Part 13

SUFYAN IBN SA‘ID: Sufyan ibn Sa‘id ibn Masri al-Thawri Aba ‘Abd Allah al-Kufi: The trustworthy Hafiz, jurist, worshiper, Imam and proof (d. 261). He was the most ascetic person of his time to the extent that he would deprive himself of any worldly matters in his gatherings. It is said that no-one in his time feared Allah like he did nor did anybody have his reverence of Allah. Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi said (Zathkirat al-Huffag, 1/206): ‘The virtues of this Imam are mentioned in a full volume by Ibn al-Jawzi. I have abridged them and mentioned a fair share in my book a/-Tarikh.’ The biography of this esteemed Imam can be found in al-Hilya,6/356-7/144, in approximately 180 pages, Siyar al-A ‘lam al-Nubula’, 7/229, and Tarikh Baghdad, 9/151-174.

SULAYMAN IBN ‘ABD AL-MALIK: ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abial-‘As ibn Umayyah, the caliph, Aba Ayyab al-Qurashi al-Umawi. He was pledged allegiance to in 69 after his brother al-Walid, and he passed away in 99. His caliphate lasted for two years, nine months and twenty days. Ibn Sitin said: ‘Allah have mercy on Sulayman. He started his caliphate by reviving the prayer and finished it by appointing ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al- ‘Aziz as his successor.’ For his biography, refer to: al-Tabari: al-Tarikh, 6/546, Ibn al-Athir: a/-Kamil, 5/37, Wafayat al-Aan, Shatharat al-Thahab, 1/116, Siyar al-A‘lam al-Nubula’, 5/111.

RABI‘A AL“ADAWIYYA: Umm al-Khayr bint Isma‘il, the pious,

covered, ascetic and God fearing worshipper from Basra. She is said to have lived for 80 years and died in 180 AH. The narration was related by al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi by way of Ibn Abi al-Dunya: We were told by Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, I was told by ‘Isa ibn Maymun al-‘Attar, I was told by ‘Abda bint Abi Shawwal who used to serve Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya: ‘Rabi‘a used to pray the whole night. When morning would come she would lay down till the sky would turn to yellow. I used to hear her say: “My soul, how much do you sleep and till what time do you stand up? You might sleep for just a little and never get up until the Day of Resurrection.” See (Styar alAlam ai-Nubula’, 8/242, al-‘Tbar, 1/278), Ibn Khalakan (Wafayat al-Aan, 3/215), Ibn al-Imad (Shatharat al-Dhahab, 1/193), Ibn Kathir (a/-Bidayah wa’l-Nihayah, 10/186), al-Khatib al-Baghdadt (Tarikh Baghdad, 2/40) and Ibn al-Jawzi (Sifat al-Safwa, 4/1719). Al-Hafiz Ibn al-Jawzi even dedicated a book for her virtues as mentioned by al-Dhahabi (Siyar al-A Yam al-Nubula’, 8/ 242) and also named his oldest daughter and mother of his grandson Abii al-Muzafir (the author of Mirat al-Zaman) Rabi‘a.

Al-Tirmidhi: Muhammad ibn ‘Isa ibn Sawrah ibn Masa ibn adDahbhak as-Sulami al-Tirmidhi, the Imam, Hafiz and the author of the famous Sunan. He was trustworthy and precise and one of the students of Al-Bukhari. He died in the year 279H.

AL-ZUHRI: Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn ‘Ubaydullah al-Qurasahi, Abi Bakr, one of the Jams of this nation. He was one of the most knowledgeable people of his time of hadith and the Qur’an. He was trustworthy and precise and narrated many ahadith. He died in the year 124H.

Index of Arabic Words

AWLIYA:: plural of wali; friend, ally, loyal companion. From the word wildyab meaning loyalty and closeness, the opposite of enmity. BARZAKH: barrier, isthmus, A barrier that is erected between the deceased and this life preventing him from returning and a generic

reference to the life that commences after death.

BID‘AH: innovation, that which is newly introduced into the religion of Allah.

DA'TF: weak; the hadith that is neither sahih nor hasan because it fails to meet one of their requirements. It is of varying degrees of severity, the most severe of which being maudii‘, fabricated.

DHIKR: remembrance, recollection, technically referring the remembrance of Allah.

DU‘A: supplication, invocation, it is an action of worship that may only be directed to Allah. It is of two types, supplication through worship (d#‘@ ‘ibadah) and supplication of request (du‘a mas’alah). The first type of dw‘a can be understood when one understands that every act of worship is done with the unstated plea that Allah accept that action of worship and the desire to draw closer to him; and hence attain His pleasure. Hence every action of worship is a type of request to Allah. The second type of dw‘4 is whereby one explicitly asks his Lord of something such as ‘O Allah! Grant me good in this world and the Hereafter.’ The second type includes the first type and the first type necessitates the second type.

HADITH: A text attributed to the Prophet (3g) describing his actions,

words, descriptions and tacit approvals. It consists of two portions, the body of the text (matn) and the isuad. Rarely the term is also used to refer to a text attributed to a Companion or a Tabi‘.

