahi ($) yaqi1lu idha dakhala sha'bdnu: !ahhiru anfusakum li-sha'bana wa-absinu niyyatakum fihi, fa-inna lIaha 'azza wa-ja/la faddala sha'bdna 'ala sa'iri l-shuhi1ri ka·fadli 'alaykurn ... ; and see lOS, I, p. 199, note 55. 3 AI-Zandawaysiti, op. cit., fol. 255b: qala fi tafsiri hddhih; l-ayati: wa·rabbuka yakhlllqu rna yasha'u wa-yakhtaru rna kana lahurnu l-khiyaratu, inna lIaha ta'ala zayyana ku/la shay'in (on marjin: bi-shay'in) wa-zayyana l-shuhi1ra bi-sha'bdna;fa·kama zayyalla bihi l-shuhi1ra ka-dhalika yatazayyanu l-'abdu bi-l-ta'ati fihi li·l-ghufrani .•• Prophet, he is said to have recommended the devotional practice of fasting, prayer, vigil and supplication during this month, especially on the eve ofthe 15th ofSha'biin (= the night of the 15th of Sha'ban) , Practices of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban, closely resembling those of laylat al-qadr, were scrutinized by A.J. Wensinck, who regarded these two nights as determining a New Year's period of six weeks to two months. This was challenged by K. Wagtendonk, who considered the 15th of'Sha'ban to be "a starting day of a voluntary fast, which arose out of the ascetic tendency of extending the fast of Ramadan". 4 A survey of the traditions on the virtues of the month of Sha'ban may clarify some of the controversies in reports of practices performed during this month, explain diverse tenets of certain circles of Muslim scholars and aid in gaining insight into the ideas of the virtuousness of Sha'biin. I The traditions on the Prophet's fast during the month of Sha'ban are controversial. It is not clear whether the Prophet would fast throughout the entire month of Sha'ban, or whether he would fast only part of the month. The reports on this subject are often vague; some say merely that he used to fast during this month (... kiina yasionu sha'biina); others, ambiguous in style and cast, assert that he would fast most of the month, or the entire month (... kiina yasiimuhu kullahu ilIii qaltlan, hal kiina yasiimuhu kullahu ... ). Still others, unequivocal but contradictory, relate that he fasted the entire month of Sha'ban or, on the contrary, that he never completed an entire month's fasting except in Ramadan (... kiina yasianu sha'biina kullahu ... confronted by: ... wa-lii $iima shahran kiimilan qauu ghayra ramadiina ... ).5 4 EI2 Sha'biin (A.J. Wensinck); A.J. Wensinck, Arabic New Year and the Feast of Tabernacles, VKAW, Afd. Let., N.R. XXV, 2, Amsterdam 1925; K. Wagtendonk, Fasting in the Koran, Leiden 1968, pp. 100-105; S.D. Goitein, Studies in Islamic History, Leiden 1968, pp. 90-110: Ramadan the Muslim Month of Fasting. 5 AI-Nasii'i, Sunan, Beirut n.d. (reprint) IV, pp. 151-153, 199-201 (and see e.g. other versions ibid., in lama shahran maliiman siwa ramaddna batta mar/a li-wajhihi ... ; wa-lam yasum shahran tdmman mundhu atd l-madinata ilia an yakiina ramaddnu etc.); al-Tahawl, Sharh ma'ani I·athar (ed. Muhammad Zuhri l-Najjar), Cairo 1388/1968, II, pp. 82-83; al-Tirmidhl, $abib, Cairo 1350/1931, III, p. 273; Ibn Abi Shayba, al-Mulannaf(ed. 'Abd al-Khaliq al-Afghanl), Hyderabad 1388/1968, III, p. 103 (and see ibid., another version: ... kana yasumu sha'bdna ilia qalilan); Abii Diiwiid, $abib sunan al-mustafti, Cairo 1348 A.H., I, p. 381 inf. -382 sup.; al-Saffurl, op. cit., p. 198; al-Qastallani, Irshdd al-sdri, Cairo 1323 A.H., III, pp. 401-403; 'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Musannaf (ed. Hablb al-Rahman al-A'zaml), Beirut 1392 A.H., IV, 16 SHA'BAN IS MY MONTH Debate turned on the word kullahu in the tradition relating that the Prophet fasted the entire month of Sha'biin. Muslim scholars tended to limit the connotation of "wholeness" in the word, making it mean a major part. This was the explanation of 'Abdallah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181) as recorded by al-Tirmidhl.f The phrase that the Prophet fasted the entire month (kullahu) conveys in fact that he would fast for the major part of the month (akthara l-shahri), argues Ibn al-Mubarak, basing himself on the Arab manner of speech: when a man says that he spent the whole night in vigiI, he means in fact to say that the major part of the night was spent in vigil. This interpretation indeed clears away the contradiction inherent in the two traditions: the one that the Prophet would fast the entire month (kullahu), and the other that 'A'isha never saw him completing an entire month's fast (... istakmala siyiima shahrin ... ) save Ramadan." The contradiction can thus be removed on the basis of Ibn al-Mubarak's interpretation: the only complete month during which the Prophet would fast was Ramadan; he also fasted for the major part of Sha'ban, Al-Qastallani could rightly remark that the Prophet did not complete an entire month's fasting during Sha'ban, so as to dismiss any thought that the fast of Sha'ban was obligatory.f This interpretation of kull cannot, however, be applied to other traditions in which the Prophet's Sha'ban fast was coupled with that of Ramadan, and in which the account was preceded by a verb or noun denoting wholeness and referring to both months. Certain haduhs relate pp. 292-293, nos. 7858-7861; Ibn Hajar, Fatb at-bart, Cairo 1301 A.H., IV, pp. 186188; Ibn Rajab, Latd'if al-ma'tirif, Cairo 1343 A.H., pp, 127-142; Nur al-Dln alHaythaml, Majma' al-zawd'id, Beirut 1967, III, p. 192; al-Mundhiri, al-Targhlb wa-ltarhib (ed. Muhammad Muhyl ai-Din 'Abd al-Hamid), Cairo 1379/1960, II, pp, 241243, nos. 1481-1486; al-Hakirn, al-Mustadrak, Hyderabad 1342 A.H., I, p. 434; alMuttaqi l-Hindl, Kanz I-'ummtil, Hyderabad 1380/1960, VIII, p. 409, no. 2969; alZurqant, Sharb al-mawdhib al-laduniyya, Cairo 1328 A.H., VIII, pp. 124--126; alBayhaql, al-Sunan al-kubrd, Hyderabad 1352 A.H., II, p. 210; al-Shaukanl, Nayl al-autar, Cairo 1372/1953, IV, pp. 274--277; al-Zurqanl, Sharh muwatta'i mdlik, Cairo 1381/1961, pp. 451-460; aI-Khatib al-Baghdadl, Ta'rikh, Cairo 1349/1931, IV, p. 437; Ibn Wahb, Juz', Ms. Chester Beatty 3497, fol, 37a, inf, (... wa-kdna #ytimuhu fl sha'btin); Ahmad b.l:lijazi, op. cit., p. 42; al-Ghazall, Mukdshafat al-quliib, Cairo n.d., p. 249; Mahmud Muhammad Khattab al-Subkl, al-Manhal al-radhb al-mauriid, sharh' sunan abi dawUd (ed, Amin Mahmud Khattab), Cairo 1394 A.H., X, p. 55. 6 AI-Tirmidhi, op. cit., III, p. 273. 7 'Abd al-Razziiq, op, cit., IV, p. 293, no. 7861; al-Qastallanl, op. cit., III, pp. 401-403; al-'Ayni, 'Umdat al-qart, Cairo 1348 A.H., XI, pp. 82-85; Ibn l:Iajar, Fatb, IV, p, 187. 8 Al-Qastallanl, op. cit., III, p. 401 (... /i'allti yuzanna wujubuhu), 17 that the Prophet did not fast an entire month (shahran komi!an) except Sha'ban, which he concatenated with (the fast of) Ramadanj? other badtths, on the authority of 'A'isha, say: "I did not see the Prophet fasting two consecutive months except Sha'ban and Ramadan't.tv As it was out of the question that the Prophet would fast for only the major part of Ramadan, the interpretation of kull or komi! as "a greater part" (scil. of the month) had to be abandoned. Scholars accepted the explanation of kull as "entire", but found another way to reconcile the contradictory traditions: the Prophet would sometimes fast the entire month of Sha'ban, and sometimes only a part of it. Another explanation tending to soften the contradiction was that the Prophet would fast during different periods of the month of Sha'ban, sometimes at the beginning, sometimes in the middle and sometimes at the end.U It is evident that scholars sought to draw a clear line between the obligatory fast of the entire month of Ramadan and the voluntary fast of Sha'ban, adjusting the controversial traditions to the orthodox view, which approved of fasting for only a part of Sha'ban. Certain reports give the reasons for the Prophet's fast during Sha'biin. The Prophet, says one tradition, would fast during Sha'ban to replace the days of voluntary fast which he had missed over the course of the year. 12 Another tradition held that, as a person's fate is decided in Sha'ban, the Prophet said he would prefer the decision of his fate to be made while he was fasting.t! Slightly different is the utterance of the Prophet in which he defined Sha'ban as a month straddled by the two significant months of Rajab and Ramadan, and remarked that people were heedless of the virtues of this month. It is in Sha'biin that the deeds of men are brought before the Presence of God, and the Prophet said he would prefer his 9 Abu Dawud, op. cit., I, p. 368; al-Dariml, Sunan (ed. 'Abdallah Hashim Yamant), Medina 1386/1966, I, p. 350: ... Umm Salama: md ra'aytu rasiila lldhi (~) sama shahran tdmman illd sha'bdna, fa-innahu kdna yasiluhu bi-ramaddna li-yakiind shahrayni mutatdbi'oyni wa-ktina ya siimu min al-shahri battd naqill ... ; Murtada l-Zabldl, ItM! alsddati l-muttaqin bi-sharhi asrdri ibyd'i 'ulumi l-dtn, Cairo 1311 A.H., IV, p. 257, II. 1-2; ai-Muttaqi I-Hindi, op. cit., VIII, p. 410, no. 2972; Mahmud Khattab al-Subkl, ibid. 10 Al-Tirmidhi, op. cit., III, p. 272; Ibn Majah, SUI/an al-mustafd, Cairo 1349 A.H., I, pp. 505-506: ... kdna yasiimu sha'bdna kullahu battd yasilahu bi-ramaddna. II Al-'Ayni, op. cit., XI, p. 83; al-Qastallanl, op. cit., III, pp. 401-402. 12 Ibn Rajab, op, cit., p. 141; al-Zurqanl, Sharh. al-mawdhib, VIII, p. 125; 13 Al-Khatlb al-Baghdadl, op. cit., IV, p. 437; Ibn Abl Hatim, 'Ilal al-hadtth, Cairo 1343 A.H., I, p. 250, no. 737 (the badith is marked as munkar); Ibn Rajab, op. cit., p. 140; al-Zurqanl, Sharh al-mawdhib, VIII, p. 126; al-Suyiitl, Sharh al-sudar bi-sharh Mli l-mautd wa-l-qubiir, Cairo n.d., p. 22. 18 SHA'BAN IS MY MONTI! deeds to be brought before God while he was fasting.I+ The month of Sha'ban, says one story, complained before God that He had placed it between the significant months of Rajab and Ramadan; God consoled Sha'ban, ordering the reading of the Qur'an during that month. Sha'ban was indeed called "The Month of the Qur'an Readers" (shahr al-qurrii'); during it pious scholars would redouble their efforts in reading the Qur'an.15 As is usual in the "literature of virtues" (al-far/.ii'il), the qualities and merits of deeds, places, times and devotional practices are measured and assessed, and a scale of merit is established. In an utterance attributed to the Prophet, the voluntary fast of Sha'ban is unequivocally set over the fast of Rajab. When he heard of persons fasting in Rajab, the Prophet said: "How far are they from those who fast in the month of Sha'ban" (scil. in rewardjlw This, however, faced a reported statement of the Prophet that the most meritorious fast (apart from Ramadan) was that during Muharram. Scholars explained that the Prophet received knowledge of the superiority of the fast of Muharram only in the last period of his Iife; and though he expressed the preference, there was no time to put fasting in Muharram into practice, or he may have been held up by current affairs.!" The virtue of fasting during Sha'ban was closely linked with the 14 Al-Shaukanl, Nayl, IV, p. 276; ai-Muttaqi I-Hindi, op. cit., VIII, p. 410, no. 2973; al-Mukhallis, Majdlis, Ms. Zilhiriyya, majmu'a 60, fol. 108a; Ibn Qayyim alJauziyya, ['Iiim al-muwaqqi'in (ed. Tahil 'Abd al-Ra'uf Sa'd), Beirut 1973, IV, p. 297; Ibn Rajab, op. cit., pp. 127 inf., 136 ult. - 137 sup.; al-Zurqani, Sharh al-mawdhib, VIII, p. 126 sup.; al-Ghazall, Mukdshafa, p. 249; al-Zandawaysiti, op. cit., fol. 255b; Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-auliyd", Beirut 1387/1967 (reprint), IX, p. 18; Mahrnud Khattab al-Subkl, ibid. 15 Ibn Rajab, op. cit., pp. 141 inf. - 142 sup.; cf. al-Zandawaysiti, op. cit., fol. 256a {... 'an anas b. miilik (r) annahu qiila: kiina a shabu rasilli lldhl ($) idhii nazarii ilii hi/iili sha'biina nkabbii 'alii l-masdhifi yaqra'Iinahd wa-akhraja l-mttslimiina zakiita amwtillhlm /i- yataqawwd bihd 1-da'Ifu wa-l-miskinu 'alii siytimi rama ddna wa-da'd l-wuldtu ahla l-sujiini fa-man kdna 'alayhi haddun aqdmii 'alayhi, wa-illd khallau sabtlahu wa-ntalaqa I-tujjiiru (above the line: al-sujjdn) fa-qadau md 'alayhim wa-qtadau md lahum. 16 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., IV, p. 292, no. 7858; al-Shaukanl, Nayl, IV, p. 277; al-Zurqanl, SharI; muwatta' maltk, II, p. 458; Id., Sharh al-mawdhib, VIII, p. 126; Ibn Abi Shayba, op. cit., III, p. 102; Ibn Babuyah, Thawiib, p. 59; al-Majlisl, op. cit., XCVII, p. 77; and see [OS, I, p. 206, note 96. 17 Al-Qastallanl, op. cit., III, p. 402; Al-f.Aynl, op. cit., XI, p. 84; al-Zurqanl, SharI; al-muwatta', II, p. 458; Ibn Hajar, Fath, IV, p. 187 inf.; cf; Ibn Rajab, op. cit., p. 29; al-Shaukani, Nayl, IV, 271 sup.; Nur al-Dln al-Haytharnl, op. cit., III, pp, 190-191; al-Tirmidhl, op. cit., III, pp. 276-277; Ibn Abi Shayba, op. cit., III, p. 103. 19 veneration of Ramadan: to fast in Sha'ban was held to be a means of honouring Ramadan.tf All the traditions but one,19 stress the superiority of Ramadan - the month of obligatory fast - over the other months. Consequently a clear line had to be drawn between Ramadan and the virtuous months of voluntary fast, and a distinction made between Sha'ban and Ramadan. The Prophet indeed is said to have prohibited fasting on the day or two days preceding Ramadan, In other traditions this concept was defined slightly differently: the Prophet is said to have forbidden fasting to be carried over uninterruptedly from Sha'ban to Ramadan; accordingly, a pause in fasting (fasl) between these two months was to be observed.w Some sources record an utterance of the Prophet in which the period forbidden for fasting, between Sha'ban and Ramadan was extended considerably: fasting in Sha'ban was to be suspended from the 15th of the month until the 1st of Ramadan.st The interdiction against fasting on the days immediately preceding Ramadan was, however, affected by the dispensation (ruklz$a) for those who were continuing a fast begun earlier in Sha'ban.22 18 Al-Shaukant, Nayl, IV, p, 275 inf.: ... su'ila rasillu lldhi (~) ayyu l-saumi afdalu ba'da ramaddna; fa-qdla: sha'btinu Ii-tazimi ramaddna; al-Daylarnl, op, cit., Ms. Chester Beatty 4139, fol. 93b; al-Zurqiini, Sharh al-muwatta', II, p, 458; Ibn Abi Shayba, op, cit., III, p, 103; al-Jilanl, op, cit., I, p. 210; al-Munawl, op. cit., II, p, 42, no. 1277; ai-Muttaqi l-Hindl, op. cit., VIII, p. 348, no. 2535; al-Mukhallis, Majdlis, Ms. Zahiriyya, majmii'a 60, fol. 110b; Ibn Biibiiyah, Thawdb, p. 59; al-Majlisl, op, cit., XCVII, p, 77; al-Tahawl, Sharb ma'tini, 11,83 inf.; cf. al-Daylaml, op. cit., Ms. Chester Beatty 4139, fol. 130a: alldhumma bdrik lana fi rajab wa-sha'bdn wa-ballighnd ramat!tin •.. 19 Al-Jllanl, op. cit., I, p, 211: ... wa-khttira min al-shuhiiri arba'atan: rajaba wa-sha'bdna wa-ramaddna wa-l-muharrama, wa-khtdra minhti sha'btina wa-ja'alahu shahra l-nabiyyi (s): fa-kama anna l-nabiyya (~) afdalu l-anbiyd"! ka-dhtilika shahruhu afdalu l-shuhiai, 20 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., IV, pp. 158-160; Ibn Abi Shayba, op. cit., III, pp. 21-22; Niir al-Dln al-Haytharnl, op. cit., III, p. 148; al-Bayhaql, al-Sunan, IV, pp. 207-208; al-Muttaql l-Hindl, op. cit., VIII, p. 310, nos. 2140-2141, 2144; cf. Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyya, Badd'i' al-fawii'id, Beirut n.d. (reprint), III, p. 96. 21 Ibn Abi Shayba, op. cit., III, p. 21; 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., IV, p. 161, no. 7325; al-Sakhawl, al-Maqd sid al-hasana (ed. 'Abdallah Muhammad al-Siddlql), Cairo 1375/1956, p. 35, no. 55; al-Dariml, op, cit., I, p. 350; al-Murtada I·Zabidi, op, cit., IV, p. 256; al-Suyutl, Jam' al-jawdmi', Cairo 1391/1971, I, p. 430, nos. 489-490,445 no. 540, 745-746, nos. 1517-1519,760, no. 1566; al-Munawl, op. cit., I, p. 304, no. 494; al-Tirmidhi, op. cit., III, p. 274; Abii Dawud, op. cit., I, p. 368; al-Saffurl, op. cit., p. 198; al-Shaukiini, Nayl, IV, pp. 290-292; al-Bayhaql, al-Sunan, IV, p. 209; Mahmud Khattab al-Subkl, op, cit., X, p. 56. 22 Al-Daraqutnl, Sunan (ed. 'Abdallah Hashim Yamanl), Medina 1386/1966, II, p. 191, no. 57; Ibn Abi Shayba, op. cit., III, p. 23; al-Dariml, op. cit., I, p. 336; Abii 20 SHA'BAN IS MY MONTH The traditions explicitly recommending fasting in the final days of Sha'ban were controversial.U The Prophet is said to have made the folIowing utterance: "He who fasts on the Iast Monday of Sha'ban, God will forgive him for his sins".24 Another tradition of the Prophet promises those who fast on the first and last Thursdays of'Sha'ban entrance into Paradise.25 God will protect from hellfire the body of a believer who fasts even a single day of Sha'ban and he will be granted the company of Yusuf in Paradise and given the reward of Dawiid and Ayyub, If he completes the entire month in fasting, God will ease the pangs of his death, remove the darkness of his grave and hide his shame on the Day of Resurrection.26 Especially stressed were the virtues of devotional observance of the first night of Sha'ban. "He who performs on the first night of Sha'ban 12 prostrations (rak'a), reading during the first of them thefiitil;1a and repeating five times qui huwa ahad, God will grant him the reward of 12,000 martyrs and he will be absolved of his sins, as on the day his mother bore him, and no sin will be reckoned against him for eighty days",27 says a tradition attributed to the Prophet. The month of Sha'ban was considered by the Prophet as protection from the fires of Hell; he enjoined those who sought to meet him in Paradise to fast at least three days in Sha'ban.28 Diiwiid, op. cit., I, p. 368; al-Shaukanl, Nayl, IV, pp. 290-292; al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan, IV, p. 210; ai-MuttaqI I-HindI, op. cit., VIII, p. 310, nos. 2142-2143; Ibn Miijah, op. cit., I, p. 506; al-Tahawl, Sharh ma'iini, II, p. 84; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad (ed. Ahmad Muhammad Shakir), Cairo 1373/1953, XII, p. 188, no. 7199, XIV, 192, no. 7766; Mahmud Khattab al-Subkl, op. cit., X, p. 54. 23 See al-Bahyaqi, Sunan, IV, pp. 210-211; al-Shaukani, op, cit., IV, p. 291; al-ZamakhsharI, al-Fa'iq (ed, 'All Muhammad a~ijiiwI, Muhammad Abii I-FaQI Ibrahim), Cairo 1971, II, p. 171. And see Ibn Rajab, op, cit., pp. 149 inf. - 150 (... wa-kharraja abt; dawud fi biibi taqaddumi ramaddna min hadithi mu'iiwiyata annahu qiila: innt mutaqaddimun al-shahra fa-man shii'a fa-l-yataqaddam: fa-su'ila 'an dhiilika fa-qdla: sami'tu l-nabiyya (~) yaqiilu: ~uma l-shahra wa-slrrahu ..• fa-yakiinu l-mana: ~amu awwala l-shahri wa-dkhirahu, fa-Ii-dhdlika amara mu'iiwiyatu bi- #yiimi iikhirJ l-shahri ... ); Mahmud Khattab al-Subkl, op. cit., X, pp. 45-49; see Lisiin al-t Arab, s.v. srr. 24 Al-Daylaml, op. cit., Ms. Chester Beatty 3037, fol. 143a; al-Jllanl, op. cit., I, p. 210 (AI-JIIiinI adds the reservation that this utterance does not apply when this Monday coincides with the last days of Sha'biin during which fasting is forbidden). 25 AHlaffiirI, op. cit., p. 195. 26 Ibid., p. 196. 27 Ibid., p. 195; cf. al-Nazill, Khazinat al-asrdr al-kubrd, Cairo 1349 A.H. (reprint), p. 43 inf. 28 Al-Saffur], op. cit., p. 195. 21 Shi'i tradition does not differ from Sunni in content; it is, however, richer in jarj{J'il - Iore and its stories are of course marked by specific Shi'i features. A lengthy report on a victory of a Muslim expedition against unbelievers during Sha'ban contains an account of a miracle wrought for the Ieaders of the expedition - Zayd b. Haritha, 'Abdallah b. Rawaha and Qays b. 