888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Al-Hasan al-Basri | |
|---|---|
 Name of Hasan al-Basri with honorifics | |
| Tābiʿūn; Theologian, Ascetic, Scholar; Imām of Basra, Lamp of Basra, Leader of the Ascetics | |
| Born | c. 21 AH/642 CE Medina, Rashidun Caliphate |
| Died | Friday, 5th Rajab 110 AH/15 October 728 (aged 86) Basra, Umayyad Caliphate |
| Venerated in | Sunni Islam, Mu'tazilism |
| Major shrine | Tomb of Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Az Zubayr, Iraq |
| Influences | Umar ibn Khattab and Ali ibn Abi Talib |
| Influenced | Abdul Wahid bin Zaid, Habib al-Ajami, and Harith al-Muhasibi, Amr ibn Ubayd, Abu Hanifa |
| Part of a series on Islam Sufism |
|---|
 |
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Following the assassination of Caliph Uthman in 656, the early Muslimm community became bitterly divided, which led to considerable political infighting and rivalry during the Caliphate of Ali. And after the latter was brutally murdered in 661, Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan not only became the ruler of the Islamic world, but also established the first political dynasty in Islamic history. Although this created considerable unease within the early Muslim community, Muawiyah proved to be a highly competent political operator who ruled the Islamic World with wisdom, understanding and great tactical ability and awareness. Indeed, his balanced and sensible approach to politics and diplomacy enabled him to win over many of his erstwhile adversaries, thus restoring Islamic unity and solidarity after nearly a decade of political infighting. Nevertheless, the formation of the Umayyad dynasty shattered the balance struck by the al-khulafa al-rashidun (the four "rightly-guided Caliphs") between the religious and political dimensions of Islam. After Muawiyah's death, the gulf between the Umayyad rulers and the masses continued to widen as the ruling elite indulged themselves in excessive pleasure-seeking and hedonism while the masses drifted away from the original pristine Islam as taught and practiced by the Prophet and his close companions. This prompted a number of prominent Islamic scholars to warn both the Umayyad rulers and the people of the dangers of excessive materialism and hedonism. One such influential Islamic scholar and sage was Hasan al-Basri whose profound knowledge and understanding of Islamic principles and practices, coupled with his bold and fearless articulation of Islamic morality, ethics and spirituality, earned him widespread acclaim throughout the Muslim world.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as Hasan of Basra or Hasan al-Basri, (b. 642 CC [21 AH] - d. October 15, 728 CC [5 Rajab 110 AH]) was an early Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, scholar, and judge.
Hasan was born nine years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. One year after the Battle of Siffin (657), he moved to Basra, a military camp town situated 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the Persian Gulf. From this base, military expeditions to the east disembarked, and, as a young man (670–673), Hasan participated in some of the expeditions that led to the conquest of eastern Iran.
After his return to Basra, Hasan became a central figure in the religious, social, and political upheavals brought about by internal conflicts with the Muslim community. The years 684–704 marked the period of his great preaching activity. From the few remaining fragments of his sermons, which are among the best examples of early Arabic prose, there emerges the portrait of a deeply sensitive, religious Muslim. For Hasan, the true Muslim must not only refrain from committing sin but must live in a state of lasting anxiety, brought about by the certainty of death and the uncertainty of one’s destiny in the hereafter. Hasan said that the world is treacherous, “for it is like to a snake, smooth to the touch, but its venom is deadly.” The practice of religious self-examination (muhasabah), which led to the activity of avoiding evil and doing good, coupled with a wariness of the world, marked Hasan’s piety and influenced later ascetic and mystical attitudes in Islam.
The enemy of Islam, for Ḥasan, was not the infidel but the hypocrite (munafiq), who took religion lightly and “is here with us in the rooms and streets and markets.” In the important freedom-determinism debate, he took the position that people are totally responsible for their actions, and he systematically argued this position in an important letter written to the Umayyad caliph 'Abd al-Malik. His letter, which is the earliest extant theological treatise in Islam, attacks the widely held view that God is the sole creator of people’s actions. The document bears political overtones and shows that in early Islam theological disputes emerged from the politico-religious controversies of the day. His political opinions, which were extensions of his religious views, often placed him in precarious situations. During the years 705–714, Hasan was forced into hiding because of the stance he took regarding the policies of the powerful governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj. After the governor’s death, Hasan came out of hiding and continued to live in Basra until he died. It is said that the people of Basra were so involved with the observance of his funeral that no afternoon prayer was said in the mosque because no one was there to pray.
Hasan al-Basri was known to his own generation as an eloquent preacher, a paragon of the truly pious Muslim, and an outspoken critic of the political rulers of the Umayyad dynasty (661–750). Among later generations of Muslims, he has been remembered for his piety and religious asceticism. Muslim mystics have counted him as one of their first and most notable spiritual masters. Both the Mu'tazilah (philosophical theologians) and the Ash'ariyyah (followers of the theologian al-Ashʿari), the two most important theological schools in early Sunni (traditionalist) Islam, consider Hasan one of their founders.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (born 642, Medina, Arabia [now in Saudi Arabia]—died 728, Basra, Iraq) was a deeply pious and ascetic Muslim who was one of the most important religious figures in early Islam.
