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Hasan al-Basri

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Al-Hasan al-Basri
Tābiʿūn;
Theologian, Ascetic, Mystic, Scholar;
Imām of Basra, Lamp of Basra, Leader of the Ascetics
Bornc. 21 AH/642 CE
Medina, Rashidun Caliphate
DiedFriday, 5th Rajab 110 AH/15 October 728 (aged 86)
Basra, Umayyad Caliphate
Venerated inSunni Islam, but particularly in traditional tariqas of Sufism
Major shrineTomb of Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Az Zubayr, Iraq
InfluencesUmar ibn Khattab and Ali ibn Abi Talib
InfluencedAbdul Wahid bin Zaid, Habib al-Ajami, and Harith al-Muhasibi
Part of a series on Islam
Sufism
Tomb of Abdul Qadir Jilani, Baghdad.jpg
Tomb of Abdul Qadir Gilani, Baghdad, Iraq
Ideas
Practices
Sufi orders
Sunni

Shi'a

Non-denominational

List of sufis
Topics in Sufism
 Islam portal
"Hassan Basri" redirects here. For the Malaysian footballer, see Hassan Basri (footballer).

Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as Hasan of Basra (Arabic: الحسن البصري, romanized: Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī; 642 - 15 October 728) for short, or as Hasan al-Basri, was an early Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, exegete, scholar, judge, and mystic.[1] Born in Medina in 642,[2] Hasan belonged to the second generation of Muslims, all of whom would subsequently be referred to as the tābiʿūn in Sunni Islamic piety.[2] In fact, Hasan rose to become one of "the most celebrated" of the tābiʿūn,[2] enjoying an "acclaimed scholarly career and an even more remarkable posthumous legacy in Islamic scholarship."[2]

Hasan, revered for his austerity and support for "renunciation" (zuhd), preached against worldliness and materialism during the early days of the Umayyad Caliphate, with his passionate sermons casting a "deep impression on his contemporaries."[3] His close relationships with several of the most prominent companions of the prophet Muhammad[3] only strengthened his standing as a teacher and scholar of the Islamic sciences.[3] The particular disciplines in which he is said to have excelled included exegesis (tafsīr) of the Quran,[2] whence his "name is invariably encountered in" classical and medieval commentaries on the scripture,[2] as well as theology and mysticism.[2][4] Regarding the last of these, it is important to note that Hasan became a tremendously important figure in the development of Sufism[4] with his name occurring "in many mystical silsilas (chains of teachers and their disciples) going back to Muḥammad" in the writings of Sunni mystics from the ninth-century onwards.[3] In the words of one scholar, Hasan stands as the "great patriarch" of early Sufism.[5]

As scholars have noted, very few of Hasan's original writings survive, with his proverbs and maxims on various subjects having been transmitted primarily through oral tradition by his numerous disciples.[3] While fragments of his famed sermons do survive in the works of later authors, the only complete manuscripts that bear his name are apocryphal works such as the Risālat al-qadar ilā ʿAbd al-Malik (Epistle to ʿAbd al-Malik against the Predestinarians),[2] a pseudopigraphical text from the ninth or early-tenth century,[2] and another letter "of an ascetic and hortatory character" addressed to Umar II (d. 720),[2] which is likewise deemed spurious.[2]

Traditionally, Hasan has been commemorated as an outstanding figure by all the Sunni schools of thought,[3] and was frequently designated as one of the well respected of the early Islamic community in later writings by such important Sunni thinkers as Abu Talib al-Makki (d. 996),[6] Abu Nu`aym (d. 1038),[7] Ali Hujwiri (d. 1077),[8] Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1201),[9] and Attar of Nishapur (d. 1221).[10][3] In his famed Ḳūt al-ḳulūb, the most important work of Basran Sunni mysticism, Abu Talib al-Makki says of Hasan: "Ḥasan is our Imām in this doctrine which we represent. We walk in his footsteps and we follow his ways and from his lamp we have our light" (wa ’l-Ḥasanu raḥimahu ’llāhu imāmunā fī hād̲h̲a ’l-ʿilmi ’llad̲h̲ī natakallamu bih , at̲h̲arahu naḳfū wa sabīlahū natbaʿu wa min mis̲h̲kātihi nastaḍīʾ).[3]

Discover more about Hasan al-Basri related topics

Arabic

Arabic

Arabic is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world. Having emerged in the 1st century, it is named after the Arab people; the term "Arab" was initially used to describe those living in the Arabian Peninsula, as perceived by geographers from ancient Greece.