'A~im al-Minqari - on account of their pious deeds at the beginning of Sha'biin. The Prophet, who welcomed the victorious expedition on its return, expounded to the people the virtues of pious deeds on the first day of Sha'biin: aIms-giving, reading the Qur'an, visiting the sick, reconciling husbands and wives, parents and children, praying and fasting and performing other deeds of piety and devotion. Such deeds would afford a hold on a branch of the Paradise-tree of Tubii, to appear on the first day of Sha'biin. Those who perpetrate evil deeds on that day will grasp the branches of the Hell-tree of Zaqiim, which will emerge from Hell. On the first day of Sha'ban God dispatches His angels to guide the people and summon them to perform good deeds, while Iblis sends his accomplices to Iead them astray. The faithful are to be alert and to revere the month of Sha'biin in order to gain happiness.29 Detailed lists of rewards for fasting each day of this month, compiled after the pattern of the lists of rewards for fasting in Rajab, record the graces and rewards to be granted to the pious who exert themselves in the Sha'biin fast.3o Even serious crimes will be forgiven those who fast during Sha'ban.U The two months of fasting prescribed in cases of incidental killing (Sura 4:92) were interpreted as synonymous with the two consecutive months of Sha'ban and RamaQiin.32 The idea of intercession Iinked with the rewards of fasting during this month is remarkable. According to tradition, the Prophet will intercede on the Day of Resurrection for him who fasts even one day of Sha'biin.33 The month itself is called "The Month of Intercession", for the Prophet is to intercede for those who utter the prayer of blessing for the Prophet during this month.w ~9 Al-Majlisl, op. cit., XCVII, pp. 55-65 (from the Tafsir of the Imam aI·'AskarI). 30 AI-Majlisi, op. cit., XCVII, p. 65 ult. - 70; Ibn Biibiiyah, Thawdb, pp. 60-61; Id., Amdlt, pp. 20-22. 31 Al-Majlisl, op. cit., XCVII, p. 74. 32 AI·'Ayyiishi, Tafsir (ed, Hashim al-Rasiili l-Mahallatl), Qumm 1380 A.H., I, p. 266, nos. 232, 235; Ibn Biibiiyah, Thawdb, pp. 57-58. 33 AI·Majlisi, op. cit., XCVII, p. 81, no. 49; Ibn Biibiiyah, Amalt, pp. 17,486. 34 AI-Majlisi, op. cit., XCVII, p. 78: ... wa-summiya shahru sha'btina shahra /. shafii'atl li-anna rasiilakum yashfa'u likulli man yusalli+alayhi flhi. 22 SHA'BAN IS MY MONnI Like Sunnl scholars, Shi'i scholars were concerned with the permissibility of uninterrupted fasting over the two consecutive months of Sha'ban and Ramadan, And as in Sunni sources, the traditions in the Shi'i sources are contradictory or divergent. According to one Shi'i report, the Prophet would fast over the two months without pause (fa$l) between them; however he forbade believers to do this.35 A means of breaking the fast, thus discontinuing a fast of two consecutive months, was provided by advice given by the Imam, to desist from fasting for a single day after the 15th of Sha'ban, and then to continue fasting uninterruptedly.se Some Shi'i traditions recommended fasting the Iast three days of Sha'ban, continuing uninterruptedly into the fast of Ramadan.s? others report that the Prophet would fast three days at the beginning of Sha'ban, three days mid-month, and three days at the end.38 Later Shi'i scholars quoted early traditions concerning Sha'ban, traced back to the Shi'i Imams, in an attempt to reconcile the controversial reports and to establish fixed patterns for the observances and devotions of this month.w Both Shi'i and Sunni traditions are imbued with sincere reverence for Sha'ban and its devotional observances and recommend almost without exceptions? fasting during the month and performance of pious deeds. The only controversy was over the period of fasting during the month and the pause separating the voluntary fast of Sha'ban from the obIigatory month of fasting of Ramadan. II The eve ofthe 15th of Sha'ban is the holiest time of the month and it is recommended to spend the night in vigil prayer and supplication, and the 35 Ibn Biibiiyah, Thawdb, p. 58; al-Majlisl, op. cit., XCVII, p. 76 (from Ibn Biibiiyah). 36 AI-MajIisi, op. cit., XCVII, p. 72, no. 13: ... mii taqiilu fl ~aumi shahri sha'biina? qiila: sumhu, qultu: fa-l-faslul qiila: yaumun ba'da l-ni sfi, thumma stl. 37 AI-MajIisi, op. cit., XCVII, p. 72, no. 16; p. 80, no. 47. 38 Ibn Biibiiyah, 'Uyiin akhbdr al-Ri dii, Najaf 1390/1970, II, p. 70, no. 330; alMajlisi, op. cit., XCVII, p. 73, no. 18. 39 See e.g. al-Bahranl, al-Hadd'iq al-nddira fT ahkdm al-'itra l-tdhira (ed. Muhammad Taqiyy al-Ayrawiini), Najaf 1384 A.H., XIII, pp. 382-386. 40 But see al-Bahranl, op. cit., XIII, p. 383 (quoted from Kulini's al-Wasii'il): ... annahu su'ila ['alayhi I-saliim] 'anhu fa-qdla: md ~iimahu [i.e. Sha'biin - K] rasiilu lliihi (~) wa-lii ahadun min iibii'! ... ; and see the interpretation given by al-Kulinl, ibid.; and see the contradictory traditions, al-Majlisl, op, cit., XCVII, p. 76, nos. 32-33; p. 82, no. 51. 23 morrow in fasting."! At sunset, says a tradition, God would descend to the Iowest heaven, grant His forgiveness to those seeking it, food to those begging for it and health to the sick, and would respond to those imploring His aid for other needs until the break of day.42 A version (recorded in the early compilation of 'Abd al-Razzaq) holds that on the night of mid-Sha'ban God would look upon His servants and grant forgiveness to all people on earth save unbelievers and those bearing a grudge against others. Other versions include drunkards, wizards, prostitutes and sinners of other varieties in the Iist of those denied forgiveness.O The prayers and supplications on the night of mid-Sha'ban are connected with the idea that this is the night when the life and death of all creatures in the world are decided. Some commentators on the Qur'an took verses 2-4 of Sural al-Dukhiin (44): "We have sent it down in a blessed night. . . therein every wise bidding determined as a bidding from Us ... " to refer to the night of the l Sth of Sha'biin. They consequently interpreted the pronominal suffix in anzalniihu, "We have sent it down", as relating to "the bidding", "the order", "the decree". This 41 But see the hadith, reported on the authority of Abii Hurayra, forbidding fasting on the 15th of Sha'ban, al-Suyutl, Jam' al-jawtimi', I, p. 760, no. 1566. 42 Ibn Majah, op. cit., I, p. 421; Ibn Khuzayma, Kittib al-tauhtd (ed. Muhammad Khalil Harras), Cairo 1387/1968, p. 136; al-Suyutl, Jam' al-jawdmi", I, p. 761, no. 1568 (cf. ibid., no. 1567); Id., al-Durr al-manthiir, VI, p. 26 inf.; Ahmad b. Hijazl, op. cit., p. 51; Ibn Rajab, op. cit., pp. 143, 145; al-Zurqani, Sharb al-mawdhib, VII, pp. 412-413; aI-Jamal, al-Futiihdt al-ildhiyya, Cairo n.d., IV, p. 100; al-Fakihl, Ta'rikh Makka, Ms. Leiden Or. 463, fol. 418b; al-Khazin, Tafsir, Cairo 1381 A.H., VI, p. 120; al-Baghawi, Tafsir, VI, p. 119 (on margin of al-Khazin's Tafsir); al-Mundhiri, op. cit., II, p. 244, no. 1491; ai-Muttaqi I-Hindi, op. cit., XVII, p. 143, no. 467; al-Majlisi, op, cit., XCVIII, p, 415; al-Turtushi, al-Hawddith wa-l-bida' (ed. Muhammad al-Talbi), Tunis 1959, p. 118; al-Sha'rani, Lawtiqih al-anwdr al-qudsiyya, Cairo 1381/1961, p. 185; cf. al-Malati, al-Tanblh wa-l-radd 'alii ahli l-ahwti'i wa-l-bida' (ed, Muhammad Zahid al-Kauthari), n.p. 1388/1968, p. 113; Abii Shama, al-Bd'ith 'alii inkdri l-bido'i wa-l-hawddith (ed. Muhammad Fu'ad Minqara), Cairo 1374/1955, p. 26. 43 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., IV, p. 316, ult. no. 7923; Ibn Majah, op. cit., I, p. 422; cf, al-Suyutl, Jam' al-jawiimi', I, p. 761, no. 1659; al-Mundhiri, op. cit., V, p. 123, no. 4007 (and see nos. 4009-4010); Ibn Rajab, op. cit., p. 143 (and see p. 144: the list of sinners, and p. 146: the explanation of the grave sins); Ahmad b. I:Iijazi, op, cit., p. 50; cf. al-Munawl, op. cit., II, p. 316, no. 1942; IV, p. 459, no. 5963; al-Zurqani, Shar/:z al-mawdhib, VII, p. 410 ult. - 411 sup.; Ibn Hajar, al-Kdfi l-shiif fi takhriji a/:ziidithi l-kashshdf, Cairo 1354 A.H., p. 148, nos. 380-381; al-Sha'ranl, op. cit., p. 185; alNaysaburi, Gharii'ib al-Qur'iin (ed. Ibrahim 'Atwa 'AwaQ), Cairo 1393/1973, XXV, p. 65; al-Razl, Tafsir, Cairo 1357/1938, XXVII, p. 238; ai-Muttaqi I-Hindi, op. cit., XVII, p. 143, no. 467; XIII, pp. 269-270, nos. 1481-1482, 1485, 1489, 1491. 24 SHA'BAN IS MY MONTH interpretation was vehemently rejected by commentators asserting that the verses refer to the "laylat al-qadr" and the pronominal suffix to the Qur'an, sent down in Ramadan+t But the widespread popular belief was indeed that the night of the 15th of Sha'ban was the night of decrees concerning Iife and death. Those destined to die would plant trees, set out on pilgrimage, beget children, not knowing that they were to die in the course of the year.s> On this night God would order the Angel of Death to seize the souls of those upon whose death during the following year He had decided.w As the Angel of Death is thus occupied in receiving the decrees of death from God, no one dies between sunset and nightfall of this eve.s? This night is indeed called laylat al-hayiit, laylat al-qisma wa-l-taqdir, laylat al-rahma, 44 See Ahmad b. Hijazf, op. cit., p. 47 inf. - 48; cf. al-Zurqani, Sharh al-mawdhib, VII, p. 414; al-Qurtubi, Tafslr, Cairo 1387/1967, XVI, pp. 126-127; Hasan alMadabighi, Risdla fImd yata'allaqu bi-Iaylati l-nisfi min sha'bdn, Ms. Hebrew University, AP Ar. 80 439, fol. 9b-lOa; al-Luddl, Faydu l-hanndn fi fadli laylati l-nisfi min sha'bdn, Ms. Hebrew University, AP Ar. 80479, fol. 4a: .. .fa-l-hii' fi anzalnd damiru l-amri, ay innd anzalnd amran min 'Indind fl hddhihi l-laylati, qadayndhu wa-qaddarndhu min al-djdli wa-l-arztiqi ... And see contradictory explanations Ibn al-'Arabi, Ahktim al-Qur'dn (ed. 'Ali Muhammad al-Bijawi), Cairo 1388/1968, p. 1678: ... fi laylatin mubdrakatin ... ya'ni anna lldha anzala l-qur'tina bi-I-Iayli ... wa-jumhiiru l-t ulamd"i 'alii annahd laylatu l-qadri, wa-minhum man qtila innahd laylatu l-nisfi min sha'bdna, wa-huwa btitilun ... ; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, Beirut 1385/1966, VI, p. 245; al-Turtushi, op. cit., pp. 118-121; cf. al-Razl, op. cit., XXVII, p. 238. 45 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., IV, p. 317, nos. 7925-7926; cf. al-Tabarl, Tafsir (Bulaq), XXV, p. 65; al-Muttaql l-Hindi, op. cit., XVII, p. 143, no. 468; al-Madabighi, op. cit., fol. 15a-b. 46 Al-Munawl, op, cit., IV, p. 459, no. 5964; Ibn Rajab, op. cit., p. 148, ll. 1-2: al-Suyutl, al-Durr al-manthilr, VI, p. 26; ai-Muttaqi I-Hindi, op. cit., XIII, p, 269, no. 1483. The story of the tree in Paradise (see G.E. von Grunebaum, Muhammadan Festivals, New York 1951, pp. 53-54, quoted from Lane's Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians) is recorded by al-Luddl, op. cit., fol. 5b: The tree at the side of the Throne (al-'arsh), resembling a pomegranate-tree, has as many leaves as there are human beings in the world. On each leaf is written the name of a person. The Angel of Death watches the leaves; when a leaf yellows he perceives that the date of the death of the person is imminent and he dispatches his helpers; when the leaf falls the Angel of Death catches his soul. According to a version of this tradition, when the leaf falls on its back, it denotes a positive decree for the person (I}usn al-khiitima); if it falls on its underside, it denotes an unfortunate decree. Al-Suytitl records the tradition on this tree on the authority of Muhammad b. Juhada in al-Durr al-manthiir, III, p. 15 (commenting on Sura 6:60) and in his compilation Sharh al-sudar, p. 22. 47 Ahmad b. Hijazl, op. cit., p. 48 inf.; al-Luddl, op. cit., fol. 5b inf. - 6a sup.; al-Madabighl, op. cit., fol. 17a. 25 laylat al-ijdba, laylat al-takftr.s» In reference to the forgiving of sins, the current popular name of this night is laylat al-sukiik or laylat al-barii'a, "the night of acquittance".49 It is the "feast of the angels" ('id almala'ika)50 and the "night of intercession" (Iaylat al-shafii' ay; on the 13th of Sha'ban the Prophet pleaded for intercession for a third of his people and this was granted; on the 14th he was granted intercession for a second third and on the 15th of Sha'ban he was granted intercession for his entire people.t! An exceptional night, indeed, distinguished by peculiar virtues. 52 A Iengthy report, recorded on the authority of 'A'isha, gives us details of the origin of the devotions of this night. 'A'isha missed the Prophet in her bedchamber that night and sought him eagerly; she found him prostrated in supplication, praying a most moving prayer. The Prophet explained to 'A'isha the importance of this night, conveying to her the good tidings that God would grant His forgiveness to a countless multitude of believers, as many as the hairs of the flocks of the tribe of Kalb. 53 48 See ai-Jamal, op. cit., IV, p. 100; Ahmad b. l:Iijiizi, op. cit., pp. 48-49; alGhaziili, Mukdshafa, pp. 249-250; al-Luddi, op. cit., fol. 5b-6a. 49 For the expression barii'a as "acquittance", "discharge of sins", see the story about the letter sent by God and found on the breast of'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz during his burial: Ps. Ibn Qutayba, al-Imdma wa-l-siytisa (ed. Tiihii Muharnmad al-Zayni), Cairo 1378/1967, II, p. 102: bi-smi lldhi l-rahmdni l-rabtm, kitabun bi-l-qalami I-jalil, min alldhi 1-'azizi 1-'alim, bard' atun Ii-'umara bni 'abdi 1-'aziz min al-' adhdb i l-alim, And see al-Madiibighi, op. cit., fol. 17b: " .fa-fi laylati l-bard'ati mithlu dhdlika yu'!a l-wdhidu barii'atan, fa-yuqtilu aufayta l-haqqa wa-qumta bi-shara'iti l-'ubudiyyati fa. khudh bard'atan min al-ndri; wa-yuqdlu li-wdhidin istakhfafta bi-haqqi wa-Iam taqum bi-shard'iti l-t ubildiyyatlcfa-khudh barii'ataka min al-jindni. 50 AI-Jiliini, op. cit., I, p. 216; al-Luddi, op, cit., fol. 6a; Ahmad b.l:Iijiizi, op. cit., p. 48 inf.; al-Ghazall, Mukiishafa, p. 249; al-Madiibighi, op, cit., fol. 17a-b. 51 AI-Jamal, op. cit., IV, pp. 100; Ahmad b. Hijazl, op. cit., p. 49; al-Ghaziili, Mukdshafa, p, 250; al-Naysiibiiri, op. cit., XXV, p. 65; al-Riizi, op. cit., xxvn, p. 238. 52 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., IV, p. 317, no. 7927; Ibn 'Asakir, Tahdhib ta'rlkh (ed. 'Abd al-Qadir Badriin), Damascus 1330 A.H., I, p. 47; III, p. 296; Ibn Rajab, op. cit., p. 144 inf.; al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-manthiir, VI, p. 26; al-Zandawaysiti, op. cit., fol. 259a; aI-Jiliini, op. cit., I, p. 215; Ahmad b. Hijazl, op. cit., pp. 48, 51; Ibn Hajar, al-Kdfl l-shdf, p. 148, no. 382; al-Wassabt, al-Baraka fi fadli l-sayt wa-l-haraka, Cairo n.d., p. 78; al-Madabighi, op. cit., fol. 17a. 53 See Ibn Majah, op. cit., I, pp. 421-422; al-Mundhiri, op. cit., II, p. 243, nos. 1488, 1490; V, p. 124, no. 4008, 126, no. 4012; al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-manthiir, VI, pp. 26-27; al-Jllanl, op. cit., I, pp. 213-215; Ibn Rajab, op. cit., p. 143; Ahmad b. l:Iijiizi, op. cit., p. 49; al-Zurqanl, Sharh al-mawdhib, VII, pp. 410-411; al-Majlisi, op. cit., XCVII, pp. 88-89 (no. 16); XCVIII, pp. 416-419 (and see XCVII, p. 86, no. 8): al- 26 SHA'BAN IS MY MONUI Special prayers and supplications were recommended and precious rewards promised to those who would exert themselves in devotion and prayer during this night. Among the numerous rewards were forgiveness of sins and entry into Paradise. Orthodox scholars sharply criticized these hadtths, often branding them as weak or forged.sShi'i sources outdo the Sunni in propagating the virtues of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban; they emphasize that the Imams were singled out by the blessings of this night. God granted the Prophet laylat al-qadr, while He granted the Imams (ahl al-bayt) the night of the 15th of Sha'ban, according to a report transmitted on the authority of al-Baqir.55 A tradition attributed to the Prophet says that the position of 'Ali within the family of the Prophet (iilu muhammadint is like that of the best of the days and nights of Sha'ban, i.e. the night of the 15th of Sha'ban.56 Noteworthy is the tradition recommending a visit to the grave of Husayn on this night; forgiveness of sins will be the assured reward.s? Orthodox Muslim scholars emphasized the superiority of laylat al-qadr over the night of the 15th of Sha'ban, laylat al-barii'a. Although some scholars opined that there is no fixed date for laylat al-qadr and that it Dhahabl, Mtzan al-i'tiddl (ed. 'Ali Muhammad al-Bijawi), Cairo 1382/1963, IV, p. 262, no. 9081; al-Zandawaysitl, op. cit., fol. 259b-260b; al-Razl, op. cit., XXVII, p. 238; al-Madabighl, op. cit., fols. 18a-20b; al-Muttaql I-Hindi, op. cit., XIII, p. 270, nos. 1486-1488, 1491. 54 Al-Suyutr, al-Durr al-manthiir, VI, p. 27 inf. - 28 sup.; Abil Talib al-Makkl, Qut al-qullib, Cairo 1351/1932, I, p. 93; al-Muttaql l-Hindl, op. cit., XVII, p. 144, no. 469; Ahmad b. I:Iijazi, op. cit., p. 52 inf. - 53; al-Jilanl, op. cit., I, p. 216; alShaukanl, al-Fawd'id al-majmira fi I-al;liidithi l-maudtra (ed. 'Abd al-Rahman alMu'allamt l-Yamanl), Cairo 1380/1960, pp. SO-51, no. 106; Id., Tuhfa: al-dhakirin bi·'uI#ati I-Min al-hastn min kaldmi sayyid al-mursalin (ed. Muhammad Zabara alHasanl al-San'anl), Cairo 1393/1973, pp. 182-183; al-Saffurl, op. cit., p. 197; aI-Jamal, op. cit., IV, p. 100; al-Majlisl, op. cit., XCVII, pp, 85-86 (nos. 5, 7), 87 (no. 13), 89 (no, 17); XCVIII, pp. 408-418; Ibn Babuyah, 'Uyun akhbiir al-Ridd, I, p. 228; Id., Amalt, p. 24; al-Tusl, Amdll, Najaf 1384/1964, I, p. 303; Ibn al-Jauzl, al·MaurJu'iit (ed. 'Abd al-Rahman Muhammad 'Uthman), Medina 1386/1966, II, pp. 127-130; al-Suyutl, al·La'dli al-masnii:a fi l-ahddithi l-maudaa, Cairo n.d., II, pp. 57-60; Ibn Hajar, alK4fi al-shdf, p. 148, no. 379; al-Wa$$abi, op. cit., pp. 76-78; Ma' al-'Aynayn, Na't al-bidiiyiit wa-taustf al-nihdydt, Fas(?) 1312 A.H" pp. 184-185; al-Nazill, op. cit., pp. 43-44; al-Razl, op. cit., XXVII, p. 238. 55 AI-Tilsi, Amiili, I, p. 303; al-Majlisi, op, cit., XCVII, p. 85, no. 5 (from the Am4/i). S6 AI-Majlisi, op. cit., XCVII, p. 87, no. 9 (from the Tafslr of' al-Imam al·'Askari). 57 AI-Majlisi, op. cit., XCVII, p. 85, no. 4, p. 87, nos. 10-11. 27 can occur on any night throughout the entire year,S8 the majority held that laylat al-qadr is a night of Ramadan, thus inherently excelling any night of the inferior month of Sha'bii.n. The early scholar and judge Ibn Abi Mulayka-? is reported to have sharply rebuked those scholars who held that the reward for observance of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban equals that of laylat al-qadrsv This report indicates that orthodox scholars were reconciled to the veneration of the night of the 15th of Sha'bii.n, and merely stressed the inferiority of this night (laylat al-barii' a) in comparison with laylat al-qadr. Legitimization of laylat al-barii' a was linked with the elaboration of the idea of its virtues and merits as compared with those of laylat al-qadr. Scholars stressed the difference between the two nights, as well as their relationship: the date of laylat al-barii'a was announced and fixed, but that of laylat al-qadr (referring to that during Ramadan - K) is not revealed, for laylat al-barii' a is the night of judgement and decree, while laylat al-qadr is the night of mercy. Were the date of laylat al-qadr divulged and precisely determined, people would abstain from every exertion and rely upon the mercy of GOd.61 A report, recorded on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, defines the mutuaI, complementary functions of the two nights: God issues His decrees on laylat al-barii'a, but delivers them for execution on lay/at al-qadr/a In another, more detailed version, the copying from the Preserved Tablet commences on laylat al-barii'a and is completed on laylat al-qadr, when the list of sustenances is handed over to the angel Mikii.'il, the list of earthquakes, lightning and wars to Jibril, and the list of deeds (a'miil) to the angel Ismii.'ilwho is in charge oflower Heaven and is an angel of very high rank.63 58 See al-Tahawl, Sharh ma'iini, II, p. 92: ... anna bna mas'iidin qiila: man qdma l-sanata kullahd asdba laylata l-qadri ... (see the contradictory opinion of Ubayy b. Ka'b, ibid.); Ibn 'Asakir, op, cit., II, p. 324; al-'Amili, al-Kashkiil (ed. Tahir Ahmad al-Zawl), Cairo 1380/1961, I, p. 405: ... wa-minhum man qiila: hiyafi majmiri l-sanati, Iii yakhtassu bihd shahru ramaddna wa-ld ghayruhu; ruwiya dhiilika 'ani bni mas' iidin, qdla: man yaqumi l-haula yusibhd. 