xiv
phenomena of figurative language, such as isti‘ārah, maqlūb and kināyah.
His treatment of this subject is still rudimentary, but interesting. He gives
examples from the Qur’ān, poetry and the Arabic expression.
The fourth chapter deals with Ibn Qutaybah’s treatise of ambiguous
letters (al-h
.
urūf al-muqat
.
t
.
a‘ah), as well as words and particles in the verses
of the Qur’ān. These letters are found in the beginning of many sūrahs, such
as A-L-M, A-L-R, and H
.
-M. The words are those which have more than one
meaning, such as dīn, qad
.
ā and d
.
alāl, and are examined in books dealing
with al-wujūh wa al-na z
.
ā'ir fī al-Qur'ān (homonyms and synonyms in the
Qur’ān), such as the works of al-Dāmaghānī, Ibn al-Jawzī and al-Tiflīsī, as
well as books dealing with the opposite meanings, such as Ibn al-Anbārī’s
Kitāb al-‘Ad
.
dād (The Book of Opposite Meanings). The substitution of
particles in verses of the Qur’ān such as fa’s’al bihi khabīran instead of
‘anhu (Qur’an 53:3).
The Arabic name "Allāh" - the proper name of God among Muslims
and a small minority of non-Muslim Arabs - is used in this research.
However, when the translation of a Qur’ānic verse with the name "Allāh" in
it, the name is kept as given by its translator, either "Allah" or "God".
1
CHAPTER I
SOURCES AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A. An Evaluation of Some of the Literature Relevant
to the Study of Ibn Qutaybah
There are numerous Arabic sources for our present study, dating
from a generation earlier to a generation after that of Ibn Qutaybah. Ibn
Qutaybah himself was a prolific writer and all - possibly except one - of
his authentic works have been published. For the purpose of systematical
survey we divide the sources into genre as follows:
1. The Literary Works of Ibn Qutaybah
2. Books on Tafsīr (Qur’ānic exegesis)
3. Books on Arabic Language and Literature
1. The Literary Works of Ibn Qutaybah
Ibn Qutaybah was a writer and a scholar of many branches of learning:
kalām (theology), the science of language (including tafsīr, h
.
adīth, grammar
and poetry), and history, political as well as religious. He was said to be the
third great writer of Arabic prose chronologically after Ibn al-Muqaffa‘ (d.
141/759) and al-Jāh
.
iz
.
(d. 254/868).
1
His books were considered “a
comprehensive encyclopaedia portraying the highest level of Islamic
thinking which had been reached in the third century A.H.”.
2
Lecomte in his
dissertation on Ibn Qutaybah’s works mentions sixty book titles, among
which only sixteen are extant and authentic,
3
and four of which are among
my major sources for my study as follows:
a. Ta’wīl Mushkil al-Qur’ān
This book is the object of my analytical study to assess Ibn Qutaybah’s
contributions to Qur’ānic exegesis. The motive for his writing the book was
to defend the Qur’ān from the mulh
.
idīn (heretics, unbelievers) who charged
the Qur’ān with imperfection, such as contradiction, obscurity, and solecism.
He said:
.... Therefore, I write this book collecting the interpretations of the
difficult passages of the Qur’ān [which is also the title of the book]
taken from the commentaries [of the commentators] adding with
explanation and clarification, and referring to the Arabs' way of
expression (lughat al-‘arab) - as long as there is no [contrary] view
known (to me) from a well-informed leading scholar (mā lam a‘lam fīhi
maqālan li-imām mut
.
t
.
ali‘)
4
- to show the obstinate person the location
of the majāz (figurative expression) and how it is possible without
2
judging [it] with [one's] personal opinion (ra’y), or deciding [it] with
[one’s own] interpretation (ta‘wīl)...
5
In other words, apart from being a defence of the Qur’ān, the book also
serves as a transmitter of the science of exegesis in Ibn Qutaybah’s time to
following generations, since he, as he claims, does not give us his personal
opinion. To judge to what extent the book complies with this statement of
Ibn Qutaybah, we have to compare it with other books of exegesis belonging
to earlier and later generations.
The present edition of the Ta‘wīl as stated by its editor, Saqr, is based
on three manuscripts: (1) MS no. 518-tafsīr at Dār al-Kutub al-Mis
.
rīyah
library, written by Burhān al-Dīn in 558/1163 with commentary in its
margin. It contains one hundred and thirty-four folios, the first of which is
missing. The symbol used by the editor to identify this manuscript in his
notes is the letter J. (2) The manuscript at Murād Mullā library,
anonymously written in 532/1137-8 contains one hundred and seventeen
folios. The symbol is the letter M. (3) MS no. 663-tafsīr at Dār al-Kutub
al-Mis
.
rīyah library, written by Muh
.
ammad ibn Ah
.
mad ibn Yah
.
yá in
379/989-90, containing eighty-five folios. Although it is not the oldest
manuscript, the scribe omitted many texts and poems used by the author as
shawāhid (quotations serving as textual evidence). Its symbol is the letter
D.
