Ibn Khafif

Last updated
Ibn Khafif
Ibn khafeef tomb.jpg
The tomb of Ibn Khafif is in the old traditional quarters of Shiraz.
Personal
Born882, Shiraz
DiedAH 371 (981/982), [1] Shiraz
Religion Islam
EraMedieval era
Denomination Sunni
Jurisprudence Shafi'i [2] [3]
Creed Athari [4]
Movement Sufis

Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn al-Khafif (882-982) known as al-Shaykh al-Kabir or Shaykh al-Shirazi was a Persian [5] mystic and sufi from Iran. He is credited with bringing Sufism (tasawwuf) to Shiraz. [6] [7]

Contents

He was a Baghdad-educated Shafi'ite legal scholar who had also studied under al-Ash'ari, the theologian in Basrah. In Baghdad he knew Ruwaym, Hallaj, and Shibli. After spending much of his life away from his hometown of Shiraz, he returned there to die. [8] [9]

Ibn Khafif said, "In my beginnings I would recite in one cycle of prayer al-Ikhlas [Quranic chapter 112] ten thousand times, or recite the entire Qur`an in one cycle of prayer." Al-Sulami said, "Abu 'Abd Allah [ibn Khafif] came from a family of princes, but he practiced asceticism (zuhd) to the point that he said, 'I would collect rags from refuse-heaps, wash them, and mend whatever I could use for clothing, and I spent 14 months breaking my fast at night with a handful of beans.'"

Ibn Khafif reported from his teacher Ibn Surayj that the proof that love of Allah was a categorical obligation (fard) was in the verses: "Say: If your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren, and your wives, and your tribe, and the wealth you have acquired, and merchandise for which you fear that there will be no sale, and dwellings you desire are dearer to you than Allah and His messenger and striving in His way: then wait till Allah brings His command to pass. Allah guides not wrongdoing folk." (9:24) For punishment is not threatened except due to a categorical obligation.

He once said to the followers of Ibn Maktum: "Busy yourself with the acquisition of some knowledge, and do not let the words of the Sufis [to the contrary] fool you. I myself used to hide my inkwell and pen inside my clothes, and go secretly to visit the scholars. If they [the Sufis] had found out, they would have fought me and they would have said: You will not succeed. Later they found themselves needing me."

When Ibn Khafif became too weak to stand in his habitual supererogatory prayers, he prayed double their number sitting, in view of the Prophet's report whereby "The prayer of one sitting is half that of one standing." Ibn Bakuyah related from Ibn Khafif that he said: "In my beginnings, I would recite in one rak`a "Qul huwa Allahu ahad" [ Sura Ikhlas:112] ten thousand times, or recite the entire Qur'an in one rak`a." "Never in 40 years was the Ramadan-end purification tax (zakat al-fitr) incumbent upon me."

He is buried in Shiraz, Iran. His tomb is a public library today.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibn Arabi</span> Sufi scholar and philosopher (1165–1240)

Ibn ʿArabī was an Andalusi Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influential within Islamic thought. Out of the 850 works attributed to him, some 700 are authentic while over 400 are still extant. His cosmological teachings became the dominant worldview in many parts of the Muslim world.

The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and traditionist Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and later institutionalized by his students. It is the smallest and most strictly traditionalist of the four major Sunni schools, the others being the Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi'i schools.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal was a Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam. The most highly influential and active scholar during his lifetime, Ibn Hanbal went on to become "one of the most venerated" intellectual figures in Islamic history, who has had a "profound influence affecting almost every area" of the traditionalist perspective within Sunni Islam. One of the foremost classical proponents of relying on scriptural sources as the basis for Sunni Islamic law and way of life, Ibn Hanbal compiled one of the most significant Sunni hadith collections, al-Musnad, which has continued to exercise considerable influence on the field of hadith studies up to the present time.

Al-Ikhlāṣ, also known as the Declaration of God's Unity and al-Tawhid, is the 112th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadhili</span> Sufi mystic order in Sunni Islam

The Shadhili Order is a tariqah or Sufi order. The Shadhili order was founded by al-Shadhili in the 13th century and is followed by millions of people around the world. Many followers of the Shadhili Order are known as Shadhilis, and a single follower is known as Shadhili.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Shadhili</span> Founder of the Shadhili Sufi order

Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili also known as Sheikh al-Shadhili was an influential Moroccan Islamic scholar and Sufi, founder of the Shadhili Sufi order.