59 See on him Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, V, p. 306, no. 523; Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqdt, Beirut 1377/1957, V, p. 472; al-Fasl, al-t Iqd al-thamin (ed, Fu'ad Sayyid), Cairo 1385/ 1966, V, p. 204, no. 1570; al-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al·buffii;, Hyderabad, I, p. 101; Waki', Akhbdr al-quddt (ed. 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Maraghl), Cairo 1366/1947, I, p. 261. 60 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., IV, p. 317, no. 7928; al-Turtushi, op. cit., p. 119. 61 Al-Jllani, op. cit., I, p. 216; al-Saffurl, op. cit., p. 198; cf. al-Zandawaysitl, op. cit., fo1. 273b. 62 AJ-Baghawi, Ta!sir, VI, p. 120, 1. 7; al-Jamal, op. cit, IV, p. 100, 11. 25-26; al-Majlisl, op. cit., XCVIII, p, 414. 63 Al-Jamal, op. cit.,IV,p. 100 inf.; Ahmad b.l:lijazi, op. cit., p. 48 sup.; al-Luddl, op. cit., fol 5b; al-Naysaburl, op, cit., XXV, p. 65; al-Madabighi, op. cit., fol, lOb. 28 SHA'BAN IS MY MONTI! The beginnings of the devotional observance of laylat al-barii'a seem to go back a long way. A legendary report of an expedition sent by Abu 'Ubayda, during his conquest of Syria, contains an interesting passage on laylat al-barii'a. The commander of the expedition, appointed by Abu 'Ubayda, was 'Abdallah b. Ja'far, son of the uncle of the Prophet, the famous martyr Ja'far al-Tayyar, Among the warriors of his troop was the pious Wathila b. al-Asqa'.64 When the troop was about to set out, 'Abdallah noticed the brightness of the moon. Wathila declared that it was the night of the 15th of Sha'ban, the blessed night of great virtue. On that night, he said, sustenances and decrees concerning life and death are set down, sins and wrong deeds are forgiven. Wathila stressed that, regardless of his desire to spend the night in vigil (wa-kuntu aradtu an aqiimahii, scil. in devotional observance - K), setting out to fight for God's sake was preferable. Consequently the troop indeed marched out.65 Some reports relate that certain tiibi'iin in Syria would perform the devotional practices of this night, mentioning specifically Maki}.ii166 Luqman b. 'Amir67 and Khalid b. Ma'dan.68 The well-known scholar Ishaq b. Rahawayhs? adopted their view and was favourable toward the observance of laylat al-bariia. 'Ata' b. Abi Rabai}.,7oIbn Abi Mulayka"! and the majority of the scholars of al-Hijaz opposed these practices; Maliki and Shafi'I scholars followed in their path, severely criticizing the obser64 See on him Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, XI, p. 101, no. 174; Abu Nu'aym, op. cit., II p. 21, no. 120; Ibn Hajar, al-Isdba (ed. 'Ali Muhammad al-Bijawl), Cairo 1392/1972, VI, p. 591, no. 9093; Ibn 'Abd ai-Barr, al-Istl'tib (ed. 'Ali Muhammad al-Bijawl), Cairo 1380/1960, p. 1563, no. 2738. 65 Ps. Waqidi, Futid: al-Shdm, Cairo 1348, I, p. 57. 66 See on him Sezgin, GAS, I, p. 404, no. 5; Safiyy al-Dln al-Khazrajl, Tadhhib tahdhib al-kamdl (ed, Mahmud 'Abd al-Wahhab Fayid), Cairo 1391/1971, III, p. 54, no. 7178. 67 See on him Ibn Hibban al-Bustl, Kitdb al-thiqdt (ed. 'Abd al-Khaliq al-Afghanl, Hyderabad 1388/1968, p. 229; Safiyy al-Dln al-Khazraji, op. cit., II, p. 372, no. 6005. 68 See on him Ibn Hibban al-Bustl, op. cit., p. 55; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, III, p. 118, no. 222; al-Bukharl, Ta'rtkh, III, no. 601; Safiyy al-Dln al-Khazrajl, op. cit., I, p. 284, no. 1802. 69 See on him al-Dhahabl, Tadhkirat al-huffd z, p. 433; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, I, p. 216, no. 408; Ibn Abl Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-tadtl, Hyderabad 1371/1952, II, p. 209, no. 714; al-Dhahabi, Miziin al-i'tiddl, r, p. 182, no. 733; al-$afadi, al-Wdfi bi-l-wafaydt (ed. Muhammad Yusuf Najrn), Wiesbaden 1391/1971, VIII, p. 386, no. 3825 (and see the references of the editor); al-Subkl, Tabaqiit al-shdfi'tyya (ed. al-Hulw - al-Tanahl), Cairo 1383/1964, II, p. 83, no. 19. 70 See on him Sezgin, GAS, I, p. 31; al-Fasl, al-t Iqd al-thamtn, VI, pp. 84-93. 71 See on him above, note 59. 29 vances, branding them as bid'a. Amongst the Syrian scholars advocating the devotions there were certain differences of opinion concerning the forms of observance: some of them would wear fine garments, scent themselves with incense, anoint their eyes with collyrium and spend the night in the mosque praying and supplicating publicly. Others preferred solitary prayer and devotion in the privacy of their homes. Some persons, says the tradition, refrained from observing this night when they learned that the shcolars and pious men who advocated such veneration based their belief of Isrii'iliyyiit traditions.F There were some extremist opinions, which totally denied the basis of the traditions on the virtues of laylat al-barii'a and branded the reports as forged.P But generally orthodox circles merely reproved the manner of these devotions. A Iate report vividly describes them as practiced in the seventh century of the Hijra. Mosques were lavishly lit and the governor would come to the courtyard of the mosque; firebrands were kindled and the seated governor would act as judge. People would submit complaints against the unjust and wicked, and those convicted were punished on the spot. The adversaries shouting their arguments, the cries of the punished, the barking of the guards (janiidira) and the noise of the crowd turned the mosque into a poI ice-station (diiru shurta), as noted by Ibn aI-I.HiJJ,74The Iatter especially denounced processions to cemeteries, performed on this night by mixed crowds of men and women. Some women sang, some beat tambourines; a sort of cupola-shaped canopy (ka-l-qubba 'alii 'amiid), surrounded by lamps (qanadtt) was carried in the crowd and so the people arrived at the cemetery. Wooden posts were set up on the graves and hung with the clothes of the dead. Relatives sat down on the graves and talked to the dead about their troubles and sorrows, or complained at the graves of scholars and the righteous. Ibn al-Hajj stresses that some of these practices resemble those of the Christians, who would dress their statues and pray before their images.75 A rather Iate date for the introduction of the prayer of the night of the 72 Al-Zurqanl, Sharh al-mawdhib, VII, p. 413; Ibn Rajab, op. cit., p. 144; Ahmad b I;Iijazi, op. cit., p. 52; 'Ali Mahfuz, al-Ibda'li ma ddrr al-ibtidd', Cairo 1388/1968, p.295. 73 See e.g. Ibn 'Arabi, op. cit., IV, p. 1678: ... wa-Iaysa Ii laylati l-nisfi mill sha'bdna badtthun yu'awwalu 'alayhi, la Ii fat/liM wa-Id Ii naskhi I-ajali filla, fa-hi tal/a/ita ilayhd. And see note 44 above. 74 Ibn al-Haj], al-Madkhal, Beirut 1972, I, pp. 302-303. 75 Ibid., pp. 304-307. 30 SIlA'BAN IS MY MONTII 15th of Sha'ban in Jerusalem is recorded by al-Turtushi, According to his report, a man from Nabulus came to Jerusalem in 448 A.H. and performed this prayer in the mosque of al-Aqsa. From then onward the prayer became current and was held in al-Aqsa and in homes, coming to be considered a sunna.l» III The reports on the early origin of the observance of laylat al-barii'a seem to be trustworthy. The favourable attitude of the Syrian tiibi'fm (in the second half of the first century of the Hijra) towards these practices probably points to an earlier tradition, to be traced back to some of the Companions, such as Wathila b. al-Asqa"; indeed Makhul, who championed the observance of laylat al-barii'a, was a student of Wathila and transmitted hadtth on his authority.?? These practices were, as we have said, attributed to the Prophet himself. The observance of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban was not confined to Syria; so much can be deduced from the utterance of Ibn Abi Mulayka, quoted above. Ibn Abi Mulayka was a Qurashite appointed by 'Abdallah b. aI-Zubayr as judge in Ta'if and in Mecca. It is implausible that his utterance (in which he vigorously opposed the idea of granting laylat al-barii'a equal rank with laylat al-qadr) was directed solely against the people of Syria; more probably it was aimed at the people of Mecca and Ta'if, Furthermore, the transmitter of this report is Ayyiib (al-Sakhtiyani)78 who Iived in Basra and may have been interested in knowing the opinion of his teacher on a practice observed in his town, or country, al-Traq. It is to be remarked that the utterance ofIbn Abi Mulayka was directed against a qii$$;79it is well known that the qussiis were obliged to edify and encourage people to exert themselves in devotional practices such as laylat al-barii'a. Finally, a short passage in the biography ofIbn 76 Al-Turtushl, op, cit., p. 121; Abii Shama, op. cit., p. 24 (from al-Turtushi); 'Ali Mahfuz, op. cit., pp. 296-297 (from al-Turtushl); Jamal al-Dln al-Qasiml, l~laf;t al-masdjid min al-bida'i wa-l-iawd'id, Cairo 1341 A.H., p. 106 (from al-Turtusht). 77 Al-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al·f;tuffli+, I, p. 108, no. 96. 78 See on him Sezgin, GAS, I, p. 87, no. 12. 79 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., IV, 317, no. 7928: ... 'an ma'mar, 'an ayyidr qdla; qila ti-bni abi mulaykata inna ziyddan al-minqariyya (probably: al-namariyya; see alSuyut], Tahdhlr al-khawdss (ed. Muhammad al-Sabbagh), n.p. 1392/1972, p. 179; al-Dhahabi, Miztin al-t'tiddl, II, p. 90, no. 2945), wa-kdna qdssan, yaqiilu inna ajra Iaylati l-ni sfi min sha'bdna mithlu ajri laylati I-qadri, fa-qala: lau sami'tuhu yaqiilu dhdlika, wa-fi yadi 'asan, la-darabtuhu bihli; Abii Sharna, op. cit., p. 25 sup. 31 Abi Mulayka, recorded by Ibn Sa'd, may serve to illuminate his disapproval of putting laylat al-barii' a on a par with laylat al-qadr: Ibn Abi Mulayka used to Iead the prayers of the people in Mecca during RamaQan.80 It is thus clear why he would stress the superiority of laylat al-qadr, celebrated during Ramadan, over the night of the 15th of Sha'ban. The charge that the celebration of the night of the 15th of Sha 'ban was based on Isrii'iliyyiit81 should be taken with reserve; it was not uncommon for scholars to discredit their opponents by ascribing bid'a ideas to them, or accusing them of adopting Isratliyyat traditions. In the same category was the accusation that the lavish lighting of mosques on the night of the 15th of'Sha'ban was an innovation of the Barmakids, who were thus actually advocating fire-worship.V The data stating that the majority of Hijazi scholars objected to the observance of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban seem to be inaccurate, at least as far as the third century of the Hijra is concerned. The account given by al-Fakihi is a detailed and vivid description of the devotional practices performed at Mecca on that night. The entire population of Mecca, says al-Fakihi, would go out to the mosque and spend the night reading the Qur'an, so as to finish the recitation of the entire Qur'an and perform the tawdf; some of them would perform a hundred rak'a, reciting Siirat al-Hamd (i.e. the Fatiha - K) and qui huwa lldhu ahadun (i.e. Siirat al-Ikhliis - K) at every prostration. They would drink the waters of Zamzam, wash (their faces - K) in it and take a supply of the water home to heal their ills through the blessings of this night (combined, of course, with those of the waters themselves - K).83 We have here, indeed, the first reliable information on the prayers of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban, as recorded in the sources.s+ and as performed in 80 Ibn Sa'd, op. cit., V, p. 473 sup. 81 Al-Zurqanl, Sharh al-mawtihib, VII, p. 413: ... wa-'anhum akhadha l-ndsu ta' zimahd, wa-yuqdlu innahum balaghahum fi dhdlika iithiirun isrd'Iliyyatun, fa-Iammd shtahara dhiilika "anhumu khtalafa l-ndsu fihic fa-minhum man qabilahu minhum, waminhum man abiihu .•• 82 Abii Shama, op. cit., p. 25 inf. 83 Al-Fakihl, op. cit., fol 418b: dhikru 'amali ah/i makkata laylata l-ni sfi min sha'biina wa-jtihiidihim fihii li-fadlihd. wa ahlu makkata fimii madd ila l-yaumi, idhii kdnat laylatu l-nisfi min sha'biina kharaja 'ammatu l-rijdli wa-l-nisd'i ua l-masjidi fasallau wa-tdfii wa-ahyau laylatahum /:Iattii 1-~abii/:li bi-l-qirti' ati fi l-masjidi l-hardmi batta yakhtimii I..qur'dna kullahu wa-yusallii, au man $allii minhum tilka l-Iaylata mi'ata rak'atin, yaqra'u fi kulli rak'atin bi-l-hamdi wa-qul huwa lldhu ahad 'ashra marrdtin, waakhadhii min mii'i zamzama tilka l-laylata fa-sharibiihu wa-ghtasalii bihi wa-khaba'lihu 'indahum li-l-mar dd yabtaghiina bi-dhiilika l-barakatafi hddhihi l-laylati. 84 See above note 54; and see Abii Shama, op. cit., pp. 27, 29. 32 SHA'BAN IS MY MONTIl the haram in the third century A.H. The prayer mentioned here is one of the prayers recommended for the night of the 15th of Sha'ban, recorded by Ibn aI-Jauzi and branded by him as forged. Needless to say, the tawiif and drinking of Zamzam water are features peculiar to certain devotional practices and feasts in Mecca. A tradition of the "reward promise" type, recorded by al-Fakihi, belongs to the Iore of current traditions on this subject and is reported by Ibn aI-Jauzi; He who recites a thousand times within a hundred rak'a: qui huwa lldhu ahad, on the night of the 15th of Sha'ban, will not die before God sends him a hundred angels: thirty to bring him good tidings that God is to introduce him into Paradise; thirty to shield him from God's chastisement; thirty to deter him from sin, and ten to aid him against his enemies.s' This indicates how widespread the traditions concerning the virtues of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban were in Mecca and Mecca scholars were considered orthodox and were said to be opposed to public observance of this night. The continuity of the observance of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban can be traced from the second half of the first century A.H. It is attested in. the second century in the traditions recorded by 'Abd al-Razzaq, The passage in al-Fakihi's Ta'rtkh Makka gives a description of the celebration in Mecca in the third century. AI-Zandawaysiti records the virtues of this night in the fourth century. Al-Turtiishi's account refers to the practices witnessed in the fifth century, and Ibn al-Hajj's description depicts the observance at the end of the seventh century. A rich polemical literature concerning this night was produced over the centuries, and numerous !af/a'il treatises were compiled. The night of the 15th of Sha'ban is revered even today, and modern compilations still attack the popular observance, branding it as bid'a and quoting, as usuaI, early sources. The continuity of custom and usage during these celebrations can be illustrated by example. At the end of the seventh century A.H. Ibn all;Iajj mentions the sittings of the governor in the courtyard of the mosque on the night of the 15th of Sha'ban, at which he would judge and punish the guilty. In the fourth century aI-Zandawaysiti includes among the Iaudable deeds of the various classes during Sha'ban the sessions of the rulers, who would summon the imprisoned, punish the guilty and free the innocent.w This practice seems to reflect the idea of God's judgment 85 Al-Fakihl, op. cit, fol. 418b; Ibn al-Jauzl, al-Mau dirdt, II, p. 128; al-Naysaburf op. cit., XXV, p. 65; al-Razl, op. cit., XXVII, p. 238. 86 See above note 15. 33 in this month or during this night. The custom of visiting cemeteries on this night (Shi'i sources promoted visits to the tomb of Husayn) may be related to the hadith' according to which 'A'isha found the Prophet praying in the cemetery of Baqi' al-Gharqad on this night; it was at this spot that he explained to her the virtues of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban, The observances and celebrations of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban seem to be rooted in Jahiliyya belief and rituaI, as rightly assumed by Wensinck.t? When the month of Ramadan became the month of the obligatory fast, however, the night of the 15th of Sha'ban apparently lost its primacy: laylat al-qadr was fixed by the majority of Muslim scholars within Ramadan (usually as the night of the 27th of Ramadans") and became one of the most venerated nights of the Muslim community. But esteem of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban survived and, lacking the support of official scholars, it became a favoured occasion for devotional practices in pious and ascetic circles, as well as a night of popular celebration (including practices disapproved of by zealous conservative scholars). Moderate orthodox scholars strove to reconcile the traditions of the two nights, granting Iegitimacy to the devotions of laylat al-barii'a but establishing the superiority of laylat al-qadr. Also conciliatory was the idea of a division of functions between the two nights: laylat al-bariia was considered as the night of decrees, laylat al-qadr as the night in which God's biddings (or His mercy) were carried out. All this is, of course, a later development; hence Wensinck's theory of two genuine New Year's nights seems to be untenable. Orthodox Muslim scholars, though disapproving of the public celebrations, agreed to private devotional observances on the night of the 15th of Sha'ban.s? On these conditions laylat al-bard'a could gain their approval and became a recommended night of devotional exertion. The fasting of the Prophet over the two consecutive months of Rajab and Sha'ban may be linked with the tahannuth, which he was wont to 87 See Wensinck, op. cit., p. 6 ("This belief is already recorded by Tabarl; it is probably pre-Islamic"). 88 See Wagtendonk, op. cit., pp. 106, 112, note 5. 89 See thefatwa of Abu 'Amr b. !;>aliib,as recorded by Abu Sharna, op. cit., p. 32, 1.5: ... wa-ammd laylatu l-nisfi min sha'biina fa-lahd fa dilatun wa-i/.!ya'lIhd bi-I-'ibddati mustahabbun, wa-ldkin 'ala l-infirtidi min ghayri jamd'atin; wa-ttikhiidhu l-ndsi laha wa-Iaylata l-raghii'ibi mausiman wa-shi' iiran bid'atun munkaratun. 34 SHA'BAN IS MY MONTH observe in the following month of Ramadan.w The tahannuth is said to have been initiated by the Prophet's grandfather, 'Abd al-Muttalib/" and was observed by some people of Quraysh.Ps This socio-religious observance combined the element of charitable deeds with a practice of veneration toward the haram of Mecca. It was observed on Mount Hira' and is sometimes referred to as i'tikaf or jiwdr in the story of the first revelation of the Prophet. Some reports say that the Prophet sojourned on Mount Hira' in solitude, but others explicitly state that he stayed there in the company of his wife Khadija.P! Some details on the jiwiir of the people of Mecca and its purpose are given by al-Azraqi: the Qurashites would leave Shi'b al-Sufiyy and sojourn on Jabal al-Raha "out of veneration of the haram". This practice was followed in summer.sThe place of the jiwiir of 'A'isha95 and its duration are indicated in a report recorded by al-Fakihi. 