'Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha'rani عبد الوهاب ابن أحمد الشعرانى | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1493 |
| Died | 5 December 1565(1565-12-05) (aged 71–72) |
| Era | Early modern period |
| Region | Egypt |
| Main interest(s) | Islamic Jurisprudence,Hadith,History,Tasawwuf,Islamic theology |
| Notable work(s) | Al-Mizan al-Kubra Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra |
| Occupation | Scholar,Jurist,Traditionist,Historian,Sufi,Islamic Theologian |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi'i |
| Creed | Ash'ari[1] |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced | |
Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha'rani (1492/3–1565, AH 898–973, full nameArabic:عبد الوهاب ابن أحمد الشعرانىʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Aḥmad ash-Shaʿrānī) was a highly influentialEgyptian scholar.[2] He was an eminentjurist,traditionist,historian,mystic andtheologian.[3][4][5][6] He was one of the Islamic revivalists and scholasticsaints of the sixteenth century. He is credited for reviving Islam and is one of the most prolific writers of the early Egyptian-Ottoman period. His legal, spiritual, and theological writings are still widely read in the Muslim world today.[7][8] He is regarded as "one of the last original thinkers in Islam."[9] He was the founder of an Egyptian order ofSufism, eponymously known asŠaʿrāwiyyah. The order gradually declined after Shaʿrani's death, although it remained active until the 19th century.[10]
Al-Sha'rani claimed that Musa Abu 'Imran, the son of theSultan ofTlemcen in North Africa, was his ancestor five generations ago.Sheikh Abu Madyan Shu'ayb, theShadhili Sufi tradition's founder, sent Musa toEgypt as one of his disciples. The family finally made their home in theMonufia province's Sakiyat Abu Sha'ra village, hence the name "Sha'rani."[11]
In a village north ofCairo, Egypt, Abd al-Wahhab Ibn Ahmad al-Sha'rani was born in the years 898 or 899 A.H. (1492/1493 C.E.).
Despite the fact that he lost his father when he was still a little child, he started his quest for knowledge at a young age. Under the guidance of his brother, he had memorised the Qur'an by the time he was seven years old. He relocated to Cairo with an aim of studying atAl-Azhar University, where he would flourish in his quest for knowledge. He had memorised countless scriptures from all the sacred disciplines in a short period of time. These manuscripts ranged in length from hundreds to thousands of pages and they include Al-Minhaj byAl-Nawawi, Alfiyyah Malik byIbn Malik, Al-Tawhid by Ibn Hisham, and other valuable books. He also memorized the book “Al-Rawd Mukhtasar Al-Rawdah”, which is considered one of the most comprehensive books on the jurisprudence of the Shafi’i school. It was in this school where he gained his high fame.[12] Al-Sha'rani's impressive study of all four schools of Islamic jurisprudence places him among the elite and of the few Islamic scholars in history to master all four Sunnimadhabs. He was in love with hadith sciences and exhaustively worked hard in mastering it and he took the path ofSufism and strived for himself after mastering theArabic sciences.[13]
Al-Sha'rani elaborated extensively in mentioning his sheikhs in his books, and showed the extent of his veneration for them, especially in his book “Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra”, and mentioned that they are about fifty of them. The most famous amongst them were intellectual giants in Islamic history:[14]
Al-Sha'rani sought a Sufi shaykh after achieving the greatest levels of proficiency in the Islamic disciplines. He made the decision to proceed withShaykh Ali al-Khawas, who, following a brief conversation, gave al-Sha'rani the order to sell all of his numerous books and give the earnings to the needy. Al-Sha'rani sold all of his books, but he hung onto one because it was special to him. Al-Sha'rani wondered aloud, "Is this book really worth risking my journey to Allah?" as he made his way to al-Khawas' home. He turned around right away and sold the book. Al-Sha'rani was ordered to withdraw into seclusion for a whole year with the stringent condition of avoiding all gatherings of Islamic knowledge after informing al-Khawas that he had completed this assignment. Only then did al-Khawas take him on as a close friend and personally direct his spiritual journey. Only a few days after he began his spiritual journey to Allah (God), his friendship withShaykh Ali al-Khawas began to bear spiritual fruit, and al-Sha'rani would eventually take over his teacher's position of authority on the path.[14]
Al-Sha’rani died on 12 Jumada 973 AH/5 December 1565 AD). His final words on Earth were: “I am going to my Lord, the Merciful, the Munificent.”[15] He was buried in the Zawiya that had been created for him. As the leader of Zawiya and the tariqa, his son 'Abd al-Rahim succeeded him.[11]
Al-Sha'rani stands for the traditional, moderately ascetic, non-political, and orthodox strain of Egyptian Sufism. AlthoughShadhili ethics andliterature had an impact on him, he did not identify with thattariqa because he found it to be too aristocratic. Socially, he belonged to theBadawiyya, the tariqa ofAhmad al-Badawi, whom he admired, but he also vehemently opposed theBadawiyya and other such Sufi orders for their excesses, their disdain forSharia law, and their lack of respect for theulama. Al-Sha'rani also disparages theKhalwati order, which was once prominent amongTurkish soldiers, claiming that it encourages hallucinations rather than genuine religious experience. He never expresses his own tariqa affiliation and generally aligns with the tariq al-Kawn, orAl-Junayd's alternative approach. His introduction into 26 tariqas appears to have been merely ceremonial or done to earnbarakah.[11]
Al-Sha'rani exposed frauds and impostors posing as Sufis in his work al-Tabaqat. He was very critical and harsh towards charlatans who engage ininnovation that go against theBook andSunnah.[15]
His seminal workAl-Mīzan al-Kubra (The Supreme Scale), al-Sha'rani present a theory based onSufi presumptions that strives to unite or at least equalise the four madhabs and emphasises the need to reduce the gaps between them. In contrast to the opinions held by their narrow-minded imitators (Muqallid), he thought there were no fundamental differences between the founders of themadhab. As saints, the founders had access to the Source of the Law. There is only oneSharia, he claims, and it has two standards: one that is harsh for those who are steadfast in their faith and one that is lenient for those who are not. Al-Sha'rani often condemned the fuqaha (jurists) for burdening the common people with intricate legal issues that had little bearing on the core principles of Islam.[16][11]
In his capacity as a historian of Sufism and as a defender of it, Al-Sha'rani assembled collections of Tabakat that contained the lives and sayings of Sufis. He maintains that genuine Sufis have never violated the Shar'ia in word or deed, and that any appearance to the contrary is the result of misunderstanding, erroneous interpretation, a lack of comprehension of Sufi terminology, or interpolation by adversaries. Al-Sha'rani made this decision to uphold the orthodoxy of the great mysticShaykh al-Akhbar Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-Arabi, whose principles he epitomises in his Al-Yawakit wa 'I-djawahir by simplifying the mystic's complex doctrines. Al-Sha'rani, likeAl-Suyuti before him, maintained that one should regardIbn Arabi as a greatsaint but refrain from reading his problematic books.[17][11]
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