Literary CornerThe nine Imams of jurisprudence (3/4) [Archives:2005/838/Culture]

By: Abu Alkalmah Al-Tayyibah
What is interesting to notice is that many of these Imams lived in and around the same period of time and many of them got to meet and exchange ideas. This is notwithstanding the fact that their followers may have developed disagreements amongst them, which their “founders” did not really harbor against each other.

Malik Ibn Anas

The Fourth Imam, is slightly different from the previous Imams discussed in that he did not concern himself very much with the politics of his time, but focused on getting people to understand their religion, without falling into misconceptions or the effects of emotional affinity. He was the youngest son of a fairly successful merchant in Medina (The City of the Prophet) and almost never left the city, except for a trip Mecca for the pilgrimage. He believed that Medina was the community that reflected the best of the religious life as the Prophet Mohammed lived in the city and there gave his prescription for the way the Moslem community should live and interact together, with the highest degree of moral consciousness. It was also the capital of the Moslem State under the Orthodox Caliphs and thus was far from the worldly Levant, Persia and Egypt and the new territories, East and West of that that had so much to offer in worldly splendor and had their inherited dogmas and philosophies. The people and the scholars of Medina tried to keep their minds out of possible corruptions that could distort the religion of the Quran. After thirty years of study under various leading scholars in the Prophet's Mosque, Malik set up his own colloquium to teach after all the leading scholars in the Mosque had accredited him. He lived in splendor from his salary, which then the Moslem State was granted to scholars and teachers, primarily by the advice of Malik Ibn Anas. He was also the recipient of gifts from many of his prominent colleagues. He had no scorn for enjoying the amenities and luxuries of life as long as they were out of honest earnings. He also learned a lot from Ja'afar Al-Sadiq (see last Monday's Literary Corner) and respected his asterism and devotion to worship. He also was influenced by the rationalization that was used by Ja'afar to come out with rulings on matters that were not dealt with in the Quran or the Traditions. Some of his colleagues and students protested Malik's quiet about the deviations of the rulers. He was not actually quiet, but always gave them advise in a manner that would not raise their anger and almost always confidentially. He figured it was better to try to straighten out misconceptions by rulers and their advisors in a way that would not raise their anger or in front of people who may corrupt his intentions. His book “Al-Mawta” was an important legal and jurisdictional reference. He viewed the public interest to have precedence over personal interest, even if the latter had a textual reference to support it and the former did not.

Imam Allaith Ibn Sa'ad

Allaith was born in 93 AH (around 715 AD). He was the son of a wealthy man. He was also a non-Arab and a descendent of an original Egyptian family. Yet, he was able to overcome some of the discrimination and learn from the justice of the pious Caliph Omar Ibn Abdul-Aziz that Islam indeed can be practiced as a social redeemer to mankind. It is said that during the rule of Omar that there were no people that the alms could be distributed to, because there was no corruption in government and no one was allowed to hoard or rob any public revenues or funds. He taught that those who exaggerated in the literal translation of legal texts (Quran or traditions) are mistaken because they do not understand the full implications of those text. He also was against those who said that opinions may be derived that do not necessarily agree to text. He said that reasoning should be based on legal text, but the implications of the text simply have to be understood in all their context. This would require a strong background in the Arabic language and how the Arabic word can be made to stand for different meanings. Thus there was no need to deviate from the texts. When his father passed away, he had to return to his Egyptian village to manage his father's large estate. Because of some of the discriminatory attitude of some of the officials who looked down upon “converts” and non-Arabs, the Governor of the province for some reason destroyed the house of Allaith. Allaith would build it again quietly and then the Governor would destroy it. He then was guided by a dream to utter the Quranic verse: “We want to grant favor to those who were oppressed in the world, and make them the leaders and make them the inheritors (i.e., the meek shall inherit the Earth). The Governor was flabbergasted and ceased his oppression of Allaith, and died just a few days later. This story spread far and wide and made Allaith popular and revered. Allaith sought to learn all the scholasticism that he could in his days. He would go to the place whenever he heard of a famous scholar there and absorb his knowledge. He also spread his own teachings in this manner. He was very generous. A poor women came to seek a pound of honey as medicine for her ailing son. He ordered his scribe to give her 100 pounds. The latter said she only wants a pound. He said she asked according to her means, while we give her according to our means! A Governor of Egypt went to destroy the Churches of the Copts. Allaith wrote to the Caliph in Baghdad demanding the dismissal of the Governor for his violation of religious dictates on treatment of non-Moslems. The Caliph dismissed the Governor. Allaith then demanded that the new Governor rebuild all the churches destroyed and to build new churches anytime the Copts asked for them. The Prophet decreed: Be kind to the Copts! was his reasoning. It is no surprise that many of the Coptic churches in Egypt were actually built by Moslem rulers. He lived to the age of eighty two and thousands came to his funeral.
——
[archive-e:838-v:13-y:2005-d:2005-05-02-p:culture]