'A'isha sojourned for two months at a spot between Mount Hira' and Thabir. People would visit her there and converse with her. In the absence of 'Abdallah b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr the prayer was headed by her servant, Dhakwan.ss The two 90 See Goitein, op. cit., p. 93 sup.; Wagtendonk, op. cit., pp. 32-35. 91 See BSOAS, 31 (1968), pp. 232-233. 92 See al-Baliidhuri, Ansdb I, p. 105, no. 192: kdnat qurayshun idhii dakhala ramat!anu kharaja man yuridu l-tahannutha minhd ila hird'«. 93 See BSOAS 31 (1968), p. 225, note 15; p. 227, notes 26-27; and see al-Muttawi'I, Man sabara zafira, Ms. Cambridge, Or. 1473(10), fol. 43b: ... /:latta idhd kana l-shahru lladhi ardda lldhu fihi bihi md ardda min kardmatihi wa-rahmatihi I-'ibiida mill al-sanatl llati ba'athahu lldhu tabdraka wa-taald lihii, wa-dhdlika l-shahru ramaddnu, kharaja rasulu lliihi (i) Ua /:lirli'a kamli kana yakhruju Ii-jlwdrihi wa-maahu ahluhu khadijatu ... A significant version is recorded by al-Fiikihi, op. cit., fol. 499b, ult. - 500a, 11.1-2; the Prophet sojourned on Hira', Khadlja used to come to him from Mecca in the evening. The Prophet descended from the mountain and stayed with her in (the place in which later) the mosque of Shi'b Qunfudh twas erected. - K). In the morning they used to depart. (. .. anna I-nabiyya (i) kdna yakiinu fl birli'a bi-l-nahdri fa-idhd (the verb is missing; perhaps: atli, jd'a or another similar verb has to be supplied) l-laylu nazala mill Mra'a fa-atd I-masjida lladhi Ii l-shi'bi lIadhi khalfa ddri abt 'ubaydata yu'rafu bi-l-khalafiyytn wa-ta'tihi khadijatu (r) min makkata fa-yaltaqiytini Ii l-masjidi lladhi Ii l-shi'bi, fa-idhd qaruba 1-labii(l/I ftaraqd, au nahwahu). About the place, Shi'b iii Qunfudh, see al-Azraql, Akhbiir Makka (ed. F. Wtlstenfeld), p. 491 penult. - 492. 94 Al-Azraql, op. cit., p. 482 inf.: '" Ii-anna qurayshan kdnat Ii l-jdhiltyyatl takhruju min shi'bi l-sufiyyl fa-tabitu f'ihi (the suffix hi refers to al-rdha - K) Ii l-sayfi ta' ziman li-I-masjidi l-hardmi, thumma yakhrujiina fa-yajlisilna fa-yastarlhilna Ii I-jabali ... 95 See Wagtendonk, op. cit., p. 35. 96 Al-Fakihl, op. cit., fol. 486b: ... 'alii bni abt mulaykata qtila: inna 'a'ishata (r) jdwarat bayna Mrli'a wa-thabtrin shahrayni, fa-kunnd na'tihli wa-ya'tlhd ndsun min 35 reports may help us in the evaluation of the jiwiir of the Prophet (apparently identical with tahannuthi: the Prophet, like the people of Shi'b al-Sufiyy, used to leave his home in summer and sojourn on Mount Hira'. Like them h~ did it "out of veneration of the haram of Mecca"; Iike 'A'isha he sojourned there for some fixed time. None of the reports mentions fasting explicitly. The duration of the Prophet's fast during Rajab and Sha'ban was not fixed; it was sporadic and the Prophet broke fast arbitrarily. The hadiths reporting this manner of the Prophet's fastingv? seem to be trustworthy. The reports of his fasting during the month of Sha'ban recorded in early sources are not questioned anywhere, nor doubted by any authority; they are certainly as reliable as the reports of his fasting during Rajab.98 It may be stressed that there were no rules of fasting, nor any regulations; the Prophet's fast was a voluntary, pious observance, the duration of which he fixed at his own discretion. In Medina, after his hijra, the Prophet was faced with the task of establishing a code of Iaw and ritual. One of the injunctions of this code was to fast. The verses of the Qur'an imposing the fast of Ramadan upon the emerging Muslim community were revealed against the background of the confrontation with the Jewish community.P? the encounter with the hostile Meccan unbelievers and their allies and the victory won on the battlefield of Badr. Even if affected by Jewish, Christian or other influences, these rules formed a genuine independent trend in the nascent body of Iaw for the Muslim community.l00 The injunction of the fast of Ramadan did not, however, abolish voluntary fasting during Rajab or Sha'ban, Some of the controversial traditions concerning the change in the Prophet's fast during Sha'ban after his arrival in Medina may facilitate a better insight into the persistence of this voluntary fast. Some scholars asserted that the Prophet, while in Mecca, fasted only some parts of the month of Sha'ban; after his arrival in Medina, however, he fasted the entire month. Al-Qastallani refutes this report, basing himself on the hadtth of 'A'isha, who stated qurayshin yatahaddathiina ilayhti, fa-idhti lam yakun thamma 'abdu lldhi bnu 'abdi l-rahmdni bni abt bakrin (r) ~a/la biha ghulamuha dhakwdnu abii 'amrin (r); Ibn Sa'd, op, cit., V, pp. 295-296. 97 See e.g. al-Nasa'I, op, cit., IV, pp. 150-151: ... kdna rasiilu /Iiihi (~) yasiimu batta naqillu Iii yuftiru, wa-yuftiru batta naqiilu Iii yasiimu ... 98 See Goitein, op. cit., pp. 93-94. 99 See ibid., pp. 95-102. 100 See Wagtendonk, op. cit" p. 144 inf. 36 SHA'BAN IS MY MONTII that the Prophet, after his arrival in Medina, never fasted any full month, except Ramadan." 01 This tradition transmitted on the authority of 'A'isha deserves our trust. The phrase in this haduh of 'A'isha "mundhu qadima l-madtnata" gives us a clue in assessing the change at Medina. 'A'isha is indeed a reliable witness of the Prophet's Iife in Medina, and her hadtth with the quoted phrase, limiting it to Medina, is apparently sound. The voluntary fast of Sha'ban was now transfigured into an obligatory fast, that of Ramadan, the month of the Prophet's own devotional exertions, the month of his tahannuth in Mecca. This fast became a distinctive mark of the Muslim community and one of the pillars ofIslam. The importance of the fast during Sha'ban consequently declined, but it never Iost its virtuous position as a recommended voluntary fast, observed over the ages and revered especially by pious and devout Muslims; the night of the 15th of Sha'ban became the culmination of the month's devotions. The observances of Sha'ban were finally approved of and legitimized by moderate orthodox scholars. The high esteem of Sha'ban was clearly expressed in the utterance attributed to the Prophet: "Rajab is the month of God, Sha'ban is my month, Ramadan is the month of my community". 101 Al-Zurqani, Sharh al-mawdhib, VIIJ, p, 125. 37 

Jerusalem-traditions.pdf A Comment on the Antiquity of Traditions Praising] erusalem MEIR KISTER UR TOPIC of discussion is closely related to the hadiths of Fadd'il Bayt af-Maqdis. Two of the most important problems in the analysis of these hadiths are determining their dates of composition, and when they were committed to writing. We can say with cfcrtainty that they were well-known and widely circulated as early as the beginning of the second century after the hidjra. Decisive proof of this is the incl usion of a large chapter of hadiths extolling the merits of Jerusalem in the work of Muqatil (d. 150 A.H.1765 C.E.). I These l;adFths-about 60 in number-are transmitted without isndd [chain of authorities] and contain most of the elements known to us from later works in praise of Jerusalem. 2 Ibn al-Faqih transmits them in Muqatil's name in the chapter of his book devoted to praise of Jerusalem.' Examples of these hadiths are: "Jerusalem is the land God has chosen from among other lands"; "He who chose to die in Jerusalem, has died as if in heaven"; "All sweet water originates beneath the Rock [foundation stone of the Temple]"; "The Rock is the navel of the universe"; "God will destroy Yddjtid] lI'aMiidjudj (Gog and Magog) in Jerusalem"; "Before his death in India, Adam commanded that he be brought to Jerusalem for burial"; "The ingathering and resurrection of the dead will take place in Jerusalem." It seems to me that all these hadiths may be attributed without hesitation to the latter half of the first century of the hidjra (the end of seventh century C.E.). No less ancient, in my opinion, is the hadith, "The establishment of the site of the Temple will be the destruction of Yathrib." 4 I would ascribe it to the period of the building of Jerusalem, i.e. the seventh decade of the first century, along with other hadiths of a similar nature: the tradition that Muhammad's nation will build the "Temple", 5 the O l 2 3 4 5 See F. Sezgin, GAS I, p. 36-37. Muqatil, Tafsir, ms. Saray Ahmad III, 74, I, f. 2 lOa. Kitdb al-Bulddn, ed. De Goeje (Leiden, 1885), p. 93-95. Al-Djahiz, al-Baytin wa-l-Tabyin. II, ed. al-Sandubi, (Cairo 135111932), p. 28; Abu Dawud, Sa~rI:zSunan al-Mustafd, (Cairo 1348/1929), p. 209; al-Samhudi, Wafa' al-Wafd. I, ed. M. Muhyi al-Din 'Abd al-Hamid (Cairo 1375/1955), p. 120; Ibn Kathlr, Nihdyat al-Biddya wal-Nihdya. I, cd. M. Fahim AbuUbayd (Riyad 1968), p. 79; al-Munawi, Fayd al-Qadir, IV (Cairo 1391/1972), p. 360, no. 5612; al-Dhahabi, Mtzan aiI'riddl, II, ed. 'All M. al-Bidjawi (Cairo 1382/1963), p. 552, no. 4828; al-t Azizi, al-Sirddj al-Munir, II (Cairo 1377/1957), p. 460; al-Daylami, Musnad al-Firdaws, ms. Chester Beaty, no. 3037, f. 105a; al-Bukhari. alTa'rikh al-Kabir, III (Hyderabad 1377/1958), I, p. 193, no. 613. Ibn Nasir al-Din, Djdmi' al-Athdr fi Mawlid al-Nabi al-Mukhhar, ms. Cambridge, Or. 913, f. 48b. MEIR KISTE"R dispute over Muhammad's place of burial, in which a group of his friends demanded that he be brought to Jerusalem, the resting place of the prophets," the stories about the construction of the Temple 7 and the burning of the Temple, 8 about Israfil standing on the Rock on the Day of Resurrection, 9 or Jesus blessing Hebron, 10 and the tradition about the Ka'ba's journey to the Rock on Judgment Day.1I To summarize, Jerusalem praise literature emerged in the second half of the first century of the hidjra (the end of the seventh century C.E.) and was put into writing in the first half of the second century of the hidjra (eighth century C.E.}.lJadfths in praise of Jerusalem may be found in the earliest collections of hadiths and Qur'anic exegesis. Jewish converts to Islam played an important role in disseminating stories from the Bible and Midrash, and even held parties upon completion of reading the Torah." Although they had severed their ties with the Jewish community, they did not relinquish their heritage, passing this wealth on to Islam. These isrd'iliyydt were absorbed in the Islamic system of values and eventually became an integral part of it. It is only natural, then, that praise of Jerusalem should be of such importance in the body of isrd'Iliyyiit. The role played by the zuhhdd or pious ascetics has also been mentioned. There is evidence that these people did in fact circulate Jerusalem praise literature. I) It should also be noted that some of them served in the Umayyad government 14which was extremely interested in developing and promoting such literature. 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 Ibn Hadjar al-Haythami, al-Sawd' iq al-Muhriqa, ed. 'Abd al-Wahhab 'Abd al-Latif (Cairo 13751 1955), p. 32; Life of the Prophets. anon., ms. British Museum 1510. f. 250a. See 'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Musannaf. V, ed. 'Abd al-Rahrnan al-A'zarni (Beirut 1392/1972j, pp. 426-428. AI-FakihI, Ta'rfkh Makka, ms. Leiden, Or. 463, f. 469b-470a. Muqatil, Tafsir. II, p. 169a. Nu'ayrn b. Harnmad, K. al-Fitan. ms. British Museum, Or. 9449, f. 65a (and compare ibid .. f. 65bj. Al-FakihI, ibid., f.416b. See Ibn Sad, Tabaqtit, VII (Beirut, 1960), pp. 110, 222. See for example Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Isti'tib, ed. 'All M. al-Bidjawi, III (Cairo 1380/1960j, p. 894. no. 1518 (wa-rawa /f fadli-l-shtim al-a~iidfth). See for example al-Minqari, Waq'at Siffin. ed. 'Abd al-Salarn Harun (Cairo 1382/1963), pp. 85-86, about the role of Abu Muslim al-Khawlani in the battle between 'All and Mu'awiya. 

bani_israil.pdf Haddithu 'an bani isra'ila wa-Ia haraja A Study of an early tradition This widely current tradition was variously interpreted by Muslim scholars. They differed in their opinions about the significance of the words of this hadith, its intent and its implications. The core of the discussion lay in fact in the problem whether it was lawful to turn to Jewish and Christian sources for guidance, to study Jewish and Christian compilations and to incorporate certain aspects from them into the Muslim cultural tradition and belief. Scrutiny of some of these discussions may help to elucidate the tendencies of the various religious groups in Islam and assist us in gaining a deeper insight into the attitudes of Muslim scholars. I The tradition Haddithu 'an bani isra'il was considered by Goldziher as one which is opposed to the trend of Muslim orthodox scholars who watched with reluctance the influence of Jewish Aggada and of Christian legends on Muslim tradition.1 The transmission of this hadith, says Goldziher, serves as evidence of the controversy among the scholars of the second century about the transmission of Jewish lore. The earliest source in which this tradition is recorded is the Risala of al-Shafi'i (d. 204).2 This tradition is also reported in the Jami' of Ma'mar b. Rashid (d. 154),3 and in 'Abd al-Razzaq's Musannafwith the following isnad: 'Abd al-Razzaq > aI-Auza'I4 > Hassan b. 'AtiyyaS > Abu Kabsha6 > 'Abdallah b. 'Amr b. aI'As. The Prophet said: "Transmit on my authority, be it even one verse (from the Qur'an), narrate (traditions) concerning the Children of Israel and there 1 Muhammedanische Studien (Halle, 1890), II, 137, note 3; and see G. Vajda, "Juifs et Musulmans selon Ie Hadit", JA CLXXIX (1937), 115-120; S. D. Goitein, Banu [sra'i1, E[2. 2 Melanges Judeo-Arabes, IX, "Isra'iliyyat", REJ XLIV (1902) 64, note 2. 3 Ms. FeyzuIlah 541, fo1. 59b, inf. (See F. Sezgin, GAS, I, 291). 4 See on him F. Sezgin, GAS, I, 516. 5 See on him Ibn l;Iajar, Tahdhib al-tahdhib (Hyderabad, 1327), II, 251, no. 460; al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-i'tidal, ed. 'Ali Mul;!arnmad al-Bijawi (Cairo, 1382/1963), I, 479, no. 1809. 6 See on him Ibn I;Iajar, Tahdhib, XII, 210, no. 974. is nothing objectionable (in that); he who tells a lie on my authority - let him take his place in Hell."? In the Musnad of Ahmad b. Hanbalf this tradition is recorded with the same chain of transmitters; it contains however a slight variant: wa-man kadhaba 'alayya muta'ammidan, "intentionally't.? 7 Ms. Murad Molla 604, fol. 113b: ballighii 'annt wa-lau iiyatan wa-haddithii 'an bani isra'tla wa-ld haraja fa-man kadhaba 'alayya kadhibatan fa-l-yatabawwa' maq'adahu min al-niiri. And see this tradition: al-Tabarani, al-Mu'jam al-saghir, ed. 'Abd al-Rahman Muhammad 'Uthman (Cairo, 1388/1968), I, 166; al-Fasawt, al-Ma'rifa wa-l-ta'rikh, Ms. Esad Ef. 2391, fol, 162b; al-Nuwayri, Nihdyat al-arab (Cairo [reprint] 1964), XIV, 182; Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-auliyii' (Cairo, 1351/1932), VI, 78. 8 Ed. Ahmad Muhammad Shakir (Cairo, 1953), XI, 127, no. 6888; cf. al-Bayhaqi, Ma'rifat al-sunan wa-l-dthiir, ed. Ahmad Saqr (Cairo, 1389/1968), I, 48-51. 9 See about the tradition man kadhaba 'alayya: Ibn al-Jauzi, Kitdb al-maur/u'at, ed. 'Abd al-Rahman Muhammad 'Uthman (Cairo, 1386/1966), I, 55-98; and see ibid., p. 63 the remark of Wahb b. Jartr: wa-lldhi, md qdla "muta'ammidan", wa-antum taqalana "muta'ammidan"; cf. al-Khattb al-Baghdadl, Taqyid al-'ilm, ed. Youssef Eche (Damascus, 1949), p, 29: waman kadhaba 'alayya; qiila hammiimun: ahsibuhu qdla "muta'ammidan" ... fa-l-yatabawwa' ... ; cf. J. Goldziher, Muh. St., II, 132 (see notes 3-4); and see Ahmad b. Hanbal, op. cit., IV, nos. 2675, 2976; V, nos. 3694, 3801, 3814, 3847; II, nos. 584, 629, 630, 903, 1()()()"'1001, 1075, 1291; I, nos. 326, 469, 507; VI, nos. 4338, 4742; VII, nos. 5232, 5291; IX, nos. 6309, 6478; X, nos. 6592, 6593. And see an interesting setting of this utterance ibid., VI, no. 4156: jama'ana rasidu Ildh! (s) wa-nahnu arbaiina, fa-kuntu fi dkhiri man atiihu, qdla: innakum mansiiriina wa-musibuna wa-maftiihun lakum, fa-man adraka dhiilika fa-l-yattaqi llaha wa-lya'mur bi-l-ma'rufi, wa-l-yanha an al-munkari, wa-man kadhaba 'alayya muta'ammidan ... ; and see a remarkable version ibid., V, no. 3025: ittaqii l-haditha 'annt ilia md 'alimtum; qdla: wa-man kadhaba 'ala l-qur'dni bi-ghayri 'ilmin fa-l-yatabawwa' ... ; cf. al-Daylaml, al-Firdaus, Ms. Chester Beatty 3037, fol. 27a: ittaqu l-hadttha 'anni ilia md 'alimtum, fa-innahu man kadhaba 'alayya muta'ammidan ... ; cf. Ahmad b.Hanbal, op. clt., IV, no. 2976: ... man kadhaba 'alayya ... wa-man kadhaba fi l-qur'iini ... ; and see ibid., III, no. 2069: ... man qiila ft l-qur'iini bi-ghayri 'ilmin ... ; and see Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqdt (Beirut, 1957), II, 337: ... man qiila 'alayya md lam aqul fa-qad tabawwa'a ... ; cf. al-Jarraht, Kashf al-khafd' wa-muzil al-ilbiis (Cairo, 1352), II, 275, no. 2593; Ibn al-Athlr, al-Nihdya, ed. al-Zawl-al- Taniil)l (Cairo, 1963), I, 159; al-Tirmidhi, $a/.zi/.z (Cairo, 1934), XIII, 167 where this utterance is connected with the story of khiisif al-na'l; al-Qundiizl, Yaniibi' al-mawadda (Kazimiyya, 1385), pp. 59, 209; al-Khattb al-Baghdadt, Ta'rtkb Baghdad (Cairo, 1349/1931), I, 265; al-Safarlni, Ghidha' al-albdb (Cairo, 1324), I, 118; Yusuf b. Musa al-HanafI, al-Mutasar min al- mukhtasar (Hyderabad, 1362), II, 261-262; al-Tabaranl, op. cit., II, 55;al-Fasawi op. cit., fol. 158a; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak (Hyderabad, 1342), II, 401; al-Dhahabt, Mizdn, IV, 393 sup.; AbU Nu'aym, op. cit., II, 369; cf. Abu 'Ubayd, Farla'if al-qur'iin, Ms. Leiden, Or. 3056, fol. 3b: ... anna rasiila lldhi ($) 'ahida ilaynd fi hajjati l-wadd'i fa-qdla: 'alaykum bi-l-qur'iini fa-innakum sa-tarji'iina ilii qaumin yashtahiina l-haditha 'anni fa-man 'aqifa shay'an fa-l-yuhadditk 'annt bihi, wa-man qdla 'alayya md lam aqul fa-l-yatabawwa' bay tan au maq'adan It jahannam; and see al-Suyutt, al-Jiimi' al-kabtr, Ms. al-Jazzar, Acre, I, 351: haddithi; 'anni kama sami'tum we-ld haraja, ilia man akhbara 'ala lldhi kadhiban muta'ammidan li-yudilla bihi l-ndsa bighayri 'ilmin fa-I-yatabawwa' maq'adahu min al-ndri; Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam, Futu/.z Misr, ed. 216 Haddithii 'an bani isra'ila The tradition haddithii 'an bani isrii'il forms, as we see, a part of a combined hadith in which the Prophet bids the faithful to transmit verses (of the Qur'an), urges them to narrate (traditions) concerning the Children of Israel and warns them not to lie while transmitting traditions on his authority. In some versions only two parts of the combined tradition are recorded: "Transmit on my authority be it even one verse and narrate concerning the Children of Israel and there is nothing objectionable (in that)."10 The same version as given in the Jiimi' of Ma'mar b. Rashid, consisting of three parts, is recorded by al-Mu'afa b. Zakariyya (d. 390) in his al-Jalis al:;alil,lal-kiifi wa-l-anis al-na$il,lal-shdfi.t) and is accompanied by a comprehensive comment by the author. The Children of Israel, al-Mu'afa argues, were specified in this tradition because of the miraculous events which had happened to them, just as the sea was specified because of the miraculous features which are in it; the permission was granted to narrate about (the wonders of) the sea with keeping away from sin of lie. 12 The tendency apparent in this tradition to emphasize the miraculous and wonderful aspect of the stories about the Children of Israel is reflected in an enlarged version of this saying: haddithu 'an bani isrd'ila fa-innahu kdnat fihim a'iijibu.s> Al-Mu'afa records two views about the syntax of wa-lii haraja. These views give two quite different interpretations of the expression. According to one opinion ld haraja is a khabar, a predicate; the meaning of the expression is thus: there is nothing objectionable in telling these stories. As many people, argues Mu'afa, are reluctant to listen to these stories, this hadith' grants permission to transmit them, for refraining from transmitting them might bring about the disappearance of wisdom and might cause the roads of thought to be closed up, the means of knowledge to be interrupted, the doors of consideration and exhortation to be shut. The other view considers the phrase wa-ld haraj as denoting a prohibition. It is equivalent with wa-lii tahruju, do not commit sin by telling stories which you know are lies deceiving peopie by telling these stories. 