Abū Ḥayyān Athīr ad-Dīn al-Gharnāṭī (, November 1256 – July 1344 CE / 654 - 745 AH), whose full name is Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf bin ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Hayyān (), better known as Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnati (, was an Andalusian Sunni Islam scholar. He was the leading commentator on the Quran and foremost Arabic grammarian of his era.S. Glazer, Abu Ḥayyān At̲h̲īr al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-G̲h̲arnāṭī. Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online, 2012. Reference. 29 December 2012.Alexander D. Knysh, Ibn Arabi in the Later Islamic Tradition. Pg. 168. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1999. He was also regarded as the best scholar on Quranic recitation of his time. In addition, he was recognized for his scholarship in Islamic jurisprudence, hadith, and history.
His magnum opus, Al-Bahr al-Muhit (Explanation of the Ocean) is the most important reference on Qur'anic expressions and the issues of grammar, vocabulary, etymology, recitation, and the transcriber-copyists of the Qur'an. Quite exceptionally for a linguist of Arabic of his day was his strong interest in non-Arabic languages. He wrote several works of comparative linguistics for Arabic speakers, and gives extensive comparative grammatical analysis and explanation.Kees Versteegh, The Arabic Linguistic Tradition, pgs. 10 and 164. Part of Landmarks in Linguistic Thought series, vol. 3. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Early life Birth He was born in Spain in November 1256Versteegh, Arabic, pg. 168. to a family of Berber origins,The Berbers and the Islamic state: the Marīnid experience in pre-protectorate Morocco, pg. 9. Markus Wiener Publishers, 2000. Robert Irwin, Night and horses and the desert: an anthology of classical Arabian literature, pg. 352. Westminster: Penguin Books, 1999. from the Berber tribe of Nifza. Historians variously cite Gharnati's place of birth as both Jaén and Granada; his appellation "Gharnati" derives from this latter."The History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain," taken from Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari's Nafhut Tibb min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib wa Tarikh Lisan ad-Din Ibn al-Khatib. Translated by Pascual de Gayangos y Arce from copies in the British Museum. Pg. 424. London: The Orientalist Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. Sold by W. H. Allen Ltd and M. Duprat. At the time Jaén was a dependency of Granada, and the appellation conflict may only be apparent.
Education At a young age, Abu Hayyan left Spain and travelled extensively for the sake of his studies. Within Spain, he traveled to Málaga, Almería before moving on through Ceuta, Tunis, Alexandria, Cairo, Damietta, Minya, Kush and ‘Aydhab in Africa. Eventually, he reached Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage and visited Medina before returning to Alexandria. It is said he memorized the corpus of Sibawayh's al-Kitab ('The Book') - several volumes of the foundational Arabic grammar that, for some, held revered authority on the Arabic language approaching that of the Hadith in Islamic law.Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. I, A-B, pg. 126. Eds. Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, J.H. Kramers, Évariste Lévi-Provençal and Joseph Schacht. Assisted by Bernard Lewis and Charles Pellat. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1979. Print edition.
Teachers Abu Hayyan was a man who loved learning so much that he devoted all of his time and effort to learning. It follows that his achievement of attaining the pinnacle of knowledge mastery during his era should come as no surprise. He has acquired Ijazah and learnt from numerous teachers. He stated that he had received instruction from 450 teachers, yet there were a great number of teachers who granted him ijazah. Al-Safadi, one of Abu Hayyan's students, added that he had 400 teachers, whereas 1500 teachers have granted him ijazah. They were from Andalusia, Maghreb, Egypt, Levant, Hejaz, and Iraq. His teachers provide as evidence of his indisputable expertise in a variety of subjects. In actuality, this gives him the right to be recognised as a multidisciplinary figure in his era. Imam Abu Hayyan is credited by historians with writing a book that includes biographies of his masters. Al-Nudar was the name of the book, but the manuscripts are unavailable.
Abu Hayyan left Andalusia and briefly visited Morocco before spending time in other regions of North Africa, including Ceuta and Bougie. The author has spent some time during this time in hadith circles. After that, he spent some time in Tunisia's hadith scientific circles and received instruction in fiqh from the region's recognised authorities. Among his hadith-related experts were the following: Abu Yakub Yousuf ibn Ibrahim, Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Harun, and Abu Abdullah al-Kanani (69A9H/1300AD). He studied under Abu al-Abbas al-Ishbili (699AH/1300AD) in the field of fiqh. After that, he travelled and landed in Mamluk-ruled Egypt. He spent some time studying the hadith and the Qur'an in Alexandria before moving on to Cairo, where he spent the remainder of his days in 679H/ 1279AD23.
Following his residence in Egypt, he studied syntax (nahv) under Baha' al-Din Ibn al-Nahhas (d. 698AH/1299AD), one of Egypt's most illustrious grammar specialists in Arabic philology and an important figure in literature. In terms of sources, in addition to al-Nahhas, his initial qira'at experts were 'Ali ibn Yahya al-Hamadani al-Marbuti (680/1281) and Abu Tahir al-Maliji (681AH/1282AD). He studied prophetic traditions under leading hadith experts such as Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (702AH/1302AD) and al-Dimyati (705AH/1305AD). Furthermore, the author utilised Shams al-Din al-Isfahani in the area of Islamic legal theory (Usul al-Fiqh).
