Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad

Last updated • 5 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʻIyāḍ ibn Bishr ibn Masūd Abū ʻAlī at-Tamīmī al-Yarbūʻī al-Khurāsānī
الفضيل بن عياض بن مسعود بن بشر أبو على التميمي اليربوعي الخراساني
Died803 AD
Mecca
Venerated in Islam
Major shrine Bagdhad
Influences Abdul Wahid bin Zaid Ja'far as-Sadiq
Influenced Ibrahim ibn Adham

Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʻIyāḍ (died 803 / AH 187, الفضيل بن عياض, full name Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʻIyāḍ ibn Bishr ibn Masūd Abū ʻAlī at-Tamīmī al-Yarbūʻī al-Khurāsānī , was also known as Abu Ali and as al-Talaqani) was an Islamic Sunni Scholar.

Contents

It is not uncommon to find his story confused with that of Fuḍayl Ibn Yahya, a contemporary who was the official to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. [1] [ full citation needed ]

Early life

A number of birthplaces have been attributed to Fuḍayl, including Samarkand, Merv, Mosul and Balkh.

The nisbah of at-Tamīmī signifies Fuḍayl's belonging to the Arab tribe of Banu Tamim and the nisbah of al-Khurāsānī signifies that he was from Khurasan; meaning he is most likely identified as a Persian of Arab-descent or Arab.

Prior to his conversion, Fuḍayl led a group of bandits, or highwayman, in Syria and Khorasan, raiding caravans and robbing travelers. [2] [ page needed ] Even during this time, he was a Muslim, keeping his five daily salat prayers, fasting as required and forbidding his men to uncover any women found among the victims. [3] During this time, he was deeply in love with a woman, and would often send her tokens from his stolen treasures. [3]

One story of his banditry has a rich merchant, fearful of running into bandits, mistake Fuḍayl for an honest man and ask him to hide the majority of his wealth lest bandits find him. As the merchant continued on his way, he was robbed of his remaining wealth by Fuḍayl's men. When the merchant returned to Fuḍayl to recover the majority of his wealth, he was dismayed to find the bandits who had robbed him there surrounding the man he had trusted; however Fuḍayl indicated that he was a god-fearing man, and would not betray his trust, therefore motioning the merchant to reclaim the wealth he had left in trust with him. [3]

Fuḍayl was climbing a wall simply watching a passing caravan; [3] when Fuḍayl heard someone reciting the Quranic chapter of Al-Hadid , and when he heard 57:16, which reads "Has not the Time arrived for the Believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed (to them), and that they should not become like those to whom was given Revelation aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard? For many among them are rebellious transgressors", he realised that he was a hypocrite to claim both submission to God, and banditry. [3] [4]

With his new found piety, Fuḍayl left his criminal ways and wandered through the desert where he found a caravan camping - and overheard two men warning each other to be wary lest the bandit Fuḍayl ibn Iyad find them. Fuḍayl stepped out and introduced himself, acknowledging that he had repented and was no longer a danger. [4] [5]

After this, Fuḍayl tried to visit each of his known victims to repay them what he had stolen from them, and when he ran out of available goods, he visited them to beg their forgiveness. However one Jew refused to forgive him until he had been repaid, and ordered Fuḍayl to move a pile of dirt in front of his house to work off his debt. After several days of work, a hurricane blew away the pile of dirt, and Fuḍayl explained to the Jew that God had aided him. The Jew then placed a bag of dirt on his bed and asked Fuḍayl to bring it to him, and remarked upon discovering that the dirt had turned to gold that he now believed in the religion of Fuḍayl, and asked to become a Muslim. [2] [6] [ page needed ]

Later life

The world is like an asylum and its inmates like insane people. Insane people are always kept imprisoned.