HASAN: good, fair. A hadith whose isndd is continuously linked of just, morally upright narrators but whose precision (dab?) falls short of the requirements of the sahih hadith; containing no irregularity (shadh) and no hidden defect (lah). A hadith can be hasan in and of itself, or contain a defect but still be ruled to be so due to supporting evidences.

IHSAN: beneficence, excellence. To worship Allah as if one is seeing Him, and knowing that even though one sees Him not, He sees the servant.

IMAN: The firm belief, complete acknowledgement and acceptance of all that Allah and His Messenger have commanded to have faith in, submitting to it both inwardly and outwardly. It is the acceptance and belief of the heart that includes the actions of the heart and body, therefore it encompasses the establishment of the whole religion. This is why the Imams and Salaf used to say, ‘Faith is the statement of the heart and tongue, action of the heart, tongue and limbs.’ Hence it comprises statement, action and belief, it increases through obedience and decreases through disobedience. It includes the beliefs of faith, its morals and manners and the actions demanded by it.

ISLAM: submission, submitting to the will of Allah through following His law as revealed upon the tongue of the Messenger (4g).

ISNAD: support. The chain of authorities on which a narration is based, linking the end narrator of a narration to the one it is attributed to, be it the Prophet (g) or anyone else, narrator by narrator.

JAHILIYYAH: Pre-Islamic Ignorance. Technically this refers to the condition of a people before the guidance of Allah reaches them, or the state of a people that prevents them from accepting the guidance of Allah.

KALAM: speech, discourse. Technically used to refer to dialectics and

Index of Arabic Words

KHALAF: successors. A reference to those who followed a path other than the path of the Salaf.

KHALIFAH: pl. &hulafa’. Successor, representative. The Successors of the Prophet (4g), head of the Islamic state. Also called Amir alMu‘minin ot Leader of the Believers.

KUER: denial, rejection, hiding, technically referring to disbelief. It can be major (removing a person from the fold of Islam) or minor (not removing a person from the fold of Islam).

QADR: Divine Decree and Destiny.

Quran: The actual Word of Allah revealed to the Prophet (4g) in the Arabic language through the medium of the Angel Gabriel and the greatest miracle bestowed him. It consists of 114 chapters commencing with al-Fatihah and ending with an-Nas.

RUQYA: recitation used to cure an illness or disease. It can only be done in the Arabic tongue, in words whose meaning is understood, using verses of the Qur’an or supplications of the Prophet combined with the belief that it is only Allah who in reality gives the cure.

SABR: patience and steadfastness, the restraint of ones self to that which is dictated by the divine law. It is of three levels, steadfastness in the obedience of Allah, steadfastness in avoiding the prohibited matters and patience at the onset of calamity. /eh/as can never be complete without sidg and sidq can never be complete without ikblas and the two can never be complete without sabr. The person is patient through Alléh, i.e. seeking His aid Alone; for Allah, i.e. arising out of love for Him and the desire to draw close to Him; and with Allah, i.e. doing only that which He wills.

SAHABAH: The Companions of the Prophet (4%), those who saw him, believed in him and died upon that belief.

SAHIH: correct, authentic. A hadith which has a continuously linked isnad, of just, morally upright and precise narrators; containing no irregularity (shadh) or hidden defect (‘/ab). Hence five conditions have to be met: the isnad being continuously linked; the justice (‘ad/) of the narrator; the precision (dab/) of the narrator; its not being

shad, and its not containing an ‘ab. The hadith can be sahth in and of itself, or it can contain a defect but still be ruled to be sahih due to supporting evidences.

SALAF: predecessors. Technically used to refer to the best generations of Muslims, the first three generation: the Sababah, the Tabi‘an and the Jab‘ Tabi‘an due to the hadith, ‘The best of people are my generation, then the one that follows, then the one that follows,’

SHIRK: association, technically referring to directing a right that is due to Allah Alone to another object of creation, either completely or partially. It can be major (removing a person from the fold of Islam) or minor (not removing a person from the fold of Islam).

SUNNAH: way, path. The actions, words, descriptions, commands, prohibitions and tacit approvals of the Prophet (4g).

TABI‘UN: The generation following that of the Companions.

TAB‘ TABI‘UN: The generation following that of the Zabi‘in.

TAQWA,: the basic meaning of which is setting a barrier between two things. This is why it is said that one #ffaga with his shield, i.e. he set itas a barrier between him and the one who wished him evil. Therefore it is as if the one who has /agwa (muttagi) has used his following the commands of Allah and avoiding His prohibitions as a barrier between himself and the Punishment. Hence he has preserved and fortified himself against the punishment of Allah through his obeying Him.

TARQ: the practice of divination through drawing lines in the earth or equally the practice of throwing gravel onto the ground and divination by the shapes subsequently formed therein.

TAWHID: unification, monotheism, the belief in the absolute Oneness of Allah. It is to believe that Allah Alone is the creator, nourisher, and sustainer of the worlds; it is to believe that Allah Alone deserves to be worshipped; and it is to believe that He has unique and perfect Names and Attributes that far transcend anything that one can imagine.

TIYARAH: seeing bad omens in things.

WAHDATU-L-WUJUD: The unity of existence, the heretical belief that Allah is everywhere and everything.