Lulua
11-05-2002, 10:37
Scholar of renown: Abd Al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz
Edited by Adil Salahi, Arab News Staff
Abd Al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz was a scholar of the generation that followed the Prophet’s companions. He met a number of the Prophet’s companions and learned from them. These included the two great transmitters of Hadith, Abu Hurayrah and Abu Saeed Al-Khudri. He also met Muawiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, the first Caliph of the Omayyad era and reported what he learned from him, since Muawiyah was among the Prophet’s companions.
Ibn Hurmuz, who was called Al-A’raj, which means “a lame person”, was a distinguished scholar of Hadith. Indeed he is considered one of the top reporters of Abu Hurayrah’s Hadiths. He also studied under the seven main scholars of the period immediately following the Prophet’s companions.
We mentioned last week that when Imam Malik was still a young boy and he wished to pursue his education, his mother directed him to attend the circle of Rabeeah Al-Ra’y. Apparently he did, but could not stay long. Therefore, his father took him away from Rabeeah’s circle so that he would attend it later. Instead he placed him with Ibn Hurmuz and Malik continued to attend him as his only teacher for seven or eight years.
Some reports suggest that Malik was attending only Ibn Hurmuz for 13 or even 17 years, but this is unrealistic. What is more accurate is that Ibn Hurmuz was Malik’s only teacher for seven or eight years, and Malik continued to attend him from time to time for several years afterward, until he died in 117 AH, when Malik was 24 years of age. Malik is reported to have said that he would go to Ibn Hurmuz’s home in the morning and would not leave until it was nighttime.
This shows that Ibn Hurmuz had a great influence on Malik and his scholarly orientation. Indeed, Malik followed the line he learned from Ibn Hurmuz throughout his life. It was from Ibn Hurmuz that he learned to say clearly “I do not know” whenever he was asked a question to which he had no answer. Indeed Malik emphasized this by saying that a scholar who is not ready to say it when he did not know the answer is not worth his salt.
Both Ibn Hurmuz and Malik recognized the value of their association. Malik reports that he would take with him dates, and when he entered Ibn Hurmuz’s home, he would give the dates to his servants, asking them to say to any callers who wanted to come in that Ibn Hurmuz was busy. Obviously, they would not be telling a lie because he was busy with Malik, but what Malik wanted was to have his teacher’s whole attention so that he would learn more from him. On the other hand, it is reported that Ibn Hurmuz asked his maid once to find out who was waiting at the door. When she checked, she told him that there was “only that blond lad”. He told her to admit him, because he was certain to be “the top scholar”.
But what did Ibn Hurmuz teach Malik so that he would stay with him all that time and to give him the foundation to become the great scholar that he certainly was? Malik does not give us a plain answer, nor does he mention most of what he learned from him. Indeed, he does not mention Ibn Hurmuz in most of the Hadiths that Malik relates in his famous book Al-Muwatta’. But this was by no means due to any ingratitude on the part of Malik. Far from it. Malik loved his teacher so much to deny him his position. But it was Ibn Hurmuz himself that asked him most emphatically not to mention him. He feared that he might have made a mistake here or there in reporting Hadiths, and that his mistakes would be transmitted from one generation to another. This is a case of superior sensitivity which only a scholar of profound faith may have.
But there was another area in which Ibn Hurmuz was master. Malik says of him: “He was without peers in his knowledge of how to answer the advocates of erring creeds, and in his knowledge of the areas in which scholarly views diverge.” From this we understand that Malik learned from his teacher all the different views on questions of Fiqh as well as the different beliefs of sects and groups. Hence, Malik did not report much of what he learned from him, because in what he taught his students, Malik limited himself to Hadith and Fiqh. This is certainly a fine treat of Malik. He did not wish to teach anything except the best of his knowledge, which was certain to benefit people.
Scholarship in Madinah at the time was characterized by two main features: the emphasis it gave to Hadith and the high value it attached to scholarly effort and discretion, or ra’y. But in this second trait, it differed from the type of effort and discretion Iraqi scholars exercised. The latter relied much on reason even when there was no Qur’anic text or Hadith to be taken as a basis for such effort. In Madinah, the scholarly effort was directed mainly to establishing the authenticity of the statements attributed to the Prophet and which statements were more relevant to particular questions. Because Malik showed great promise in this area, Ibn Hurmuz favored him as well as Abd Al-Aziz ibn Salamah with frequent scholarly discussions.
Some students protested to Ibn Hurmuz saying: “We put questions to you, but you would not give answers to them. But when Malik and Abd Al-Aziz put to you their questions, you are always ready to answer them.” His answer shows how great a scholar Ibn Hurmuz was. He said to them: “I feel that I am much weaker physically than ever before. I fear that a similar weakness might have affected my mental powers. When you ask me something and I give you an answer, you take it from me as it is. But when Malik and Abd Al-Aziz have my answer, they study it carefully, and accept it only when they are certain that it is correct.”
From this statement we learn not only that Ibn Hurmuz was a scholar of great knowledge and similarly great humility, but also that what he taught his two best students was in need of careful study and research. It was not suitable for everyone to learn. He was fully aware of the intellectual trends of divergent groups and schools, including the Mu’tazilah who gave logic paramount importance, and the Jabriyah who believed that man had no choice in what he did, and the Qudriyah who believed in predestination. Certainly not everyone could learn how to steer the right course among all these greatly divergent views.