6
At the end of the book the editor includes a list showing the variant texts
among the three manuscripts.
7
At the bottom of the book he gives us his
valuable commentary as footnotes. The purpose of this commentary, as he
puts it, is “either to support a view, to weaken a statement, to elaborate a
general concept, to clarify an obscure statement, to show the origin of an
idea, or to agree with an opinion”,
8
so that the reader should have a better
understanding of the text.
b. Tafsīr Gharīb al-Qur’ān
As Ibn Qutaybah did not want to make his work Ta‘wīl lengthy, he
continued it in another book with a different title, namely, Tafsīr Gharīb
al-Qur’ān (Commentary on the Obscure Passages of the Qur’an). Like his
Ta‘wīl, the sources of this Tafsīr are also books of exegesis and philology
without departing from their schools (madhāhib). He does not give us his
views except as explanation of what he has chosen from his sources. He
bases his choice on the most appropriate philological point of view and the
closest to the sense of the context of the verse he is dealing with.
9
The significance of this Tafsīr for the present study lies in that it
contains the commentary on some Qur’ānic verses explained or used as
3
shawāhid in the Ta’wīl. It serves as a commentary and confirmation of Ibn
Qutaybah’s view in his Ta‘wīl. Like the Ta‘wīl this Tafsīr is also edited by
A. H. S
.
aqr, with footnotes as commentary, the purpose of which is similar to
that which he had stated in the introduction to the Ta‘wīl mentioned above.
10
His introduction is short, but contains valuable information in which he
points out that the sources of the Tafsīr are taken from various books of
scholars. He relies mainly on the works of two philologists, Abū ‘Ubaydah’s
(d. 210/-824) Majāz al-Qur‘ān (The Literary Expression of the Qur’ān) and
al-Farrā’’s (d. 207/822) Ma‘ānī al-Qur’ān (The Meanings of the Qur’ān).
11
S
.
aqr states further in his introduction that Ibn Qutaybah’s Tafsīr
became an important source for Qur’ānic commentators of later generations,
such as al-T
.
abarī (d. 311/923), al-Qurt
.
ubī (d. 671/1272), al-Rāzī (d.
606/-1209), and Abū H
.
ayyān al-Andalusī (d. 744-5/1344). Al- T
.
abarī was
said to have copied it literally on many occasions without mentioning Ibn
Qutaybah’s name.
12
c. Gharīb al-H
.
adīth
This book, Gharīb al-H
.
adīth (The Uncommon Words in the H
.
adīth)
consists of three volumes, and is edited by Dr. ‘Abd Allāh al-Jubūrī from
four manuscripts: (1) the Z
.
āhirīyah manuscripts, written by ‘Abd al-Ghanī
ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abd al-Wāh
.
id al-Maqdisī at Fust
.
āt
.
, Cairo, in 571/1175,
in two volumes, but incomplete; (2) the manuscript of Sir A. Chester Beatty
in Dublin, Ireland, volume two only, but makes the Z
.
āhirīyah manuscript
complete; (3) the S}an‘ā’ (Sanna) manuscript, consisting of two volumes,
but volume one is missing; (4) the Moroccan manuscript, consisting of four
volumes, with volume four only extant.
13
When Ibn Qutaybah found many h
.
adīths (a h
.
ādīth) and isnads (chains
of authorities on which the h
.
adīths are based) had been omitted by Abū
‘Ubayd in his work Gharīb al-H
.
adīth, he started writing his own Gharīb
al-H
.
adīth, containing and explaining those missing h
.
adīths and isnāds, and
quoting shawāhid from poetry. When Ibn Qutaybah found some mistakes in
Abū Ubayd’s Gharīb al-H
.
adīth, he corrected them in a separate book
entitled Is
.
lāh
.
al-Ghalat
.
(The Correction of Mistakes).
In the earlier chapters of the Gharīb al-H
.
adīth Ibn Qutaybah explains
the etymology of a number of technical terms, such as wud
.
ū’ (ablution),
s
.
alāh (prayer), kāfir (unbeliever) and z
.
ālim (transgressor). Then he explains
uncommon words in the h
.
adīths of the Prophet, followed by those of the
s
.
ah
.
