Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati أبو حيان الغرناطي | |
|---|---|
| Title | Amir al-Mu'minin fīal-Nahw Sibawayh of the century Shaykh al-Qurrāʼ Lisan al-Arab Athir al-Din Al-Ḥāfiẓ |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1256 / 654 AH |
| Died | 1344 (aged 87–88) / 745 AH |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age |
| Region | al-Andalus |
| Main interest(s) | Tafsīr,Arabic,Qira'at, |
| Notable work(s) | Al-Bahr al-Muhit |
| Occupation | Scholar,Mufassir,Grammarian,Reciter,Jurist,Traditionist,Historian,Poet |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Zahiri |
| Creed | Ash'ari[1][2][3] |
| Muslim leader | |
| Arabic name | |
| Personal (Ism) | Muḥammad محمد |
| Patronymic (Nasab) | ibn Yūsuf bin ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Hayyān an-Nifzī al-Barbarī بن يوسف بن علي بن يوسف بن حيان |
| Teknonymic (Kunya) | Abū Ḥayyān أبو حيان |
| Epithet (Laqab) | Athīr al-Dīn أثير الدين |
| Toponymic (Nisba) | al-Gharānaṭī;Al-Andalusi;al-Jayyāni |
Abū Ḥayyān Athīr ad-Dīn al-Gharnāṭī (Arabic:أَبُو حَيَّان أَثِير ٱلدِّين ٱلْغَرْنَاطِيّ, November 1256 – July 1344 CE / 654 - 745 AH), whose full name isMuḥammad ibn Yūsuf bin ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Hayyān (Arabic:مُحَمَّد ٱبْن يُوسُف ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱبْن يُوسُف ٱبْن حَيَّان), better known asAbū Ḥayyān al-Gharnati (Arabic:أبو حيان الغرناطي,[4] was anAndalusianSunni Islamscholar. He was the leadingcommentator on theQuran and foremostArabic grammarian of his era.[5][6][7] He was also regarded as the best scholar onQuranic recitation of his time. In addition, he was recognized for his scholarship inIslamic jurisprudence,hadith, andhistory.
Hismagnum opus,Al-Bahr al-Muhit (Explanation of the Ocean) is the most important reference on Qur'anic expressions and the issues ofgrammar,vocabulary,etymology,recitation, and the transcriber-copyists of the Qur'an. Quite exceptionally for a linguist of Arabic of his day was his strong interest in non-Arabic languages. He wrote several works of comparativelinguistics for Arabic speakers, and gives extensive comparative grammatical analysis and explanation.[8]
He was born inSpain in November 1256[5][9] to a family ofBerber origins,[10][11] from the Berber tribe of Nifza.[12] Historians variously cite Gharnati's place of birth as bothJaén andGranada; his appellation "Gharnati" derives from this latter.[13] At the time Jaén was a dependency of Granada, and the appellation conflict may only be apparent.
At a young age, Abu Hayyan left Spain and travelled extensively for the sake of his studies.[5][13] Within Spain, he traveled toMálaga,Almería before moving on throughCeuta,Tunis,Alexandria,Cairo,Damietta,Minya,Kush and‘Aydhab inAfrica.[4][13] Eventually, he reachedMecca for theHajj pilgrimage and visitedMedina before returning to Alexandria. It is said he memorized the corpus ofSibawayh'sal-Kitab ('The Book') - several volumes of the foundational Arabic grammar that, for some, held revered authority on the Arabic language approaching that of theHadith in Islamic law.[14]
Abu Hayyan was a man who loved learning so much that he devoted all of his time and effort to learning. It follows that his achievement of attaining the pinnacle of knowledge mastery during his era should come as no surprise. He has acquiredIjazah and learnt from numerous teachers. He stated that he had received instruction from 450 teachers, yet there were a great number of teachers who granted him ijazah.Al-Safadi, one of Abu Hayyan's students, added that he had 400 teachers, whereas 1500 teachers have granted him ijazah. They were fromAndalusia,Maghreb,Egypt,Levant,Hejaz, andIraq. His teachers provide as evidence of his indisputable expertise in a variety of subjects. In actuality, this gives him the right to be recognised as a multidisciplinary figure in his era. Imam Abu Hayyan is credited by historians with writing a book that includes biographies of his masters. Al-Nudar was the name of the book, but the manuscripts are unavailable.[15]
Abu Hayyan left Andalusia and briefly visitedMorocco before spending time in other regions ofNorth Africa, includingCeuta andBougie. The author has spent some time during this time in hadith circles. After that, he spent some time inTunisia's hadith scientific circles and received instruction in fiqh from the region's recognised authorities. Among his hadith-related experts were the following: Abu Yakub Yousuf ibn Ibrahim, Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Harun, and Abu Abdullah al-Kanani (69A9H/1300AD). He studied under Abu al-Abbas al-Ishbili (699AH/1300AD) in the field offiqh. After that, he travelled and landed in Mamluk-ruled Egypt. He spent some time studying the hadith and the Qur'an in Alexandria before moving on toCairo, where he spent the remainder of his days in 679H/ 1279AD23.[16]