Ibn Hurmuz died in 117 AH, corresponding to 736 AD. May God favor him with abundant blessings.
courtesy of:
http://www.arabnews.com/SArticle.asp?sct=Predestination&ID=5138
Edited by Adil Salahi, Arab News Staff
Abd Al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz was a scholar of the generation that followed the Prophet’s companions. He met a number of the Prophet’s companions and learned from them. These included the two great transmitters of Hadith, Abu Hurayrah and Abu Saeed Al-Khudri. He also met Muawiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, the first Caliph of the Omayyad era and reported what he learned from him, since Muawiyah was among the Prophet’s companions.
Ibn Hurmuz, who was called Al-A’raj, which means “a lame person”, was a distinguished scholar of Hadith. Indeed he is considered one of the top reporters of Abu Hurayrah’s Hadiths. He also studied under the seven main scholars of the period immediately following the Prophet’s companions.
We mentioned last week that when Imam Malik was still a young boy and he wished to pursue his education, his mother directed him to attend the circle of Rabeeah Al-Ra’y. Apparently he did, but could not stay long. Therefore, his father took him away from Rabeeah’s circle so that he would attend it later. Instead he placed him with Ibn Hurmuz and Malik continued to attend him as his only teacher for seven or eight years.
Some reports suggest that Malik was attending only Ibn Hurmuz for 13 or even 17 years, but this is unrealistic. What is more accurate is that Ibn Hurmuz was Malik’s only teacher for seven or eight years, and Malik continued to attend him from time to time for several years afterward, until he died in 117 AH, when Malik was 24 years of age. Malik is reported to have said that he would go to Ibn Hurmuz’s home in the morning and would not leave until it was nighttime.
This shows that Ibn Hurmuz had a great influence on Malik and his scholarly orientation. Indeed, Malik followed the line he learned from Ibn Hurmuz throughout his life. It was from Ibn Hurmuz that he learned to say clearly “I do not know” whenever he was asked a question to which he had no answer. Indeed Malik emphasized this by saying that a scholar who is not ready to say it when he did not know the answer is not worth his salt.
Both Ibn Hurmuz and Malik recognized the value of their association. Malik reports that he would take with him dates, and when he entered Ibn Hurmuz’s home, he would give the dates to his servants, asking them to say to any callers who wanted to come in that Ibn Hurmuz was busy. Obviously, they would not be telling a lie because he was busy with Malik, but what Malik wanted was to have his teacher’s whole attention so that he would learn more from him. On the other hand, it is reported that Ibn Hurmuz asked his maid once to find out who was waiting at the door. When she checked, she told him that there was “only that blond lad”. He told her to admit him, because he was certain to be “the top scholar”.
But what did Ibn Hurmuz teach Malik so that he would stay with him all that time and to give him the foundation to become the great scholar that he certainly was? Malik does not give us a plain answer, nor does he mention most of what he learned from him. Indeed, he does not mention Ibn Hurmuz in most of the Hadiths that Malik relates in his famous book Al-Muwatta’. But this was by no means due to any ingratitude on the part of Malik. Far from it. Malik loved his teacher so much to deny him his position. But it was Ibn Hurmuz himself that asked him most emphatically not to mention him. He feared that he might have made a mistake here or there in reporting Hadiths, and that his mistakes would be transmitted from one generation to another. This is a case of superior sensitivity which only a scholar of profound faith may have.
But there was another area in which Ibn Hurmuz was master. Malik says of him: “He was without peers in his knowledge of how to answer the advocates of erring creeds, and in his knowledge of the areas in which scholarly views diverge.” From this we understand that Malik learned from his teacher all the different views on questions of Fiqh as well as the different beliefs of sects and groups. Hence, Malik did not report much of what he learned from him, because in what he taught his students, Malik limited himself to Hadith and Fiqh. This is certainly a fine treat of Malik. He did not wish to teach anything except the best of his knowledge, which was certain to benefit people.
Scholarship in Madinah at the time was characterized by two main features: the emphasis it gave to Hadith and the high value it attached to scholarly effort and discretion, or ra’y. But in this second trait, it differed from the type of effort and discretion Iraqi scholars exercised. The latter relied much on reason even when there was no Qur’anic text or Hadith to be taken as a basis for such effort. In Madinah, the scholarly effort was directed mainly to establishing the authenticity of the statements attributed to the Prophet and which statements were more relevant to particular questions. Because Malik showed great promise in this area, Ibn Hurmuz favored him as well as Abd Al-Aziz ibn Salamah with frequent scholarly discussions.
Some students protested to Ibn Hurmuz saying: “We put questions to you, but you would not give answers to them. But when Malik and Abd Al-Aziz put to you their questions, you are always ready to answer them.” His answer shows how great a scholar Ibn Hurmuz was. He said to them: “I feel that I am much weaker physically than ever before. I fear that a similar weakness might have affected my mental powers. When you ask me something and I give you an answer, you take it from me as it is. But when Malik and Abd Al-Aziz have my answer, they study it carefully, and accept it only when they are certain that it is correct.”
From this statement we learn not only that Ibn Hurmuz was a scholar of great knowledge and similarly great humility, but also that what he taught his two best students was in need of careful study and research. It was not suitable for everyone to learn. He was fully aware of the intellectual trends of divergent groups and schools, including the Mu’tazilah who gave logic paramount importance, and the Jabriyah who believed that man had no choice in what he did, and the Qudriyah who believed in predestination. Certainly not everyone could learn how to steer the right course among all these greatly divergent views.
Ibn Hurmuz died in 117 AH, corresponding to 736 AD. May God favor him with abundant blessings.
courtesy of:
http://www.arabnews.com/SArticle.asp?sct=Predestination&ID=5138