Fuḍayl ibn Iyad [3]

After his conversion, Fuḍayl moved to Kufa, in modern-day Iraq, and studied under Ja'far al-Sadiq and Abdul Wahid Bin Zaid. [7] [ page needed ] and taught Ibrahim ibn Adham, Bishr the Barefoot and Sari al-Saqati. [7] [ page needed ] When Fuḍayl determined to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, he approached his wife and told her that he had to leave on the long and dangerous journey, but that he was willing to grant her a divorce if she wished to remarry in his absence. She refused, and said she would prefer to accompany him on the trip. [3] He remained in Mecca for a long time, and studied under Abu Hanifa. [3] He had at least one son, named Ali, and two daughters. [3]

Fuḍayl was noted for his asocial nature, and many examples exist of this. When crowds began to gather around his Meccan home, eager for the chance to see him, he would often dissuade them, one time standing on his roof to thank them all and tell them that he prayed God would give them meaningful employment for their time. He was rather noted for his preference for solitude, at one point saying he wished he would become ill so that he did not have meet people and could avoid going out to public prayers. [3] Another quote that survives from him is that "I am grateful to a man who does not greet me when he sees me and does not visit me when I am sick". [3]

Fuḍayl's son suffered from a urinary tract infection, which was cured when Fuḍayl relied on prayer and faith alone. [8]

When Fuḍayl understood that his death may be near, he told his wife to take his daughters to Mount Abu Qais, in Mecca, and tell God that Fuḍayl had cared for them all his life and now they were in God's hands. [3]

He died during his salat prayers, early in the year 187AH, with some scholars suggesting it was the third day of Rabi' al-awwal [9] [ page needed ].

Following his wishes, his widow took their two daughters to Mount Abu Qais, where they were greeted by a leader of Yemen who was travelling with his two sons, and two marriages were thus arranged. [3]

A shrine was built in his honor in Bagdhad.[ citation needed ]

Sayings

"He put all evil in a house and made his key to love the world, and he put all goodness in a house And his key was to make asceticism in this world." [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Bakr</span> 1st Rashidun Caliph and father-in-law of Islamic Prophet Muhammad

Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbī Quḥāfa was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. He is known with the honorific title al-Siddiq by Sunni Muslims.

In Islam, duʿāʾ is a prayer of invocation, supplication or request, even asking help or assistance from God.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Badr</span> First major battle in early Islam (624)

The Battle of Badr, also referred to as The Day of the Criterion in the Qur'an and by Muslims, took place on 15 March 624 CE, near the present-day city of Badr, Al Madinah Province in Saudi Arabia. Muhammad, commanding an army of his Sahaba, defeated an army of the Quraysh led by Amr ibn Hishām, better known among Muslims as Abu Jahl. The battle marked the beginning of the six-year war between Muhammad and his tribe. Before the battle, the Muslims and the Meccans had fought several smaller skirmishes in late 623 and early 624.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quraysh</span> Arab tribal confederation of Mecca, Arabia

The Quraysh were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. By 600 CE, the tribe were affluent merchants who dominated commerce between the Indian Ocean and East Africa on one side and the Mediterranean on the other. They organized caravans that traveled to Gaza and Damascus in the summer and to Yemen in the winter. On those routes, they were also engaged in mining and other enterprises. They were known for their hilm, or "absence of hotheadedness," because, despite their rivalries, they put commercial interests and unity first.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ifriqiya</span> Historic region of Northern Africa

Ifriqiya, also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna, was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania. It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of Africa Proconsularis and extended beyond it, but did not include the Mauretanias.

ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib , better known as Abū Lahab was the Islamic prophet Muhammad's half paternal uncle. He was one of the Meccan Qurayshi leaders who opposed Muhammad and was condemned in Surah Al-Masad of the Quran.

Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Taymī was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Sunni Islam, he is mostly known for being among al-ʿashara al-mubashshara. He played an important role in the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Camel, in which he died. According to Sunnis, he was given the title "the Generous" by Muhammad.

Umayya ibn Khalaf was an Arab slave master and the chieftain of the Banu Jumah of the Quraysh in the seventh century. He was one of the chief opponents against the Muslims led by Muhammad. Umayya is best known as the master of Bilal ibn Rabah, a slave he tortured for embracing Islam who eventually became the first mu'azzin.