14 C. Torrey (New Haven, 1922),273 inf.-274: man kadhaba 'alayya kadhibatan muta'ammidan ... associated with: ala, wa-man shariba l-khamra ... 10 Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jdmi' bayiin al-'ilm wa-fadlihi (Cairo, 1346), n, 40; al-Quda'], Shihab al-akhbiir, Ms. Br. Mus., Or. 6496, fo1. 39a. 11 Ms. Topkapi Saray, Ahmet III, 2321, foIs. 3a-4a. 12 Fo1. 4a: ... wa-khassa bani isrii'ila bi-hiidhd li-ma madd fthim min al-a'ajibi kama khassa l-bahra bimd fihi min al-a'ajibi ... (the allusion refers apparently to the well known utterance, or proverb: haddith 'an al-bahri wa-ld haraj; see al-Jarraht, op. cit., I, 352, no. 117). 13 Al-Daylaml, op. cit., fo1. 72a; L 'A, s.v. /:I r j. 14 Al-Mu'afa, op. cit., fo1. 4a: ... wa-lii haraja yattajihu fihi ta'wilani, ahaduhumd an yakiina khabaran mahdan fi mandhu wa-lafzihi, ka-annahu dhakara bani isra'tla wa-kiinat fihim 217 The two grammatical constructions reflect in fact two conflicting interpretations of the tradition. Taking la haraja as khabar implies that there is no objection whatsoever to tell the stories about the Children of Israel whether true or invented. The motivation adduced for this permission is of interest: refraining from transmitting these stories would bring to a stop the transmission of the hikma, the wisdom, and of thoughtful scrutiny of stories concerning past people and prophets. Further it brings to Iight the fact that some orthodox circles disliked stories about the Children of IsraeI, which must have been widely current. On the other hand Iii haraja, taken as prohibition, implies an interdiction to transmit popular stories similar to those of the qU$$ii$. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi records the same hadith. in a different context altogether. "Do not write anything on my authority except the Qur'an" - says the Prophet. "Let one who writes anything else efface it. Narrate (traditions) concerning the Children of Israel and there is nothing objectionable (in that). He who tells lies on my behalf shall take his place in Hell."15 In this version of the hadith the permission to narrate stories about the Children of Israel is coupled with the interdiction to record in writing the utterances of the Prophet. A certain difference is noticeable in the intent of a tradition recorded on the authority of Abu Hurayra. The Prophet, the tradition says, saw people writing his utterances. He rebuked them and forbade to write his hadith. "Do you desire a book besides the book cf God"? - the Prophet asked. "The only thing that Ied astray the peoples preceding you was the fact that they put down in writing (things) from books beside the Book of God." Then people asked the Prophet: "Shall we transmit (traditions) on your authority?" "Transmit on my authority, said the Prophet, and there is nothing objectionable (in that); and he who lies about me intentionally let him take his seat in Hell." Those present asked: "Shall we tell the stories about the Children of IsraeI"? The Prophet answered: "Narrate concerning them and there is nothing objectionable (in that). Whatever you tell about them, there are always a'ajibu, wa-kiina kathirun min al-ndsi yanbis sam'uhum 'anha, fa-yakunu hiidha maqta'atan Ii-man 'indahu 'i1mun minhii an yuhadditha l-niisa biha; fa-rubbamd addii hiidha ilii durusi l-hikmati wa-nqitti'i mawiiddi I-fa'idati wa-nsidddi tariqi i'mali l-fikrati wa-ighliiqi abwdbi l-itti'iizi wa-l-ribrati, fa-ka-annahu qdla: laysa fi tabadduthikum bi-md 'alimtumuhu min dhdlika harajun; wa-l-ta'wtlu l-thdni an yakima l-ma'nd It hadha l-nahya; fa-ka-annahu qdla: wa-lii tahrajti bi-an tatahaddathii bi-md qad tabayyana lakum I-kadhibu fihi, muhaqqiqina lahu au gharrina abadan bihi. 15 Taqyid ai-iilm, pp. 30-31: Iii taktubii 'anni shay'an ilia l-qur'iina, fa-man kataba ghayrahu fa-l-yamhuhu, wa-haddithii 'an bani isrii'ila wa-la baraja, wa-man kadhaba 'alayya fa-l-yatabawwa' maq'adahu min al-ndri. 218 Haddithii 'an bam isra'ila things which are more wonderful."16 The permission to narrate stories about the Children of Israel is here put in opposition to the prohibition to record the traditions of the Prophet in a written form. It is however established as being on a par with the oral transmission of Prophetic traditions. Even the wording is identical: haddithii 'anni wa-lii haraja and haddithii 'an bani isrii'ila wa-lii haraja. Of quite a different content is the tradition reported by Zayd b. Aslam and recorded in Ma'mar b. Rashid's Jiimi',17 The Prophet said: "Do not ask the people of the Book about anything, because they will not show you the right path having already led themselves astray." We asked: "0 Messenger of God, may we not narrate (stories) concerning the Children of Israel" ? The Prophet answered: "Narrate, there is nothing objectionable (in that)." In this tradition the setting and the circumstances of the utterance are quite different. Here a clear line is drawn between the problem whether to consult the people of the Book in religious matters and the question whether to narrate stories from their history. It is forbidden to ask the people of the Book about problems of religion and belief; they cannot guide anyone because they themselves went astray. But it is permitted to narrate stories about them. Ibn al-Athlr recordstf some of the interpretations already mentioned, in which the miraculous character of the stories is stressed, and he further mentions some additional ones. Haraj denotes narrowness l? and is applied to denote "sin" and "forbidden deeds." Ld haraja has to be glossed: Iii ithma, Iii ba'sa.2o The expression indicates that there is no sin, there is nothing objectionable in narrating the wonderful events which happened to the Children of Israel, even if these events might not happen to the Muslims; this does not mean, however, that one is permitted to tell lies. Slightly different is another interpretation quoted by Ibn al-Athlr that there is no sin or objection to narrate about the Children of Israel stories as they 16 Ibid., p. 34: kharaja 'alaynd rasidu lldhi (s) wa-na(znu naktubu l-ahiiditha, fa-qdla: mii hiidhd l/adhi taktubiina'l qulnii: aluidithu nasma'uhii minka. qiila: kitiibun ghayru kitdbi lldhi ], atadriina md [a] dalla l-umama qablakum? ala bi-ma ktatabii min al-kutubi ma'a kitiibi lldhi ta'ala? qulnd: a-nuhaddithu 'anka ya rasida lliihi'! qdla: haddithii 'anni wa-la haraja, wa-man kadhaba 'alayya muta'ammidan fa-I-yatabawwa' maq'adahu min al-ndri. qulnd: fanatahaddathu 'an bani isrii'lla'l qiila: haddithii wa-ld haraja, fa-innakum lam tuhaddithii 'anhum bi-shay'in ilia wa-qad kdna fihim a'jabu minhu ... 17 Fol. 59b; 'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Musannaf, Ms. fol. I13b: bab hal yus'alu ahlu l-kitdbi 'an shay'in ... 'an zaydi bni aslama anna I-nabiyya ($) qa/a: la tas'alu ahla l-kitiibi 'an shay' in fa-innahum Ian yahdiikum, qad adalla anfusahum. qi/a: ya rasida lldhi, ala nuhaddithu 'an bani isrd'ila ? qdla: (zaddithu wa-ld haraja. 18 Al-Nihiiya, I, 361. 19 See Raghib al-Isfahanl, al-Mufraddt It gharib al-qur'iin (Cairo, 1324), p. llI, S.v. (z r j. 20 See al-Majlisi, Bihdr, IV, 495 (new ed.). 219 were told, whether these stories are true or not; the remoteness of time (i.e. between the period of the Children of Israel and the time of Islam - K) makes it impossible to verify the story and the transmitter cannot be responsible for its reliability. This is set in opposition to the traditions about the Prophet: a haditb should only be transmitted after one has made sure about the soundness of the transmission and the righteousness of the transmitters.s! This interpretation was adopted by al-'AzIzI (d. 1070) who is even more explicit in his comment. "Narrate concerning the Children of Israel" glosses aI-'AzIzI by "tell about them the stories and exhortations" (ballighii 'anhum al-qisasa wa-l-mawii'izai. La haraja is explained by the statement that there is no sin incumbent upon a transmitter who records these stories without isndd. Because of the remoteness of time it is enough to make an assumption that the tradition concerns them (fa-yakfi ghalabatu l-zanni bi-annahu 'anhum). This tradition is followed by a hadith, which urges people to transmit traditions about the Prophet and warns against invention and lie in such traditions.22 Here the expression haddithii 'anni bimd tasma'iina is explained by the recommendation to observe sound isndds and to refrain from the transmission of hadiths with faulty isndds. The reasons for the permission to narrate stories about the Children of Israel as opposed to con suIting them concerning their religious tenets is expounded by al-Munawl (d. 1031). There is no contradiction between the haditli which allows the transmission of stories and the one which interdicts the transmission of tenets and rules, al-Munawl argues. The transmission of their religious law is in fact forbidden because their rules were abrogated.23 Al-'AlqamI (d. 969) considers the permission to narrate stories in the light of the changes which took place in the Muslim community. The Prophet, al'Alqami argues, disapproved of studying the books of the Children of Israel and deriving knowledge from them. Later the situation improved and the prohibition was lifted. The prohibition was issued when the prescriptions of M uslim law and the foundations of the Islamic religion had not been firmly established, out of fear of e fitna (allurement). When that which was apprehended ceased, permission to narrate was granted, because listening to accounts of past events 21 Al-Nihdya, I, 361; and see al-Jazarl, Qi$a$ al-anbiyii' (al-Najaf, 1964), p. 522 (quoting Ibn Athir); and see ibid., p. 522 supra, a ShI'i permission to transmit the stories of the Children of Israel. 22 Al-Siriij al-munir (Cairo, 1957), II, 223: baddithu 'anni bimd tasmaana wa-la taqidt; illd haqqan, wa-man kadhaba 'alayya buniya lahu bay tun fi jahannama yarta' u fihi. 23 Al-'Azizi, op. cit., II, 145: ... wa-idhnuhu Iii yunaft nahyahu ft khabarin dkhara li-anna l-ma'dhiina fihi l-tahdithu bi-qisasihim wa-l-manhiyyu 'anhu l-'amalu bi-ahkdmihim li-naskhihd, 220 Haddithii 'an bani isrilila entails edification.24 Al-'Alqaroi seems thus to consider the saying haddithii 'an bani isrii'i/a as an utterance abrogating an earlier prohibiting utterance. Al-Jarrahl (d. 1162) quotes this interpretation among other interpretations recorded by him. As proof of the prohibition to narrate stories concerning the Children of Israel al-Jarrahi mentions the story of 'Umar who was forbidden by the Prophet to copy from the Torah. Later, says al-Jarrahi, the permission to narrate such stories was granted, and this is why the utterance was issued. 25 Some of the interpretations reflect a tendency to limit this permission or even to cancel it. The Iii haraja, "there is nothing objectionable", may be complemented by a phrase: "if you do not narrate". 26 The hadith thus stresses the obligatory character of the transmission of a tradition of the Prophet, but leaves it to the discretion of the faithful whether to narrate about the Children of Israel. A restricting interpretation asserts that the term Banii Isra'Il refers to the sons of Jacob; the haditn urges their story to be narrated together with that of Joseph. This interpretation is rejected by al-'AzIzI with the remark: wahddhd ab'adu l-aujuhi.tt A peculiar interpretation explains the reason for this permission by stating that the stories about the Children of Israel contain some distasteful expressions and therefore it was necessary to stress that their transmission was not objectionable.28 But these restricting interpretations were not effective. The saying haddithii 'an bani isrd'ila wa-ld haraja, attached to various other traditions, became widely current among Muslims in the first half of the second century. This permission to narrate stories about the Children of Israel caused the door to be opened widely to Jewish lore and traditions transmitted by Muslim scholars. II The themes covered by the stories about the Children of Israel are very extensive. They include stories about prophets and their warnings, about sins committed by the Children of Israel and the punishment inflicted on them, 24 Ibid.,: ... wa-qdla I-'alqamiyyu: ay la 4iqa 'alaykum l-tahdithi 'anhum li-annahu kana taqaddama minhu (~) al-zajru 'an al-akhdhi 'anhum wa-l-nazari ft kutubihim thumma basala l-tawassu'u Ii dhdlika; wa-kdna l-nahyu waqa'a qabla istiqrdri l-ahkdmi l-isldmiyyati wa-lqawd'idi l-diniyyati khashyata l-fitnati; thumma lammii ziila l-mahdhiau waqa'a l-idhnu Ii dhdlika lima sima'! l-akhbdri llatt kiinat fi zamanihim min al-i'tibdrt. 25 Al-Jarrahr, op. cit., I, 353. 26 Ibn al-Athtr, op. cit., I, 361: ... wa-haddithu 'an bani tsrii'tla wa-ld haraja, ay: lii haraja 'alaykum in lam tuhaddithii 'anhum; and see al-Jarraht, op. cit., I, 353, Il. 11-12; ai-'Azizi, op. cit., II, 145. 27 Al-Siriij al-munir, II, 145. 28 Ibid. n n 221 about the sufferings of the righteous and pious and the reward granted to them by God, about utterances and sayings of sages and wise men, about supplications of prophets and pious men, about speeches and wills of nobles, saints and martyrs. These stories usually called "Lsrii'iliyydt" included predictions of the early prophets about the appearance of the Prophet and descriptions of the Muslim community, about Caliphs and rebels, about decline of dynasties, about the Mahdi and the signs heralding the Day of Judgement. This lore was transmitted by Jews and Christians or by members of these two religions who studied their Scriptures and embraced the faith of Islam. In the widely current tradition about the supplications of Moses,29 he implored the Lord to grant his people, the Children of Israel, the excellent qualities and merits which were enumerated in the Torah; God preferred however to choose the Muslim community and to grant them these qualities and merits.sv The Torah also contains the description of the Prophet.s! God revealed to Moses that the Prophet would be sent and bade him inform the Children of Israel to obey him and embrace his faith,32 God also disclosed in the Psalms to David the appearance of the Prophet and recorded the qualities of his people.v Isaiah predicted in his prophecy the appearance of Jesus and Muhammad.ss God bade Jesus urge his people to embrace the faith of Muhammad and told him about the latter's personality.V Accordingly, it is evident that Muhammad is the heir of the preceding prophets and that the Muslim community inherited the rank and position of the Chosen People. A ShI'I tradition tells a story about a talk of the Prophet with a Jew in which the Prophet said that the first passage in the Torah stated: Muhammad is the Messenger of God; in Hebrew it is Tab (Tov - K); the Prophet then quoted other passages in which the wa$iyy 'Ali, his children Hasan and Husayn (Shubbar and Shubbayr) and Fatima were explicitly mentioned,36 It may be See Miskawayh, al-Hikmatu l-khiilidatu, 29 ed. 'Abd al-Rahman Badawl (Cairo, 1952), p, 133 imundjdt musa). 30 AbU Nu'aym, op. cit., V, 385-386; Ibn Zafar, Khayru l-bishar bi-khayri l-bashar ([n.p.), 1280), pp. 25-34; Ibn al-Jauzr, al- Wafd bi-ahwdl al-mustafd, ed. Mustafa 'Abd al-Wahid (Cairo, 1386/1966), I, 38-42; al-Tha'labI, Qisa« al-anbiyii' (Cairo [n.d.]), p. 27; al-Suyiltl, al-Hdwi li-l-fatiiwi, ed. Muhammad Muhyi l-Dln 'Abd al-Harnld (Cairo, 1387/1959),II, 281, 282 ult.-283; Ibn Kathlr, Shamii'il al-rasid, ed. Mu~tafa 'Abd al-Wahid (Cairo, 1386/1967), 114-115; al-BayhaqI, Dald'il al-nubuwwa, Ms. Br. Mus., Or. 3013, fo!' 64b. 31 See AbU Nu'ayrn, op. cit., V, 387; Ibn Kathlr, Shamd'il, pp. 111-115; al-Suyiitl, all;ltiwi, II, 282-283. 32 AbU Nu'aym, op. cit., VI, 33-35; al-Majlisl, Bihdr, XIII, 332-333, 340-341 (newed.). 33 Al-Suyutt, al-Hdwi, II, 281 inf.-282; Ibn Kathlr, Shamd'il, p. 115. 34 Ibn Kathir, al-Biddya wa-l-nihiiya, II, 32. 35 Al-Suyiitl, al-Hdwi, II, 114; Ibn al-Jauzl, al-Wafd, I. 60. 36 AI-Majlisi, op, cit., XIII, 331-332 (new ed.). 222 Haddithii 'an bani isra'ila mentioned that the names of the two sons of 'Ali, Hasan and Husayn, were given by the Prophet himself. The angel Gabriel revealed to the Prophet the names of the two sons of Aharon, Shubbar and Shubbayr, which are written in the Torah and ordered him to give these names to the two children of 'AlI. The rendering of these names is al-Hasan and al-Husayn-? (probably Hebrew: Shefer and Shaflr - K). Taking into account the fact that at first the name intended to be given to the children was Harb and that the Prophet stated in the well known haditli that 'Ali was in relation to the Prophet like Aharon to Moses, one can assess the political implication of the story. Scholars of the Holy Scriptures, Jews and Christians, were supposed to have the ability to foretell future events: they were thought to derive their knowledge from the Torah or other Holy Books. Ka'b standing at Siffin put his leg on a stone and said: "Woe to you Siff'in! The Children of Israel fought here with each other and left on the battle-field seventy thousand killed; so it will be with the Muslims." It really happened at the battle of Siffin between 'Ali and Mu'awiya, "There is no space on earth the events of which were not recorded in the Torah" - said Ka'b.38 In a talk with 'Umar, Ka'b is stated to have said: "Were it not for a sentence in the Qur'an (Sura xiii, 39), I would foretell to you everything which will happen until the Day of Judgement."39 Ka'b was accordingly able to tell 'Umar that the description of his personality is given in the Torah as qarn min hadid, and he could further predict that 'Umar would be killed; then the following Caliph will be killed by an unjust faction; afterwards disasters will prevail.w A bishop consulted by 'Umar could assert that he found 'Umar's description in his Scriptures as qarn min hadid (glossed 37 Al-Dhahabl, Siyar a'liim al-nubala', ed. As'ad Talas (Cairo, 1962), III, 165; Yawdqilt al-siyar, Ms. Br. Mus., Or. 3771, fol. 141a; al-Tabarl, Dald'il al-imdma (al-Najaf, 1383/1963), pp. 63, 73; Ibn Maktila, al-Ikmdl, (Hyderabad, 1381/1962),IV, 378; al-Tfisl, A mali (al-Najaf, 1384/1964), I, 377; Rijal al-Kashshi (al-Najaf [n.d.]), p. 26; al-Majlisi, op. cit., XII, 113; XXXIX, 63; XLIII, 237-242 (new ed.). 