Part 2

> Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi said in a/-Siyar, 21/375 that this text is a part of some other text.

THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR

al-Hafiz Abt’l-Faraj ‘Abdu’l-Rahman Ibn Jawzi

His Name and Lineage

He is Abi’l-Faraj Jamal al-Din ‘Abdu’l-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali Ibn ‘Ubayd Allah Ibn al-Jawzi al-Qurashi alTamimi al-Bakdi from the family of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr a/- Siddig, al-Baghdadi al-Hanbali.$

His Birth and Upbringing He was born in 509 or 510 A.H. Upon reaching adolescence, his aunt took him to Ibn Nasir from whom he learned a great

deal. He came to love preaching while barely having reached the age of puberty, and from then started to give sermons to the peo-

6 Thail al-Randatain, p.21, al-Bidayah wa'l-Nihayab, p. 13/26.

al-Hafiz Abu'l-Faraj ‘Abdu'l-Rahman thn Jawzi

His father passed away when he was three years old so his aunt took care of him. His telatives were copper merchants so at times in hadith hearings he would write his name as ‘Abdu’l-Rahman ibn ‘Ali al-Saffar [i.e. The Coppersmith].

His first hadith hearing was in 156 A.H., as cited by al-Dhahabi’

While still very young he became known as a religious person who would not socialise with anyone and would not eat from any food whose source was doubtful. He would only leave his house for prayer and he would not play with other kids. He was a person of very great determination and ambition and he spent all his life busy in seeking knowledge, preaching and authoring,*

Al-Hafiz Ibn al-Jawzi has already introduced his teachers in his book Mashyakhat Ibn al-Jawzi i.e. the scholars who taught Ibn alJawzi] where he listed many of them. In the field of hadith he benefitted from accompanying Ibn Nasir , in Qur’dan and Adab {ie. Manners] from Sibt al-Khiyat and Ibn al-Jawiliqi. He was the last to narrate from al-Dinawari and al-Mutawakkili.’

His Students Those who narrated from him include his son and companion,

” Thail al-Raudatain, 21, Thail ‘ala Tabagat al-Hanabila, 1/401, Sbatharat al-Thabab,

* al-Bidayab wa'lNibayah, 13/29, Said al-Khatir, 238. > Siyar al-A'lam al-Nubula’, 21/366, 367.

His grandson Abii al-Muzfir and majority of those who wrote his biography say that he had three sons:

1. The oldest of them, Abi Bakr ‘Abd al-‘Aziz: He became a jurist in the school of Ahmad and took knowledge from Abii al-Waqt, Ibn Nasir, al-Armawi and a group of his father's teachers. He traveled to the city of al-Musul where he preached and held sermons there for which he earned the people full acceptance. It is said that the family of alZahrazuti used to be jealous of him so they made someone put poison in his drink which caused him to die in al-Misul in 554 A.H. during the lifetime of his father."

2. Abii al-Qasim Badr al-Din ‘Ali al-Nasikh: A separate biography of him will follow. He is the one his father is addressing in this book.

3. Abi Muhammad Yasuf Muhyi al-Din'?: He was the most

"\ Tail Tabagat al-Hanabila, 1/430, 431.

alHafiz, Abit l-Faraj ‘Abdu’l-Rabman ibn Janz

intelligent and youngest son as he was born in 580 A.H. He became involved in preaching and held sermons after his father, in which he excelled and by which he was looked up to by his confreres. He then was appointed to control and supervise markets of Baghdad, and after that he was assigned to deliver the messages of the caliphs to kings of other different regions peculiarly to the Ayyabi family in the Sham region. He held the position of teacher in the institute of caliph al-Musti‘sim in 640 A.H. till he was killed in prison in 656 A.H. by Hulaku who occupied Bagdad and destroyed it. His three sons Jamal al-Din, Sharaf al-Din and Taj al-Din were killed with him. He has authored many works, including Ma‘adin al-Abriz fi Tafsir al-Kitab al-‘Aziz and al-Madhab al-Abmad fi Madhab Abmad. Unlike his brother Abu al-Qasim, he was a dutiful son who honored his father and treated him well.

His grandson mentioned that Ibn al-Jawzi had many daughters; Rabi‘a, Sharaf al-Nisa’, Zainab, Jauhara, Sitt al-Ulama al-Sughra and Sitt al-‘Ulama al-Kubra."*

His Uniqueness as a Preacher

Excellent indeed are the words of al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi about him: ‘He was the leading figure in reminding the people and had no equal. He would recite pleasant poetry and eloquent prose spontaneously and his fine words and moving speech was abundant. There has never been anyone like him, not before him and not after him. He is the carrier of the flag of exhortation in its various forms. He had a pleasant appearance and a good voice and his

talks had an impact on peoples’ hearts. His lifestyle in general was beautiful.’"* He also said: ‘I believe there will not be another one like him,’

Al-Hafiz Ibn Rajab said: ‘So we conclude that his gatherings of exhortation were one of a kind and nobody had heard of anything like them. They were gatherings of great benefit where the heedless would be reminded, the ignorant would come to know, the sinners would repent and the polytheists would become Muslims.”

