Sebastian Günther

Among the modern studies on classical Islamic theology, two articles by George Makdisi deserve special mention: “Ash`ari and the Ash`arites in Islamic Religious History”2 and “The Juridical Theology of Shafi`i: Origins and Significance of Usûl al-Fiqh.”3 In the latter essay, Makdisi divides the development ofmedieval Islamic theology into three major stages.4 The FIRST STAGE was characterized by the formation of two distinct groups with contrasting views of Islamic theology: (a) the traditionalists who relied on “faith” and rejected “reason” in theological thought and (b) the rationalists who, in this regard, prioritized “reason” over “faith.” The SECOND STAGE was marked by the dramatic emergence of the theologian Abu al-Hasan al-Ash`ari of Basra (324/935), who was initially an active follower of the Mu`tazilites and their rationalistic interpretations but then (around the year 300/912-13) “converted” to orthodoxy.Al-Ash`ari not only rendered reason and the method of “rationalistic dialectic reasoning” (kalam) acceptable to traditional Muslim scholars (with the exception of the ultra-conservative Hanbalites, who vehemently opposed it), but also provided Islamic orthodoxy overall with a solid argumentative foundation, especially in theological discussions. The THIRD STAGE began around the middle of the fifth/eleventh century, when the Ash`arites, after a period of insignificance, suddenly reappeared and not only managed to noticeably increase their influence, but also to successfully steer a middle course between the Mu`tazilites and the Hanbalites. Whether the Ash`arites actually “triumphed” as the dominant school of theology in eleventh-century Baghdad, however, is another matter about which modern scholarship has not yet reached a final decision.

Makdisi provides several additional significant insights into the history of classical Islamic thought. First, he recalls that there was more than a century of difference between al-Ash`ari’s work on the one hand, and the activities of the later and then full-grownAsh`ari school of orthodox Islamic theology on the other (in which the strictly traditionalist elements dominated). Second,Ash`ari thought succeeded in establishing itself above all in, or more precisely, through the Shafi`i school of law.5 Last, yet importantly, the rich (though still insufficiently studied) anti-kalam literature produced by conservative Muslim scholars during that time was not only directed against the Mu`tazilites, but also in part against the Ash`arites.6

In the context of these dynamic intellectual and dogmatic developments in medieval Islam, Makdisi briefly mentions the Shafi`i scholar Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi (d. 388/998) and his treatise The Dispensability of Speculative Theology and Its Followers (Al-Ghunya `an al-Kalâm wa-Ahlihi), which is only partly extant.7 So far, modern scholarship has taken little notice of this, as we will argue, remarkable medieval scholar.8 The present study is, therefore, devoted to shedding some light on al-Khattabi’s life, work, and scholarly output. This will serve as a prelude to our main objective, which is to take a closer look at his assessment of the state of religious learning in Islam in the second half of the fourth/tenth century. Al-Khattabi’s analysis of the situation of contemporaryMuslim scholarship in general, and his critical appraisal of the traditionalist and rationalist groups of orthodox Sunni thinkers in particular, represent valuable firsthand evidence for the intellectual history of Islam at this time. In fact, this study will help us to better understand the complexity of the traditionalist stance held by this adherent of Sunni orthodoxy in the stern debates between Muslim scholars of his time over “tradition and reform” in Islamic thought and society.

For this task, we will concentrate on al-Khattabi’s introduction to his compendium Auspicious Examples from Prophetic Traditions (Ma`âlim al- Sunan), a four-part work in which he endeavors to comment on those accounts from Abu Dawud al-Sijistani’s (d. 275/888) famous Compendium of Prophetic Traditions (Kitâb al-Sunan) that, in his opinion, deserve clarification. 9 Remarkably enough, al-Khattabi was a pioneer in the field of hadith studies, for his Ma`âlim al-Sunan was the very first commentary on an authoritative Sunni collection of prophetic traditions. This point cannot be stressed enough.

In this context, we will pay special attention to one particularly interesting aspect of al-Khattabi’s ideas: his understanding of the relation between religion and reason in Sunni Islam. On the one hand, we will note that he very pointedly criticizes the Mu`tazilite concept of “rationalistic” or “speculative” theology (kalam). On the other, however, it will become clear that despite his orthodox position on this matter, he offers several rather measured views on nazar, which in al-Khattabi’s paradigm of thought (as indicated in the Ma`âlim), seems to mean the “careful examination,” “logical reasoning,” and “research” indispensable to those scholars who seek to arrive at well-reasoned opinions. He thus appears to advocate nazar as a legitimate approach, one that was needed especially by scholars of law, rather than to represent it as a method of “philosophical and theological speculation” (a Mu`tazilite practice that most conservative scholars considered an objectionable innovation), or as “spiritual perception” (as somemystics used the term).10

Al-Khattabi the Scholar

Who was al-Khattabi? Abu Sulayman Hamd ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Khattab al-Khattabi al-Busti was born in Rajab 319 (July 931) in Bust (now Lashkargah), a city in southern Afghanistan.11 The variant of his first name, Ahmad for Hamd, which is occasionally found in the biobibliographical sources, was apparently already used during his lifetime.12 The nisbah “al-Khattabi,” by which he came to be known, refers to his great-grandfather, al-Khattab. It is also said thatAbu Sulayman al-Khattabi was a descendant of Zayd ibn al-Khattab, a brother of the second Rightly Guided Caliph, `Umar ibn al-Khattab (d. 23/644).13