Romanization of Arabic

Romanization of Arabic

The romanization of Arabic is the systematic rendering of written and spoken Arabic in the Latin script. Romanized Arabic is used for various purposes, among them transcription of names and titles, cataloging Arabic language works, language education when used instead of or alongside the Arabic script, and representation of the language in scientific publications by linguists. These formal systems, which often make use of diacritics and non-standard Latin characters and are used in academic settings or for the benefit of non-speakers, contrast with informal means of written communication used by speakers such as the Latin-based Arabic chat alphabet.

Preacher

Preacher

A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a moral or social worldview or philosophy.

Qadi

Qadi

A qāḍī is the magistrate or judge of a sharīʿa court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works.

Mysticism

Mysticism

Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation supported by various practices and experiences.

Medina

Medina

Medina, officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (Arabic: المدينة المنورة, romanized: al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, lit. 'The Enlightened City', Hejazi pronunciation: [almadiːna almʊnawːara], and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah, is the second-holiest city in Islam and the capital of Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. As of 2020, the estimated population of the city is 1,488,782, making it the fourth-most populous city in the country. Located at the core of the Medina Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over 589 km2, of which 293 km2 constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by the Hejaz Mountains, empty valleys, agricultural spaces and older dormant volcanoes.

Quran

Quran

The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters, which consist of verses. In addition to its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature, and has significantly influenced the Arabic language.

Sufism

Sufism

Sufism, also known as Tasawwuf, is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ritualism, asceticism and esotericism. It has been variously defined as "Islamic mysticism", "the mystical expression of Islamic faith", "the inward dimension of Islam", "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam", the "main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization" of mystical practice in Islam, and "the interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice".

Oral tradition

Oral tradition

Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. The transmission is through speech or song and may include folktales, ballads, chants, prose or poetry. In this way, it is possible for a society to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing system, or in parallel to a writing system. Religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, and Jainism, for example, have used an oral tradition, in parallel to a writing system, to transmit their canonical scriptures, rituals, hymns and mythologies from one generation to the next.

Abu Talib al-Makki

Abu Talib al-Makki

Abu Talib Muhammad ibn Ali al-Makki, was a hadith scholar, Shafi'i jurist, and Sufi mystic.

Ibn al-Jawzi

Ibn al-Jawzi

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad Abu 'l-Faras̲h̲ b. al-Jawzī, often referred to as Ibn al-Jawzī for short, or reverentially as Imam Ibn al-Jawzī by some Sunni Muslims, was an Arab Muslim jurisconsult, preacher, orator, heresiographer, traditionist, historian, judge, hagiographer, and philologist who played an instrumental role in propagating the Hanbali school of orthodox Sunni jurisprudence in his native Baghdad during the twelfth-century. During "a life of great intellectual, religious and political activity," Ibn al-Jawzi came to be widely admired by his fellow Hanbalis for the tireless role he played in ensuring that that particular school – historically, the smallest of the four principal Sunni schools of law – enjoy the same level of "prestige" often bestowed by rulers on the Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanafi rites.

Attar of Nishapur

Attar of Nishapur

Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm, better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn (فریدالدین) and ʿAṭṭār of Nishapur, was a Persian poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and Sufism. He wrote a collection of lyrical poems and number of long poems in the philosophical tradition of Islamic mysticism, as well as a prose work with biographies and sayings of famous Muslim mystics. The Conference of the Birds, The Book of Divine, and Memorial of the Saints are among his best known works.

Life

Hasan was born in Medina in 642 CE.[3] His mother, Khayra, is said to have been a maidservant of one of the prophet Muhammad's wives, Umm Salama (d. 683), while his father, Peroz, was a Persian slave who originally hailed from southern Iraq.[11][12] According to tradition, Hasan grew up in Medina for the vast portion of his early life, prior to his family's move to Basra after the Battle of Siffin.[3] According to some scholars, it is "primarily this association with Medina and his acquaintance there with many of the notable Companions and wives of Muḥammad that elevated [Hasan's] importance as an authoritative figure in Muslim religious and historical genealogy."[3]