Following his residence in Egypt, he studied syntax (nahv) underBaha' al-Din Ibn al-Nahhas (d. 698AH/1299AD), one of Egypt's most illustrious grammar specialists in Arabic philology and an important figure in literature. In terms of sources, in addition to al-Nahhas, his initial qira'at experts were 'Ali ibn Yahya al-Hamadani al-Marbuti (680/1281) and Abu Tahir al-Maliji (681AH/1282AD). He studied prophetic traditions under leading hadith experts such asIbn Daqiq al-'Id (702AH/1302AD) andal-Dimyati (705AH/1305AD). Furthermore, the author utilised Shams al-Din al-Isfahani in the area of Islamic legal theory (Usul al-Fiqh).[16]
After travelling through Hijaz, it is recorded that Abu Hayyan resided in Egypt. Following the passing of his long-time mentor, Ibn Nahhas, he began teaching in his rightful role as a scholar. Later, while working for the Mamluks, he taughtmorphology (sarf), syntax (nahv), qiraat, hadith, and tafsir in a few large madrasahs. He also held teaching positions in famous scientific institutions in Egypt, including Madrasah al-Mansuriyya and al-Jami 'al-Aqmar. It is noteworthy that he had a cordial relationship with the sultans and other ruling class members of his era.[16]
InMamlukEgypt, Abu Hayyan was appointed lecturer of the science of Qur'anic exegesis at the college named after thesultan of Egypt,Al-Mansur Qalawun, inAlexandria.[17] Later, he spent a period teachingtafsir in theMosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo.[5][14]
Abu Hayyan won favor at the court ofan-Nasir Muhammad; the scholarFatḥ al-Din Ibn Sayyid al-Nās and he, often judged the poetry contests held during al-Nasir's reign.[18]
Imam Abu Hayyan taught a wide range of subjects, including Arabic language, hadith (prophetic tradition), fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), qira'at (Quranic recitation) and tafsir (Quranic interpretation). Many students travelled from all over the world to study under him. This phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that he taught at Cairo's largest mosque and lived long enough to impart knowledge to benefit his society.[15] The Shafi'i historianal-Safadi mentioned the qualities of Abu Hayyan on the following; “The most hard-working of my scholars were Abu Hayyan. He was always engaged in science, and he set aside all of his time for students or wrote articles.”[7] Among his major students who became leading scholars of their period include:[19]
Abu Hayyan died on a Saturday in July in the year 1344 at his home in Cairo,[5][9] just after the last evening prayer.[20] He was buried the next day in thecemetery ofBab al-Nasr inIslamic Cairo. When news of his death reachedDamascus, the population mourned his death.[20]
Abu Hayyan was reportedly married and has two kids. Zumrud binti Abrak (d. 722H/1322AD) was his wife, and she went by "Ummu Hayyan". The sources state that she taught hadith because she was a learned woman. Abu Hayyan's offspring were a girl named Nudar (d. 730H/1330AD) and a son named Hayyan (d. 763H/1363AD).In addition to having a permission certificate from his father and other instructors, Hayyan was a knowledgeable student of hadith. It is mentioned in the pertinent sources that Abu Hayyan cherished his daughter dearly. Nudar also studied the Arabic language, hadith, and qira'at; she was granted permission in these areas. Al-Dimyati, al-Barzali, and al-Zubayr are a few of Nudar's well-known instructors. In addition, Abu Hayyan requested permission fromSayf al-Din Arghun al-Nasir, the Mamluk Sultan, to bury his late daughter Nudar in his mansion's garden. Nudar died at a young age.[13] Such permissions were not typical, and it seems the request was granted due to his high standing with the royal court. Abu Hayyan was deeply affected by his daughter's death and he composed anelegy in praise of her standing among intellectual circles.[16][21]
Not only was Abu Hayyan regarded by his followers as a pious scholar, but he was also well-liked and polite in public. In addition, he was someone who gets excited when the Quran is recited[citation needed]. Kamal al-Din claims that although love and heroic poetry moved Abu Hayyan, poetry about charity had no such effect on him. Rather than bragging about his charity, the author complimented himself on his thrift. Al-Safadi, one of his students, explained this attitude by pointing to Abu Hayyan's discomfort on his scientific expedition and the fact that he had visited numerous places.[16]
