Ibn Qudama

Muwaffaq al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī (Arabic: ابن قدامة المقدسي; January–February 1147 – 7 July 1223), commonly known as Ibn Qudāma, was a Sunni Islamic scholar, jurist, theologian, and ascetic of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded as one of the most authoritative classical figures of the Hanbali tradition and played a significant role in its development and transmission during the medieval period.

Born in the village of Jammāʿīl near Jerusalem, Ibn Qudāmah migrated in his youth to Damascus, which became the main center of his scholarly activity. He later traveled to Baghdad, then a leading center of Hanbali learning, where he studied under prominent scholars before returning to Damascus to teach and write.

Ibn Qudāmah is best known for his major work al-Mughnī, a comprehensive legal encyclopedia that compares juristic opinions across the Sunni schools while presenting the Hanbali position in detail. He also authored influential works such as ʿUmdat al-Fiqh, al-Kāfī, Rawḍat al-Nāẓir, and Lumʿat al-Iʿtiqād. In theology, he adhered to the Atharī tradition and emphasized adherence to the Qurʾān and Sunnah, and his works remain widely studied in Sunni Islamic scholarship.

Life

250px|thumb|left|An 1876 wood-engraving of the market-places of Baghdad by John Philip Newman; Ibn Qudama visited this city three times in his life, having studied and taught in many of its most prominent areas in 1166, 1189, and 1196

Ibn Qudama was born in Palestine in Jammain, a town near Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdīs in the Arabic vernacular, whence his extended name), in 1147 Having received the first phase of his education in Damascus, In turn, all these various teachers gave Ibn Qudama the permission to begin teaching the principles of hadith to his own students, including important female disciples such as Zaynab bint al-Wāsiṭī (d. ca. 1240). which held that overt theological speculation was spiritually detrimental and supported drawing theology exclusively from the two sources of the Quran and the hadith. According to one scholar, it is evident that Ibn Qudama "completely opposed discussion of theological matters and permitted no more than repeating what was said about God in the data of revelation." In other words, Ibn Qudama rejected "any attempt to link God’s attributes to the referential world of ordinary human language," that is to say, as a theological point of view which purposefully avoided any type of speculation or reflection upon the nature of God.

Intercession

Ibn Qudama appears to have been a supporter of seeking the intercession of Muhammad in personal prayer, for he approvingly cites the famous prayer attributed to a hadith, cited among others by Ibn Hanbal (d. 855): "O God! I am turning to Thee with Thy Prophet, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad! I am turning with you to my Lord for the fulfillment of my need." Ibn Qudama also relates that which al-’Utbiyy narrated concerning one's visitation to the grave of Muhammad in Medina: <blockquote>I was sitting by the grave of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when a bedouin man [a‘rābī] entered and said, “Peace be upon you, oh Messenger of God. I have heard God say [in the Qur’an], ‘Had they come to you [the Prophet] after having done injustice to themselves [sinned] and asked God for forgiveness and [additionally had] the Messenger asked for forgiveness on their behalf, they would have found God to be oft-turning [in repentance] and merciful.’ And I have come to you seeking forgiveness for my sin[s], and seeking your intercession near God.” He [the bedouin man] then said the following poem:</blockquote><blockquote>O he who is the greatest of those buried in the grandest land,<br /> [Of] those whose scent has made the valley and hills fragrant,<br /> May my life be sacrificed for the grave that is your abode,<br /> Where chastity, generosity and nobility reside!</blockquote><blockquote>Al-’Utbiyy then narrates that he fell asleep and saw the Prophet in a dream and was informed that the bedouin man had indeed been forgiven.</blockquote>After quoting the above event, Ibn Qudama explicitly recommends that Muslims should use the above prayer when visiting the Prophet. He thus approves of asking the Prophet for his intercession even after his earthly death. Due to Ibn Qudama's public support for the necessity of Sufism in orthodox Islamic practice, he gained a reputation for being one of "the eminent Sufis" of his era.

Relics

Ibn Qudama supported using the relics of Muhammad for the deriving of holy blessings, as is evident from his approved citing, in al-Mug̲h̲nī 5:468, of the case of Abdullah ibn Umar (d. 693), whom he records as having placed "his hand on the seat of the Prophet's minbar ... [and] then [having proceeded to] wipe his face with it." and which he "roundly endorsed." As scholars have noted, Hanbali authors of the period were "united in their affirmation of sainthood and saintly miracles,"

Life

Intercession

Relics

Notes

References

Further reading

External links