Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī | |
|---|---|
أبو إسماعيل الهروي | |
 Abdullah Ansari (holding a book) with Abu Ahmad. Folio fromKamal al-Din Gazurgahi'sMajalis al-ushshaq, created inShiraz,Safavid Iran (modern-dayIran) , second half 16th century | |
| Title | Shaykh al-Islām,Sage of Herat |
| Personal life | |
| Born | May 4, 1006 |
| Died | 8 March 1089 (aged 82) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni Islam |
| Jurisprudence | Hanbali[1] |
| Creed | Athari[2] |
| Movement | Sufi[3] |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced | |
| Arabic name | |
| Personal (Ism) | ʿAbd Allāh (عبد الله) |
| Patronymic (Nasab) | Ibn Muḥammad ibn Maaz ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Jaʿfar ibn Manṣūr ibn Matt ibn Ayyub ibn Abu Ayyub (بن محمد بن علي بن محمد بن أحمد بن علي بن جعفر بن منصور بن مت) |
| Teknonymic (Kunya) | Abū Ismāʿīl (أبو إسماعيل) |
| Toponymic (Nisba) | al-Harawī (الهروي) |
Abu Ismaïl Abdullah al-Harawi al-Ansari orAbdullah Ansari of Herat (1006–1089) (Persian:خواجه عبدالله انصاری) also known asPir-i Herat (پیر هرات) "Sage of Herat", was aSufi saint,[7][8] who lived inHerat,Ghaznavid Empire (modern-dayAfghanistan). Ansari was a commentator on theQur'an, scholar of theHanbali school of thought (madhhab),traditionalist, polemicist and spiritual master, known for his oratory and poetic talents inPersian language.[9]
Ansari was born in the Kohandez, the old citadel of Herat, in 1006. His father, Abu Mansur Muhammad, was a shopkeeper who had spent several years of his youth atBalkh.[9]
Ansari was a direct descendant ofAbu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, being the eleventh in line from him. The lineage is described, and traced in the family history records,[10] as follows;
Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Pir-i-Herat Al Imam Al-Zahid Shaykh Al-Islam wa Al-Khorasan Al-Kubra Al-Muhaddith Al- Kabir Mufassir wa Al-Hafiz Al-Quran Khwaja Abu Isma’il ‘Abd-Allah Al-Kandari Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 1006-89 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Abu Mansur Muhammad Balkhi Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 966-1025 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Maaz Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 923-82 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Abu Maaz ‘Ali Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 881-948 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Muhammad Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 837-97 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Ahmad Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 792-861 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja ‘Ali Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 756-830 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Ja’far Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 722-89 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Mansur Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 682-748 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Murabit Abu Mansur Samit Muhammad Ghazi Al-Tabi’i Al-Harawi Ummat-Ul-Ansari 634-97 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Al-Sahaba Shaikh Ayyub Al-Madani Al-Ansari Al-Khazraji Al-Najjari 609-64 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Al-Sahaba Al-Katib wa Al-Muhaddith Emir Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah Hafiz Al-Quran Hamil Liwa Al-Islam Al-Ustyriyi Mudif-un-Nabi Mihmandar-i-Rasul-Allah Waqif-i-Masjid Al-Nabawi Al-Tarid Al-Munafiqin Shaikh Abu Ayyub Khalid Ghazi Al-Shaheed Al-Madani Al-Ansari Al-Khazraji Al-Najjari
In the reign of the thirdRashid Caliph,Uthman, Abu Mansoor al-Taabi'i took part in the conquest of Khorasan, and subsequently settled in Herat, his descendant Khwajah Abdullah Ansari died there in Dhū al-Ḥijjah 481/February-March 1089.[11]
Ansari was a disciple ofAbu al-Hassan al-Kharaqani.[citation needed] He practised theHanbali school ofSunnijurisprudence. TheShrine of Khwaja Abd Allah, built during theTimurid dynasty, is a popular pilgrimage site. He excelled in the knowledge ofHadith, history andʻilm al-ansāb (genealogy). He wrote several books onIslamic mysticism and philosophy, inPersian andArabic.
Abdullah Ansari had 5 children in total: Khwaja Jabir, Khwaja Abdurrahman, Khwaja Hashim Buzurg, Qazi Mohd Yusuf and Qazi Mohd Naimat.[12]
The descendants of the sons of Abdullah Ansari had migrated to other regions inSouth Asia, some remained inHerat. Some settlements of the descendants of Abdullah Ansari are in,Jais(Jayas),Gorakhpur,Yusufpur,Mau,Saharanpur,Punjab,Kakori and the scholars at the famous university inLucknow,Firangi Mahal.[13][14][15][16]
He was one of the first Sufis to write in Persian, which he wrote in a local dialect, thus indicating that he wanted to spread his teachings to the general populace instead of just to theulama, who knew Arabic.[17]
Ansari's most famous work is "Munajat Namah" (literally 'Litanies or dialogues with God'), which is considered a masterpiece ofPersian literature. After his death, many of his sayings recorded in his written works and transmitted by his students were included in the 10-volume Tafsir of Maybudi, "Kashf al-Asrar" (The Unveiling of Secrets). This was among the earliest complete SufiTafsir (exegeses) of the Quran and has been published several times.
The Hanbali juristibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya wrote a lengthy commentary on a treatise written by Ansari entitledMadarij al-Salikin.[18][19] He expressed his love and appreciation for Ansari in this commentary with his statement, "Certainly I love the Sheikh, but I love the truth more!".[20] Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya refers to Ansari with the honorific title "Sheikh al-Islam" in his workAl-Wabil al-Sayyib min al-Kalim al-Tayyab[20]
Like many followers of theHanbali school, he was accused ofanthropomorphism and corporealism by rationalist theologians and jurists,[21][22] such as theShafi'i-Ash'ari scholarTaj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771/1370) who mentioned in his bookTabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra that Abu Isma'il al-Harawi was given falsely the honorary title of 'Shaykh al-Islam' by the anthropomorphists and the corporealists (al-Mujassima).[23][24]
قدمنا في الطبقة الثانية في ترجمة أحمد بن صالح المصري، أن مما ينبغي أن يُنظر فيه، ويتفقد وقت الجرح والتعديل، حال العقائد؛ فإنه باب مهم، وقع بسببه كلام بعض الأئمة في بعض، لمخالفة العقيدة، إذا تذكرت ذلك فاعلم أن أبا إسماعيل عبـد اللـه بـن محمد الهروي، الذي تُسَمِّيه المُجَسِّمة شيخ الإسلام، قال: سألت يحيى بن عمار عن ابن حبان، قلت: رأيته؟ قال: وكيف لم أره؟ ونحن أخرجناه من سجستان، كان له علم كثير، ولم يكن له كبير دين، قدم علينا فأنكر الحد لله، فأخرجناه من سجستان.
Imam Subki said that when the Anthropomorphists (deviant group) of Herat saw his (Al-Sabuni's) fame, they began to give the same name and title falsely to Abu Ismail Abdallah al-Ansari, the author of an anti-Ash'ari book 'Dhamm al-Kalam' against theAhle al-Sunnah, with the same title of Shaykh al-Islam (Shaykh of Islam).
