Al-Daraqutni | |
|---|---|
ٱلدَّارَقُطْنِيّ | |
| Title | Amir al-Mu'minin Fī al-Hadith[1] Shaykh al-Islām Al-Ḥāfiẓ |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 918 |
| Died | 995 (aged 76–77) |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age |
| Region | Iraq |
| Main interest(s) | Hadith,Qur'anic recitation |
| Notable work(s) | Sunan al-Daraqutni |
| Occupation | Scholar,Traditionist, |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi'i[2] |
| Creed | Ash'ari[3][4][5] |
| Muslim leader | |
Ali ibn Umar al-Daraqutni (Arabic:عَلِيّ بْن عُمَر ٱلدَّارَقُطْنِيّ,romanized: ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar al-Dāraquṭnī; 918–995 CE / 306–385 AH), was aSunni Muslimscholar andtraditionist best known for compiling thehadith collectionSunan al-Daraqutni. He is commonly celebrated in Sunni tradition with titles such as "Imam" and "Amir al-Mu'minin fial-Hadith".[7][8]
Al-Daraqutni was born in c. 918 CE/306 AH in theDar al-Qutn (Arabic:دار القطن,romanized: Dār al-Quṭn) quarter ofBaghdad, whence he got hisnisba.[9]
Al-Daraqutni grew up in a house of knowledge and virtue, as his father was one of the trustworthy Hadith transmitters, and he watched him in his youth frequenting the circles of knowledge and hearing, memorizing his audios and narrations, and spending the clouds of his day learning and studying.[10] His studies were initially largely restricted to his native Iraq, where he frequentedWasit,Basra andKufa.[7] Later in life, he travelled to Syria and Egypt and while in the latter, he enjoyed the patronage of theIkhishidvizier Jafar bin al-Fadl for assisting him with compiling his own hadith collection.[7]
His teachers in this period include[11]
His students included the hadith scholars:[11][6][12][13]
He died in 995 CE/385 AH and was buried in the Bab al-Dayr cemetery in Baghdad, near the grave ofMaruf Karkhi.[6]
A staunchShafi'i, al-Daraqutni was wary of relying on reason and even rejected well-known hadiths that praised it. Nevertheless, he showed some appreciation forkalām.[14] He is said to have toldAbu Dharr al-Harawi thatAbu Bakr al-Baqillani (d. 403/1013), an earlyAsh'ari authority, that “This is the Imām of the Muslims, the defender of the religion, the supporter of theSunnah, and the suppressor of theMu'tazila.”[14][4] Despite his personal dislike for speculative theology, al-Daraqutni authored a rebuttal against the Mu'tazila and likely recognized its usefulness when confronting rationalist opponents.[14]
IfBaghdad's public milieu had been more supportive of middle-of-the-road traditionalism, Al-Daraqutni, aShafi'te inhabitant, would have rejected the anthropomorphic account as unreliable. However, theHanbali extremists who controlled Baghdad made it nearly difficult to reject the anthropomorphic version. The poem gives precise instructions to theMuhaddithun, who were perplexed when they came across these two distinct, if not contradictory, writings, in addition to the implicit preference for the mild version over the anthropomorphic one. Al-Daraqutni bluntly described the most crucial aspect of theAsh'arite method of transmission in this short poem: a systematic insistence on a strict transmission procedure in which the text was communicated verbatim without any verbal or gestural embellishments. Al-Daraqutni undoubtedly saw this stringent procedure as a defence against anthropomorphism. In other words, Hanbalite violence forced Baghdad's middle-of-the-road traditionalists to accept the anthropomorphic version in the tenth century.[5]
According toIbn al-Jawzi's book entitledMirat al Zamanwzi, Al-Daraqutni consideredIbn Qutayba to be one of the innovators whose beliefs leaned towardsanthropomorphism attributing direction, shape and image to God. He also claimed that Ibn Qutayba showed enmity towardsAhl al-Bayt.[15] Al-Daraqutni wrote a treatise againstMuʿtaziliteAmr ibn Ubayd on the subject of anthropomorphic narrations in relation to God's attributes and defending the ambiguous texts by providing evidence for its authenticity.[7]
Several of al-Daraqutni's extant works have been published:[7][11]
Al-Daraqutni wrote a series of commentaries, addendums and analyses of narrations contained withinSahih al-Bukhari andSahih Muslim.
In hisKitab al-tatabbu', al-Daraqutni reviews 217 narrations within the two collections which he deems to be flawed using bothisnad andmatn criticism. Reasons given include theisnad not meeting the requirements for inclusion in the collections, and the commentary of the hadith's transmitters being inadvertently merged with itsmatn.Jonathan A. C. Brown cautions that the work is an adjustment to the two collections rather than an attack on their overall integrity.[7]
