by Nayab Naseer
Within days of dispatching the letter it came back. On the back, something was scribbled. The courtier read it out.
“From Amir al Mu’minin kalifah Harun al Rashid
To the Dog Naqfoor of Constantinople
Oh infidel! You will see our reply shortly. Keep your eyes open.”
***
“May God grant us victory and keep the Holy Roman Empire safe.” Sofia was in tears as Istribiq readied himself for the battle.
“Promise me you will come back safely.” Sofia was in tears.
“I will.” So saying Istribiq strode away.
The one lakh army under Istribriq penetrated as deep as Maisiya, but only to be routed left and right by Abdullah. Kalifah Harun al Rashid entered the field in person, and to counter him, Marcus and Naqfoor did likewise. The battle did not end until both Marcus and Naqfoor were taken prisoners, and the black banner of the Abbasids flew over the governor’s fort of Heruclia, the very residence of Marqus, Istribiq and Sofia. There was now nothing in the way of Harun al Rashid and Constantinople.
Naqfoor was given the most humiliating of terms, which included a heavy tribute and surrender of almost all Asia Minor, Heruclia included to the Abbasid khilafat. Among the prisoners of war, the male combatants were killed, the non-combatants ransomed off, and the women taken in as slaves.
Istribiq searched in vain for Sofia. No one knew what happened to her or where she went. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Istribiq turned despondent. One day, as he took a pensive evening stroll, he heard clamor outside the palace. One Sylvania, a former maid of Sofia’s palace was arguing with the guards to let her in. Istribiq called her in.
“Oh master, after the war at Heruclia, you forgot about the maids in the palace. They were all taken as slaves, and Sofia is one of them. I managed to escape, and after a fatiguing journey, here I am to give the news.”
No sooner had Istribiq informed Naqfoor of this matter, than he called for his scribe and began writing:
“From Naqfoor, the emperor of Constantinople to amir al mu’minin kalifah Harun al Rashid, the believer of Allah and the Prophet of Islam, may Allah bless him, and grant him peace.
Allah has made you the most powerful ruler on earth. I appeal your great self to help me in a little matter – very little for you but very great for me. My daughter in law Sofia Angelica was captured during the war, and reports have reached me that she is in the prison there, at the very palace where her father was once the governor. Please return her to me and this will put me in lifelong obligation.”
No sooner had Harun al Rashid finished reading the letter than he sent a contingent to trace Sofia. The next morning she was brought to the chamber of the kalifah. The opulence of the chamber was in sharp contrast to Sofia’s disheveled appearance and ragged clothes.
Harun walked in. “Go freshen yourself up. After that we shall talk” so saying, Harun instructed the head maid to give her one of the queen’s chambers.
They met after lunch.
Sofia was so overawed by the hospitality and kindness shown by the kalifah and his retinue that the first words she spoke was that she was ready to accept Islam.
The kalifah spoke: “You are like my daughter to me. You can stay here as long as you like, in the comfort you have enjoyed until now. Or if you wish you can stay anywhere in dar-us-Islam and no one will harm you. Embracing Islam is entirely up to you. There is no compulsion. I would rather prefer that you return to your country, as your father-in-law has specifically asked me for your release. I shall send with you a copy of the Quran and some translators who would be able to teach you more about Islam. Study about Islam in your land, with your husband and if you want, embrace Islam then. You are free to return whenever you want.”
After some wavering, with great reluctance, Sofia agreed to go back. Harun al Rashid sent her back accompanied by royal escorts, religious scholars, translators, and several presents.
Naqfoor, Istribiq and Sofia lived for a long time after that, and so did Harun Al Rashid. Naqfoor never again delayed tribute, and never again went to war with dar-us-Islam. Sofia visited Baghdad after some years with her husband.
***
Harun al Rashid was the last of the great kalifahs who upheld the true spirit of Islam. After his reign, the love for this world and the hatred for death slowly started creeping in. During the later Abbasids, the life and times as described in the Book of Thousand and One Nights – the court and high society full of wine, debauchery and worthless opulence was in full flow. The religious orthodoxy that Harun al Rashid upheld was diluted, and after a time, religion was totally removed from the state, and has never really come back. As for the state, it declined slowly but steadily, the kalifah himself becoming a vassal of dynasties like the Buids and the Seljuks.