ābah (companions of the Prophet), the tābi‘īn (lit., “followers”, the
generation after the s
.
ah
.
ābah) and the tābi‘ī al-tābi‘īn (lit., “followers of the
4
followers”, the generation after the tābi‘īn).
Apart from philological, etymological and grammatical information,
the book also contains a number of Qur’ānic verses and poems dealt with by
Ibn Qutaybah in his Ta‘wīl. Therefore, this book is also necessary for this
study.
d. Adab al-Kātib
The book Adab al-Kātib (The Accomplishments of the Secretary) is a
compendium and a manual of Arabic stylistics dealing with lexicography,
orthography, orthoepy, also verb and noun formation. It has a long
introduction where Ibn Qutaybah explains the circumstances that led him to
write this book.
In his introduction Ibn Qutaybah described the literary decadence of
his time. A writer would be satisfied with his good handwriting and correct
writing of its letters. A poet would feel he had reached his pinnacle if he
could cite some lines of poetry in praising a songstress and in describing a
cup of wine. A person such as this would criticise the Qur’an without
understanding the meaning of its verses, and would belie the Prophet’s
tradition without knowing its isnād.
14
The common lexical, orthographical
and orthoepical mistakes in Ibn Qutaybah’s time led him to write his Adab
al-Kātib dealing with these subjects. The newly appointed vizier ‘Abd Allāh
ibn Yah
.
yá ibn Khāqān, whom he praised in his introduction and for whom
the book was written,
15
was so pleased that he appointed him qād
.
ī (a judge)
at Dīnawar.
The book is divided into four chapters. Chapter one, entitled Kitāb
al-Ma‘rifah (The Book of Suitable Terms), is the lexical study of various
subjects in thirty-eight sections. In section one, for example, the word
h
.
umah is commonly believed to mean “the organ that stings in some insects
such as the scorpions”, while it means “the poison and the harm from the
sting”.
16
Chapter two entitled Kitāb Taqwīm al-Yad (The Book of Orthography)
is the study of correct spelling, laid out in sixteen sections. In section two,
for example, the omission and retention of the alif al-was
.
l (alif of
connection) in the expression bismillāh occurs respectively in the beginning
and the middle or end of a sentence, such as ﻢﺴﺑﷲا and أﺪﺑأﷲا ﻢﺳﺎﺑ .
17
Chapter three entitled Kitāb Taqwīm al-Lisān (The Book of Orthoepy)
is the art of correct pronunciation treated in thirty-five sections. In section
two, for example, the word al-ghasl is used for “the act of washing”, al-ghisl
for “the thing washed”, and al-ghusl for “the water used for washing”.
18
5
Chapter four entitled Kitāb al-Abniyah (The Book of Word Formation)
deals with the formation of verbs and nouns and their meanings. The
formation of verbs is laid out in sixteen sections, such as in section four the
expression ﻪﺘﻨﺒﺟأ و ﻪﺘﻔﻠﺧأ و ﺎﻧﻼﻓ تﺪﻤﺣأ means “I found So-and-so praiseworthy,
I found him breaking his promise and I found him a coward.”
19
The
meanings of the formed words are treated in twenty-nine sections, such as in
section twenty-seven the expression ﻞﺧﺪﻳ ﻻ ﻲﻓ ﻢِﺗﺎﺨﻟا ﻲﻌَﺒﺻإ means ﻰﻠﻋ ﻲﻌﺒﺻإ
where ‘alá is substituted with fī.
20
The formation of nouns is treated in
thirty-six sections. For example, in section two, words in fu‘lah and fu‘alah
forms are attributes of objects and subjects respectively, e.g., rajul sukhrah
(a mocked man) and sukharah (a mocker), rajul subbah (an insulted man)
and subabah (an insulter), and rajul khud‘ah (a cheated man) and khuda‘ah
(a cheater).
21
The meanings of formed nouns are treated in ten sections. For
example, section six deals with words used for both singular and plural, e.g.,
fulk (a ship or ships), and khalq Allāh (a creature or creatures of Allah). The
exception is the word zawj which means one of a pair or one pair (a
couple).
22
The Adab al-Kātib was published by Max Grunert from six
manuscripts and one published text, identified as follows:
A = Lyon’s Codex 541 (=259)
B = Lyon’s Codex 535, an excellent old manuscript
W = Wiener (Vienna’s) Manuscript
G = Gawaliki (al-Jawāliqī)’s commentary of Ibn Qutaybah’s Adab
al-Kātib
L = Landberg’s Codex containing 137 folios, of which 90 folios are
vowalized
R = Codex of Univers. Lips. Ref. 354
C = Published text, Cairo, 1300 A.H., 229 pages
Variant texts are included in the footnotes - the sources of which are
identified with the above letters.