Scholarly life Career After travelling through Hijaz, it is recorded that Abu Hayyan resided in Egypt. Following the passing of his long-time mentor, Ibn Nahhas, he began teaching in his rightful role as a scholar. Later, while working for the Mamluks, he taught morphology (sarf), syntax (nahv), qiraat, hadith, and tafsir in a few large madrasahs. He also held teaching positions in famous scientific institutions in Egypt, including Madrasah al-Mansuriyya and al-Jami 'al-Aqmar. It is noteworthy that he had a cordial relationship with the sultans and other ruling class members of his era.
In Mamluk Egypt, Abu Hayyan was appointed lecturer of the science of Qur'anic exegesis at the college named after the sultan of Egypt, Al-Mansur Qalawun, in Alexandria.Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari, trs. Pascual de Gayangos y Arce, pg. 423. Later, he spent a period teaching tafsir in the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo.
Abu Hayyan won favor at the court of an-Nasir Muhammad; the scholar Fatḥ al-Din Ibn Sayyid al-Nās and he, often judged the poetry contests held during al-Nasir's reign.Devin J. Stewart, "Ibn Hijjah al-Hamawi." Taken from Essays in Arabic Literary Biography: 1350-1850, pg. 143. Eds. Malcolm Lowry and Devin J. Stewart. Volume 2 of Essays in Arabic Literary Biography. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2009.
Students Imam Abu Hayyan taught a wide range of subjects, including Arabic language, hadith (prophetic tradition), fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), qira'at (Quranic recitation) and tafsir (Quranic interpretation). Many students travelled from all over the world to study under him. This phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that he taught at Cairo's largest mosque and lived long enough to impart knowledge to benefit his society. The Shafi'i historian al-Safadi mentioned the qualities of Abu Hayyan on the following; “The most hard-working of my scholars were Abu Hayyan. He was always engaged in science, and he set aside all of his time for students or wrote articles.” Among his major students who became leading scholars of their period include:
Taqi al-Din al-Subki Jamal al-Din al-Isnawi Ibn Aqil Al-Safadi Ibn Hisham al-Ansari Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini Taj al-Din al-Subki
Death Abu Hayyan died on a Saturday in July in the year 1344 at his home in Cairo, just after the last evening prayer.Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari, trns. by Pascual de Gayangos y Arce. Pg. 425. He was buried the next day in the cemetery of Bab al-Nasr in Islamic Cairo. When news of his death reached Damascus, the population mourned his death.
His family and moral structure Abu Hayyan was reportedly married and has two kids. Zumrud binti Abrak (d. 722H/1322AD) was his wife, and she went by "Ummu Hayyan". The sources state that she taught hadith because she was a learned woman. Abu Hayyan's offspring were a girl named Nudar (d. 730H/1330AD) and a son named Hayyan (d. 763H/1363AD). In addition to having a permission certificate from his father and other instructors, Hayyan was a knowledgeable student of hadith. It is mentioned in the pertinent sources that Abu Hayyan cherished his daughter dearly. Nudar also studied the Arabic language, hadith, and qira'at; she was granted permission in these areas. Al-Dimyati, al-Barzali, and al-Zubayr are a few of Nudar's well-known instructors. In addition, Abu Hayyan requested permission from Sayf al-Din Arghun al-Nasir, the Mamluk Sultan, to bury his late daughter Nudar in his mansion's garden. Nudar died at a young age. Such permissions were not typical, and it seems the request was granted due to his high standing with the royal court. Abu Hayyan was deeply affected by his daughter's death and he composed an elegy in praise of her standing among intellectual circles.
Not only was Abu Hayyan regarded by his followers as a pious scholar, but he was also well-liked and polite in public. In addition, he was someone who gets excited when the Quran is recited. Kamal al-Din claims that although love and heroic poetry moved Abu Hayyan, poetry about charity had no such effect on him. Rather than bragging about his charity, the author complimented himself on his thrift. Al-Safadi, one of his students, explained this attitude by pointing to Abu Hayyan's discomfort on his scientific expedition and the fact that he had visited numerous places.
Characteristics
Abu Hayyan was said to be generally handsome, tall and long haired, which, along with his beard, turned grey in old age.
Theological and juridical position Creed Instead of adopting the schools of the Mu'tazilah and Mujassimah (Anthropomorphists), Abu Hayyan followed the Sunni creed of Islam which is known as Ahl al-Sunnah Wal-jama'ah. The middle path referring to the Ash'arite school that Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari established. Muhammad bin {Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrawi noted that the Imam adhered to the Ash'ari school of thought when reading Quranic passages about the Names and Attributes of Allah in Al-Bahr al-Muhit. He disagreed with the Mu'tazili school of thought, particularly with al-Zamakhshari's viewpoints. For example while dealing with verse 55 of al-Baqarah; And [remember] when you declared, "O Moses, indeed we shall not believe thee until we see God face to face!"
In reference to this verse, Abu Hayyan stated that there are still disagreements among Muslim scholars on the possibility of seeing Allah even in the Hereafter, whereas al-Zamakhshari claimed that this outright was impossible. The majority of Muslim scholars hold that we can see Allah with our naked eyes in the hereafter. This is contrast to the Qadariyah, Mu'tazila, Najjariyah, Jahmiyya, and their likes. Imam Abu Hayyan drew attention to this and defended the consensus since it is supported by so many prophetic traditions. Additionally, Abu Hayyan highlighted that al-Zamakhshari's fanaticism of his school of thought caused him to utilise religious passages out of context.
It is evident from his writings that Abu Hayyan could not stand the idea of philosophy; upon his arrival in Egypt, he saw that many Egyptians accepted philosophy without any reservations. He was quite startled and Abu Hayyan said "even we the Andalusians hate philosophy!"