The various extant biographies relate that Hasan was once nursed by Umm Salama,[3] and that his mother took him after his birth to the caliph Umar (d. 644), who is related to have blessed him with the prayer: "O God! Please do make him wise in the faith and beloved to all people."[3] As he grew, Hasan began to be widely admired for his uncompromising faithfulness to the example of Muhammad.[3] The various early sources on Hasan's life relate that he frequently studied at the feet of Ali (d. 661) during this period, who is said to have taught Hasan while the latter was still "an adolescent."[13] As there is evidence that the metaphysical idea of the abdal – forty major saints whose number, according to traditional Sunni mystical belief, is believed to remain constant till the Day of Judgment, with each group of forty being replaced by another upon their earthly death – was prevalent at the time,[14] there are traditions which relate that some of Hasan's contemporaries did indeed identify him as one of the abdal of that period.[15]

As a young man, Hasan took part in the campaigns of conquest in eastern Iran (ca. 663) and worked as a jewel-merchant,[3] prior to forsaking the business and military life for that of a pure ascetic and scholar.[3] It was during this latter period that he openly began to criticize the policies of the governors in Iraq, even stirring up the authorities to such a degree that he actually had to flee for the safety of his life under the reign of Ḥaj̲j̲āj, whose anger Hasan had roused due to his forthright condemnation of Ḥaj̲j̲āj's founding of Wāsiṭ in 705.[3] One of Hasan's closest companions from this period was his fellow ascetic and mystic Farqad as-Sabakhi (d. 729), an Armenian Christian convert to Islam.[16] Together with figures like as-Sabakhi and Rabia Basri (d. 801), Hasan began to publicly denounce the accumulation of riches by the wealthy; and it is said that he personally despised wealth to such a degree that he even "rejected a suitor for his daughter's hand who was famous for his wealth simply because of his riches."[3] It was during this period, moreover, that Hasan is said to have taken numerous disciples in mysticism,[4] such as Habib al-Ajami (d. ca. 8th century), whose relationship with Hasan is documented in various hagiographies.[16] Hasan died in Basra in 728, being eighty-six years old.[3] According to a tradition quoted by the medieval traditionist Qushayri (d. 1074), "on the night of al-Hasan al-Basri’s death ... [a local man] saw in a dream that the Gates of Heaven were opened and a crier announced: 'Verily, al-Hasan al-Basri is coming to God Most High, Who is pleased with him.'"[17]

Discover more about Life related topics

Medina

Medina

Medina, officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (Arabic: المدينة المنورة, romanized: al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, lit. 'The Enlightened City', Hejazi pronunciation: [almadiːna almʊnawːara], and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah, is the second-holiest city in Islam and the capital of Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. As of 2020, the estimated population of the city is 1,488,782, making it the fourth-most populous city in the country. Located at the core of the Medina Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over 589 km2, of which 293 km2 constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by the Hejaz Mountains, empty valleys, agricultural spaces and older dormant volcanoes.

Persians

Persians

The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian.

Iraq

Iraq

Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. The capital and largest city is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Iraqi Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Persians and Shabakis with similarly diverse geography and wildlife. The majority of the country's 40 million residents are Muslims – the notable other faiths are Christianity, Yazidism, Mandaeism, Yarsanism and Zoroastrianism. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish; others also recognised in specific regions are Suret (Assyrian), Turkish and Armenian.

Basra

Basra

Basra is a city in southern Iraq located on the Shatt al-Arab in the Arabian Peninsula. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is handled at the port of Umm Qasr. However, there is ongoing construction of Grand Faw Port on the coast of Basra, which is considered a national project for Iraq and will become one of the largest ports in the world and the largest in the Middle East, in addition, the port will strengthen Iraq’s geopolitical position in the region and the world. Furthermore, Iraq is planning to establish large naval base in the Faw peninsula.

Battle of Siffin

Battle of Siffin

The Battle of Siffin was fought in 657 CE between Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib and the rebellious governor of Syria Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. The battle is named after its location Siffin on the banks of the Euphrates. The fighting stopped after the Syrians called for arbitration to escape defeat, to which Ali agreed under pressure from some of his troops. The arbitration process ended inconclusively in 658 though it strengthened the Syrians' support for Mu'awiya and weakened the position of Ali. The battle is considered part of the First Fitna and a major step towards the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate.

Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis of Islamic religious belief.