Abu Hayyan was said to be generally handsome, tall andlong haired, which, along with his beard, turned grey in old age.[13]
Instead of adopting the schools of theMu'tazilah and Mujassimah (Anthropomorphists), Abu Hayyan followed the Sunni creed of Islam which is known asAhl al-Sunnah Wal-jama'ah. The middle path referring to theAsh'arite school thatAbu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari established. Muhammad bin {Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrawi noted that the Imam adhered to the Ash'ari school of thought when reading Quranic passages about the Names and Attributes of Allah inAl-Bahr al-Muhit. He disagreed with the Mu'tazili school of thought, particularly withal-Zamakhshari's viewpoints. For example while dealing with verse 55 of al-Baqarah; And [remember] when you declared, "O Moses, indeed we shall not believe thee until we see God face to face!"[22]
In reference to this verse, Abu Hayyan stated that there are still disagreements among Muslim scholars on the possibility of seeing Allah even in the Hereafter, whereas al-Zamakhshari claimed that this outright was impossible. The majority of Muslim scholars hold that we can see Allah with our naked eyes in the hereafter. This is contrast to theQadariyah,Mu'tazila, Najjariyah,Jahmiyya, and their likes. Imam Abu Hayyan drew attention to this and defended theconsensus since it is supported by so many prophetic traditions. Additionally, Abu Hayyan highlighted that al-Zamakhshari's fanaticism of his school of thought caused him to utilise religious passages out of context.[22]
It is evident from his writings that Abu Hayyan could not stand the idea of philosophy; upon his arrival in Egypt, he saw that many Egyptians accepted philosophy without any reservations. He was quite startled and Abu Hayyan said "even we the Andalusians hate philosophy!"[22]
Numerous scholars praised Abu Hayyan's creed. Al-Kamal Ja'far was one of them, stating that Imam Abu Hayyan is dependable, strong, and trustworthy, and his doctrine is free of all philosophical heresies, including Mu'tazilah and Mujassimah. Abu Hayyan was hailed by Kamal al-Din al-Adfuwi as a learnt and reliable man whose credo was free of all philosophical heresies, including Mu'tazilah and Mujassimah. The scholars concur that he adhered to the teachings of theSalaf al-Salih.[22]
SinceZahiri was Andalus's prominent school of fiqh at the time, Imam Abu Hayyan was a disciple of the school when he lived there. He saw that Zahiri school is not highly renowned in Egypt after arriving there. He so adhered to the Shafi'i school and readAl-Muharrar, a work authored by Imamal-Rafi'i, andMinhaj al-Talibin, which was written by Imamal-Nawawi. Before he manually duplicated the book, he studied and committed to memory a portion of Minhaj al-Talibin. He then summed it up and gave it the name al-Wahhaj.[22]
Despite adhering to the Shafi'i school, the Zahiri doctrine still had significant influence on him.Al-Isnawi did note that Imam Abu Hayyan was more inclined towards theAhl al-Zahir school, and at times this was overt. Regarding the Quranic commentary, Imam Abu Hayyan appeared to favour the literal interpretation of the text, occasionally citingIbn Hazm's view in cases where there was disagreement over the legal provisions. As he noted it in the book of al-Bahr al-Muhit, he also summarised Ibn Hazm's work,Al-Muhalla.[22]
Others view that Abu Hayyan remained within theZahirimadhhab ofSunni Islam.[23] When asked toward the end of his life about a claim he had switched to theShafi'imadhhab, or some other school, he responded that, anyone who had known the Ẓāhirī school could never leave it.[24][25]
He regarded theSufism andmetaphysics ofibn Arabi,Mansur Al-Hallaj,Ibn al-Farid,Ibn Sab'in andAbu al-Hasan al-Shushtari, as heretical.[6] He was contemporary toIbn Taymiyyah and Abu Hayyan critiqued his writings and charged him withanthropomorphism.[26]
On the Arabic language, Abu Hayyan shared the views of his fellow Ẓāhirī Andalusian,Ibn Maḍāʾ. Absolute belief in the divine mover led them to reject the concept of linguisticcausality. For them the 'cause' of all things, including language, is attributable solely toGod.[27] Thus on theological grounds, he was suspicious of the so-called "eastern grammarian" supporters of 'linguistic causality'.