23
The Adab al-Kātib demonstrates Ibn Qutaybah’s competence in this
field of philology. Ibn Khaldūn (d. 737/1337) in his work Muqaddimah said
that he heard from some scholars in their teaching sessions that the Adab
al-Kātib of Ibn Qutaybah was one among the four sources of adab science.
24
The Adab al-Kātib is essential for this study. Many topics in Ibn
Qutaybah’s Ta’wīl are also treated in his Adab al-Kātib, such as the
substitution of particles and the meaning of terms, such as zawj. Moreover,
6
the Adab al-Kātib gives us some idea how Ibn Qutaybah quotes the views of
leading grammarians from both schools, the Bas
.
ran and the Kūfan.
2. Books on Tafsīr (Qur'ānic Exegesis)
Books on tafsīr, which are the main sources of Ibn Qutaybah, will be
evaluated here. They are Abū ‘Ubaydah’s Majāz al-Qur’ān and
al-Farra’’s Ma‘ānī al-Qur’ān. Al-Tabarī’s work Jāmi‘ al-Bayān, which
took Ibn Qutaybah’s works as part of its sources, will also be evaluated
here, as follows:
a. Majāz al-Qur’ān
The book was edited by Fu’ād Sezgin in two volumes. The author,
Abū ‘Ubaydah Ma‘mar ibn al-Muthanná, was one of the leading philologists
of the Basran school. His main study was the rare expressions of the Arabic
language and the history of the Arabs.
25
Denounced for being an a‘jamī -
non-Arab, for he was of Jewish-Persian origin - he tried to avenge himself
by writing on the shortcomings of the Arabs in which he supported the
Shu‘ūbī causes. This act resulted in the aversion of the people of Bas
.
rah
towards him. They did not even attend his funeral.
26
The term majāz in the case of Majāz al-Qur’ān, as suggested by Gibb,
means “interpretation” or “paraphrase”, as the book consists “... of brief
notes on the meaning of selected words and phrases in the order of the
suras”. Majāz al-Qur’ān, then, is “a paraphrastic interpretation”, or, in
Wansbrough’s term, “periphristic exegesis” of the Qur’ān.
27
In the
introductory chapter, Abū ‘Ubaydah mentions thirty-nine kinds of majāz.
The use of this term, as found by Wansbrough, is replaced by taqdīr
(restoration) by the later grammarian Abū al-Barakāt ibn al-Anbārī (d.
577/1181).
28
By comparing Ibn Qutaybah’s Ta’wīl with Abū ‘Ubaydah’s
Majāz al-Qur’ān in examining majāz we shall have some idea of the extent
of the former’s reliance on the latter as its main source and of the
development of this term in general.
b. Ma‘ānī al-Qur’ān
The author of this book, al-Farrā’, the sobriquet of Abū Zakarīyā
Yah
.
yá ibn Ziyād al-Kūfī, was the most well-known student of al-Kisā’ī (d.
ca. 189/805). Like his teacher, he was also of Persian origin and belonged to
the grammarians of the Kūfan school. However, he also took his knowledge
from Yūnus ibn H
.
abīb al-Thaqafī of the Bas
.
ran school.
29
He was also
influenced, to some extent, by al-As
.
ma‘ī (d. 216/831), Abū Zayd al-Ans
.
ārī
(d. 215/830), and Abū ‘Ubaydah, all belonging to the Bas
.
ran school.
30
Tha‘lab (d. 291/904) of the Kūfan school who took his knowledge from
7
al-Farrā’ praised him so much that he said that without al-Farrā’ the Arabic
language would have collapsed.
31
Al-Farrā’ was the first grammarian of the Kūfan school who
continuously discussed grammatical problems in the verses of the Qur’ān in
his Ma‘ānī al-Qur’ān.
32
This continuous discussion frustrated Blachère who
said that the book “is highly disappointing and without any general themes,
being confined for the most part to argumentation on casual syntax;...”
33
This book is, however, very important for this present study since Ibn
Qutaybah quoted it several times in his Ta’wīl.
c. Jāmi‘ al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qur’ān
The author of Jāmi‘ al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qur’ān (The Comprehensive
Exposition of the Interpretation of the Verses of the Qur’ān), Ibn Jarīr
al-T
.
abarī, is considered by Muslim scholars “the father of the science of
tafsīr”. It is said that he wrote forty pages every day for forty years. Many
of his works were lost, but his Jāmi‘ has survived. He was “a man of
encyclopaedic learning who absorbed the whole mass of tradition in his
time”.