Ali

Ali

ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was the last Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, the successor state to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's political dominions. He is considered by Shia Muslims to be the first Imam, the rightful religious and political successor to Muhammad. The issue of succession caused a major rift between Muslims and divided them into two major branches: Shia following an appointed hereditary leadership among Ali's descendants, and Sunni following political dynasties. Ali's assassination in the Grand Mosque of Kufa by a Kharijite coincided with the rise of the Umayyad Caliphate. The Imam Ali Shrine and the city of Najaf were built around Ali's tomb and it is visited yearly by millions of devotees.

Abdal

Abdal

Abdāl lit: substitutes, but which can also mean "generous" [karīm] and "noble" [sharīf]) is a term used in Islamic metaphysics and Islamic mysticism, both Sunni and Shiite, to refer to a particularly important group of God's saints. In the tradition of Sunni Islam in particular, the concept attained an especially important position in the writings of the Sunni mystics and theologians, whence it appears in the works of Sunni authorities as diverse as Abu Talib al-Makki, Ali Hujwiri, Ibn Asakir, Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Ibn Arabi, and Ibn Khaldun.

Iran

Iran

Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of 1.64 million square kilometres, making it the 17th-largest country. Iran has an estimated population of 86.8 million, making it the 17th-most populous country in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East. Its largest cities, in descending order, are the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz.

Armenians

Armenians

Armenians are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the de facto independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora of around five million people of full or partial Armenian ancestry living outside modern Armenia. The largest Armenian populations today exist in Russia, the United States, France, Georgia, Iran, Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon, Brazil, and Syria. With the exceptions of Iran and the former Soviet states, the present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian genocide.

Christians

Christians

Christians are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words Christ and Christian derive from the Koine Greek title Christós (Χριστός), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ). While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term Christian used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like." It does not have a meaning of 'of Christ' or 'related or pertaining to Christ'.

Islam

Islam

Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered around the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam, called Muslims, number approximately 1.9 billion globally and are the world's second-largest religious population after Christians.

Views

As one scholar has explained, the essence of Hasan's message was "otherworldliness, abstinence, poverty, and reverential fear of God, although he also spoke of the knowledge and love of God, which he contrasted with love and knowledge of the world."[18]

Mysticism

Although none of Hasan's own complete writings on mysticism survive, it is recognized that he "instructed several generations of students in both the religious sciences and what was soon to become known as Sufism."[5] As such, he has been referred to as both "the great patriarch" of Sufism[5] and "the patriarch of Muslim mysticism"[19] by Western scholars. Indeed, it may very well be that Hasan never actually wrote any complete works on the subject, as none of his works in other disciplines survive either; rather, what is far more probable, as scholars have noted, is that he passed down his teachings orally.[4] From the fragments of his sermons available to us in later Islamic works, it is clear that one of the primary aspects of Hasan's mysticism was his strong support for asceticism and otherworldliness.[4] This characteristic is highlighted in some of his most famous epigrams, such as: "Exist in this world as if you had never set foot here, and in the next world as if you had never left it."[18] Another of his most ubiquitous sayings is: "He that knoweth God loveth Him, and he that knoweth the world abstaineth from it,"[20] which, according to one scholar, represents the "very quintessence of Sufism" in Basra at the time.[20] In another of his famous maxims, Hasan stated: "The [visionary] onlooker thinketh that they are sick, but no sickness hath smitten that folk. Or, if thou wilt, they are smitten: overwhelmingly smitten by remembrance of the Hereafter,"[20] which, according to one scholar, "mentions the possibility of seeing clearly the next life whilst still in this and describes the lasting imprint of this foretaste."[20] As scholars have noted, Hasan spoke of "such visionaries objectively" despite it being clear that he knew himself to be one of them.[20] In the words of one scholar, Hasan's famous mystical extortions "still echo in Persian, Turkish, and Pashto mystical verses" many centuries later.[19]

Hasan has been described as "an outstanding intermediary figure" in Sufi history,[20] for although "he grew up in the apostolic age [the age of the ṣaḥābah],"[20] the nature of the mystical body in early Islam had changed "by the time of his own death at the age of 86,"[20] by which point "the mystics of Islam had become a distinct class."[20] According to traditional Sunni mystical works, Hasan learnt a great deal of his inward knowledge from Ali, which is why "many of the Sufi orders trace their spiritual descent back to 'Ali, and thus to the Prophet" through Hasan.[20]

