Imam Ibn Abī al-Dunyā رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه
Mawlana Muhammad Gul Faraz Attari Madani
Name and teknonym: Famously known as Imam Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, his real name was ʿAbdullah b. Muhammad b. ʿUbayd b. Sufyān b. Qays Qarashī, whilst his teknonym was Abū Bakr.
Birth: He was born in Baghdad in 208 AH.[1]
Teachers: He رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه acquired knowledge from some of the greatest scholars and hadith experts of his era. These include: Muhammad b. Ismāʿīl Bukhārī, Abū Dāwūd Sijistānī, Qāsim b. Salām, Ibn Sʿad, and Abū Ḥātim Rāzī رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ.[2]
Students: Some of his students include: Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Ibn Mājah, Abū al-ʿAbbās b. ʿUqda, and Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. Marwān Dīnawarī رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ.
Al-Dhahabī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه mentions there were around 26 students.[3] Ibn Ḥajar ʿAsqalānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه listed 17.[4]
Verbal and textual accolades
1. Ibn Abī Ḥātim رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه recalls, “My father and I used to write the narrations of Imam Ibn Abī al-Dunyā رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه. One day, someone asked my father about the Imam, to which he said, “He is a truthful man.”[5]
2. When the Imam passed away, Qāḍī Ismāʿīl b. Isḥāq رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه said regarding him, “May Allah have mercy upon Abū Bakr! A huge spectrum of knowledge departs with him.”[6]
3. Al-Dhahabī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه explains, “He was a real scholar and hadith master.”[7]
4. The historian Ibn Nadīm writes, “Ibn Abī al-Dunyā رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was the teacher of Muktafī Billāh, the caliph. He was righteous and a scholar who held immense mastery over textual sciences.”[8]
5. The Ḥanafī scholar, Ibn Taghribirdī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه said, “Ibn Abī al-Dunyā رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was a scholar, ascetic, and a devout personality. Academic consensus exists regarding his reliability, truthfulness, and veracity.”[9]
6. ʿImād al-Dīn Ibn Kathīr said, “He penned a host of valuable literature, memorised hadith with precision, and displayed exemplary character.”[10]
7. The grandson of Ibn Jawzī said, “He was a leading name, a scholar of Islam, highly learned, averse to worldly pleasures, and kind-hearted.”[11]
Books
He authored many works, most of which discussed asceticism and esoteric sciences. Ibn Jawzī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه said the imam رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه wrote over 100 books regarding the former.[12] His writings, speeches, and books are widely popular even today. Al-Dhahabī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه lists the names of 183 books he authored.[13]
Here are some:
(1) اَلْقَنَاعة (2) قَصْرُالْاَمَل (3) اَلصَّمْت (4) اَلتَّوْبَة (5) اَلیَقِیْن (6) اَلصَّبْر (7) الجُوْع (8) حُسْنُ الظَّنِ بِاللہ (9) اَلْاَوْلِیَاء (10) صِفَةُ النَّار (11) صِفَةُ الْجَنَّة (12) تَعْبِیْرُالرُّؤْیَاء (13) الدُّعَاء (14) ذَمُّ الدُّنْیَا (15) اَلْاَخْلَاق (16) کَرَامَاتُ الْاَوْلِیَاء (17) عَاشُوْرَاء (18) اَلْمَنَاسِک (19) اَخْبَارُ مُعَاوِیَه (20) اَخْبَارُ قُرَیْش (21) اَخْبَارُ الْمُلوک (22) اَخْبَارُ الثَّوْرِی (23) اَخْبَارُ الْاَعْرَاب (24) ذَمُّ الْمُسْکِر (25) ذَمُّ الْکِذْب (26) ذَمُّ الْبَغی (27) ذَمُّ الْغِیْبة (28) ذَمُّ الْحَسَد (29) ذَمُّ الرِّبَا (30) ذَمُّ الرِّیَاء (31) ذَمُّ الْبُخْل (32) ذَمُّ الشَّہْوَات [14]
Dawat-e-Islami’s Islamic Research Centre has worked upon two of the imam’s رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه works. This included taking extracts, translation, adding diacritics, and adding footnotes/explanatory points.
The first work is الشکر للہ this was translated as Virtues of Gratitude, whilst ذَمُّ الْکِذْب واھلہ was entitled Lying. The first work discusses the reality of gratitude, talks about how the Prophets عَـلَـيْهِمُ السَّلَام, Companions رَضِیَ اللهُ عَنْهُم, and Saints رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ expressed thankfulness to Allah Almighty, and the harms of ingratitude. Lying explains what a lie is, clarifies lawful and unlawful scenarios of lying, and shows what hadith and saintly aphorisms say regarding it.
Demise: Imam Ibn Abī al-Dunyā رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه passed away on Tuesday 14th Jumada al-Ūlā 281 AH. Qāḍī Yūsuf b. Yaʿqūb رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه led his funeral prayer, before his burial in the Shuniziyya cemetery of Baghdad.[15]
[1] Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāˈ, vol. 10, p. 694
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid, p. 696
[4] Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, vol. 4, p. 473
[5] Ibid, p. 474
[6] Ibid
[7] Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ, vol. 2, p. 181
[8] Al-Fahrist, p. 262
[9] Al-Nujūm al-Ẓāhira, vol. 3, p. 86
[10] Al-Bidāyat wa al-Nihāya, vol. 7, p. 450
[11] Mirˈāt al-Zamān, vol. 16, p. 175
[12] Al-Muntaẓim, vol. 12, p. 341
[13] Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāˈ, vol. 10, p. 697
[14] Ibid
[15] Tarikh al-Baghdād, vol. 10, pp. 90-91
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