Ṣafwān ibn Umayya was a sahabi (companion) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith better known as Bishr al-Ḥāfī was a Muslim saint born near Merv in about 767 C.E. He converted and studied Muslim tradition under Al-Fozail ibn Iyaz. Bishr became famous as one of the greatest saints in the area.

ʿAbbād ibn Bishr (c.597–632) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. After the Hijrah of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca, Abbad and his clansmen were given name of Ansar for their assistance to gave shelter to the Muslims who came to their town. His Kunya or Teknonymy were Abu al-Rabi'.

Suhayb the Roman or Suhayb al-Rumi, also known as Suhayb ibn Sinan, also spelled Sohaib, was a former Arab slave in the Byzantine Empire who went on to become a companion of Muhammad and member of the early Muslim community.

A turbah, or mohr, also known as khāk-e shefā and sejde gāh, is a small piece of soil or clay, often a clay tablet, used during salat to symbolize earth. The use of a turbah is recommended in the Twelver Shia school of Islam, a unique practice of the sect, and many Hadiths mention the benefits of prostration (Sajda) upon soil or an alternative natural material. The most favoured soil is that of Karbala, the site of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali; however, soil from anywhere may be used. In the absence of soil, plants or items made from plants may be substituted. This provision has been extended to include the use of paper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad in Medina</span> Overview of Muhammads stay in Medina

The Islamic prophet Muhammad came to the city of Medina following the migration of his followers in what is known as the Hijrah in 622. He had been invited to Medina by city leaders to adjudicate disputes between clans from which the city suffered. He left Medina to return to and conquer Mecca in December 629.

The early Muslim–Meccan conflict refer to a series of raids in which the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions participated. The raids were generally offensive and carried out to gather intelligence or seize the trade goods of caravans financed by the Mushrik of the Quraysh. His followers were also impoverished. The raids were intended to harm the economy and in turn the offensive capabilities of Mecca by Muhammad. He also broke an Arab tradition of not attacking one's own kinsmen by raiding caravans. The Muslims felt that the raids were justified and that God gave them permission to defend against the Meccans' persecution of Muslims.

Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib was a foster brother, paternal uncle, maternal second-cousin, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Absentee funeral prayer in Islam, known as Salat al-Gha'ib, is a kind of funeral prayer performed upon a dead Muslim if they die in a place where there are no Muslims to pray for the dead. By contrast, if someone dies and a funeral prayer is said on his or her behalf, no other prayer is necessary.

Ṭālib ibn Abī Ṭālib was a first cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a brother of Ali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hassan Ali Nokhodaki Isfahani</span> Iranian mystic (1863–1942)

Hasan Ali Nukhudaki Isfahani was a Shi'a muslim scholar and mystic (Sufi) who practiced asceticism. He also studied astronomy and mathematics.

References

  1. Hagiography in Tazkirat al-Awliyā, Attar of Nishapur
  2. 1 2 Siddiqi, Iqtidar Husain (2010). Indo-Persian historiography up to the thirteenth century. Primus Books. ISBN   978-81-908918-0-6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 :: Hazrat Abdul Fuḍayl Ibn Iyad (rahmatullah alayh) :: Archived 2017-07-14 at the Wayback Machine [ dubious ]
  4. 1 2 Muwaqif Mushriqah fi Hayatis Salaf
  5. How to Win Your Wife's Heart. Ibrahim Ibn Saaleh al-Mahmud
  6. Jawami'ut Hika'at, Volume I, Part I
  7. 1 2 Beale, Thomas William (1881). The Oriental Biographical Dictionary. Calcutta: Asiatic Society.
  8. Dols, Michael Walters (1992). Immisch, Diana E. (ed.). Majnūn: the madman in medieval Islamic society. Clarendon Press. p. 228. ISBN   978-0-19-820221-9.
  9. Khan, K. D. (2004). Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti: social and educational relevance. Sarup & Sons. ISBN   978-81-7625-515-8.
  10. Kitab Zuhd Al-kabir, Bayhaqi, pg. 133