Prayer-beads

Hasan is said to have advocated the use of prayer beads (Arabic: misbaḥah; Persian, Turkish, and Urdu: tasbīḥ) during the remembrance of God.[21] It is related by al-Suyuti (d. 1505) that Hasan said, with regard to the use of prayer beads, "Something we have used at the beginning of the road we are not desirous to leave at the end. I love to remember God with my heart, my hand, and my tongue."[22] On this, al-Suyuti commented: "And how should it be otherwise, when the dhikr-beads remind one of God Most High, and a person seldom sees dhikr-beads except he remembers God, which is among the greatest of its benefits."[21] As a result of the example of early teachers like Hasan, the use of prayer beads is very common in mainstream Sunni and Shia Islam; the practice is, however, often opposed by some proponents of Salafism and Wahhabism for being a heretical innovation in the religion.

Discover more about Views related topics

Sufism

Sufism

Sufism, also known as Tasawwuf, is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ritualism, asceticism and esotericism. It has been variously defined as "Islamic mysticism", "the mystical expression of Islamic faith", "the inward dimension of Islam", "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam", the "main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization" of mystical practice in Islam, and "the interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice".

Persian mythology

Persian mythology

Persian mythology or Iranian mythology is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples, and a genre of Ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of deities, heroes, and mythological creatures, and the origins and significance of the ancient Persians' own cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of not only modern-day Iran but the Greater Iran, which includes regions of West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia and Transcaucasia where Iranian culture has had significant influence. Historically, these were regions long ruled by dynasties of various Iranian empires, that incorporated considerable aspects of Persian culture through extensive contact with them, or where sufficient Iranian peoples settled to still maintain communities who patronize their respective cultures. It roughly corresponds to the Iranian plateau and its bordering plains. The Encyclopædia Iranica uses the term Iranian Cultural Continent for this region.

Pashto

Pashto

Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani.

Ali

Ali

ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was the last Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, the successor state to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's political dominions. He is considered by Shia Muslims to be the first Imam, the rightful religious and political successor to Muhammad. The issue of succession caused a major rift between Muslims and divided them into two major branches: Shia following an appointed hereditary leadership among Ali's descendants, and Sunni following political dynasties. Ali's assassination in the Grand Mosque of Kufa by a Kharijite coincided with the rise of the Umayyad Caliphate. The Imam Ali Shrine and the city of Najaf were built around Ali's tomb and it is visited yearly by millions of devotees.

Prayer beads

Prayer beads

Prayer beads are a form of beadwork used to count the repetitions of prayers, chants, or mantras by members of various religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Umbanda, Islam, Sikhism, the Baháʼí Faith, and some Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Common forms of beaded devotion include the mequteria in Oriental Orthodox Christianity, the chotki in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the Wreath of Christ in Lutheran Christianity, the Dominican rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Roman Catholic Christianity, the dhikr in Islam, the japamala in Buddhism and Hinduism, and the Jaap Sahib in Sikhism.

Misbaha

Misbaha

A Misbaha, subḥa, tasbīḥ, or tespih is prayer beads often used by Muslims for the tasbih, the recitation of prayers, the dhikr, as well as to glorify Allah.

Dhikr

Dhikr

Dhikr is a form of Islamic meditation in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly chanted in order to remember God. It plays a central role in Sufi Islam, and each Sufi order has usually adopted a specific dhikr, typically accompanied by specific posture, breathing, and movement. In Sufi Islam, dhikr refers to both the act of this remembrance as well as the prayers used in these acts of remembrance. Dhikr can be performed in solitude or as a collective group. It can be counted on a set of prayer beads or through the fingers of the hand. A person who recites the Dhikr is called a Dhakir , literally "he who remembers." The content of the prayers includes the names of God, or a dua taken from the hadiths or the Quran.

Al-Suyuti

Al-Suyuti

Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, or Al-Suyuti, was an Egyptian Sunni ascetic polymath. Considered the Mujtahid and Mujaddid of the Islamic 10th century. Foremost leading muhaddith, mufassir, faqīh (jurist), usuli, grammarian, linguist, rhetorician, historian and philologist, who authored works in virtually every Islamic science.