When Abu Hayyan arrived in Egypt theMamluk Sultan was ruler. Although Abu Hayyan held theTurkic languages of Mamluk Egypt superior to theKipchak andTurkmen languages with which he was familiar,[28] he also wrote grammars ofAmharic,Middle Mongol, theBerber languages and the Turkic. Other Arabic-language linguists of his day had little regard for foreign languages.[8][29] Abu Hayyan often illuminated Arabic grammatical concepts with quotes from various language.[14]
Abu Hayyan, the so-called 'king of grammar', was celebrated as the unrivalled linguistic scholar and religious expert ofhadith,historiography andSharia.[13] He is referred to alternately as Abu Hayyan "al-Gharnati" ('the Granadian') and Abu Hayyan "al-Nahwi" ('the grammarian').
Abu Hayyan was highly revered in the domains of morphology and syntax during his time. As a result, Abu Hayyan became one of the leading figures in the fields of Quran exegesis and left his mark on history with his proficiency on the science of Quran recitation (qira'at). Indeed, it is known that the author was considered as one of the major heads of Arabic philology; as such, he was given the prestigious titles “Amir al-Mu'minin fī al-Nahw” ("Leader of the Believers in Grammar"), “Sibawayh of the century”, and “Lisan al-Arab”. Furthermore, it was evident that Abu Hayyan was proficient in Turkish, Persian, and Ethiopian; although he was well-known for his knowledge of Arabic, the author had also written in these languages to demonstrate his competence in related fields.[7]
Abu Hayyan's studies of grammar were governed by overarching principles he laid out such as "one must base rules of Arabic on frequency of occurrence" and "analogous formations that contradict genuine data found in good speech are not permitted."[14] His approach to grammar has been described by Brill'sEncyclopaedia of Islam as remarkably modern, and Abu Hayyan's respect for facts and unusual objectivity have also been noted.[14]
Abu Hayyan began writing books at an early age and produced significant works that established their reputation for generations, particularly in the fields ofcommentary, qiraat, and Arabic language science. He also gathered works in the domains of hadith and stratification. The author also highlighted his proficiency in the languages ofPersia, Abyssinian, and Turkish (Kipchak Turkish); he also produced works in this area. Because of his controversial achievements in the field of syntax, Abu Hayyan was considered the Sibawayh of his time (nahv). Another known fact is, although Abu Hayyan authored most of his works in prose, he wrote works in poetic genre as well. He is said to have written 65 works and the following:[30]
Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852/1449;Rahimahullah), the mentor of Hadith scholars and author of the book "Fath al-Bari bi-Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari", which not a single Islamic scholar can dispense with, was Ash'ari. The shaykh of the scholars of Sunni Islam, Imamal-Nawawi (d. 676/1277; Rahimahullah), author of "Sharh Sahih Muslim" and many other famous works, was Ash'ari. The master of Qur'anic exegetes, Imamal-Qurtubi (d. 671/1273; Rahimahullah), author of "al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'an", was Ash'ari. Shaykh al-IslamIbn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974/1567; Rahimahullah), who wrote "al-Zawajir 'an Iqtiraf al-Kaba'ir", was Ash'ari. The Shaykh of Sacred Law and Hadith, the conclusive definitiveZakariyya al-Ansari (d. 926/1520; Rahimahullah), was Ash'ari. ImamAbu Bakr al-Baqillani (d. 403/1013; Rahimahullah), Imam al-'Asqalani; Imamal-Nasafi (d. 710/1310; Rahimahullah); Imamal-Shirbini (d. 977/1570; Rahimahullah); Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati, author of the Qur'anic commentary "al-Bahr al-Muhit"; ImamIbn Juzayy (d. 741/1340; Rahimahullah); author of "al-Tashil fi 'Ulum al-Tanzil"; and others – all of these were Imams of the Ash'aris.
This view is echoed by the later Andalusian Ashʿarite exegete, Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnāṭī (d. 1344).