34
Al-T
.
abarī’s Jāmi‘, better known as Tafsīr al-T
.
abarī, consists of thirty
volumes containing collections of h
.
adīths with their full isnād dealing with
the commentary on the Qur’ān. Unlike Ibn Qutaybah who selected a few
chapters from which he selected some verses of the Qur’ān in his Ta’wīl and
Tafsīr, al-T
.
abarī deals with whole chapters, although not whole verses, of
the Qur’ān.
35
Later commentators, such as al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1143),
Ibn ‘At
.
īyah (d. 542/1147 or 546/1151), Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) and
al-Suyūt
.
ī (d. 991/1505) followed al-T
.
abarī in examining and explaining the
whole Qur’ān in their tafsir works. Al-T
.
abarī’s tafsīr was highly
recommended by Ibn Taymīyah (d. 728/1328) who stated that it was one of
the best, and the worthiest of its kind.
36
The significance of al-T
.
abarī’s Jāmi‘ for this present study is that it
elaborates what Ibn Qutaybah is discussing in his Ta’wīl and gives various
interpretations from other commentators. Sometimes, he offers his own
opinion. In so doing, the position of Ibn Qutaybah among Qur’ānic
commentators will become obvious.
3. Books on Arabic Language and Literature
Among the important sources on Arabic language and literature for
this study are the works of Abū Bakr ibn al-Anbārī, Ibn Fāris and Ibn
Manz
.
ūr, as follows:
8
a. Kitāb al-Ad
.
dād
The author of Kitāb al-Ad
.
dād (The Book of Opposite Meanings) was
Abū Bakr ibn Qāsim ibn al-Anbārī (d. 328/940)
37
. He was a late
contemporary of Ibn Qutaybah who attacked him most and who disagreed
with him and his teacher Abū ‘Ubaydah on many issues. He was the most
brilliant student of Tha‘lab of the Kūfan school. He was said to have
memorized three hundred thousand lines of poetry as shawāhid for the
Qur’ān and one hundred and twenty Qur’ānic commentaries with their
isnāds.
38
He was the tutor of the caliph al-Muqtadir’s son ‘Abd al-Wāh
.
id.
39
He was included among the sixth generation of the grammarians of the
Kūfan school by al-Zubaydī (d. 379/989-10).
40
The book contains some terms discussed by Ibn Qutaybah in his
Ta’wīl, such as al-mawlá and hal. His view on the position of the
al-rāsikhūn fī al-‘ilm (those who are deeply rooted in knowledge) regarding
the ta’wīl of the mutashābihāt (ambiguous verses of the Qur’ān) is different
from that of Ibn Qutaybah. They will be dealt with in due course.
b. Al-S
.
āh
.
ibī fī Fiqh al-Lughah
The book, al-S
.
āh
.
ibī fī Fiqh al-Lughah wa Sunan al-‘Arab fī Kalāmihā
(al-S
.
āh
.
ibī in the Science of Language and Expression of the Arabs) was
written by Abū al-H
.
usayn ibn Fāris ibn Zakarīyā, better known as Ibn Fāris
(d. 395/1004). He was a son of a jurist of the Shāfi‘ī school and a student of
the great Shāfi‘ī scholar Abū al-H
.
asan ‘Alī al-Qat
.
t
.
ān (d. 345/956) who was
a student of Tha‘lab, al-Mubarrad (d. 284-5/898) and Ibn Abī al-Dunyā (d.
281/894). Al-Qat
.
t
.
ān was also a philololgist from whom Ibn Fāris received
his knowledge at Quzwayn.
41
Ibn Fāris shifted from the Shāfi‘ī to Mālikī school at Rayy where he
lived and died. Despite his being a follower of the Mālikī school, Ibn Fāris
was suspected of having a Shī‘ī leaning, due to his glorifying ‘Alī, his being
associated with the Shī‘ī enthusiast al-S
.
āh
.
ib, living in the Shī‘ī dynasty, and
teaching the children of its rulers.
42
The book was a collection of Ibn Fāris’s writings on the science of
language. The title of the book was given after the name of the vizier al-
S
.
āh
.
ib Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Abbād who had a library where the book was to be
lodged.
Many subjects in Ibn Qutaybah’s Ta’wīl are also mentioned by Ibn
Fāris in his al-S
.
āh
.
ibī, such as the meanings of particles, isti‘ārah
(metaphor), al-h
.
adhf wa al-ikhtis
.