38 Ibn Abi l-Dunya, al-Ishrdf [i mandzil al-ashriif, Ms. Chester Beatty 4427, fol. 69a; Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, al-Isti'db, ed. 'Ali MuO. al-Bijawi (Cairo [n.d.]), III, 1287; al-Suyiitl, atHawt, II, 283-284; al-Qurtubi, al-Tadhkira, ed. Ahmad MuO. Mursi (Cairo [n.d.l), p, 543; Ibn Hajar, al-Isiiba (Cairo, 1325/1907), V, 250, no. 7157; al-Suyutl, al-Khasa'is al-kubrd, ed. Muhammad KhalU Haras (Cairo, 1386/1967),I, 80. 39 Al-Tabari, Tafsir, ed. Mahmud Muh, Shakir (Cairo, 1969), XVI, 484, no. 20485; alQurtubt, Tafsir, ed. Ibrahim Itfish (Cairo, 1387/1967),IX, 330; a ShY'!source (al-t.Ayyashl, To/sir, II, 215, no. 54) attributes this saying to 'Ali b. al-Husayn, 40 AI-Haythami, Majma' al-zawii'id (Beirut, 1967), IX, 65 infra.-66; cf. Abii Nu'aym, op. cit., V, 387 ult.-388 supra.; Muh, b. Yahya al-Ash'art al-Malaqi, al-Tamhid wa-l-bayiin fi maqtal al-shahid 'uthmdn, ed. Mahmiid Yiisuf Zayid (Beirut, 1964),p. 21 ; Ib;J.Ra's Ghanama, Mandqil al-Durar, Ms. Chester Beatty 4254, fol. 23a; Nu'aym b. Hammad, Kit. al-fitan, Ms. Br. Mus., Or. 9449, fol. 22a-b; al-Suyutl, al-Khasii'is, I, 77. 223 by him as qawiyyun, shadidun) and predict that he will be followed by a man, who has nothing objectionable in him (Iii ba'sa bihi), but he will prefer his relatives; 'Umar recognized forthwith that it would be 'Uthman, Afterwards, said the bishop, there will be "a crack in the rock" which he explained as "a sword drawn and blood shed." Later there will be a united congregation (jama'atun).41 'Abdallah b. Salam reported that the description of 'Uthman in the Book of God was: "the Commander of those who forsake and kill,"42 and foretold that he would be murdered.O Ka'b foretells the rule of Mu'awiya.s+ 'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr stated that everything foretold by Ka'b about his rule really happened to him.45 It is a Jew who foretells the just rule of 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz;46 and it is from the Torah that the prediction that heaven and earth will bewail the death of 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz is quoted.s? Ka'b foretells the appearance of the black banners of the 'Abbasids,48 gives the names of the descendants of 'Abbas who will rule the Muslim community-? and emphasizes in a separate statement: al-mansiiru mansiiru bani hiishimin.50 It is, of course, an utterance with important political implications. Who was the person the YemenIs believed to be al-Mansiir, can be gauged from the refutation of 'Abdallah b. 'Amr (b. al-'A~): yii ma'shara l-yamani, taqidiina inna l-mansiira minkum.fa-lii; wa-lladhi nafsi bi-yadihi, innahu la-qurashiyyun abiihu, wa-Iau ashii'u an ansibahu i/ii aqsii jaddin huwa lahu fa'altu.s) Tubay', the stepson of Ka'b, quoted from the Torah the name of Saffal). and predicted that he would live forty years.52 'Abdallah b. 'Amr b. al-'A~ quoted from the Books which he found after the battle of Yarmuk the names of the 'Abbasid Caliphs who would rule the Muslim community: Saffah, Mansur, al-Amln etc.53 Ka'b Nu'aym b. Hammad, op. cit., fol. 28a; al-Suyutt, al-Khasii'is, I, 78-79. Nu'aym b. Hammad, op. cit., fol. 41b; but al-Malaqi, al-Tamhid, p. 113 has instead of "amirun 'ala l-khddhil wa-l-qatil" "amtrun 'alii l-qatil al-amir" (erroneous) and "amirun 'ala l-qdtil wa-l-dmir" (correct); al-Suyiitl, al-Kh~ti'i$, I, 78-79. 43 AI-MiilaqI,op. cit., p. 113, 135-136, 176-177; al-Qurtubt, Tadhkira, p. 534; al-Haythamt, op, cit., IX, 92-93. 44 Nu'ayrn b. Harnmad, op. cit., fol. 28b. 45 Nu'aym b. Hammad, op. cit., Ms. Atif Ef. 602, fol. 4a, 1. 5 from bottom; al-Suyutt, al-Khasa'is, I, 80 ult.-81. 46 Nu'aym b. Hammad, op. cit., Ms. Br. Mus., Or. 9449, fol. 28a; al-Suytitl, al-Khasii'is, I, 81. 47 Al-Suyiitl, al-Hdwi, II, 284. 48 Nu'aym b. Hammad, op. cit., Ms. Br. Mus., fol. 53a. 49 Ibid., fol. 27b: .. .'an ka'bin qdla: yamliku thaliithatun min wuldi l-'abbasi al-mansiiru 41 42 wa-l-mahdiyyu 50 wa-l-saffdbu. Ibid., fol. 27a. 51 Ibid., fol. 27a. 52 Ibid., fol. 27a. 53 Ibid., fol. 25b; and see about the books and these traditions Ibn KathIr. al-Bidiiya, II, 298 infra.- 299 supra. 224 Haddithii 'an bani isra'/la predicts the signs which will announce the end of the 'Abbasid rule,54 gives details about civil wars which will occur in the different provinces of the Muslim Empire,55 and foretells the appearance of the SufyanI.56 Farqad aISabakhi predicts from the Holy Scriptures cruel battles in Judda.s? Jews and Christians predicted the appearance of the Prophet'f and it was Jews and Christians who knew the exact date of his death: two Jewish scholars from Yemen informed Jarlr b. 'Abdallah al-Bajali on the day of the death of the Prophet about the sad event. 59 A monk could fix precisely the date of the death of the Prophet for Ka'b b. 'Adiyy according to what he found in his Book.6o A Jew from 'Uman informed 'Amr b. al-'A~ on the day of the death of the Prophet about this; 'Amr recorded the date, checked it later and found it accurate.s! The opinion that the Holy Books of Jews and Christians include information about the life and actions of prophets of the period preceding Islam, about the Prophet and the fate of his community and the events which will occur became widely accepted.v- It was further a common belief that the contents of the Qur'an are included in the Books of the prophets preceding Muhammad.cThe Qur'an, on the other hand, includes the contents of the Books revealed to the earlier prophets. "What is contained in the Qur'an is contained in the earlier Books", formulates it al-Suyutl.e+ Nu'ayrn b. Hammad, op. cit., fol. 56a-b, 57a-b, 58b, (SOb, 1b. 6 Ibid., fols. 34b, 61b, 62a, 63a-b, 65a-b, 69b, 71a-b, 72a-b. 56 Ibid., fols. 74a-b, 81a. 57 Al-Fiikihi, Ta'rikh Makka, Leiden, Or. 463, fol. 414a. 58 See e.g, al-Nuwayri, op. cit., XVI, 136, 143, 149-153; al-Haythami, al-Ni'ma l-kubra (l;Ialab [n.d.]), pp. 28-29, 52-53, 62. 59 Ibn Kathir, al-Biddya wa-l-nihdya, Y, 278. 60 Ibid., Y, 278-279. 61 Ibn Hubaysh, al-Maghdzi, Ms. Leiden, Or. 343, p, 24. 62 See al-Suyuti, al-Hiiwi, II, 283: ... wa-waradat al-iithdru aydan bi-anna lldha bayyana li-anbiyd'ihi fi kutubihim jami'a md huwa wiiqi'un tt hddhihi l-ummati min ahdiithin wa-fitanin wa-akhbdri khulafa'iha wa-muliikihd ... And see 'Abd al-Jabbar, Tathbit dald'ili l-nubuwwa, ed. 'Abd aI-Karim 'Uthmiin (Beirut, 1966-68), II, 413: innamd lam yatammanau I-mauta li-anna l-yahiida wa-l-nasdrii kanu yu'miniina bi-miisd wa-ghayrihi mimman kana yadda'i l-nubuwwata, . wa-qad akhbara ha'ula'i fi kutubihim bi-nubuwwati muhammadin (s) fa-lam yuqdimii 'ala l-tamanni li-hiidhii . 63 Al-Suyutl, al-Hiiwt, II, 284: wa-qad u'turida 'alayya fi hddhd l-tariqi bi-annahu yalzamu 'alayhi an yakima kullu rna tt l-qur'iini mudammanan fl jami'i l-kutubi l-sabiqati; wa-aqidu: la mdni'a min dhalika, bal dallat al-adillatu 'ala thubiai hddhii l-lazimi ... 64 Ibid., II, 285: ... wa-qad nassa 'ala hddhii bi-t aynihi l-imdmu abu hanifata haythu stadalla bi-hddhihi l-ayati 'ala jawiizi qirii'ati l-qur'iini bi-ghayri l-lisiini l-'arabiyyi, wa-qdla; inna 1qur'iina mudammanun It l-kutubi l-siibiqati, wa-hiya bi-ghayri l-lisiini l-'arabi, akhdhan bihadhihi l-dyati (i.e. Siiraxxvi, 197-98), wa-mimmd yashhadu bi-dhdlika wasfuhu la'ala li-l54 55 225 The idea of identity of contents led consequently to the identification of some passages of the Holy Books with those of the Qur'an. The beginning of the Torah is identical with the beginning of Siirat al-An'iim, the end of the Torah is identical with the end of Siirat Hud.65 The Siirat Ya Sin is called in the Torah al-Mu'amma/o God urged Moses to read the verse of the Throne (Sura ii 256) after every prayer and mentioned the reward for this reading.s? Muhammad b. Ka'b al-Qurazi could identify a quotation from some Holy Books mentioned by Abu Sa'Id al-MaqburI with Sura ii 204.68 The first sentence in the Torah was Sura vi 152: "Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you ... etc.69 "Hiidhd" in Sura lxxxvii, 18: inna hddhd lafi l-suhufi l-iild, suhufi ibrdhima wa-miisii was interpreted as referring to the whole sura; the whole sura, the commentators maintained, was included in the Holy Books of the earlier prophets.v Another tradition states explicitly that the sura was copied from the Books of Moses and Abraham."t Some commentators tried to limit the extent of inna hddhii ... to some verses (ayat) of the sura.72 The Prophet is said to have given an utterance about the suhuf of Ibrahim and Musa: the suhuf of Ibrahim were proverbs, the suhuf of Musa were exempla ('ibar).73 Quotations from these suhuf are in fact uttered by the Prophet.IA very early compilation containing wise sayings, stories and exhortations of Ibrahim, Musa, Ayyub, Dawud, Sulayman, 'Isa, Yahya b. Zakariyya and Luqman is the Kitiib al-mawii'iz of AbU 'Ubayd al-Qasim b. Sallam (d. 224).75 The numerous traditions, sayings and stories, provided with chains of isndd and recorded by one of the greatest scholars of the second century of the Hijra, attest that in this period knowledge of Jewish and Christian tradition qur'iini yadayhi 'iddati mawiidi'a bi-annahu musaddiqun (text vowelled: rnusaddaqun) li-ma bayna min al-kutubi; fa-lau-ld anna rna fihi maujiidun fihii lam yasihha hiidlui l-wasfu ... 65 Abu Nu'aym, op, cit., V, 378. 66 Al-Suyuti, al-La'iili al-masnira, I, 234. 67 Al-Suyuti, al-La' ali al-masnu:a, I, 232-233; idem, al- Durr al-manthur, I, 325; Ibn Kathtr, Tafsir, I, 546. 68 Al-Tabarl, Tafslr, IV, 231-232, nos. 3964-65; al-Suyiitl, al-Durr, I, 238. 69 Al-Mausill, Ghdyat al-wasii'il ila ma'rifati l-awd'il, Ms. Cambridge Qq. 33, fol. 41a; al-Tabari, Tafsir, XII, 227, no. 14157 (and see nos. 14158-59); Abu Nu'ayrn, op. cit., V, 383. 70 Al-Shaukanl, Pat/:l al-qadir (Cairo, 1383/1964), V, 427; al-Suyiitl, al-Durr, VI, 341. 71 Al-Suyutl, al-Durr, VI, 341; al-Shaukant, Fatk al-qadir, V, 427: nusikhat hddhihi 1suratu min suhufi ibrdhlma wa-miisii; Cf. al-Suyuti, al-Hdwi, II, 285: hiidhihi l-siiratu fi suhufi ibriihima wa-miisii; al-Qurtubl, Tafsir, XX, 24: inna hddha ... qiila: hiidhihi l-silratu. 72 Al-Suyutl, al-Durr, VI, 341; al-Qurtubl, Tafsir, XX, 24: min qaulihi qad aflaha i1a dkhiri l-siirati : Ibn Kathlr, Tafsir, VII, 273. 73 Al-Suyiitl, al-Durr, VI, 341. 74 Ibid. 75 It M~. Hebrew University, Collection Yahuda, Ar. 95. 226 If addithii 'an bani isrd'ila was widely current and was without serious opposition incorporated into the Muslim religious tradition. "It is written in the Torah", says Khaythama b. 'Abd al-Rahman, "0 man, exert yourself in My service and I shall fill up your heart with sufficiency and I shall supply your want; but if you do not do it, I shall make your heart busy and shall not supply your wants. "76 "God revealed to Ibrahim," Wahb b. Munabbih reports, "0 king who undergoes trials, I did not send you in order to collect the goods of this world, nor to erect buildings; I sent you in order to answer on My behalf the call of the oppressed, because I shall not drive it back, even if it comes from an unbeliever."77 This utterance is recorded by al-Suyuti as a hadith.t» Ka'b quotes from the Torah, according to the early Jdmi' of Ibn Wahb, a commandment to obey one's parents.I? A saying about the disobedience of sons to their fathers is transmitted by Ka'b from the "Book of God."8o Ka'b asserts that the invocation of 'Abdallah b. 'Amr in connection with augury is found in the Torah.s! From the Torah Ka'b also quotes a saying about the contemptous attitude towards the wise on the part of his own people.e? The final sentence in the Torah, says Ka'b, is: al-hamdu li-lldhi lladhi lam yattakhidh waladan wa-lam yakun lahu sharikun Ii l-mulki.s» Maymiin b. Mihran states that on the Tablets of Moses was written: "Do not covet the possessions of your neighbour, nor his wife."84 The Chidren of Israel asked Moses to choose for them a sentence of the Torah, which they could learn by heart. He said: "In the same way you would like people to treat you, treat them." Al-Zamakhsharl remarks: "This phrase is the one chosen best from the Torah."85 Sa'Id b. abl HilaI86 records two commandments in the Tablets of Moses written by God on the tablets "with His own hand" and His injunction: "Like for the people what you like for yourself and dislike for them what you dislike for yourself. "87 In the first tablets given to Moses by God there was written: "Thank Me and thank your parents, then I shall keep you from danger of decay and I shall 76 AbU 'Ubayd, op. cit., f. 9b; al-Majlisl, op. cit., XIII, 357, I. I (new ed.); al-'Amili, alJawdhir al-saniyya, al-Najaf 1384/1964, p. 48. 77 Abu 'Ubayd, op. cit., fol. 6b; Ibn Qutayba, 'Uyiin al-akhbdr (Cairo, 1346/1928), II, 263. 78 Al-Durr, VI, 341. 79 Ibn Wahb, Jiimi'; ed. J. David Weill (Cairo, 1939), p. 12, I. 11. 80 Ibid., page 11, I. 10. 81 Ibid., page 98, I. 4. 82 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Khaulanl, Ta'rikb Diirayyd, ed. Sa'id al-Afghanl (Damascus, 1369/ 1950), p, 107. 83 Abu Nu'ayrn, op. cit., VI, 30. 84 Abu 'Ubayd, op. cit., fol. 9b, 1. 9. 85 Al-Zamakhsharl, Rabi' al-abriir, Ms. Br. Mus., Or. 6511, fol. 132b, infra. 86 See on him Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, IV, 94, no. 159. 87 Ibn Wahb, op. cit., page 20, I. 18. 227 lengthen your life and I shall give you a good life and transfer you into a better one."88 Tha'laba b. abl Malik89 says that 'Umar invited Jewish scholars and asked them to discuss (religious subjects - K). With them came Tha'laba's father, Abu Malik, who was a Jewish convert to Islam.w He came with a book, opened it and put his hand on a passage of it. When he lifted his hand and the Jewish scholars read: "he who shows filial piety to his father, God will lengthen his life" they admitted that it was revealed by God. People did not know it until that day.91 AI-Tha'iabi records the Ten Commandments revealed to Moses.92 Al-Nuwayri quotes al-Tha'Iabt; he remarks that God revealed to the Prophet the contents of the Ten Commandments in eighteen verses of the Qur'an, which he records.v' The maxim that as a part of filial piety one has to be beneficient to the friends of one's father after his death is quoted from the Torah.P+ Afaqih quoted from the Torah: "Woe to the man who sins, then asks forgiveness from Me ... "95 "In the Torah it is written", a Shi'i tradition says, "0 man, remember Me when you are angry, then I shall remember you when I am angry and I shall not annihilate you among those whom I shall annihilate; if you are unjustly treated be satisfied with My help to you, as My help is better for you than your help for yourself."96 "In the Torah it is written: he who sells landed property or (rights on) water not investing the sum gained in land or water (rights), the money (gained) will be squandered."97 It may be remarked that a similar tradition is reported on the authority of the Prophet: fa biiraka lldhu fi thamani ardin au ddrin Iii yuj'alu Ii ardin au darin.98 Some quotations from the Gospel and "other Books" are transmitted by Thaur b. Yazid.P? He read in the tauriit that Jesus said to the Apostles: Converse much with God, converse with people a little". They asked: "How should we converse with God"? He said: "Be in solitude with Him in your invocations and supplications",lOO Ka'b states that the well 88 AI-Majlisi, 90 91 92 89 See on him Ibn Hajar, op. cit., XIII, 358, no. 63. al-Isdba, I, 209, no, 948; Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba, VI, 169, no. 998. Ibn Wahb, op. cit., page 15, ll. 9-14. Qisas al-anbiyd'; p. 270. OPt cit., I, 212, no. 277 Nihdyat al-arab, XIII, 215-217. 94 Ibn Wahb, op. cit., page 14, ll. 14-15; cf. al-Sulami, Adab al-suhba (JerusaJem, 1954), p. 83, nos. 248-249 (and see ibid., the references of the editor). 95 Ibn Abi l-Dunya, Kit. al-tauba, Ms. Chester Beatty, 3863, fo1. 20b. 96 AI-Majlisi, op. cit., XIII, 358, no. 66. 97 AI-Majlisi, op. cit., XIII, 360, 73. 98 Mughultay, al-Zahr al-bdsim, Leiden Or. 370, fol. 120b; al-Tabari, al-Muntakhab min dhay/i l-mudhayyal (Cairo, 1358/1939), p. 59. 99 See on him Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, II, 33, no. 57. 100 Abu Nu'aym, op. cit., VI, 94. 93 228 Haddithii 'an bam isra'i/a of Zamzam is mentioned in "some Books."lOl "I found in the Torah", states Ka'b, that he who prays the five prayers in the mosque of Mecca (al-masjid al-bariim) God will record for him (the reward of) twelve million and five hundred thousand prayers.102 Even the verse of al-Hutay'a man yaf'al al-khayra Iii ya'dam jawiiziyahu: Iii yadhhabu I-'urfu bayna lldhi wa-l-ndsi was stated by Ka'b to be a sentence from the Torah.103 Additional quotations "from the Torah" could easily be muitiplied.l04 Only few of these quotations are in fact derived from that source. 105The majority of the flow of these quotations was derived from popular Jewish and Christian stories, legends, wise sayings and traditions which were introduced by Jewish and Christian converts to Islam and gained wide popularity. The Muslim scholars were however aware of the fact that the expressions "I found in the Torah", "it is written in the Torah", "it is recorded in the Torah" do not necessarily refer to the Pentateuch, or even to the Bible. Al-Jahiz remarks that the expression "maktiibun fi l-taurdti" as told on the authority of Ka'b refers in fact to things found in the Scriptures of the Jews like the books of the prophets and the books of Salomon. 106In a report given by Abu I-Aswad107 the Ra's al-Jdlia explains thst Ka'b lied when he said that his predictions were derived from the Torah; the Torah is a Book like the Qur'an ; Ka'b was in fact quoting from the books of the prophets and their companions, exactly as the Muslims narrate stories of the Prophet and his Companions.108 The sources are often referred to in a vague manner: "maktiibun fi I-kutubi", "qara'tufi ba'ifi I-kutubi", ''fi kitdbi lliihi";109 often the sources are not mentioned at all. 101 102 Al-Fakihl, op. cit., fol. 342a. Ibid., fol. 453a. 103 Usama b. Munqidh, Lubab al-iiddb, ed. Ahmad Muh. Shakir (Cairo, 1353/1935), p. 424 ult.; and see al-Hutay'a, Diwdn, ed. Nu'rnan Amtn Tiihii (Cairo, 1378/1958), pp, 291-292. 104 See e.g. al-Dhahabl, al-i Uluww li-l-t aliyy I-ghaffar, ed. 'Abd al-Rahman Muh. 'Uthman (Cairo, 1388/1968),p. 95; AbU Nu'aym, op. cit., IV, 48,38,58; al-Suyutl, al-Durr, IV, 182; Ibn Abi l-Dunya, al-Ishriif, fol. 76a-b; al-Majlisi, op, cit., XIII, 331, 342, 348, 357, 340; al-Tust, Amdli (al-Najaf, 1384/1964), I, 233; al-'Amili, al-Kashkid, ed. Tahir Ahmad alZawl (Cairo, 1380/1961), II, 132, 153. lOS See J. GoIdziher, "Uber Bibelcitate in muhammedanischen Schriften," ZATW XIII (1893), pp. 315-316. 106 Al Hayawiin, ed. 'Abd al-Salam Hiiriin (Cairo, 1385/1966),IV, 202-203. 107 See on him Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, IX, 307, no. 506. 108 Ibn Hajar, al Isdba, V, 324. 109 See e.g, Abu 'Ubayd, op. cit., fol. 16b; Abu Nu'aym, op. cit., IV, 27, 32, 33, 57; VI 16,55. 