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Nishapuri, also known as Ibn al-Bayyiʿ, was a Persian Sunni scholar and the leading traditionist of his age, frequently referred to as the "Imam of the Muhaddithin" or the "Muhaddith of Khorasan." He is widely renowned for his expertise in Hadith criticism, and regarded as the Sheikh of Hadith masters at his time. Al-Daraqutni, considered Al-Hakim to be superior in the science of Hadith than Ibn Manda.

<i>Tazkiyah</i> Islamic term for self-purification

Tazkiyah is an Arabic-Islamic term alluding to tazkiyat al-nafs, meaning 'sanctification' or 'purification of the self'. This refers to the process of transforming the nafs from its state of self-centrality through various spiritual stages towards the level of purity and submission to the will of God. Its basis is in learning the shariah and deeds from the known authentic sunnah and applying these to one's own life, resulting in spiritual awareness of God. Tazkiyah is considered the highest level of ihsan, one of the three dimensions of Islam. The person who purifies themself is called a zaki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari</span> Egyptian Sufi scholar (1259–1310)

Tāj al-Dīn Abū'l-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Hussein ibn ʿAṭā Allāh al-Judhami al-Iskandarī al-Shādhilī was an Egyptian Malikite jurist, muhaddith and the third murshid of the Shadhili Sufi order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaykh al-Islām</span> Arabic honorific for an outstanding Islamic scholar

Shaykh al-Islām was used in the classical era as an honorific title for outstanding scholars of the Islamic sciences. It first emerged in Khurasan towards the end of the 4th Islamic century. In the central and western lands of Islam, it was an informal title given to jurists whose fatwas were particularly influential, while in the east it came to be conferred by rulers to ulama who played various official roles but were not generally muftis. Sometimes, as in the case of Ibn Taymiyyah, the use of the title was subject to controversy. In the Ottoman Empire, starting from the early modern era, the title came to designate the chief mufti, who oversaw a hierarchy of state-appointed ulama. The Ottoman Sheikh al-Islam performed a number of functions, including advising the sultan on religious matters, legitimizing government policies, and appointing judges.

Ibn Abbad al-Rundi (1333–1390) was one of the leading Sufi theologians of his time who was born in Ronda. Attracted to Morocco by the famous madrasahs, Ibn Abbad emigrated there at an early age. He spent most of his life in Morocco, living in different cities, and was buried in Bab al-Futuh cemetery in Fes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">As-Sunnah Foundation of America</span> Sufi Islamic Organization of America

As-Sunnah Foundation of America (ASFA) is an educational organization that works for the unity of the Islamic faith in the United States, founded and chaired by Hisham Kabbani. Founded in 1997, together with the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA), the ASFA has close connections to Kabbani's Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order. The ASFA is said be a main organization of Nakshbandi Sufi order in America.

Abu Muhammad Ruwaym bin Ahmad was an early Muslim jurist, ascetic, saint and reciter of the Qur'an. He was one of the second generation of practitioners of Sufism (tasawwuf).

Gibril Fouad Haddad is a Lebanese-born Islamic scholar, hadith expert (muhaddith), author, and translator of classical Islamic texts. He was featured in the inaugural list of The 500 Most Influential Muslims and has been called "one of the clearest voices of traditional Islam in the Western world", a "prominent orthodox Sunni" and a "staunch defender of the traditional Islamic schools of law." He holds ijazas from over 150 scholars across the Muslim world. He was a visiting fellow (2013-2015) then senior assistant professor (2015-2018) at the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Center for Islamic Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He is also a staunch critic of Wahhabism and Salafism.

'Ala' al-Din al-Bukhari, was a Hanafi jurist (faqih), Maturidi theologian, commentator of the Qur'an (mufassir), and a mystic (Sufi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi</span> Persian Shafii-Ashari scholar

Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī al-Shīrāzī was a prominent Persian Shafi'i-Ash'ari scholar, debater and the second teacher،after Ibn Sabbagh al-Shafei, at the Nizamiyya school in Baghdad, which was built in his honour by the vizier (minister) of the Seljuk Empire Nizam al-Mulk.

Abu al-Hasan al-Daylami was a Sufi author of Daylamite origin, who was based in Shiraz during the 10th century. His book ʿAtf al-alif al-ma'luf 'ala al-lam al-ma'tuf, albeit written in Arabic, is considered the first Persian Sufi text on the subject of divine love.