ār (ellipsis and brevity), al-takrār
(repetition) and al-ziyādah (pleonasm). Many similiarities are found
9
between the two books which lead us to assume that Ibn Fāris had copied
from Ibn Qutaybah’s Ta’wīl without referring to him.
c. Lisān al-‘Arab
The book, Lisān al-‘Arab (The Language of the Arabs), was written by
Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Fad
.
l Muh
.
ammad Mukarram ibn ‘Alī ibn Ah
.
mad
al-Ans
.
ārī, better known as Ibn Manz
.
ūr and Ibn Mukarram (d. 711/1311-2).
It is an encyclopaedia containing various subjects, such as: philology,
grammar, Islamic jurisprudence, literature, tafsīr and h
.
adīth. It was based
on five earlier works, namely: Abū Mans
.
ūr Muh
.
ammad ibn Ah
.
mad
al-Azharī’s Tahdhīb al-Lughah, Abū al-H
.
asan ‘Alī ibn Ismā‘īl ibn Sidāh’s
al-Muh
.
kam, Muh
.
ammad ibn al-Athīr’s al-Nihāyah, al-Jawharī’s al-Qāmūs,
and Abū Muh
.
ammad ibn Barrī’s commentary of al-Jawharī’s al-Qāmūs.
The book consists of fifteen volumes and was completed in 689/1290.
43
So far, I have dealt with some of the literature relevant to the study of
Ibn Qutaybah’s Ta’wīl. Other literature is quoted throughout this study. We
now come to the historical background, the second part of this chapter.
B. Historical Background
1. A Short Synopsis of Ibn Qutaybah’s Life
Abū Muh
.
ammad ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutaybah al-Kūfī (from
Kūfah where he was born according to some historians) al-Marwazī (from
Marw or Merv in Khorasan - presently called Mary in Turkmenistan, a
southern republic in the former Soviet Union, now an independent state -
from which his father originated), al-Dīnawarī (from Dīnawar where he
became qād
.
ī) and al-Baghdādī (from Baghdād according to other historians,
and where he settled), was born in Kūfah
44
in 213/828
45
and died in
Baghdād in 276/889.
46
The cause of his death was the eating of harīsah
(cooked meat and wheat pounded together) which caused him suffer
heartburn, then lost consciousness and died.
The word qutaybah is the diminutive form (tas
.
ghīr) of qitbah, qitb or
qatab which are the singular form of aqtāb meaning “intestines”. This is
also the meaning given by Ibn Qutaybah himself in his Adab al-Kātib.
47
Another meaning of this term is given by Qutaybah ibn Muslim (d. 97/716)
the governor (amīr) of Khorasan who said that his name meant ikāf (the
packsaddle of the donkey). The name Ibn Qutaybah was also referred to by
some authors as al-Qutabī and very rarely al-Qutaybī.
48
10
Ibn Qutaybah was also the name of a traditionist among the Shi‘īs. In
response to the Umawī’s fabricated traditions praising the s
.
ah
.
ābah,
especially ‘Uthmān - but with the exception of ‘Alī and Banū Hāshim - the
Shi‘īs later also invented traditions of their own, praising ‘Alī and the Banū
Hāshim clan. They had their isnād names like al-Suddī and Ibn Qutaybah, so
that the Sunnīs would think that they were the famous Sunnī traditionists.
To make a distinction between the two Suddīs and Ibn Qutaybahs the Sunnīs
called those who belonged to the Shi‘īs al-Suddī al-S
.
aghīr (the Junior) who
was Muh
.
mmad ibn Marwān, and Ibn Qutaybah the Shi‘ī, those who
belonged to the Sunnīs were called al-Suddī al-Kabīr (the Senior) who was
Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar, and Ibn Qutaybah the Sunnī.
49
Very little was known about Ibn Qutaybah’s early life. We only know
that as a young boy he frequented the Qur’ānic school (kuttāb) from which
he learned and memorized some Qur’ānic verses, prophetic traditions and
poetry, became trained in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), nah
.
w (grammar,
syntax) and arithmetic. Then he frequented the great mosques of Baghdād
where he learned various sciences from the ‘ulamā’, such as theology, tafsīr,
sharī‘ah (Islamic law), h
.
adīth, literature and history. He also studied books
translated from foreign languages, especially Persian.
50
There were
twenty-eight teachers of Ibn Qutaybah in the true sense recorded by
Lecomte.
51
Among his important teachers were those who were known for
their attachment to the Sunnah, such as the Sunnī theologian Ish
.
āq ibn
Ibrāhīm ibn Rāhawayh al-Hanzalī (d. ca. 237/851) who was a student of
Ah
.
mad ibn H
.
anbal, the Sunnī philologist and traditionist Abū H
.
