Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī أبو إسحاق الشاطبي | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | |
| Died | Sha'ban 8, 790 A.H/1388 C.E |
| Region | al-Andalus |
| Main interest(s) | Fiqh,Usul al-Fiqh,Hadith,Tafsir,Arabic grammar,Linguistic |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Maliki[1] |
| Creed | Ash'ari[1] |
| Arabic name | |
| Personal (Ism) | Ibrāhīm |
| Patronymic (Nasab) | ibn Mūsā ibn Muḥammad |
| Teknonymic (Kunya) | Abū Isḥāq |
| Toponymic (Nisba) | al-Shāṭibī; al-Lakẖmī;al-Gharnāṭī |
Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā al-Shāṭibī (720–790 AH/1320 – 1388 C.E.) was anAndalusíSunniIslamic scholar.[2] He was regarded in his time as among the leadingjurist andlegal theoretician in theMaliki school oflaw.[3] He was well-versed in thescience of hadith andQuranicinterpretation. He was an eminentgrammarian,linguist, andliterary figure. He was considered the greatest scholar inAl-Andalus of his time and one of the most influential figures in the Maliki school.[4][5]
There is no solid information about the Imam's birth year. However, the range that is believed to exist is 720H/1320CE to 730H/1330CE. He was born into a humble and impoverished family in the city ofGranada which was the capital ofNasri Kingdom under the reign ofSultan Muhammad V al-Ghani Billah at the time.[4]
He had never been outside of Granada, not for study orHajj. He studied with Granada's finest intellectuals, gaining mastery over various disciplines of knowledge at the period. Al-Shatibi specialised in Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), Prophetic traditions (hadith), Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), principles of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh),Arabic language andgrammar, as well as treatises onmedicine andhistory. His youth coincided with the Nasri Kingdom. Due to its growth and affluence, Granada became a popular destination for academics from across North Africa. The greatest scholars of al-Shatibi's era, such asIbn Khaldun andIbn al-Khatib, had either been linked to the Nasri court or had visited Granada. As a result, the city has grown to become an important centre of learning.[6]
As was customary at the time, al-Shatibi received his early education in Arabic language, grammar, andliterature. Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Biri (d. 754H/1353CE), dubbed the "master of grammarians" (Shaykh al-Nuhat) in Andalus, was his first instructor in Arabic language and grammar. After Al-Biri's passing, Shatibi completed his study of Arabic language and grammar with Abu al-Qasim al-Sharif al-Sibti (d. 760H/1358CE). Al-Sibti's greatness in the Arabic language and grammar earned him the title "The Bearer of the Standard of Rhetoric." He was also highly regarded byal-Timbukti, who referred to him as "Ra'is al-'Ulum alLisaniyyah" (The King of Linguistics).[6]
Al-Shatibi learned fiqh from the renowned Andalusian jurist Abu Sa'id ibn Lubb, who served as Granada'skhatib (preacher) andmufti. For his fiqh education, he owed a great deal to his mentor Ibn Lubb, although they later got into arguments over a number of different topics.[6]
TheMarini ruler, SultanAbu Inan Faris appointed Abu Abdullah al-Maqqari as the ChiefQadi (judge), making him the most well-known disciple of al-Shatibi. In 757H/1356CE, the Sultan despatched him on a diplomatic trip to Granada; however, the Nasri Sultan later imprisoned him and deported him back toFez. There, he was tried and found guilty. Al-Maqqari was given the title "muhaqqiq" due to his eminence in Maliki fiqh. He also wrote ontasawwuf, Arabic grammar, and usul al-fiqh. Additionally, he introduced al-Shatibi to a sufi order.[6]
Al-Shatibi owes two illustrious scholars for his understanding of the rational sciences, or 'ulum al-aqliyyah. First among them was Abu Ali Mansur al-Zawawi, who influenced the former'stheological andphilosophical understanding. He resided in Granada from 753H/1352CE until 765H/1363CE before being banished. The second of them, Abu Abdullah al-Sharif al-Tilmisani (d. 771H/1369CE), was regarded by his contemporaries as "The Most Knowledgeable Man" and had acquired the status ofmujtahid. One of his greatest works in Usul al-Fiqh is Miftah al-Usul ila Bina al-Furu' 'ala al-Usul, or The Key to Building the Branches on the Roots of Islamic Jurisprudence.[6]
Other instructors whose records have been included in the Imam's biography are Abu Abdullah of Valencia, Abu Ja'far al-Shaquri of Granada, and Ibn Marzuq al-Khatib al-Tilmisani. It is stated that the latter was regarded as the Shaykh al-Islam of his era. Under the tutelage of the renowned scholar of his era, al-Shatibi studiedAl-Muwatta’ ofImam Malik andSahih al-Bukhari.[6]
We don't know much about the Imam's teaching career because his biography hasn't been thoroughly documented. Al-Timbukti did, however, make reference to three of his pupils. The most well-known were the two brothers, Abu Bakr ibn 'Asim and Abu Yahya ibn 'Asim. Later on, the latter was appointed chief Qadi of Granada and is renowned for his Tuhfat al-Hukkam (Gift for the Rulers), a collection of rules compiled for Granada's judges. On the battlefield, his brother Abu Yahya was martyred. Abu Abdullah al-Bayani was the third pupil of the Imam.[7]
Two additional of the Imam's disciples were named by Abul-Ajfan: Abu Ja'far al-Qassar and Abu Abdullah al-Majari, who wrote the Imam's first biography, which we already discussed.[7]
On Sha'ban 8, 790H/1388CE, this illustrious interdisciplinary Imam of the fourteenth-century al-Andalus departed from this life. This date was verified by one of the Imam's most well-known pupils, Abu Yahya ibn 'Asim, in his Nayl al-Muna, an abbreviated version of Al-Muwafaqat. The verse reads, "Until his life came to an end in the year of ninety in seven hundred."[8]
One of the few classical jurists who is regarded as being heavily relied upon by contemporary writers onusul al-fiqh is Imam al-Shatibi. His theories of maqasid al-Shariah and Maslahah are widely studied and frequently noticed in the creation of modern laws and in the search for concepts for the larger agenda of civilizational renewal. This is mostly due to the fact that these beliefs were developed in response to the problems, difficulties, and societal shifts of his period, which was an extremely affluent and thriving al-Andalus.[8]
Rashid Rida and other contemporary academics regarded him as one of the eighth and fourteenth-century "mujaddids", or religious revivalists of the century, on par withIbn Khaldun. In a similar spirit, 'Abd al-Muta'al al-Sa'idi (d. 1386H/1966CE) expressed his opinion, adding that Imamal-Shafi'i and al-Shatibi are ranked similarly in terms of significance.[8]
It was not until the nineteenth century that the works of Imam al-Shatibi became almost unknown in the modern world. In 1884, Tunis published the first edition of his masterpiece, Al-Muwafaqat. His background was little understood before then. The renowned writings of the Imam came to be acknowledged as modern Islamic legal systems' masterworks. Thus far, Imam al-Shatibi's biographies have documented the following treatises, which are primarily in the areas of Arabic grammar and fiqh:[9]
Al-Shatibi al-Gharnati al-Ash'ari al-Maliki (d. 590 AH)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Tawfique Al-Mubarak (January 2015).Imam al-Shatibi: The Master Architect of Maqasid(PDF).Switzerland:International Association of Insurance Supervisors. pp. 1–6.
