Abū Isḥāḳ Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nīsābūrī al-Thaʿlabī ; died November 1035), who was simply known as Al-Tha'labi (), was an eleventh-century
Sunni Muslim
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
scholar
A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...
of
Persian origin. Al-Tha'labi was considered a leading
Quranic exegete of the fifth/eleventh century who famously authored the classical exegesis ''
Tafsir al-Tha'labi'', and his ''Ara'is al-Majalis'' is perhaps the best and most frequently consulted example of the Islamic
qisas al-anbiya genre.
He was an expert Quranic reciter and reader (''
muqriʾ''),
traditionist,
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
,
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
,
preacher
A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...
,
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
,
litterateur, and
theologian
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
.
Name
The word al-Tha'labi, most biographers stress, was a nickname laqab), and not a tribal name (nasab). This means that al-Tha'labi was of
Persian descent and not a member of the Arab tribal groups that carries the name.
Life
According to
Tilman Nagel, al-Tha'labi was born in the city of
Nishapur
Nishapur or Neyshabur (, also ) is a city in the Central District (Nishapur County), Central District of Nishapur County, Razavi Khorasan province, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.
Ni ...
during the fifties of the fourth century (350).
Although there is little information available about al-Tha'labi's studies, he lived in Nishapur, a thriving city with a large number of educational institutions, and his knowledge of geography probably helped him. Al-Farsi claims that al-Tha'labi had numerous masters and was a guy with a vast grasp of Hadith. Al-Tha'labi's own admission that he had relevant material from over three hundred teachers supports this claim.
Al-Farsi claims that ten of al-Tha'labi's teachers—three of whom are the most well-known—were crucial to his academic success. The foremost expert of his era on Quranic variant readings was Ibn Mihran (d. 381/991). He would teach Al-Tha'labi the knowledge of
qira'at
In Islam, (pl. ; ) refers to the ways or fashions that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, is recited. More technically, the term designates the different linguistic, lexical, phonetic, morphological and syntactical forms permitted with rec ...
. Abu Zakariya al-Harbi (d. 394/1003) was an adab scholar who was knowledgeable about
Persian and Arabic mythology. He specialised in tales of the world's wonders and miracles. Ibn Habib (406/1015), a prominent scholar in
Quranic interpretation and Quranic sciences of his day in Nishapur, was without a doubt the most significant of al-Tha'labi professors in the science of exegesis and the one who had the biggest impact on him. The biographers specifically emphasised al-Tha'labi's apprenticeship with Ibn Habib, attesting to the fact that he was Ibn Habib's most exceptional pupil.
Al-Tha'labi transmitted
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
in a reliable and sound manner. He cited Abu Bakr b. Muhran al-Muqri, Abu b. Hani, Abu Bakr al-Tarazi, and Abu Tahir
uhammad b. al-Fadlb. Khuzaymah. He also cited the works of academics from their generation, including
bu Muhammadal-Makhladi al-Khaffal, Abu Muhammad b. al-Rumi, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Nasri, Abu Zakariya al-Harbi, and Abu al-Hassan al-Hamadani al-Wasi. He had numerous masters and transmitted a significant amount of hadith.
Al-Tha'labi was a popular
preacher
A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...
who led and educated the masses in Nishapur. He was a famed scholar and students from far away region would risk their a journey in attending his lectures. All of
al-Wahidi's biographers emphasise that he was al-Tha'labi's most exceptional pupil and that he learnt exegesis from him. The terminology used in al-Wahidi's autobiography makes clear how closely the two are related. Al-Wahidi was a distinguished academic in his own right with expertise in Quranic sciences, literary criticism, and interpretation. Three great commentaries on the Quran were left by him. As the person who transmitted his teacher's corpus, Al-Wahidi is significant.
Regarding al-Tha'labi's death date, there is nearly unanimous agreement. According to all biographers, he passed either in either November or December of 1035 C.E. or in the month of Muharram in 427 A.H. in Nishapur.
Theological position
Al-Tha'labi, an
Ash'ari
Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...
Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
adherent, was the first exegete to use
kalam
''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...
in a polemic against opposing sects.
He was a resolute opponent of the
Mu'tazili
Mu'tazilism (, singular ) is an Islamic theological school that appeared in early Islamic history and flourished in Basra and Baghdad. Its adherents, the Mu'tazilites, were known for their neutrality in the dispute between Ali and his opponents ...
. When al-Tha'labi introduces his commentary on the Quran, he strongly chastises the followers of the Mu'tazili, referring to them as "''a sect whose members are the people of
religious innovations and of
heresies''." Then he says he was told to avoid them and their company. Lastly, he says that when it comes to religious understanding, one shouldn't consider them to be experts. The stance taken by al-Tha'labi towards the Mu'tazili is one of avoidance and censure.