ātim Sahl
ibn Muh
.
ammad al-Sijistānī (d. 255/869), and the philologist al-‘Abbās ibn
al-Faraj al-Riyāshī (d. 257/871) who transmitted the works of pioneers of
philology in the second/eighth century, such as al-As
.
ma‘ī and Abū
‘Ubaydah.
52
After the new caliph al-Mutawakkil changed the ideology of the state
from Mu‘tazilah to Sunnī orthodoxy in 232/846 Ibn Qutaybah found himself
favoured by the new government, because his views in his literary works
agreed with the new trend. The vizier Abū al-H
.
asan ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn
Yah
.
yá ibn Khāqān (d. 263/877) appointed him qād
.
ī of Dīnawar in about
236/851, and he probably remained in this office until 256/870. Then he
became an inspector of maz
.
ālim (courts for the redress of wrongs) of Bas
.
rah
until this city was sacked by the Zanj in 257/871. This new post was given to
him probably due to the favour of another powerful ‘Abbāsī official, Sa‘īd
ibn Makhlad.
53
Ibn Qutaybah was also a teacher. He was generous to his students with
11
his knowledge and books. He even allowed them access to his books before
they had paid their fees. Among his students was his son Ah
.
mad who later
became qād
.
ī in Egypt in 321/933. Ibn Qutaybah continued teaching in
Baghdād until the end of his life at the age of 61.
54
Despite Ibn Qutaybah‘s reputation as a great Sunnī scholar and an
advocate of the Sunnī orthodoxy, some ‘ulamā‘ criticized and denounced
him, among them being:
(1). Abū al-H
.
asan ‘Alī ibn ‘Umar al-Dāraqut}nī (d. 385-995) accused him of
leaning towards anthropomorphism (tashbīh), deviating from the ‘itrah
(descendants of the Prophet).
55
(2). Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muh
.
ammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-D
.
abbi> al-H
.
ākim (d.
405/1014-5), also known as Ibn al-Bayyi‘, also accused Ibn Qutaybah
of deviating from the ‘itrah and turning away from the ahl al-bayt (the
Prophet's household).
(3). Abū Bakr Ah
.
mad ibn al-H
.
usayn al-Bayhaqī (d. 458/ 1066) accused Ibn
Qutaybah of being a Karrāmī, a sect among the anthropomorphism.
56
These accusations were rejected by the ‘ulamā and biographers of Ibn
Qutaybah, whose views were divided by Lecomte into two categories: very
favourable and favourable. Those whose views belonged to the first category
were: Ibn Taymīyah,
57
al-Dhahabī (d. 748/1347), Ibn Kathīr (d.
774/1372-3), and Ibn al-‘Imād (d. 1089/1678). Those whose views
belonged to the second category were: Ibn al-Nadīm (d. 385/995), al-Khat
.
īb
al-Baghdādī (d. 463/1071), al-Sam‘ānī (d. 562/1167), Abū al-Barakāt Ibn
al-Anbārī (d. 577/1181), Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 579/1201), al-Qift
.
ī (d. 646/1248),
Ibn Khallikān (d. 681/1282), and al-Suyūt
.
ī.
58
The earliest criticism came from Ibn Qutaybah’s late contemporary
Abū Bakr Muh
.
ammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Anbarī, who was a student of
Tha‘lab. He wrote a book entitled Risālat al-Mushkil criticizing Ibn
Qutaybah’s Ta’wīl and his teacher Abū H
.
ātim al-Sijistānī. But his books are
not extant except for Kitāb al-Ad}dād in which he criticized Ibn Qutaybah’s
works Is
.
lāh
.
al-Ghalat
.
and Ta’wīl.
59
2. Political, Social and Cultural Conditions in Ibn Qutaybah’s Life
a. Political Condition
Ibn Qutaybah lived during the reigns of eight ‘Abbāsī caliphs:
al-Ma’mūn (197-218/813-833), al-Mu‘tas
.
im (218-227/833-842), al-Wāthiq
(227-232/842-847), al-Mutawakkil (232-247/847-861), al-Muntas
.
ir (247-
248/861-862), al-Musta‘īn (248-252/862-866), al-Mu‘tazz (252-255/
12
866-869), al-Muhtadī (255-256/869-870), and al-Mu‘tamid (256-278/
870-892). He was born in the first half of the third century of Hijrah, when
the ‘Abbāsī dynasty reached its ultimate glory and prosperity under
al-Ma’mūn.