Allah is the Most Patient and the Most Merciful. He is also the Al-Ghani (in no need). If man turns away from obeying Him and adhering to His laws, “He will replace you with other people; then they will not be like you.” (Ayah 38 of Sura Muhammed)
For the Abbasid kalifahs, and in fact for the Muslim society of Iraq, Persia and Central Asia, which had become overwhelmingly corrupt with deviant beliefs and love of money, fame, women and wine, the punishment came in the form of the dreaded Tatars or Mongols.
Ghengis Khan started by finishing off the Shah of Khwarizm. Then came the turn of the great centers of learning and culture – Bhukara, Samarkand, Khiva, Nishapur, Tabriz and Tus - all lay in rubbles, the only standing structures being made of skulls of dead people. In 741 AH (1341 CE), Hulagu knocked the gates of Baghdad. The ensuing pillage marks the end of the Abbasid khilafat and with it all the pomp and glitter of Iraq.
The Mongol leader, Hulagu served his captive, kalifah Muta’sim a dish of precious stones taken from the kalifah’s harem.
The kalifah said “This is not edible.”
Hulagu replied “Then why did you not use these stones to pay and maintain your soldiers so that they would have opposed me at the riverbank, and why did you not melt these copper arches in this grand palace to make arrows to fire at me.”
The kalifah said “Such was the will of Allah.”
Hulagu replied “In that case, what is going to happen to you will also be the will of God.”
Harun al Rashid also had a harem full of precious stones, and he also depended on the will of Allah. But apart from these two, he also strove in the way of Allah – taking the offensive where offense was required and enjoining moderation and toleration when they were required. This, most of his successors neglected to do so.
For the record al Musta’sim met his dead inside a tied sack, rotting in the blood strewn river-bank of the Tigris. All the gold in his treasury, all of his monumental palaces, all of his slaves, eunuchs and “yes-men” could not do a thing to help him.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF IMAM AHMED AND BUKHARI
After the death of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, the Quran and sunnah became the ultimate source of Islamic thought on all aspects of human life. Thus fiqh and theology was also based on the two legal sources without any external influence. The first hijri century, however witnessed the emergence of various sects like the Mu’tazilites. What made such sects different from the mainstream traditionalists was their attempt to incorporate external influences, apart from the Quran and sunnah to theology.
Once, in Basra, confusion arouse with regards to the status in Islam of a sinful person. The Khawarij, one of the newly formed sect expel the sinful from Islam, and the Murji’ah, another breakaway sect argue sins do not affect one’s faith. A person came to imam al-Hasan al-Basri to enquire about the orthodox position on this matter - is such a person a Muslim or not?
Before al-Hasan al-Basri could reply, one Wasil bin Ata interjected and claimed: ‘Such a person is not a believer, nor a disbeliever, rather he is of an intermediate rank between the two ranks of faith and disbelief. Since this was something outside the teachings of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, al-Has
an al-Basri expelled Wasil bin Ata from his gatherings.
Wasil bin Ata started his own gatherings at a corner of the same masjid, which prompted al-Hasan al-Basri to say: “Wasil has withdrawn from us”, and they were henceforth known as “Mu’tazila”, literally meaning “those who withdraw.”
When the Islamic khilafat took over much of Byzantium and Persia, ideas and beliefs that hitherto prevailed came in as a package. The dominant theological viewpoint was that of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Plato. In the face of Islam challenging the established dogma, interfaith debates became commonplace. In such debates the opponents of Islam often used Greek logic to sustain their arguments, and some Muslims, wanting to defend Islam in the same pane began to interpret Islam on the basis of Greek philosophy and logical sciences. This is how Mu’tazilism began.
The Mu’tazilites advocated kalam or speculative theology – the way of theology that proceeds by stating a position and then defending it against objections by logical arguments, often in live debate with the opponents. They sanctified intelligence above revelation, which made them conclude the Quran is created, and not Allah’s speech. Through such logical conclusions, they believed “spirit is divine,” “Allah is everywhere,” and denied the Sirat or the bridge over hell-fire Muslims cross in the hereafter. They also resorted to metaphorical interpretations of Quranic verses and Prophetic reports with seemingly anthropomorphic content.
The Mu’tazilites were never given any important posts during the Ummayad rule. Things however changed when the Abbasids took over and everyone who opposed the Umayyad gained in power. The leader of the Mu’tazilites, Amr bin Ubayd was a close friend of kalifah Abu Jafar al Mansur, who appointed them as judges. From here onwards they gained acceptance and legitimacy. Harun Al Rashid was a great champion of orthodoxy, but the later Abbasids – from the time of al-Ma'mun lent their wholehearted support to Mu’tazilism. What made matters serious was far from accepting any other doctrine, they were hell-bend on exterminating any kind of diverse viewpoint, and as such started an inquisition supported by kalifah al-Ma’mun.
Bishr al-Misiri and Ahmad bin Abi Du'ad were the two important figures behind this ‘Minha inquisition.’
They proceeded systematically.
The prominent jurists of orthodox Islam were systematically rounded up and put on trial. They were pronounced guilty and subject to severe torture until they acknowledged the Mu’tazilite beliefs. Such acknowledgements were published in all major cities, and the masses persuaded to accept the same.
It is in such a background that two famous personalities– imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal and imam Bukhari of the Sahi Bukhari fame, may Allah have mercy on them, stood up as a bulwark of orthodox Islam, resisting the Mu’tazilite onslaught.
Ahmed ibn Hanbal was born in the city of Merv (Khurasan) in 163 AH (780 CE.) He started his career by learning jurisprudence under Abu Yusuf, the renowned student and companion of imam Abu Hanifah. He discontinued his studies with Abu Yusuf when he turned sixteen, and started to travel around the dar-us-Islam in the search of hadeeths.
In the course of imam Ahmed’s travels he met imam Shafi, who became his most beloved of teachers. Imam Shafi equally admired Ahmad for his expertise in jurisprudence and hadeeth. He would often say to Ahmad: “Tell us if you know of an authentic hadeeth so that we may act on it.”
***
While imam Ahmed was thus busy collecting hadeeths and acting upon them, Mohammed Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mughirah Ibn Bardiziyeh al-Bukhari was born in 194 AH (810 CE) in the city of Bukhara. His father, Ismail Ibn Ibrahim, a known scholar of hadeeth, died when Bukhari was eleven years old. The young Bukhari now started the study of hadeeth; to one day take over from where his father left.
The young Bukhari developed a power and speed of memory that seemed miraculous to his contemporaries. Very soon he memorized seventy thousand hadeeth by heart with their complete chain of narrations going from him to his teacher, to his teacher's teacher, all the way to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
Bukhari attended lectures and discourses of learned men, but unlike other pupils never took any notes, for which he was criticized. One day, annoyed by consistent criticism of his carelessness, Bukhari asked his fellow pupils to bring all they had noted down. Fifteen thousand hadeeths were thus collected. Young Bukhari, to the amazement of all, narrated all these fifteen thousand hadeeths from his memory with minutest details which had not been noted down by the follow pupils. On another occasion, he stood up to correct one of his teachers, who laughed at the audacity of the young student. Bukhari persisted and referred to the books, which showed him as correct.
Just as imam Ahmed did, imam Bukhari went on hajj when he turned sixteen. In Makkah and Madinah, he devoted his time to attending the lectures of great teachers of hadeeth. By the time he turned eighteen, he finished a book on decisions made by the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
Imam Bukhari did not return home from hajj. He traveled to all the important centers of Islamic learning of his time, talked to scholars and exchanged information on hadeeth. He stayed at Basrah for five years, in Hijaz for six, traveled to Egypt twice, and to Kufah and Baghdad many times.
Collection of hadeeth became short of an obsession for Bukhari. He used all of his money to travel, and at one occasion, became so short of money that he lived on wild herbs for three days. A good deal of his income, he spent on helping students and poor.
Imam Bukhari never showed ill temper to anyone, even when there was more than sufficient cause. On one occasion, while traveling on a boat, one of the passengers began screaming "I had five hundred gold coins and someone has stolen it".
Imam Bukhari had five hundred gold coins with him. He instinctively threw these coins in to the ocean. The whole boat was searched and no set gold coin was found.
After arriving at the destination, the man who had screamed out asked imam Bukhari, "I had seen your gold coins and made the accusation out of greed. What did you do with the money?"
Imam Bukhari replied, "I threw it in the ocean"
Out of shock the man asked "why?"
Imam Bukhari replied, "I am compiling a book of the hadeeth of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. I cannot allow anything to damage my reputation and discredit me".
The fame of Imam Bukhari reached distant parts of dar-us-Islam and wherever he went, people received him with great veneration. When authorities in Basra received information of his arrival, they fixed a time to deliver a lecture. Imam Bukhari was able to confine himself only to such hadeeth that he had received on the authority of early hadeeth scholars of Basrah, but which nonetheless had been unknown to the audience.
***
In the meantime, in Baghdad, the Minha inquisition was in full flow. Nearly all scholars and jurists were hauled to court, and faced with torture and decapitation, all of them had acknowledged the doctrine of the created Quran – all except two: Ahmad bin Hanbal and Mohammed bin Nuh, may Allah have mercy on them. The meek surrender of the ulema greatly pained and angered imam Ahmad, such that he boycotted some of the great traditionalists, and refused to narrate from them.
Imam Ahmed’s turn to be arrested came soon enough. When persuasions and threats failed, he was subjected to corporal punishment and imprisonment in chains. Imam Ahmed nevertheless refused to abjure his beliefs.
As imam Ahmed was being taken in irons to be dealt by kalifah al-Ma’mun himself, he supplicated to Allah to prevent his meeting al-Ma’mun. His prayer was answered in the sudden death of al-Ma’mun. Mohammed bin Nuh, the other person who stood firm was unable to withstand the torture and passed away on their return journey.
Al-Mu'tasim assumed the office of khilafat. Unlike al-Ma’mun, he was a destitute to knowledge, but nevertheless continued the ‘Minha inquisition’ as explicitly requested by al-Ma’mun in his will. His rule was the most brutal towards the orthodox scholars in general, and imam Ahmad in particular who intransigently continued to resist a
ll attempts by the authorities to force him to acknowledge the creation of the Quran.
The frustrated kalifah finally ordered imam Ahmad to be flogged in public. This was carried out and imam Ahmed fell unconscious. The resultant commotion in Baghdad reached an uncontrollable pitch, and Mu’tasim found it prudent to release imam Ahmed from prison.
After al-Mu’tasim’s death, al-Wathiq took over as the kalifah, and ordered his loyal Mu’tazilite judge in Egypt, Ibn Abi al-Layth to press hard with the inquisition. The masjids of Egypt had inscriptions written on them: ‘There is no God but Allah, the Lord of the Created Quran.’ Prisons now became full with jurists and traditionalists who resisted the government demands. In Baghdad, however, the public became enraged over the treatment smote to imam Ahmed, which made it difficult for al-Wathiq to pursue the inquisition with same vigor. He therefore, instead of re-imprisoning imam Ahmad, resolved on banishing him from Baghdad, saying: “Do not live with me on this earth!” Imam Ahmad went into exile.
Towards the end of al-Wathiq’s reign, one Ahmad bin Nasr al-Khazai, a student of imam Shafi was charged for organizing an uprising in Baghdad. When he was brought to al-Wathiq in chains, the latter, instead of asking him about his role in the uprising, questioned him about his belief in the creation of the Quran, to which Ahmad al-Khazai gave the standard Sunni reply that the Quran is the speech of Allah. The enraged kalifah, upon hearing his response, personally decapitated him. His head remained in Baghdad while his body remained on a crucifix in Samarra for six years, a grisly warning to potential rebels.
***
While the minha inquisition was in full flow in Baghdad, the travels of imam Bukhari had taken him to then great Central Asian city of Nishapur. He received a grand reception, and wished to settle down there and devote himself to teaching hadeeth. Here, he meet Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, may Allah have mercy on him. Imam Muslim became imam Bukhari’s student, and eventually authored ‘Sahi Muslim.’