229 From "Hikmat ai Diiwiid" Abu 'Ubayd quotes the following passage: "It is incumbent upon a wise man not to be neglectful about four hours: an hour in which he exerts himself for his God, an hour in which "he makes accounts for his soul", an hour in which he talks with his friends who speak to him frankly about his vices and bad behaviour and an hour devoted to his lawful pleasures; this (latter) hour is a recreation for his heart and should help him to carry out the obligations of the three (former) hours. It is incumbent upon a wise man to know his time and to set about his matters. It is incumbent upon a wise man to set out on his journey with provision taken only for his life to come, approving the means of Iife and lawful pleasure" .110 In some other sources these utterances are quoted from the Suhuf Ibrdhim.s+) From the /fikmat dl Ddwiid the following saying is quoted: "Good health is a hidden good".112 Some quotations from Hikmat iii Ddwiid are given by al-'Amili113 and al-MajlisI.114 Abu Nu'aym records some quotations from "Mas' alat Diiwiid" .115 Al-'Amili quotes "Akhbiir Diiwiid" twice.1I6 The Psalms of David seem to have been in wide circulation. Qatada and RabI' b. Anas state that the Zabiir contains only invocations and praises of God; there are no commandments, no rules of penaI-Iaw, no statements about what is lawful or forbidden. 117 The first verses of the Psalms are often quoted. Two translations of these verses are recorded by aI-SuyutI,118 a third one by Ibn AbI l-Dunya, I 19 Ibn Tawus copies from the zabiir the following suwar: 110 Al-Mawa'iz, fol. lOb; cf. al-Suyuti, al-Durr, IV, 189, 1. 10; al-Khatib al-Baghdadi- Murjil; auhdm, I, 457 tfi hikmati al dawilda); Ibn Kathrr, al-Biddya wa-l-nihdya, II, 15 (fi hikmati al-da'uda). III Al-Majlisl, op. cit., XII, 71; al-Qurtubi, Tafsir, XX, 25; al-Suyutt, al-Durr, VI, 341. 112 Ibn Abi l-Dunyzr, al-Ishriif, fol. 93a (al-'afiyatu l-mulku I-khafiyyu). 113 Al-Jawiihir al-saniyya, p. 90, I. 3 from bottom, p. 95. 114 Bihar, XIV, 36, 41 (new ed.). 115 Al-Hilya, VI, 56-57; and see Ibn Kathir, al-Biddya wa-l-nihiiya, II, 14 inf. 116 Al-Jawdhir al-saniyya, p, 94. 117 Al-Suyiitl, al-Durr, IV, 188. 118 Ibid., IV, 188: a ... tuba Ii-rajulin fa yasluku tariqa l-khattii'tna wa-Iam yujdlis al-battiilina wa yastaqimu 'ala 'ibiidati rabbihi 'azza wa jalla, fa mathaluhu ka mathali shajaratin niibitatin 'ala siiqiyatin ld taziilu fihd l-mti'u yafdulu thamaruhii ft zamdni l-thimiiri wa ta tazdlu khadrti'a fi ghayri zamdni l-thimdri; (cf. Abii Nu'aym, op. cit., IV, 62 penult.), p. 189; b ... tuba Ii-man lam yasluk sabila I-athamati wa-Iam yujdlis al-khattii'ina wa-Iam yafi' tt hammi l-mustahzi'ina wa-Iakinna hammahu sunnatu Ilahi wa-iyyiihii yata'allamu bi-I-Iayli wa-l-nahari, mathaluhu mathalu shajaratin tanbutu 'ala shattin tu'ta thamaratahii fi IJiniha wa-ld yataniitharu min waraqihii shay' un, wa-kullu 'amalihi bi-amri, laysa dhalika mithla 'amalt l-mundfiqin ... 119 Kitiib al-tauba, Chester Beatty, 3863, fol. 15b: sal/am b. miskin: sa'altu nasriiniyyan md awwalu l-zabiiri, qdla: tilba Ii-tabdin lam yasluk sabila I-athamati wa-lam yujdlis I-mustahzi'ina wa-I-khiiti'Inai fa-dhakartu dhiilika li-miiliki bni dinarin fa-qdla: sadaqa. 230 lfaddithii 'an bani isrd'ila 2, 10, 17,23,30, 36,46,47,65,67,68,71,84, 100.120The Iast thirty Iines of the zabUr121 and a short passage from this source are given by Wahb.122 These translations are however not accurate; sometimes no similarity with the text can be detected. The wise sayings attributed to Salomon123 can be traced to Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. 124 Al-Muhasibi quotes from Hikmat 'jsii a saying about the love for worldly goods125 and a saying from Risdldt 'jsa.126 Lengthy chapters from $abii'ij Idris and Sunan Idris are recorded by Ibn Tawus.127 It would be needless to add quotations from the prophets Iike Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habaquq or from the Injil of Jesus. The compilation of Abu 'Vbayd may serve as the best proof for the flow of Jewish and Christian traditions which poured into Muslim circles and were gladly taken up by Muslim scholars. Reading the Torah was made lawful by the Prophet's permission. 'Abdallah b. 'Amr b. a1-'A~ told the Prophet about his dream. He saw that he had on one of his fingers honey and on the other one butter. The Prophet explained the dream and said: "You will read the two Books: the Torah and the Furqan (i.e. the Qur'an - K)". He read in fact both these Books.128 This tradition, transmitted by Ibn Lahi'a,129 was vehemently attacked by al-Dhahabi in the eighth century AH: nobody was allowed to read the Torah after the Qur'an had been revealed. The Torah, argues al-Dhahabi, had been changed and tampered with; truth and falsehood are mixed in this book. It is permissible to read this book for one purpose only: to answer the Jews.130 But opinions about the study of the Torah were quite different in the first century. Ibn 120 Sa'd al-suud (al-Najaf, 1369/1950), pp. 47-63; a great part of the quotations of Ibn Tawus were copied by al-Majlisi, op. cit., XIV, 43--48; and see ibid., pp. 36-37. 121 Abu Nu'aym, op. cit., IV, 46-47. 122 Ibid., IV, 67 inf. 123 Usama b. Munqidh, op. cit., p. 444: "wa-min kaldmi sulaymiina bni diiwuda 'alayhi l-saldm": Proverbs xxvii 1, 2, 10; xxix 19; Ecclesiastes xi 1. A'mdl al-qulub wa-l-jawdrih, ed. 'Abd al-Qadir Ahmad 'Ata (Cairo, 1969), p. 45. 126 Ibid., p. 82. 127 Sa'd al-su'ud, pp, 32--40; cf. al-Majlisi, op. cit., XI, 120-121, 151-152, 269, 282-283 (newed.). 128 Al-Dhahabt, Ta'rikh al-isldm (Cairo, 1367), III, 38; Abu l-Mahasin Yiisuf b. Musii al-Hanaft, al-Mu'tasar min al-mukhtasar (Hyderabad, 1362), II, 265; cf. al-Mausili, Ghiiyat al-wasii'il, Ms. Cambridge Qq 33 (10) fol. 42 inf. 129 See on him Ibn Kathlr, al-Bidiiya, VI, 242 ult. (ga'i); al-Tibrizl, Mishkiit al-masdbtb (Karachi, 1350), p. 160, I. 5 (ga'if); al-Dhahabl, Mizdn al-i'tidiil, I, 479, ult.; ibid., III, 267 (wa-bnu lahi'ata mimman qad tabarra'nd min 'uhdatihi); ibid., II, 475--483, no. 4530; al-Fasawt. op. cit., fol. 84a, inf.; Mughultay, al-Zahr al-bdsim, Ms. Leiden, Or. 370, fol. 116a. 130 Siyar a'lam al-nubala', ed. As'ad Talas (Cairo, 1962), III, 57. 124 125 231 Sa'd records a story about 'Amir b. 'Abd Qays and Ka'b sitting in a mosque: Ka'b read the Torah and explained some interesting passages to 'Amir.131 Ab111-Jald al-Jauni used to read the Qur'an and the Torah. He used to celebrate each conclusion of reading of the Torah (he read it during six days) summoning people (for this purpose) and used to quote a saying that Mercy descends at each conclusion of the reading of the Torah.132 sun tradition explicitly stressed the link between the Torah and the true knowledge of the Prophet, 'Ali and the succeeding Imams. The Tablets of Moses reached the Prophet and he handed them over to 'Ali,133 The Tablets of Moses, the Gospel, the $ubuf Ibrahim and the Zabiir are in the possession of the Shi'I Imams.134 The White Jafr contains the Torah, the GospeI, the Zabiir and the first Books of God. 135 The idea that there was identity of contents between Jewish revelation and Isiam was followed by the idea which established identity of fate between these two peoples. Ibn 'Abbas stated that everything which happened among the Children of Israel will happen to the Muslim community. 136The Children of Israel were righteous until the sons of their captive women grew up. They championed ra'y137 and therefore went astray and led other people astray, said the Prophet. 138This tradition is recorded by al-Fasawi and after it comes the following remark: "Sufyan said: 'We examined it and found that the first person to champion ra'y in Medina was Rabi'a, in Kufa Abu Hanifa, in Basra al-Battl; they were the sons of captive women'."139 The Prophet predicted that the Muslim community would follow a path identical with that of the Children of Israel and of the Christians.140 These points of resemblance refer, of course, to pejorative aspects of Jewish history; they are used to point out dangers which the Muslim community is facing. Sometimes, however, the identification is Jone in a laudatory spirit. Tabaqdt, VII, 110. Ibid., VII, 222. 133 AI-Majlisi, op. cit., XIII, 225 (new ed.); and see al-Saffar al-Qumml, Basii'ir al-darajiit, ([n.p.], 1285), pp. 37-38 sup.; al-'Ayyashi, op, cit., Ms. India Office 4153, fol. 127b. 134 Al-Majlisl, op. cit., XXVI, 180-189 (new ed.). 135 Ibid., XXVI, 18. 136 Nu'aym b. Hammad, op. cit., fo1. 4b: lam yakun [i bani isrii'ila shay'un ilia wa-huwa [ikum kii'inun. 137 Cf. "Ashab al-Ra'y", EI2 (Schacht). 138 Ibn Majah, Sunan (Cairo, 1349), 1, 28; al-Bayhaqi, Ma'rifat al-sunan, I, 110 (and see the references of the editor). 139 AI-Ma'ri/a wa-l-ta'rikh, fo1. 271a. 140 Al-Muttaqi I-Hindi, Kanz, XI, 123, nos. 555-556; Ibn al-Athrr, al-Nihdya, IV, 28; Ibn Tawas, Sa'd, pp. 64, 65, 116,1. 3; al-'Ayyashi, op. cit., Ms. foI. 93a-b; and see M. TaJbi, "Les Bida", Studia Islamica, XII, 50. 131 132 232 lJaddithii 'an bani isra'i/a The Aus and the Khazraj, says a tradition recorded by Ibn Ishaq, are descendents of four hundred scholars from among the Children of Israel, left by Tubba' in Medina. Abu Ayyub was the descendant of the scholar whom Tubba' entrusted with the keeping of the letter for the Prophet; Abu Ayyub indeed handed it over to the Prophet, 141A late compilation recording the story remarks that this genealogy of the An~ar is a Jewish plot.142 The Prophet states, according to a ShI'I tradition, that his name is Ahmad and Isra'Il and that the obligations Iaid by God upon Isra'Il are incumbent on him as well.l43 By Children of Israel the ('Alid - K) Al Muhammad are meant.t+t The 'Alids in the Umayyad period complained that they were "like the Al Musii in the time of Al Fir'aun".145 Ibn Tawas records many passages from the Torah about Aaron146 in order to stress the importance of the utterance of the Prophet, that 'All is in relation to the Prophet in the position of Aaron in relation to Moses.t-? The role of 'Ali as wa~iyy in relation to the Prophet corresponds to the role of Joshua b. Nun in relation to Moses.148 But the feeling of affinity or identity which Muslims experienced with regard to the righteous from among the Children of Israel did not detract from the latter's faults, sins and vices. The sunna of the Children of Israel should not be followed. In many traditions the Faithful are warned of these sunan and ordered to act contrary to them.149 Even their strictness in observing religious rites was criticized. "Do not be like the Children of Israel; having been strict with themselves, God imposed strictness on them."150 141 AI-Samhiidi, Wafa' al-wafd, ed. MuI;!.Muhyl l-Dln 'Abd al-Hamld (Cairo, 1374/1955), I, 188-189; Mughultay, op. cit., fol. 194a; Ibn Zuhayra, al-Jiimi' al-lattf, (Cairo, 1357/1958), pp. 51-54; aI-SaliQ.i, al-Sira al-shiimiya, Ms. Atif 1753, fol. 69a. 142 'Abd al-Hafiz b. 'Uthman al-Qari' al-Ta'if], Jala' al-quliib wa-kashf al-kurub bi-mandqib abi ayyiib, (Istanbul, 1298), pp. 14-15. 143 AI.'Ayyashi, op. cit., I, 44, no. 45 (and see ibid., note 6). 144 Ibid., I, 44, nos. 43, 44 (refers to Siira ii 48). 145 Furat, Tafslr (al-Najaf [n.d.]), p, 47, I. 1. 146 Sa'd al-su'iid, pp. 43-46; Ex. xxix 5, 27,31,44,13; Nurn. xvii 17. 147 Sa'd al-su'iid, pp. 43-46 (and see p. 43: t'lam anna qaula l-nabiyyi (~) li-mauliind 'aliyyi bni abi talibin ('a) anta minnt bi-manzilati hiiruna min musa yashtamilu 'alii kh~ii'i~a 'azimatin nabwi l-khiliifati; wa-qad wajadtu fi l-tauriiti min mandzili hiirUna min masa ma yadtqu mii qasadndhu bi-fusidi hadha l-kitiibt mimmd yantafi'u bi-ma'rifatihii dhawi; (text: dhawi) I-albabi, 148 149 Furat, op. cit., pp. 65-68. Furat, op. cit., p. 42: wa-ld ta'khudhu sunnata bani isrii'tla kadhdhabil anbiyii'ahum wa-qatalii ahla baytihim. 150 AI.'Amm, al-Kashkiil, I, 221: inna lliiha yuhibbu an yu'khadha bi-rukhasihi kamii yuhibbu an yu'khadha bi-razd'imihi, fa- qbalu rukhasa Iliihi wa-ld takunu ka-bant isra'il btna shaddadii 'ala anfusihim fa-shaddada lliihu 'alayhim; and see Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 1,193-194; cf. Samau'a\ la-Maghribl, If/;lam al-yahud, ed. M. Perlmann (New York, 1964), pp. 71-85. 233 III Contrary to the permission to transmit traditions about the Children of Israel concerning their history or stories about their prophets and saints, the early sources point clearly to the tendency of the orthodox circles to prevent the Faithful from learning or copying the Holy Scriptures of the People of the Book, and especially of legal chapters or chapters concerning the tenets of faith. 'Umar, says a tradition, walked past a Jew from Qurayza and asked him to copy for him summary chapters from the Torah. When he came to the Prophet and begged his permission to read these chapters, the face of the Prophet became changed (scil, with anger - K). 'Umar was frightened by this and exclaimed: "I am satisfied by Allah as God, by Islam as religion and by Muhammad as Prophet." When the rage of the Prophet had gone, he remarked: "I swear by Him Who keeps in His hand the soul of Muhammad: were Moses among you and if you followed him, leaving me, you would have gone astray; you are my lot among the peoples and I am your lot among the prophets" .151 It is interesting to note that the Jew in the story is referred to in a favourable manner: marartu bi-akhin li min qurayzata.tst It is also of interest that the Prophet emphasizes the adherence of Moses to his faith. According to a tradition on the authority of Anas, the Prophet met Jesus153 and al-Dhahabi considered Jesus as one of the Companions of the Prophet.154 An utterance of the Prophet similar to the one about Moses is recorded in the story of Hafsa. She brought to the Prophet a shoulder-bone on which was written the story of Joseph. The Prophet became angry, the colour of his face changed and he said: "Were Joseph to come while I am amongst you and were you to follow him, you would have gone astray" .155 Slightly different is the utterance of the Prophet as recorded in another tradition. 'Umar asked the Prophet whether he would be permitted to write down traditions (al;ziidith) heard from Jews, by which he was pleased. The 151 Al-Jiimi'; fol. 60a; 'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Musannaf, fol. 114a; al-Suyutl, al-Durr, II, 48; cf. another version of this tradition 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., fol. 114a with the utterance: innamd bu'ithtu fatiJ.zan wa-khdtaman wa-u'titu jawdmi'a l-kalimi wa-fawiitihahu wa-khtusira lt l-hadithu ikhtisiiran. And see AbU Da'ud, Mariisil (Cairo, 1310), p, 48; al-Khatib al-Baghdadt, Taqyid, p, 52. 152 See another version of this tradition in Muttaqi al-Hindi's Kanz, I, 334, no. 1629: 'Umar visited Khaybar and was pleased by some sayings of a Jew. The Jew dictated the sayings to 'Umar upon his request and 'Umar wrote them down on a skin which he brought to the Prophet. When 'Umar read it to the Prophet, he became angry and erased the writing. He said: "Do not follow these people because they got confused". 153 Al-Suytitl, al-Hiiwi, II, 288. 154 Ibid., p. 289, sup. 155 Ma'mar b. Rashid, al-Jdmi", fol. 133b; 'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Musannaf, fol. 114a. 234 Haddithii 'an bam isra'ila Prophet said: "Are you following the Jews and Christians in their confusion? I brought it (i.e. the religion, or the Qur'an - K) white and pure; if Moses were alive he would have to follow me",156 A special dya was revealed in connection with this problem. Some Muslims, the tradition asserts, brought to the Prophet certain books which they had copied from the Jews. The Prophet said: "It is an error grave enough when people prefer a thing brought by someone else to another people over that which their own Prophet brought to them". Then iiya 51 of Sura 29 was revealed: a-wa-lam yakfihim anna anzalnd 'alayka l-kitiiba yutlii 'alayhim ... etc. 157The Prophet finally gave his decisive utterance when asked by 'Umar about studying the Torah: "Do not learn the Torah, you have to learn what has been revealed to you (i.e. the Qur'an - K) and believe in it",158 In fact 'Umar forbade copying or reading the Books of Jews and Christians. According to a tradition a man came to 'Umar and informed him about a wonderful book which he had found in Mada'in when the Muslims had conquered the city. "Is it from the Book of Allah"? (i.e. the Qur'an - K) 'Umar asked. "No", said the man. 'Umar began to beat him with his whip, reciting the first four dyas from Siirat Yiisuf and said: "What caused the peoples who lived before you to perish was that they devoted themselves to the study of books of their scholars and bishops and abandoned the Torah and the Gospel until those two Books became effaced and knowledge of them disappeared",159 In another story a similar case is told. 'Alqama and al-Aswad came to Ibn Mas'ud and showed him a scroll ($abifa) containing a story which they found pleasing. 'Abdallah b. Mas'ud ordered to efface the script. "These hearts are vessels (of knowledge - K); engage them with the Qur'an, not with anything else", he said,16o 'Umar seems to have been especially concerned about the Book of Daniel. The book is said to have been found in a grave in Tustar when the Muslims conquered the city. It is said to have been Daniel's grave,161 The book was brought to 'Umar and he sent it to Ka'b who rendered it into Arabic. It is 156 Al-Zamakhshart, al-Fii'iq, ed. 'Ali Muh. al-Bijawi - Muh, Abu l-Fadl Ibrahim (Cairo, 1367/1948), III, 218; Abu 'Ubayd, Ghartb al-hadith (Hyderabad, 1385/1966), III, 28-29; cf. Ibn al-Athir, al-Nihdya, s.v. h w k; al-Majlisi, op. cit., VIII, 211 (lithogr. ed.). 157 Al-Suyutl, Lubab al-nuqid (Cairo, 1373/1954), p. 170; al-Qurtubl, Tafslr, XIII, 355; Ibn Shahrashub, Mandqib al abi falib (al-Najaf, 1376/1956), 1,48; Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Jiimi' baydn al-tllm, II, 40-41. 158 Al-Muttaql l-Hindl, op. cit., I, 333, no. 1627. 159 Ibid., I, 335, no. 1632. 160 Abu 'Ubayd, FarJa'il al-Qur'iin, Ms. Leiden, Or. 3056, fol. 4a-b. Abu 'Ubayd remarks: "We think that this scroll was taken from a man who belonged to the People of the Book, therefore 'Abdallah b. Mas'Iid disliked it". 161 See £12, s.v. "Daniyal" (G. Vajda). 235 said to have contained information about strifes (fitan) which will happen,162 Abu 1-'Aliya163 says about the book: "I was the first Arab to read this book the way I read the Qur'an." It contained, says Abu I-'Aliya, information about your history (siratukum) and your matters, your religion and the ways of your speech (lulziin kaldmikumy and what will happen in the future. 164When 'Umar was informed about a man who copied (or read) the Book of DanieI, he ordered that man to be brought into his presence, beat him with his whip until he promised to burn books of this kind and not to read them. 165 A saying from Kitiib Ddniydl is recorded by Hamd b. Muhammad aIKhattabi.166 A lengthy passage about the campaigns of the Sufyani is quoted from Kitdb Ddniyiil by AbU l-Husayn Ahmad b. Ja'far b. al-Munadi in his Kitdb al-maldhim and recorded by al-Qurtubi.to? A significant passage from Kitiib Diiniydl is recorded by al-Majlisi. It contains predictions about weather during the year, crops, plagues and wars established according to the date of the first day of Muharramtxaturday, Sunday, Monday ... etc.) and the month in which the eclipse of the sun or the moon will occur. Al-Rawandi marks this material as stories of the type of maliil;zim.168 The Book of Daniel seems to have been read by Ka'b and the twenty Jewish scholars in their discourse in Jerusalem. Ka'b gave orders to throw this book, which he described as being "the Torah as revealed by God to Moses, unchanged and unaltered", into the sea of Tiberias. Ka'b feared that people might rely on it (khashitu an yuttakala 'ala mii fihii). When the man sent by Ka'b arrived at the middle of the sea, the waters parted so that he could see the bottom of the sea, and he threw the Book into the sea,169 There was, of course, the danger of the intentional changes and alterations of the Scriptures carried out by the People of the Book. This is reflected in a tradition about Ka'b. He brought a book, whose leaves were torn out, to 'Umar stating that it contained (chapters of) the Torah, and asked permission to Nu'aym b. Hammad, op. cit., fol. 4b (= Ms. Atif, fol. 3a). See on him Ibn Sa'd, op. cit., VII, 112-117. 