Ḥasan was born nine years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. One year after the Battle of Ṣiffīn (657), he moved to Basra, a military camp town situated 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the Persian Gulf. From this base, military expeditions to the east disembarked, and, as a young man (670–673), Ḥasan participated in some of the expeditions that led to the conquest of eastern Iran.
After his return to Basra, Ḥasan became a central figure in the religious, social, and political upheavals brought about by internal conflicts with the Muslim community. The years 684–704 marked the period of his great preaching activity. From the few remaining fragments of his sermons, which are among the best examples of early Arabic prose, there emerges the portrait of a deeply sensitive, religious Muslim. For Ḥasan, the true Muslim must not only refrain from committing sin but must live in a state of lasting anxiety, brought about by the certainty of death and the uncertainty of one’s destiny in the hereafter. Ḥasan said that the world is treacherous, “for it is like to a snake, smooth to the touch, but its venom is deadly.” The practice of religious self-examination (muḥāsabah), which led to the activity of avoiding evil and doing good, coupled with a wariness of the world, marked Ḥasan’s piety and influenced later ascetic and mystical attitudes in Islam.
The enemy of Islam, for Ḥasan, was not the infidel but the hypocrite (munāfiq), who took religion lightly and “is here with us in the rooms and streets and markets.” In the important freedom-determinism debate, he took the position that people are totally responsible for their actions, and he systematically argued this position in an important letter written to the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik. His letter, which is the earliest extant theological treatise in Islam, attacks the widely held view that God is the sole creator of people’s actions. The document bears political overtones and shows that in early Islam theological disputes emerged from the politico-religious controversies of the day. His political opinions, which were extensions of his religious views, often placed him in precarious situations. During the years 705–714, Ḥasan was forced into hiding because of the stance he took regarding the policies of the powerful governor of Iraq, al-Ḥajjāj. After the governor’s death, Ḥasan came out of hiding and continued to live in Basra until he died. It is said that the people of Basra were so involved with the observance of his funeral that no afternoon prayer was said in the mosque because no one was there to pray.
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī was known to his own generation as an eloquent preacher, a paragon of the truly pious Muslim, and an outspoken critic of the political rulers of the Umayyad dynasty (661–750). Among later generations of Muslims, he has been remembered for his piety and religious asceticism. Muslim mystics have counted him as one of their first and most notable spiritual masters. Both the Muʿtazilah (philosophical theologians) and the Ashʿariyyah (followers of the theologian al-Ashʿarī), the two most important theological schools in early Sunni (traditionalist) Islam, consider Ḥasan one of their founders.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as Hasan of Basra or Hasan al-Basri,[a] (b. 642 CC [21 AH] - d. October 15, 728 CC [5 Rajab 110 AH]) was an early Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, exegete, scholar, and judge.[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] He became 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 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.[2][4] Hasan became an important figure to the later founders 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]
Scholars have said that 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),[5] Abu Nu`aym (d. 1038),[6] Ali Hujwiri (d. 1077),[7] Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1201),[8] and Attar of Nishapur (d. 1221).[9][3] In his famed Ḳūt al-ḳulūb, the most important work of Basran 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".[b][3]
Life
[edit]Hasan was born in Medina in 642 CE.[3] His mother, Khayra, is said to have been a maidservant of one of Muhammad's wives, Umm Salama (d. 683), while his father, Peroz, was a Persian slave who originally hailed from southern Iraq.[10][11] 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 the fourth caliph in Islam, Imam Ali (d. 661), during this period, who is said to have taught Hasan while the latter was still "an adolescent."[12] As there is evidence that the metaphysical idea of the abdal – forty major saints whose number, according to traditional 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,[13] there are traditions which relate that some of Hasan's contemporaries did indeed identify him as one of the abdal of that period.[14]
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 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] Farqad as-Sabakhi (d. 729), was an Armenian Christian convert to Islam.[15] 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] 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.'"[16]
Views
[edit]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."[17]
Hagiographic traditions
[edit]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."[18] 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."[19]
Characteristics
[edit]According to various historical sources, it is said that Hasan was admired by his contemporaries for his handsome appearance.[20] With some asserting he had blue eyes.[21][22] 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."[20] 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."[19] 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."[19] Hasan immediately called out to the man below, telling him "it was not, for these were sinner's tears."[23] As such, "he advised the passerby to wash himself forthwith."[23] 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."[24] 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."[25]
See also
[edit]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]^ 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b S. H. Nasr, The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008), pp. 168-169
- ^ Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, Ḳūt al-ḳulūb, Cairo 1310, passim
- ^ Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ wa-ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyāʾ (Beirut 1967–8), 2:131–61
- ^ Ḥud̲j̲wīrī, Kas̲h̲f al-maḥd̲j̲ūb, tr. R. A. Nicholson, GMS xvii, 86 f.
- ^ Ibn al-Jawzī, Adab al-shaykh al-Ḥasan b. Abī l-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, ed. Sulaymān M. al-Ḥarash, Riyadh 1993
- ^ al-ʿAṭṭār, Tadhkirat al-awliyāʾ, ed. Reynold A. Nicholson (London 1905–7), 1:24–34
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din), What is Sufism? (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 1975), p. 104
- ^ 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."
- ^ See, for example, al-Tabarani, al-Awsat: "We do not doubt that al-Hasan is one of them." (narrated by Qatāda)
- ^ Historical dictionary of Sufism By John Renard, p. 87
- ^ Qushayri, Risala, trans. A. Knysh (Reading, Garnet Publishers: 2007), p. 397
- ^ S. H. Nasr, The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008), p. 169
- ^ John Renard, Friend of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), p. 46
- ^ a b c John Renard, Friend of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), p. 47
- ^ a b Ibn al-Qayyim, Rawda al-Muhibbin wa Nuzha al-Mushtaqin, p. 225
- ^ Ibn al-Ǧawzī, Talqīḥ fuhūm, pp. 446
- ^ Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, al-Maʿārif, p. 585
- ^ 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
- ^ Qushayri, Risala, trans. A. Knysh (Reading, Garnet Publishers: 2007), p. 157
- ^ Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975), p. 30
Further reading
[edit]Primary
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
As a gifted exponent of traditional Islam, Hasan al-Basri endeavored to rejuvenate Islamic moral, ethical, and spiritual principles and practices without completely renouncing the material world. He sought to bridge the gap which had appeared within the Muslim mind between matter and spirit, the body and the soul, and this life and the hereafter. Almost single-handedly, Hasan al-Basri managed to restore the equilibrium which was so characteristic of traditional Islamic thought, worldview and practices. He remained apolitical all his life and refused to side with either the supporters, or opponents, of the Umayyads, but he was never afraid to criticize those who attempted to dilute or undermine Islamic principles and practices. If he thought a ruler, political group or even a scholar had deviated from the pristine and unadulterated teachings of Islam, he first admonished them, failing which he rebuked them for their un-Islamic behavior. Thanks to his profound learning and piety, Hasan al-Basri was reportedly appointed qadi of Basrah during the reign of Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. Hasan was in his late seventies at the time.
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as Hasan of Basra or Hasan al-Basri, (b. 642 CC [21 AH] - d. October 15, 728 CC [5 Rajab 110 AH]) was an early Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, scholar, and judge.
Hasan was born nine years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. One year after the Battle of Siffin (657), he moved to Basra, a military camp town situated 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the Persian Gulf. From this base, military expeditions to the east disembarked, and, as a young man (670–673), Hasan participated in some of the expeditions that led to the conquest of eastern Iran.
After his return to Basra, Hasan became a central figure in the religious, social, and political upheavals brought about by internal conflicts with the Muslim community. The years 684–704 marked the period of his great preaching activity. From the few remaining fragments of his sermons, which are among the best examples of early Arabic prose, there emerges the portrait of a deeply sensitive, religious Muslim. For Hasan, the true Muslim must not only refrain from committing sin but must live in a state of lasting anxiety, brought about by the certainty of death and the uncertainty of one’s destiny in the hereafter. Hasan said that the world is treacherous, “for it is like to a snake, smooth to the touch, but its venom is deadly.” The practice of religious self-examination (muhasabah), which led to the activity of avoiding evil and doing good, coupled with a wariness of the world, marked Hasan’s piety and influenced later ascetic and mystical attitudes in Islam.
The enemy of Islam, for Ḥasan, was not the infidel but the hypocrite (munafiq), who took religion lightly and “is here with us in the rooms and streets and markets.” In the important freedom-determinism debate, he took the position that people are totally responsible for their actions, and he systematically argued this position in an important letter written to the Umayyad caliph 'Abd al-Malik. His letter, which is the earliest extant theological treatise in Islam, attacks the widely held view that God is the sole creator of people’s actions. The document bears political overtones and shows that in early Islam theological disputes emerged from the politico-religious controversies of the day. His political opinions, which were extensions of his religious views, often placed him in precarious situations. During the years 705–714, Hasan was forced into hiding because of the stance he took regarding the policies of the powerful governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj. After the governor’s death, Hasan came out of hiding and continued to live in Basra until he died. It is said that the people of Basra were so involved with the observance of his funeral that no afternoon prayer was said in the mosque because no one was there to pray.
Hasan al-Basri was known to his own generation as an eloquent preacher, a paragon of the truly pious Muslim, and an outspoken critic of the political rulers of the Umayyad dynasty (661–750). Among later generations of Muslims, he has been remembered for his piety and religious asceticism. Muslim mystics have counted him as one of their first and most notable spiritual masters. Both the Mu'tazilah (philosophical theologians) and the Ash'ariyyah (followers of the theologian al-Ashʿari), the two most important theological schools in early Sunni (traditionalist) Islam, consider Hasan one of their founders.
No comments:
Post a Comment