Wahhabism

Wahhabism

Wahhabism is a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist movement originating in Najd, Arabia. Founded eponymously by Arabian scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Wahhabism is followed primarily in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Hagiographic traditions

Islamic hagiography contains numerous widespread traditions and anecdotes relating to Hasan.[3] One of the most famous of these is the story of his conversion, which "relates that the great ascetic began his adult life as a successful jewel-merchant."[23] The hagiographic scholar John Renard summarizes the narrative thus: "Hasan once visited the Byzantine Emperor's court, and the vizier invited him to travel with him into the desert. There Hasan saw a lavish tent, to which came in succession a large army, four hundred scholars, elders, and four hundred beautiful servant maids. The vizier explained that each year since the Emperor's handsome young son had died of an illness, these throngs of Byzantine subjects had come to pay respects to the dead prince. After all these categories of royal subjects had entered and departed, the Emperor and his chief minister would go into the tent and explain to the deceased boy, in turn, how it grieved them that neither their might, nor learning, nor wisdom, nor wealth and beauty, nor authority had been sufficient to prolong his promising life. The striking scene persuaded Hasan of the need to be ever mindful of his mortality, and he was transformed from a prosperous businessman into a veritable archetype of the world-renouncing ascetic."[24]

Hasan's relationship with Muhammad

Some hagiographic sources even indicate that Hasan actually met the prophet Muhammad as an infant.[25] The tradition relates that Muhammad, who "visited Umm Salama's house while the baby was there," "prayed for little Hasan and again bestowed blessings."[25] On another occasion, the child Hasan is said to have drunk some water from Muhammad's water jug.[25] When Muhammad learned that Hasan had drunk the water, he is said to have "declared that the boy would receive knowledge from him in proportion to the water he had imbibed."[25]

Characteristics

According to various historical sources, it is said that Hasan was admired by his contemporaries for his handsome appearance.[26] In this connection, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350) relates an older tradition, which states: "A group of women went out on the day of Eid and went about looking at people. They were asked: 'Who is the most handsome person you have seen today?' They replied: 'It is a teacher wearing a black turban.' They meant al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī."[26] As for his personality, it is related that Hasan was a frequent weeper, being known by those around him "for the abundance of tears he shed out of compunction for his sins."[24] One particular tradition relates that he wept so much praying on his rooftop one day that his abundant tears began to run off "through the downspouts upon a passerby, who inquired whether the water was clean."[24] Hasan immediately called out to the man below, telling him "it was not, for these were sinner's tears."[27] As such, "he advised the passerby to wash himself forthwith."[27] In a similar vein, Qushayri related of Hasan: "One would never see al-Hasan al-Basri without thinking that he had just been afflicted with a terrible tragedy."[28] With regard to these traditions, one scholar noted that it is evident that Hasan "was deeply steeped in the sadness and fear so typical of ascetics of all religions."[19]

Source: "Hasan al-Basri", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 16th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_al-Basri.