Abu 'Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Bin al-Husayn al-Sulami al-Shafi'i, commonly known as Al-Sulami (425-412). He was a Shafi'i muhaddith, muffassir, Shaykh of the Awliya, Sufi hagiographer, and a prolific writer. Al-Dhahabi said of him: "He was of very high status."

Tanbih al-Ghabi bi-Tabri'at Ibn 'Arabi is a booklet written by the Shafi'i-Ash'ari scholar Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti as a response to the book Tanbih al-Ghabi ila Takfir Ibn 'Arabi by Burhan al-Din al-Biqa'i in which al-Suyuti defended Ibn 'Arabi against his critics in general, and against accusations of heresy and unbelief by al-Biqa'i in particular. Al-Suyuti said:

The scholars past and present have differed concerning Ibn 'Arabi, one group considering him a wali of Allah - and they are correct - such as Ibn 'Ata' Allah al-Sakandari and 'Afif al-Din al-Yafi'i, another considering him a heretic - such as a large number of the jurists - while others expressed doubts concerning him, among them al-Dhahabi in al-Mizan. Two opposed verdicts are reported from Shaykh 'Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam, one attacking him, and one describing him as the Spiritual Pole (al-Qutb). What reconciles them is indicated by Shaykh Taj al-Din ibn 'Ata' Allah in Lata'if al-Minan, namely, that Shaykh 'Izz al-Din at the beginning acted in the fashion of jurists in passing quick judgment on the Sufis. When Shaykh Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili went to pilgrimage and returned, he came to Shaykh 'Izz al-Din before entering his own house and conveyed to him the Prophet's ﷺ greeting. After that, Shaykh 'Izz al-Din humbled himself and began to sit in al-Shadhili's gatherings...

References

  1. Lewis, B.; Menage, V.L.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (1986) [1st. pub. 1971]. Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. III (H-Iram) (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 823. ISBN   9004081186.
  2. Ibn Abbad al-Rundi (1986). Ibn 'Abbad of Ronda: Letters on the Sufi Path. Translated by John Renard. Paulist Press. p. 216. ISBN   9780809127306.
  3. Ibn Khafif (1999). Correct Islamic Doctrine/Islamic Doctrine. Translated by Gibril Fouad Haddad. Islamic Supreme Council of America. p. 3. ISBN   9781930409019.
  4. Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd al-Halim ibn Abd al-Salam ibn Taymiyya (1406). Al-Safadiyya (in Arabic) (Maktaba Ibn Taymiyya ed.). Egypt: Muhammad Rashad Salim. pp. (1/267).
  5. Irwin, Robert, ed. (2010). The new Cambridge history of Islam. Vol. 4 (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 72. ISBN   978-0-521-83824-5.
  6. Limbert, John W., Shiraz in the Age of Hafez: The Glory of a Medieval Persian City. University of Washington Press. 2004. ISBN   0-295-98391-4. p.112.
  7. http://www.sunnah.org/aqida/asha'ira2.htm#Ibn%20Khafif Archived 2020-02-10 at the Wayback Machine The Great Asha'ri Scholars
  8. Ibn Abbad al-Rundi (1986). Ibn 'Abbad of Ronda: Letters on the Sufi Path. Translated by John Renard. Paulist Press. p. 216. ISBN   9780809127306.
  9. Biography

    His full name is Muhammad ibn Khafif ibn Asfakshad, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Shirazi al-Dibbi al-Shafi`i al-Sufi. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami (d. 412/1021) said of him: "The Folk (al-Qawm, i.e. the Sufis) do not have anyone older than him nor more complete in his state and reality today." He once said: "If you hear the call to prayer and do not see me in the first row, look for me in the cemeteries." He took kalam from Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, fiqh from Ibn Surayj, and tasawwuf from Ruwaym, Abu Muhammad al-Jariri (d. 311/923-24), and Abu al-'Abbas ibn 'Ata' (d. 309/921-22 or 311/923-24). Al-Dhahabi said of him: "He is at the same time one of the most knowledgeable shaykhs in the external sciences ('ulum al-zahir)." Ibn Taymiyya names him among the great Sufi representatives of the Sunnah.<ref>Ibn Khafif (1999). Correct Islamic Doctrine/Islamic Doctrine. Translated by Gibril Fouad Haddad. Islamic Supreme Council of America. p. 3. ISBN   9781930409019.

Other references: