Al-Tabari: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|IranianMuslim scholar, historian, and commentator on theQuranic Qur'anexegete (839–923)}}

| title = [[Imam]]

| death_place region= [[Baghdad]], Abbasid Caliphate {{small|(present-day [[Iraq]])}}

'''MuhammadAbū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn JarirJarīr ibn YazidYazīd al-Ṭabarī''' ({{lang-ar|محمدأَبُو بنجَعْفَر جريرمُحَمَّد بنبْن يزيد|translit=Muḥammadجَرِير ibnبْن Jarīrيَزِيد ibn Yazīdٱلطَّبَرِيّ}}; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known byas his'''al-Ṭabarī''' ({{Transliteration|lang-ar|ٱلطَّبَرِيّ}}), was a [[NisbaSunni (onomastics)Islam|nisbaSunni Muslim]] [[ulama|scholar]], [[polymath]], [[Traditionalist conservatism|traditionalist]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law, 9th-10th Centuries C.E |last=Melchert |first=Christopher |publisher=Brill Publishers |year=1997 |isbn=90-04-10952-8 | location= Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands | quote="..al-Tabarī and Ibn Khuzaymah were scholars of very great stature, their published creeds thoroughly traditionalist"|pages=154 |chapter=Chapter 7: Al-Khallal and the Classical Hanbali school}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= Women in the Qur'''an, Traditions, and Interpretation|last=Freyer Stowasser|first=Barbara|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1994|isbn=978-0-19-511148-4|location=New York|quote="The traditionalist Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 923) authored a traditionist Qur’anic exegesis, Jami'al-bayan 'an ta’wil ay al-Qur'an ({{lang-ar|الطبري|translit=or fi tafsir al-Ṭabarī}}Quran), wasand a Muslimtraditionist History of the world.."|page=8|chapter=Introduction}}</ref> [[Islamic history|historian]], [[tafsir|exegete]], [[faqīh|jurist]], and scholar[[aqidah|theologian]] from [[Amol]], [[Tabaristan]], present-day Iran. Among the most prominent figures of the [[Islamic Golden Age]], al-Tabari is widely known for his historical works and expertise in [[Qur'anic exegesisQuran|Quranic]] ({{transliteration|ar|tafsir}})exegesis, but heand has also been described as "an impressively prolific [[polymath]]".<ref name=Lindsay>Lindsay Jones (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of religion'', volume 13, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, p. 8943</ref> He wroteauthored works on a diverse range of subjects, including [[Worldworld history (field)|world history]], [[Arabic poetry|poetry]], [[lexicography]], [[Arabic grammar|grammar]], [[Islamic ethics|ethics]], [[Islamic mathematics|mathematics]], and [[Islamic medicine|medicine]].<ref name=Lindsay/><ref>{{Citecite book|title=The Cambridge History Ofof Iran, vol 4|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1975|isbn=978-0-521-20093-6|location=London|pages=599}}</ref> Among his most famous and influential works are his Quranic commentary, ''[[Tafsir al-Tabari]]'', and historical chronicle, ''[[Tarikh al-Tabari]]''.

Al-Tabari followed the [[Shafi'i]] school]] for nearly a decade before he developed his [[ijtihad|own interpretation]] of [[fiqh|Islamic jurisprudence]]. His understanding of {{transliteration|ar|[[fiqh]]}}it was both sophisticated and remarkably fluid, and, as such, he continued to develop his ideas and thoughts on juristic matters right tountil the end of his life.<ref>{{cite book|author=Muhammad Mojlum Khan|author-link=Muhammad Mojlum Khan|title=The Muslim 100: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of the Most Influential Muslims in History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4z49BAAAQBAJ|date=2009|publisher=Kube Publishing Ltd|isbn=9781847740298|page=182}}</ref>

Al-Tabari's school (''[[madhhab]]'')|school of legal thoughtjurisprudence]] "flourished among [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] ulama for two centuries after his death", before it eventually became extinct.<ref name="jacb-m">{{cite book|last1 = A.C. Brown|first1 = Jonathan|author-link = Jonathan A.C. Brown|title = Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy|date = 2014|publisher = [[Oneworld Publications]]|isbn = 978-1780744209|page = [https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/193 193]|quote = Although it eventually became extinct, Tabari's madhhab flourished among Sunni ulama for two centuries after his death.|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/193}}</ref> It was usuallycommonly designated byas the name [[Jariri|Jariri jurisprudenceschool]].

His [[ijtihad]] (independent judgement) led to criticism from the [[Zahiris]] and some fanatic [[Hanbali]] followers. Though his conflict with the leaders of the ZāhiriyyaZahiri school was resolved, the Hanbalites literally besieged him in his own home. Apparently, al-Tabari did not think much of [[Ibn Hanbal]] as a jurist ([[faqih]]), but mainly saw him as a traditionist ([[muhaddith]]), and this was enough to incite the Hanbalites against him. Al-Tabari was suddenly accused of being a [[Jahmite]] [[heretic]], while his respect for [['Ali ibn Abi Talib]], the fourth rightly guided caliph, exposed him to accusations of [[Shi'ite]] sympathies. At the same time, he incurred the wrath of the Shi'ites by defending the previous three caliphs.<ref>{{cite book|author=Camilla Adang|author-link=Camilla Adang|title=Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4Ut1MjLQTMC|series=Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science. Texts and Studies|volume=22|date=1996|publisher=[[E. J. Brill]]|isbn=9789004100343|page=42}}</ref>

In 309/921, the [[Vizier|wazirBaghdad]], 'Alithree b.Hanbalites, 'Isawho haddo offerednot seem further identifiable, asked al-Tabari theabout opportunityhis views on a tradition attributed to debate[[Mujahid ibn Jabr|Mujahid]], concerning the matterexplanation withof the Hanbalitesverse in79 hisfrom residence.[[Surat Alal-TabariIsra']] agreed, butin the Hanbalites[[Qur'an]] didabout notthe showPraiseworthy up.Station Howeverof [[Muhammad]], shortlyknown beforeas his"al-Maqam death,al-Mahmud".<ref>{{cite Hanbalitebook|author=[[Gibril riotersFouad supposedlyHaddad]]|title=The peltedBiographies hisof housethe withElite stonesLives soof numerousthe thatScholars, theyImams formed& aHadith largeMasters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwPnCAAAQBAJ|date=2015|publisher=[[As-Sunnah wall in frontFoundation of it.America]]|page=140}}</ref><ref name="The History of al-Tabari">{{cite book|translator=[[Franz Rosenthal]]|title=The History of al-Tabari Vol. 1: General Introduction and From the Creation to the Flood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQvdc17cJkoC|series=SUNY series in Near Eastern Studies|volume=1|date=1989|location=[[Albany, New York|Albany]]|publisher=State University of New York Press ([[SUNY Press]])|isbn=9781438417837|pages=73–74}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.almothaqaf.com/a/b6/938807-محنة-الإمام-الطبري-مع-الحنابلة|title= محنة الإمام الطبري مع الحنابلة|author= Dr. Mona Zaytoun|website= www.almothaqaf.com|publisher= Almothaqaf Newspaper}}</ref>

The first of the two large works, generally known as the ''Annals'' (Arabic ''Tarikh al-Tabari''). This is a [[Universal history (genre)|universal history]] from the time of Qur'anic [[Creation myth|Creation]] to 915, and is renowned for its detail and accuracy concerning [[Muslim]] and [[Middle East]]ern history. Tabari's work is one of the major primary sources for historians. The History commenced with the Creation, followed by accounts regarding the patriarchs, prophets, and rulers of antiquity. The history of the [[Sasanian Empire]] came next. For the period of the ProphetMuhammad's life, al-Ṭabarī drew upon the extensive researches of 8th-century Medinan [[scholars]]. Although pre-Islamic influences are evident in their works, the Medinan perspective of Muslim history evolved as a theocentric (god-centred) universal history of prophecy, culminating in the career of [[Muhammad]] and not as a continuum of tribal wars and values. The sources for al-Ṭabarī's History covering the years from the [[Prophet]]’s death to the fall of the [[Umayyad dynasty]] (661–750 CE) were short monographs, each treating a major event or the circumstances attending the death of an important person. Al-Ṭabarī supplemented this material with historical reports embodied in works on genealogy, poetry, and tribal affairs. Further, details of the early ʿAbbāsid period were available to him in a few histories of the caliphs that unfortunately have come down only in the fragments preserved by al-Ṭabarī. Almost all of these accounts reflected an Iraqi perspective of the community; coupled with this is al-Ṭabarī’s scant attention to affairs in [[Egypt]], [[North Africa]], and [[Muslim]] [[Spain]], so that his History does not have the secular “universal” outlook sometimes attributed to it. From the beginning of the Muslim era (dated from 622, the date of the hijrah—the [[Prophet Muhammad]]’s migration from [[Mecca]] to [[Medina]]), the History is arranged as a set of annals according to the years after the hijrah. It terminates in the year 915.

[[Theodor Nöldeke]], the German orientalist in 18791878 has also translated the Sassanid section of Tabari's history into German, and has since been reprinted several times.<ref>Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden. Aus der arabischen Chronik des Tabari. Übersetzt und mit ausführlichen Erläuterungen und Ergänzungen versehen von Theodor Nöldeke. Leiden 1879 (Digitalisat der Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle).</ref><ref>[http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/ssg/content/titleinfo/418497 University and State Library / MENAdoc-Sammlung]</ref>