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Further Reading

Sufism

Chishti Order

Wali

Mu'in al-Din Chishti

Bayazid Bastami

Junayd of Baghdad

Irfan

History of Sufism

Rabia of Basra

Al-Muhasibi

Al-Qushayri

Ibn al-Jawzi

Habib al-Ajami

Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya
See also
References
  1. ^ Frye, Richard Nelson (1975-06-26). The Cambridge History of Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 449. ISBN 9780521200936. was born in Medina in 21/642
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mourad, Suleiman A., “al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Edited by: Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Everett Rowson.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Ritter, H., “Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online.
  4. ^ a b c d e S. H. Nasr, The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008), pp. 168-169
  5. ^ a b c S. H. Nasr, The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008), p. 168
  6. ^ Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, Ḳūt al-ḳulūb, Cairo 1310, passim
  7. ^ Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ wa-ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyāʾ (Beirut 1967–8), 2:131–61
  8. ^ Ḥud̲j̲wīrī, Kas̲h̲f al-maḥd̲j̲ūb, tr. R. A. Nicholson, GMS xvii, 86 f.
  9. ^ Ibn al-Jawzī, Adab al-shaykh al-Ḥasan b. Abī l-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, ed. Sulaymān M. al-Ḥarash, Riyadh 1993
  10. ^ al-ʿAṭṭār, Tadhkirat al-awliyāʾ, ed. Reynold A. Nicholson (London 1905–7), 1:24–34
  11. ^ Frye, R.N., ed. (1975). The Cambridge history of Iran (Repr. ed.). London: Cambridge U.P. p. 449. ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6. The founder of the Basra school of Sufism, which is itself the source for all later Sufi schools, is the celebrated Hasan al-Basri, who was born in Medina in 21/642, the son of a Persian slave, and who died after a long and fruitful life in Basra in 110/728.
  12. ^ Donner, F.M. (1988). "BASRA". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 8. pp. 851–855. Some of these cultural figures were of Iranian descent, including the early paragon of piety Ḥasan al-Baṣrī; Sebawayh, one of the founders of the study of Arabic grammar; the famed poets Baššār b. Bord and Abū Nowās; the Muʿtazilite theologian ʿAmr b. ʿObayd; the early Arabic prose stylist Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ; and probably some of the authors of the noted encyclopedia of the Eḵwān al-Ṣafāʾ.
  13. ^ Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din), What is Sufism? (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 1975), p. 104
  14. ^ See, for example, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad 1:112: "The people of Syria were mentioned in front of `Ali ibn Abi Talib while he was in Iraq, and they said: "Curse them, O Commander of the Believers." He replied: "No, I heard the Messenger of Allah say: The Substitutes (al-abdal) are in Syria and they are forty men, every time one of them dies, Allah substitutes another in his place. By means of them Allah brings down the rain, gives (Muslims) victory over their enemies, and averts punishment from the people of Syria."
  15. ^ See, for example, al-Tabarani, al-Awsat: "We do not doubt that al-Hasan is one of them." (narrated by Qatāda)
  16. ^ a b Historical dictionary of Sufism By John Renard, p. 87
  17. ^ Qushayri, Risala, trans. A. Knysh (Reading, Garnet Publishers: 2007), p. 397
  18. ^ a b S. H. Nasr, The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008), p. 169
  19. ^ a b c Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975), p. 30
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din), What is Sufism? (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 1975), p. 104
  21. ^ a b Al-Suyuti, al-Hawi li al-Fatawa
  22. ^ Al-Suyuti, al-Hawi li al-Fatawa.
  23. ^ John Renard, Friend of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), p. 46
  24. ^ a b c John Renard, Friend of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), p. 47
  25. ^ a b c d John Renard, Friend of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), p. 26
  26. ^ a b Ibn al-Qayyim, Rawda al-Muhibbin wa Nuzha al-Mushtaqin, p. 225
  27. ^ a b John Renard, Friend of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), p. 47; see source in notes, with p. 286
  28. ^ Qushayri, Risala, trans. A. Knysh (Reading, Garnet Publishers: 2007), p. 157
Further reading

Primary

  • Ibn al-Murtaḍā, Ṭabaḳāt al-Muʿtazila, ed. Susanna Wilzer (Bibl. Isl. 21), 18 ff.
  • Ibn Ḳutayba, ʿUyūn al-ak̲h̲bār, Cairo 1925, index
  • Ibn K̲h̲allikān, no. 155
  • S̲h̲ahrastānī, al-Milal wa ’l-nihal, ed. Cureton, 32
  • Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, Ḳūt al-ḳulūb, Cairo 1310, Passim
  • Abū Nuʿaym, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, Cairo 1932-8, passim
  • Ḥud̲j̲wīrī, Kas̲h̲f al-maḥj̲ūb, tr. R. A. Nicholson, GMS xvii, 86 f.
  • Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār, Tad̲h̲kirat al-awliyāʾ, ed. Nicholson, i, 24 ff.
  • Ibn al-Jawzī, Ādāb Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Cairo 1931
  • Ak̲h̲bār Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, ms. Ẓāhiriyya, Damascus, cf. Fihris (Taʾrīk̲h̲), 306 (not seen)
  • Jāḥiẓ, al-Bayān wa ’l-tabyīn, Cairo 1949, index
  • Jamharat rasāʾil al-ʿArab, ed. Aḥmad Zakī Ṣafwat, Cairo 1937, i, 378-89.

Secondary

  • L. Massignon, Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane, Paris 1922, 152-75
  • H. H. Schaeder, "Ḥasan al-Baṣrī," in Isl., xiv (1925), 42 ff.
  • H. Ritter, "Studien zur Geschichte der islamischen Frŏmmigkeit, i, Hasan el-Basri," in Isl., xxi (1933), 1-83
  • J. Obermann, Political theory in early Islam, Publications of the American Oriental Society, Offprint series no. 6, 1935
  • J. Renard, Friends of God: Islamic images of piety, commitment, and servanthood, Berkeley 2008, index
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