164 Al-Bayhaql, Kit. dala'it al-nubuwwa, Ms. Br. Mus., Or. 3013, fol. 65a; Ibn Kathtr, al-Bidaya wa-l-nihiiya, II, 40-41. 165 Al-Khatlb al-Baghdadl, Taqyid, p. 51; al-Muttaqt al-Hindt, op. cit., I, 332-333, no. 1626; ibid., 335-336, no. 1633; 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., fol. 114a. 166 Kitiib al-iuzla (Cairo, 1352), p. 80. 167 Al-Tadhkira, ed. Ahmad Muh, Mursl (Cairo [n.d.]), pp. 610--611. 168 Bihiir aI-anwar, LVIII, 346-350 (new ed.). 169 Al-Dhahabl, Siyar a'ldm al-nubald', III, 323-325; and see idem., Ta'rikn al-isldm, III, 99-101, on the bottom of the sea of Tiberias are buried the Ark of the Covenant and the Staff of Moses; they will be raised on the Day of Judgement. See al-Nuwayrl, op. cit., XVI, 43. 162 163 236 Haddithii 'an bani isra'/la read it. 'Umar said: "If you know that the book contains the Torah revealed by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, read it day and night." 170 Ibn Kathir, quoting the traditions which forbid the consultation of scholars from among the People of the Book remarks: "These traditions serve as evidence that they made changes in the Holy Scriptures which they possess ( ... baddalii mii bi-aydihim min al-kutubi l-samiiwiyati), altered them and interpreted them in an improper way." They did not possess comprehensive knowledge of their Scriptures; in their translations into Arabic they made many errors and mistakes. Furthermore, they had bad intentions and erroneous views. One part of the Torah is manifest, publicly revealed, but a great part of it is hidden. The manifest parts of the Torah contain changes, alterations, erroneous expressions and elusive ideas. Ibn Kathir accuses Ka'b of transmitting traditions many of which are not worth the ink with which they are written, and some of which are false. 171"Some of the Isra'iliyyiit were invented by some of their zaniidiqa; some of them may be sound, but we do not need them: what is written in the Book of God (i.e. the Qur'an - K) is sufficient for us and we do not need to look for it in the remaining books (revealed) before it; neither God nor His Messenger caused us to lack their knowledge."I72 The same accusations of lies, alterations, changes and intentional misinterpretations are repeated by Ibn Kathir in the course of a section in which he records the traditions which forbid consultation of scholars from among the People of the Book. 173 Ibn al-Jauzi, the prolific author of the sixth century AH, expresses similar views. The stories concerning the early peoples and especially the Children of Israel rarely contain authentic accounts. The Muslim religious law (shar'), Ibn al-Jauzi says, is sufficient and the Prophet ordered 'Umar to discard certain passages from the Torah which he brought to him. Some stories of the Isra'tliyyat are absurd, like the story about David who sent Uri yah to be killed in order to marry his wife,174 The early sources mentioned in this paper bear evidence of the close contacts between Muslims, Jews and Christians at the end of the first century of the Hijra. The traditions recorded by Ma'mar b. Rashid in his Jiimi' can be estimated as going back to original sources of the end of the first century. The material of Abu 'Ubayd in his Mawii'i? seems to stem from the same 170 Abu 'Ubayd, Gharib al-hadith, IV, 262; al-Zamakhsharl, al-Fd'iq, I, 651; Ibn al-Athlr, al-Nihdya, II, 468, s.v. sh r m; J. Goldziher, "Ober Muh. Polemik gegen Ahl al-Kitab", ZDMG XXXII, 345 (read correctly: fa-qra'hii ana'a l-layli). 171 Ibn Kathir, al-Biddya wa-l-nihiiya, II, 132-134. 172 Ibn Kathir, Tafstr, IV, 282. 173 Ibid., V, 329-330. 174 Ibn al-Jauzi, Kit. al-qussd«, Ms. Leiden, Or. 988, fol. 20a. 237 period. The assumption of W. Montgomery Watt175 that the material of the Bible discussed above was directed in the first phase towards illiterate people with no knowledge of the Bible, can hardly be accepted. W. M. Watt takes it that the passage in Ibn 'Abd al-Barr's Jiimi: baydn al-'ilm, II, 40-43 about "Avoidance of information from Jews and Christians" suggests "that it belongs to the first phase" because "it envisages Muslims conversing with Jews and Christians, but not reading their books"; 176 but this argument is in fact untenable. The tradition recorded by al-Bukharti?? reports explicitly that "the Jews used to read the Torah in Hebrew and to interpret it to the people of Islam in Arabic." AI-Suddi reports that some Jews used to compile books, claiming that they are books revealed by God, and used to sell them at cheap prices to the Arabs. 178 The stories about books of Ahl al-Kitdb being copied by Muslims, quoted above and mentioned in the chapter of Ibn 'Abd al-Barr bear evidence that the contacts between Muslims and the People of the Book were not confined to mere consultation. Lastly it may be remarked that the title of the chapter is: Biib mukhtasar fi mutdla' ati kutubi ahli l-kitdbi wal-riwdyati 'anhum. It is plainly stated that the subject discussed in the chapter is the reading of books of the Ahl al-Kitiib and transmission of traditions on their authority, not merely conversing. W. M. Watt's doubts, as to "whether any of it (i.e. the traditions recorded by Ibn 'Abd al-Barr) had its present form at a still earlier period" are unfounded; as far as the "Jdmi" of Ma'mar and the "Musannaf " of 'Abd al-Razzaq are concerned, the traditions and their isndds are copied by Ibn 'Abd al-Barr with accuracy; this can be ascertained by comparing the material of Ibn 'Abd aI-Barr with the Mss. quoted in this paper. As already mentioned there was no serious opposition to the Jewish and Christian traditions transmitted by Jewish and Christians converts, in so far as they concorded with the views of orthodox Isiam. Opposition seems to have appeared in connection with those aspects of the Jewish and Christian tradition which may have some bearing on Muslim belief or practice. In such cases the motives are clear; the stories about the prohibition to copy the Scriptures of Ahl al-Kitiib seem to be connected with cases of this kind. This can be gauged from the tradition about a group of Jews who embraced IsIam, but asked the Prophet's permission to observe the Sabbath and to study the Torah at night. They were, of course, denied this permission. A verse of the Qur'an (Sura ii 208) was revealed about it.179 175 The Early Development of the Muslim Attitude to the Bible (Glasgow Univ. Oriental Society Transactions. XVI. 1955-1956, pp. 50-62. 176 Ibid., pp. 60--62. 177 AI.. al;zil;z $ (Cairo [n.d.l), VI, 25; Ibn Kathlr, Tafstr, I, 329. 178 Al-Suyutl, al-Durr al-manthiir, I, 83. 179 Al-Tabarl, Taftir, IV, 255-256, no. 4016; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, I, 439-440; al-Suyutt, al-Durr, I, 271; al-Razt, Tafsir, V, 226. 238 Haddithii 'an bani isra'lla The orthodox solution was that a Muslim had to believe in the Torah and the Gospel, but not to observe the practices enjoined in these Books. The Prophet said: "Believe in the Torah, the Zabiir and the Evangel, but the Qur'an should suffice you."180 This formula, which breathes an air of compromise, enabled indeed the transmission of Jewish and Christian tradition. This tradition, licensed by the utterance haddithii 'an bani isrd'il became part and parcel of Muslim literature as is abundantly reflected in the literature of the tafsir, zuhd and adab.181 180 Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, I, 329-330: qdla rasidu lliihi: dminii bi-l-tauriiti wa-l-zabiiri wa-linjili wa-l-yasa'kumu l-qur'iinu, and comp. ibid.: innamd umirnd an nu'mina bt-l-taurati wa-linjili wa-Iii na'mala bi-md fihimd; and see al-Suyiltl, al-Durr, II, 225-226: Iii dina illd l-isldmu, wa-kitdbunii nasakha kulla kitdbin, wa-nabiyyund khatamu l-nabiyyina, wa-umirnd an na'mala bi-kitiibind wa-nu'mina bi-kitabikum. 181 I wish to thank Dr. M. Nadav and Mr. E. Wust of the National and University Library, Jerusalem; Dr. A. Sj. Koningsveld of the University Library of Leiden; the keepers and staff of the British Museum; Cambridge University Library; Chester Beatty Collection, Dublin; and the Siileymaniye, Istanbul, for granting me permission to peruse manuscripts and providing me with microfilms. 239 

Adam.pdf ADAM: A STUDY OF SOME LEGENDS IN TAFSIR AND HADIT LITERATURE* M. J. KISTER To my wife Zahava Stories and tales about the prophets, and about pious, ascetic, and righteous people of bygone days, the so called qisas al-anbiya', circulated widely in the Muslim community already in the first century of Islam. The origin of these stories, as stated by T. Nagel, must be traced back to pre-Islamic Arabia; they were disseminated in that period by Jews and Christians. i The recently published papyrus of Wahb b. Munabbih,2 the papyri edited by the late Nabia Abbott3 and the papyri of Hirbet Mird edited by A. Grohmann bear evidence to the fact that already in that early period of Islam there were elaborate stories about prophets, sages, and saints which were widely circulated. The Tafsfr of Muqatil b. Sulayman5 and the Tafsfr of 'Abd al-Razzaq6 contain valuable material of the qisas al-anbiya', and reflect the way in which these stories were absorbed and incorporated into the exegetical compilations of the Quran. The important work ofIshaq b. Bisr(d ..206 H.) Mubtada' al-dunyawa-qisasal-anbiya', until recently considered lost,7 has been rediscovered and, I am told, is • One part of this pafer was published in A. Rippin (ed.), Approaches to the History 0f the Interpretation of The Qur'an, Oxford 1988. I T. Nagel, ~Kisasal-anbiya', Ef. 2 Raif Georges Khoury, Wahb b. Munabbih, Der Heidelberger Papyrus PSR Heid Arab 23, Wiesbaden 1972. 3 Nabia Abbott, Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri I (Historical texts) and II (Quranic Commentary and Tradition), Chicago 1957, 1967. 4 Adolf Grohmann, Arabic Papyri from Hirbet Mird, Louvain 1963. 5 Muqatil b. Sulayman, Tafsir al-Qur'an, MS Saray, Ahmet Ill, 74, I-II: idem, op. cit. vol. I, ed. 'Abdallah Mahmud Sahata, Cairo 1969 (including the first six suras). 6 'Abd al-Razzaq b. Hammam, Tafsir al-Qur'an, MS Cairo, Dar al-kutub tafsir 242. 7 See Nabia Abbott, op. cit., 1,46 sup.: (Document 2, Story of Adam and Eve) " ...there is a strong possibility that the papyrus with its rather 'unique'text could belong to this somewhat discredited and lost work ... " 114 M.J. Kister now being prepared for a critical edition.8 The importance of this early compilation was pointed out by T. Nagel in his Inaugural Dissertation, Die Qisas al-anbiya';9 Nagel devoted five pages to an examination of the personality of Ishaq b. Bisr and to a detailed scrutiny of the sources of the Mubtada'.10 The MS, which contains the first part of the composition, consists of 218 folios, and ends with the death of Abraham. Nagel's high view of the significance of this rich early source is entirely justified. The Quran contains a great many reports concerning prophets and sages, but these are usually formulated in vague terms and frequently do no more than mention an event or refer to a person who is not further specified. The transmitters of the tales aimed at widening the scope of the stories; they availed themselves of the lore contained in local traditions current in the Arab Peninsula in the period of the Gahiliyya, in Christian narratives concerning the life of Jesus, the Apostles, the martyrs and the monks, in Jewish Biblical legends, and in the utterances of sages and ascetics. 11 This huge mass of material started to infiltrate into the realm of /Jadi! and ta/sfr very early on in the Islamic period, and from the terse reports and utterances, combined with the additional material derived from other sources, a rich tapestry of lively and plastic narrative was woven. As the advent ofIslam and the mission of the prophet Muhammad were, according to the concepts of the Muslim community, part of God's predestination, as Mley were contained in God's prior knowledge and heralded by the prophets of all ages, the stories of the prophets became an integral part of the books of history, and were duly embedded in the preamble (the mubtada" bad', or ibtida') with which, as a rule, these compilatons began. The Muslim community was eager to learn of the biographies of the prophets, of the past, because the Prophet was identified I Bodleian Library. MS Huntingdon 388. For using this MS lowe thanks to Mrs. Ruth Lieber. who is working on its edition. 9 Tilman Nagel. Die Qi~~ al-anb~I'ii'. Ein Beilrag zur Arabischen lileralurgeschichle. Bonn 1967. 10 Nagel. Die Q~% pp. 113-118; and see additional details about Is\1aq b. Bisr: Ibn 'Adiyy. al-Kamil ft t!u'ajii' al-rigal, MS Saray. Ahmet III. 2943. I. fols. 118b-119a; Ibn J:libblin aI-Busti, al-Magrul;tfn. ed. Ma\1miid Ibrlihim Zliyid. Cairo 1976. I. 135-137; Ibn 'Asiikir. Ta'ri1} Dimasq (Tah Another tradition says that God revealed to him 40 17 See e.g., Nar aI-DIn al-Haytamt, Magma' al-zawii'id wa-manba' al-fawii'id, Beirut 1967, 1, 196, 197, VIII 198: ...a-nabiyyan kana adam? qiila: na am; al-Suyutl, Gamri1J. Bodley., Marsh 288, p. 27. MS 31 AI-Mas'iidr. AlJblir al-zamlin, ed. 'Abdallah Ismen aI-~awi. Cairo 1357/1938. p. 51. 26 27 Adam 119 after his disobedience and expulsion he spoke Syriac.P These injunctions and prohibitions seem to have formed the sari at Adam, the binding law of Adam. The Prophet is said to have acted before his Call according to the sarra of Adam.33 Before his death Adam summoned SIt, ordered him to hide his will (wa~iyya) from the progeny of QiibTland instructed him as to the injunctions and penalty laws enjoined by God, (al-sarii't" wa-/l)udud).l4 The Sri version of the transfer of the will is slightly more detailed. According to it, God ordered Adam to hand over to SI1 (=l;IibatulUih) the True Name of God tal-ism al-a'zami, the Ark of Covenant (rabur) in which the Knowledge (al-'ilm) and the Will (wG.,I"iyya) had to be deposited. Adam enjoined SI1to avoid contact with the progeny of QabI1.3s There are many reports about the ginn and the angels who ruled on earth before Adam and who had to be replaced by the rule of Adam. We have mentioned above the view that the announcement made by God that He was installing a halifa was directed at the angels who were in the company of Iblis. Abu Hayyan indeed says that God addressed the angels who fought the ginn on the side of Iblis: God intended to lift them to Heaven and replace them by Adam and his progeny. Abu Hayyan gives a short report about the rule of the ginn on earth and says that a force of angels was dispatched under the command of Iblis to fight them;" The reports recorded by Ishaq b. Bisr in his M ubtada' contain interesting details about the role of Iblis and give us an idea as to the notions concerning the ginn that were current in the early period of Islam. An account given on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas tells the following story about angels and ginn. The ginn were inhabitants of the earth, the angels were in the Heavens. Every heaven had its angels, who performed their special prayers and glorifications of God; the higher the Heaven, the more powerful was the worship, the glorifications, and prayer. According to some they inhabited the earth for 2,000 years, according to others, for only 40 years and "God knows the truth. "37 The other report recorded by Ishaq b. Bisr is also given on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas and contains some new details about the classes of the ginn and their activities. When God created Sawrna, the father of the ginn - it was he who was created from the smokeless fire (marig) - God said to Anonymous, Siyar al-anbiyd', MS Br. Mus. Or. 1510, fol. 19b. Ibn l;Iagar al-HaytamI. al-Faliiwii al-lJadiJiyya, Cairo 1390/1970. p. 153. J4 Anonymous, Siyar al-anbiyiP, MS Br. Mus. Or. 1510, fol. 22a. J5 AI-Mas'udI, I!biil al-wasiyya, Najaf 1374/1955, pp. 16-17. J6 Abu l;Iayyan, op. cit., I, 140 ult.-14I,1. I; al-SuYU!I.al-Durr, 1.44--45; al-Kisii'i, 'Agii'ib al-malakia, MS Hebrew Univ., AR 8° 63, fol. 39b. 37 Is1,1aq Bisr, Mublada' al-dunyii wa-qisas al-anbiyii', MS Bodl. Huntingdon 388, fol. b. 38b. J2 JJ 120 M.J. Kisler him: "(say) what is your desire?" Sawmi answered: "I wish that we should see but remain unseen, that we should disappear in moist ground (al-lart1) and that our people of ripe age should be turned young." These wishes were granted: ginnfs see but remain unseen, the dead disappear in moist ground, a ginnf of ripe age never dies before being turned into a young ginn.)8 This report is followed by a short passage: When God created Adam He asked him about his desire; Adam said that he desired horses (al-l.Jayl), which were indeed granted to him.39 The story about the revolt of the ginn on earth and about the expedition of warriors from heaven against them is given in the following passage: God created the ginn and ordered them to inhabit and build up the earth. They did so and worshipped God for a very long time. But afterwards they became disobedient toward God and shed blood; amongst them was an angel called Ynsuf; they killed him. Then God dispatched against them a military force of the angels who dwelt in the Lower Heaven isamd' al-dunyii); this force was of the division of the l;rinn.40 Among them was Ps. A~ma'I, Qila~ al-anbiyii', MS Br. Mus. Or. 1493, fol. 5b; al-SibIr, Akam ai-margan, 18 p.85. 39 ls~liq b. Bisr, op. cit., fol. 38b; this and the following are recorded in Muhammad b. 'Abdalilih al-SibJrs Akom ol-morgon ji gorii'ibi l-olJbor wo-oJ.!komi I-gonn, ed. 'Abdalllih Muhammad al-Sadiq, Cairo 1376, pp. 9-11; the author quotes the source: Abu ~uqayfa Is~aq b. Bisr's al-Mubtada". The name of the "father ofthejinn" is given as Sawmayo; the editor remarks that Burhan al-Halabt records the name in his 'lqd al-margiin (see Brockelmann, GAL, II, 307, SIl, 82) as Sawmayli. And see al-Qalyubi, Nawadir, Cairo 1371/1955, p. 125 (whether the creation of the horse preceded the creation of Adam). And see al-$affuri, Nuzhat ol-magolis wa-muntahab al-na/ii'is, Beirut n.d., p. 227: when God showed Adam all the creations He allowed him to choose one of them; Adam chose the horse. Then he was told that he had chosen glory and power ('izz) for himself and for his progeny. And see Ibn ~agar al-Haytami, al-Fatowa al-I)adiliyya, p. 65. Some reports stress the differences between the ginn and the angels; the angels do not eat, drink or copulate; the ginn eat, drink and copulate (al-Haytamt, op. cit., p. 63). And see al-Haytami, op. cit., p. 71 (the ginn die like human beings; Iblis grows old, but turns to be young like a person of 30 years) . • 0 Isl)aq b. Bisr, op. cit., fols. 38b-39a; The hinn are defined as the lowest class of the ginn; they are nicknamed kiliib ai-ginn; al-SibIr, Akiim, p. 6 inf. and see al-FayriizabadI, al-Qomiis al-mul)f{, Cairo 1371/1952, IV, 218, s.v. I,Inn: wa-l-hinn bi-l-kasr hayyun mina I-ginni minhumu I-ki/obu l-sildu l-buhmu aw safilatu I-ginni wa-tfu