Various journeys, whether in search of knowledge and education (talab al-`ilm) or for the purpose of trade, by which he earned his living, enabled al-Khattabi to visit many places in the eastern part of the Islamic empire. Yet even as he grew older, al-Khattabi’s persistent “thirst for knowledge” inspired him to undertake numerous extended journeys. He traveled between Bust, Nishapur, the Hijaz, Basra, Baghdad (where he spent most of his time during the later stage of his life), and other cities and regions of the Islamic East. During the final years of his life, he settled in his hometown of Bust and joined a Sufi monastery located at the edge of the river Hilmend (known also as Hindmind) near Bust.14 He died there at the age of 67 in Rabi` al-Akhir 388 (April 998).15

MedievalMuslim biographers unanimously considerAbu Sulayman al-Khattabi to be a leading scholar in the fields of the Islamic Prophetic Tradition (hadith) and Shafi`i jurisprudence. They characterize him as one of the most knowledgeable and acclaimed authorities of his time (ahad aw`iyat al-`ilm fi zamanihi; imam min a’immat al-sunnah), a trustworthy and reliable transmitter (thiqa mutathabbit), and the author of numerous fine works (sahib al-tasanif al-hasanah).16 In addition, they note that he was a renowned man of letters, philologist, and lexicographer, as well as a master of Samanid poetry (the Samanids ruled between 819-999 in CentralAsia and Greater Khorasan.).

Al-Khattabi’s colleague and friend, Abu Mansur al-Tha`alibi of Nishapur (d. 429/1037), who is mentioned here as an example of the medieval biographers’ overwhelmingly positive remarks on al-Khattabi, draws specific attention to his expertise in belletristic literature (adab), asceticism (zuhd), piety (wara`), and transmission of knowledge and teaching (tadris), along with his writing activities (ta’lif).17 Due to these special academic qualifications and skills, al-Khattabi’s contemporaries compared him toAbu `Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam al-Harawi (d. 224/838), the wellknown Qur’an expert, philologist, and transmitter of traditions.18 The only difference between the two scholars was, as al-Tha`alibi notes, that in addition to his scientific achievements, al-Khattabi was also an accomplished poet.

Al-Khattabi’s remarkable scholarly reputation rests, above all, on his extensive work on the hadith literature, including, in particular, his commentaries on two of the most famous authoritative Sunni hadith collections:

1. Ma`âlim al-Sunan [fi Sharh “Sahîh” Abî Dâwûd] (Auspicious Examples from Prophetic Traditions: [Explaining Abu Dawud’s Compendium “The Sound Prophetic Traditions”])19 and

2. Kitâb A`lâm al-Sunan fi Sharh “Sahîh” al-Bukhârî (The Book of Outstanding Examples from the Prophetic Traditions: Explaining al-Bukhari’s Compendium “The Sound Prophetic Traditions”).20 In addition, al-Khattabi is also well known for his:

3. Kitâb Gharîb al-Hadîth (The Book of the Unfamiliar in the Prophetic
Tradition), which is, according to the Syrian biographer and geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 626/1229), an excellent and useful book.21 In it, al-Khattabi transmits those hadith reports that are not found in the earlier books on the same topic by Abu `Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam al-Harawi (d. 224/838) and Ibn Qutayba (d. 276/889).

With these three major works on hadith, al-Khattabi earned his place in Islam’s intellectual history as someone who broke new ground in hadith studies. Several factors support the accuracy of this assessment. First, not only is his Ma`âlim al-Sunan one of the most prominent medieval commentaries on an authoritative collection of prophetic traditions in general andAbu Dawud al-Sijistani’s (d. 275/889) collection in particular, but it is also the earliest such commentary on what was to become the canonical Sunni hadith literature.

Second, his commentary on al-Bukhari’s Sahîh, which he composed shortly after the Ma`âlim, is similarly precious for at least two reasons: (a) it is the earliest commentary on al-Bukhari’s Sahîh, a collection that came to be recognized as the most important of the five or six canonical Sunni handbooks of traditions, and (b) al-Khattabi’s work on al-Bukhari’s Sahîh is in many respects highly original, as it resulted in a book that should be characterized as a polemical treatise rather than a neutral commentary.22 In other words, al-Khattabi’s commentaries on two of the most important hadith collections are not only the earliest and among the richest in the vast and yet still understudied literature of hadith commentaries, but indeed inaugurated that very genre.23

Finally, his Gharîb al-Hadîth represents a significant contribution to another type of hadith study, namely, that which examined uncommon and often unique prophetic traditions (and/or such expressions in these accounts) selected from the hadith literature as a whole, instead of from just one individual hadith collection. On the one hand, then, al-Khattabi followed in the footsteps of such prominent scholars as Ibn Sallam al-Harawi and Ibn Qutayba, who are well known for their works in this subcategory of hadith studies, and, on the other, inspired later scholars with his own research in this field, including, most notably, his student Abu `Ubayd al-Harawi (d.401/1011; see appendix).

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