The ‘Abbāsī empire extended to the Indian subcontinent and the
border of China in the East, and to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in the
West. However, the earlier period of al-Ma’mūn witnessed much
disturbance: civil war between the Hāshimīs and the ‘Alawīs which ended
with the defeat of the latter, rebellions against al-Ma’mūn, and the rivalry
betwen Arab and Persian elements in state affairs. Being a son of a Persian
mother, Persian influence greatly increased during his reign. In order to
please the Arabs he shifted the capital of his empire from Merv in Persia to
Baghdād in 204/819.
60
As a patron of learning, al-Ma’mūn encouraged the search for
knowledge. This caused the emergence of intellectual movements, among
which was the Mu‘tazilī school of theology which he himself adopted and
made the official madhhab of his empire. He supported its scholars in their
debates against their opponents among the Sunnī scholars.
Al-Ma’mūn was succeeded by his brother al-Mu‘tas
.
im who followed
the same path in defending the Mu‘tazilī school. It was in this period that the
fitnah (civil strife) of the issue of khalq al-Qur’ān (the creation of the
Qur’ān) occurred in which Ah
.
mad ibn H
.
anbal (d. 241/856) was one of its
victims.
In this early ‘Abbāsī period the Persians obtained high positions in the
government, such as those of viziers and army leaders. However, this
condition changed with the occurrence of the so-called Barmakid and Banū
Sahl disasters. This resulted with the enmity between the Arabs and the
Persians. The Arabs wanted to regain the glory they had enjoyed in the
Umawī period, whereas the Persians were not satisfied with the high
positions they already possessed; they wanted to bring back the glory of
their ancient Sassanian empire. The seed of the Shu‘ūbīyah trend grew with
the atheistic tendency, which later threatened the new empire.
To get rid of these Persians and to counter their nationalistic ambition
the caliph al-Mu‘tas
.
im tried to replace them with Turkish slaves who were
renowned for their perseverance on the battle-field. They were brought into
the capital city Baghdād and their number kept increasing. Then the caliph
built a new capital called Sāmarrā’
61
where he moved in with them.
Unlike the Persians who were highly civilized, the Turkish slaves were
13
nomads. Their main skills were hunting, raiding and horse riding. As skilled
fighters and army officials their influence in the state kept growing. It
became so great that al-Mutawakkil who succeeded al-Wāthiq could not
resist it. However, he was successful in shifting to the Sunnī orthodoxy as
the madhhab of the state. He ordered people to abandon any debate on
kalām (theology) and urged them to return to the Sunnah of the Prophet. He
removed the vizier ‘Abd al-Malik al-Zayyāt and the qād
.
ī al-qud
.
āt (the chief
judge) Ah
.
mad ibn Abī Dāwūd from their positions for being Mutazilīs. But
when he appointed his vizier ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn Yah
.
yá ibn Khāqān assisted
by twelve thousand Arabs in his attempt to stop the penetration of the
Turkish officers in the state, the Turkish officers sensed the threat. They
assassinated this caliph and his vizier, and appointed the caliph’s son
al-Muntas
.
ir as a ruler.
Al-Muntas
.
ir ruled for six months only. He died in 248/862 and was
succeeded by al-Musta‘īn. The new caliph, who was unable to withstand the
influence of his Turkish officers, moved to Baghdād. As he refused to return
to Sāmarrā’ they deposed him in 251/865 and appointed al-Mu‘tazz as his
successor. Baghdād was surrounded, and finally al-Musta‘īn was
assassinated.
Al-Mu‘tazz imprisoned his brother al-Mu’ayyid when he heard a
rumor that al-Mu’ayyid wanted to depose him. However, he was finally
deposed and assassinated by the Turkish officers who sensed his intention to
rid himself of them. As his successor they appointed Muh
.
ammad ibn
al-Wāthiq who was called al-Muhtadī. His piety seemed to bother them, and
his intention to dissolve them ended with his assassination in 256/870. He
was succeeded by al-Mu‘tamid.
Although al-Mu‘tamid tried hard to regain his power with the help of
his brother al-Muwaffaq who led his army in defending the state, this
‘Abbāsī state was far from being stable. The T
.
āhirīs, Sāmānīs, and S
.
afawīs
were separating themselves from the ‘Abbāsī empire in the East, while the
T
.
ūlūnīs were establishing their own state in Egypt; besides, the Romans
were attacking the empire. This was the political condition of the ‘Abbāsī
empire in the time of Ibn Qutaybah.
b. Social Condition
The city of Baghdād, the seat of the ‘Abbāsī caliphs, was flourishing
with prosperity and luxury. Goods from the empire’s provinces overflowed
into the city. The city itself, as well as the palaces of the caliphs and emirs,
was decorated and furnished with goods brought by traders from China and
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