His Works and Effects

Shaikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said in a/-Ajwiba al-Misriyyah: ‘Shaikh Abi’l-Faraj excelled in many sciences and has many writings to his account. He would write on many topics, and as I counted his works I found them to be over one thousand in number. Afterwards, I found out about other works as well.”

Having mentioned some of his books, al-Dhahabi said: ‘I don’t know of a scholar who has written what this man has.”

al-Hafiz, Aba’ |-Faraj ‘Abds'l-Rabman ibn Jaw

he researched their titles, their copies and copies that had been printed and put them in alphabetic order. Whoever wishes to know about these books should refer to this work, keeping in mind that many of the manuscripts mentioned therein by al-‘Alaji have now been printed.

Ibn al-Jawzi passed away on Friday the 12th of Ramadan in 597 A.H and was buried at Bab Harb.’

” For a more detailed biography of al-Hafiz Ibn al-Jawzi, refer to: Ibn Athir’s al-Kamil, 12/71, Sibt Ibn al-Jaw2i: Mirat al-Zanin, 8/481, al-Mundhiti: af Takmila, Biography #608, al-Bagghal: a/-Mashyakba, #140, Aba Shamma: Thail alRandatain, #21, Yon al-Sai: ab-Jami’, 9/65, bn Khalkan: al-Wafayat, 3/140, alDhahabi: al-‘Ihar, 4/297, Dawal al-Islim, 2/79, Tatbkirat al-Huffaz, 4/1342, Siyar al-A lim al-Nubuld’, 21/365, Yon Kathit: al-Bidayab wa’ lNibayab, 13/26, bn Rajab: Thail Tabagat al-Hanabila, 1/399, al-Jazari: Ghayat wa'l-Nibayab, 1/375, Siddiq Hasan Khan: al-Té al-Mukallal, #70, Ibn Shatti: Mukhlasar Tabagat al-Hanabila, p.42.

THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE SON

Abi’l-Qasim Badr al-Din ‘Ali ibn al-Jawzi

Name, Lineage and Birth He is Badr al-Din Aba’l-Qasim ‘Ali, the son of the Shaikh and Imam Abi’l-Faraj ‘Abdu’l-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn “Ali ibn al-Jawzi al-Baksi, al-Baghdadi al-Nasikh.

He was born in Ramadan in 551 A.H.” which was approximately 30 years before the birth of his brother Yusuf Muhyi al-Din.

He studied under Abi’l-Faraj al-Batti, Yahya ibn Thabit, Abi Zur‘a, Ahmad ibn al-Mugarrab, minister ibn Hubaira and Shuhda.

Al-Sayf narrated from him as well as ‘Izz al-Din ‘Abdu’l-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi, al-Taqj ibn al-Wasiti,

” Siar al-Aam al-Nubuld’, 22/352.

The Biography of the Son

al-Kamal ‘Ali ibn al-Waddah, Abi’l-Faraj ibn al-Zain, Abi al- ‘Abbas al-Farathi, Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Hubaira the resident of Bilbeis. He gave permission to Abii Nast ibn al-Shirazi and al-Qadi the Hanbali to narrate from him.

Ibn Nugta said: ‘He relates with accuracy, is trustworthy, has memorized a lot and presents his hadith in a fine manner. He heard the Sahih of al-Isma‘ll from Yahya ibn Thabit.’””'

Upbringing and Life with his Father al-Imam ibn al-Jawzi

One may ask why Ibn al-Jawzi chose to advice this son of his, and the answer can be easily found by looking into their life together. The author says in the preface that having found his son somewhat careless about seeking knowledge, he decided to write some words of encouragment to him to get him motivated. The scholars’ comments about him give us the following picture of Abii’l-Qasim’s life with his father; al-Imam Ibn al-Jawzi:

He was a good child from the very beginning to the point that Ibn al-Najjar said: ‘He preached and gave sermons when he was a child.” Al-Dhahabi said: ‘He preached for some time and then quit. He was extraordinarily eloquent in much of his speech and pleasant in his jesting.”*’ This indicates that his upbringing and early childhood were like those of his father and his brother Muhyi al-Din Yisuf.

% Siyar al-A‘lim al-Nubula’, 22/352.

However, at some point before the birth of his brother Mubyi al-Din Yasuf in 580 A.H., he began to spend his days in idle play, leaving his previous activities as a preacher and wasting his time doing impermissible things. This is verified by al-Hafiz Ibn al-Jawzi himself in this advice as he says: ‘Out of my sons only Abi’lQasim is left, so I have asked Allah to make him a pious successor and an ideal son who shall achieve success. However, I found him somewhat careless of studying Sacred Knowledge so I decided to write these words to him.’

He gave this excellent and also obligatory advice to his only son at the time, following the words of Allah?:

Kubkosigus O Believers! Protect yourselves and your families from fire...

[Sarah at-Tabrim : 6}

Still, despite his efforts, it seems that his son did not take heed of his words which caused his father to abandon him and cut all relations between them. Some of the things that made him go to this extent were his son’s habit of engaging in impermissible activities and having friends who were busy with idle play and cortupt lifestyle. He had become a person inclined towards amusement and moral depravity.