Sufism
Al-Tha'labi was a
Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
and a follower of the mystic path charted by the great master
Junayd al-Baghdadi. In his works, al-Tha'labi quotes him and calls him "our master". Al-Tha'labi had strong mystic ties in Nishapur and was a companion of the mystic master
al-Qushayri
'Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawazin Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī al-Naysābūrī (, ; 986 – 30 December 1072) was an Arab Muslim scholar, theologian, jurist, legal theoretician, commentator of the Qur’an, muhaddith, grammarian, spiritual master, ...
.
Legacy
One of the most influential figures in the field of
tafsir
Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...
in
Islamic history
The history of Islam is believed, by most historians, to have originated with Muhammad's mission in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE, although Muslims regard this time as a return to the original faith passed down by the Abra ...
was Al-Tha'labi.
Walid Saleh claims that al-Tha'labi "radically transformed and reshaped medieval Quranic commentary" and held greater influence than
al-Tabari
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...
in "redirecting the course of the genre."
Reception
His student
al-Wahidi said:
Abū Isḥāq Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Thaʿlabī, may God have mercy on him. He was the best of scholars, nay their vast sea f learning the star of the eminent scholars, nay their full moon' their adornment of the scholars, nay the pride. He was unique in the community, indeed the leader. He authored the Qur'an commentary entitled ''al-Kashf wa-al-bayan 'an tafsir al-Qur'an'', a commentary carried by mounts across the land and by ships over the seas.
The whole of the community, with its different sects, has unanimously acknowledged his eminence and recognized the brilliance of his works, which are incomparable. Those who have had the chance of meeting and studying with him recognize that he was matchless. As for those who have never seen him, it is enough for them to look into his works for them to infer that he was a vast sea and a deep abyss of learning. I have studied some 500 fascicles (juz) of his works with him, including his large Qur'an commentary, as well as his books entitled ''al-kamil fi 'ilm al-Qur'an and others''.'
In ''
Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra'' of Volume 3 page 23 the appraisal of Thalabi is as follows:
Works
According to al-Farisi that Al-Tha'labi wrote many works that were famous but only two surviving and three others surviving by title.
# ''Al-Kashf wa-al-bayan 'an afsir al-Qur'an'' ("The unveiling and Elucidation in Quranic interpretation"), better known as
Tafsir al-Tha'labi is his
Magnum Opus
A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship.
Historically, ...
and one of the most renown commentaries of the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
.
# ''ʿArāʾis al-madjālis fī ḳiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ'' ("brides of the sessions in tales of the prophets"), a book on the stories of the prophets. The latter has been characterised as 'a work of popular imagination designed for education and entertainment. Organised according to the historical sequence of the prophets, many of the accounts are elaborations from the same sources used by ''
al-Ṭabarī'' ... It has become the standard source of Islamic prophet stories, alongside the work of
al-Kisāʾī'.
[A. Rippin, "al-T̲h̲aʿlabī", in ''Encyclopædia of Islam,'' ed. by P. J. Bearman and others, 2nd edn, 12 vols (Leiden: Brill, 1960–2005), , .]
# ''Al-Kamil fi 'ilm al-Quran'' ("The Complete in Quranic sciences"). This is a lost work mentioned by al-Qahidi, it's a work that deals in the field of Quranic sciences.
# ''Rabi' al-Mudhakhirin'' ("The Spring of the Admonishers"), a famous lost work that was available in the medieval times.
# ''Kitab yudkhar fih qala al-Qur'an'' ("A Book Which mentions the People Killed by the Qur'an")
Editions and translations
* al-Thaʻlabī, ''Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā (Cairo, 1954)
* Abū Isḥāq Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Thaʻlabī, ''Lives of the Prophets'', trans. by W. M. Brinner, Studies in Arabic Literature, 23 (Leiden: Brill, 2002), ,
See also
*
List of Ash'aris
*
List of Muslim theologians
*
List of Islamic scholars
Modern-era (20th to 21st century) Islamic scholars include the following, referring to religious authorities whose publications or statements are accepted as pronouncements on religion by their respective communities and adherents.
Geographical ...
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Al-Thalabi
Shafi'is
Asharis
1030s deaths
Year of birth unknown
Quranic exegesis scholars
People from Nishapur
Iranian scholars
Hadith scholars
Philologists of Arabic
Writers of the medieval Islamic world
Medieval grammarians of Arabic
Historians of the medieval Islamic world
11th-century jurists
11th-century Iranian writers