Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Khusrawjirdī al-Bayhaqī (, 994–1066),[.] also known as Imām al-Bayhaqī, was a Sunni scholar widely known for being the foremost leading Hadith studies in his age, leading authority in the Shafi'i school, leading authority on the foundation of doctrine, meticulous, a devoted ascetic and one of the notable defenders of the Ash'ari school.[The Creed of Imam Bayhaqi An Abridged Translation of al-I`tiqad wa'l-Hidayah ila Sabil ar-Rashad. Together with Saeed Fodeh's Synopsis of Bayhaqi's Text page editor's introduction]
Early life
Birth
Al-Bayhaqi was born c. 994 CE/384 AH in the small town of
Khosrowjerd near
Sabzevar, then known as Bayhaq, in
Greater Khorasan.
Education
Al-Bayhaqi spent his early years and childhood in the city of
Sabzevar before moving elsewhere to pursue his studies. He journeyed throughout
Greater Khorasan,
Iran,
Iraq,
Hejaz, and other Muslim countries out of a passion for knowledge. He narrated Hadith from numerous scholars during his intensive travels.
Teachers
He studied
fiqh under two prominent jurists, Abū al-Fatḥ Nāṣir ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Naysaburi as well as Abul Hasan Hankari. He studied
hadith under Hakim al-Nishaburi (foremost leading hadith scholar at his time) and was al-Nishaburi's foremost pupil as well as extensively studying hadith under Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini, Abu Bakr al-Barqani, and many others. Al-Bayhaqi belongs to the third generation of Ash'ari school and took
kalam from two prominent theologians,
Ibn Furak and Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi. He took his
Tasawwuf as well as narrating hadith from
Al-Sulami.
He had the privilege to study kalam under
Al-Halimi in his younger days.
Scholarly life
Al-Bayhaqi taught and authored books in
Sabzevar and lived most of his life there, until 1049, when he was asked to go to
Nishapur. This request resulted from
Al-Kunduri, the vizier of Tughril Beg, the Seljuq sultan who had been ruling from Nishapur since 1040, persecuting the Ash'arites. Al-Kunduri's motive for this attack was probably his competition with Aby Sahl Ibn al-Muwaffaq for the position of vizier; the latter was a Shafi'ite by law whereas al-Kunduri was a
. Two distinct Ash'arites,
al-Qushayri and
al-Juwayni, were barred from the mosques in or around 1049. The Sultan then issued an order imprisoning them, as well as Abu-Sahl Ibn al-Muwaffaq and other individuals. The two theologians eventually travelled to the Hijaz and left Nishapur. In the meantime, al-Bayhaqi had written a lengthy letter to al-Kunduri that has survived, demonstrating the Ash'arites' immunity from heretical accusations and requesting an end to the persecution. Al-Bayhaqi travelled to Nishapur approximately a year later; he may have stayed there for a few years prior to travelling to the Hijaz. Around the years 1063 and 1064, following al-Kunduri's imprisonment and eventual death, the exiles returned to Nishapur.
Students
Al-Bayhaqi had large number of students. He would give them the authority to narrate and teach his books. His most famous pupils associated with him include:
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Al-Juwayni
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Abdullah Ansari
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his own son, Ismāýīl ibn Aĥmed al-Bayhaqī
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his own grandson Úbaydullāh ibn Muĥammad ibn Aĥmed al-Bayhaqī
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Ĥāfiž Abū Zakariyyah Yaĥyā ibn Mandah
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Abū Ábdullāh Muĥammad ibn al-Fađl Al-Furāwī
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Zāhir ibn Ţāhir ash-Shaĥāmiyy
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Abu’l Máālī Muĥammad ibn Ismāýīl al-Fārisī
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Abdu’l Jabbār ibn Abdu’l Wahhāb ad-Dah’hān
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Abdu’l Jabbār ibn Muĥammad al-Khuwārī and his brother
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Abdu’l Ĥamīd ibn Muĥammad al-Khuwārī
Death
He died in
Nishapur on the 10th of Jumādā al-ťlā, 458 AH corresponding to the 9th April 1066 at the age of 74. He was washed, put in a coffin, and transported two to
Sabzevar, where he was buried.
Asceticism
Al-Bayhaqi was known for his extreme piety and was a frugal spender in the same manner of the pious scholars. He constantly fasted for thirty years straight before his death except the days of Eid and Tashriq which are prohibited to fast. It is known that perpetual fast (
Sawm al-Dahr) is a famous practise done by several companions and the
Salaf such as
Umar,
Uthman, Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri,
Abu Hanifa, Al-Shafi'i,
Al-Tustari, etc.
Imam al-Nawawi explains this topic:
"Ibn Umar fasted permanently, i.e. except the days of Eid and Tashriq. This perpetual fast is his way and the way of his father Umar, Aisha, Abu Talha and others of the Salaf as well Al-Shafi'i and other scholars. This position is that perpetual fasting is not disliked ( makruh).
Creed
As mentioned previously, Imam al-Bayhaqi was trained by the esteemed
Ibn Furak and Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi, the two Imams who contributed to the establishment of the Ash'ari school of doctrine. Al-Bayhaqi is thus positioned among the Asha'ris of the third generation.
Al-Bayhaqi was a traditionalist theologian and staunch Ash'ari who textually supported the Ash'ari doctrine as can be seen in his two classical works of creed called Al-Asma' wa al-Sifat and Al-'Itiqad wa al-Hidaya ila Sabil al-Rashad. In these textual based theological works, al-Bayhaqi establishes the Ash'ari school are true
Sunnis who are with accordance to the creed of the
salaf.
Ibn al-Subki said that al-Bayhaqi said Muhammad's mention of Abu Musa al-Ash'aris people included Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari and his school. Al Bayhaqi said:
The Muhammad (PBUH) pointed to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari in relation to the verse: (Allah will bring a people whom HE loves and who love Him) (5:54) saying: "They are that man's people," due to the tremendous merit and noble rank attributed by this Hadith to the Imam Abu al-Hassan al-Ash'ari. For he is part of Abu Musa's people and one of his children who received knowledge and were granted discernment, and he was singled out for strengthening the Sunnah and repressing innovation by producing clear proofs and dispelling doubts. It is most likely that the prophet named Abu Musa's people a people believed by Allah because he knew the soundness of their religion and the strength of their belief. Therefore, whoever leans towards them in science of foundation of Religion and follows their position in disowning tashbih (likening Allah with His creation) while adhering to the Quran and the Sunnah, is one of their number (people).
Al-Bayhaqi also had a variety of views stating his understanding of cosmology.[Saeed Fodeh, "Appendix" in (tr. Nasir Abdussalam) The Creed of Imam Bayhaqi, Turath Publishing, 2017, pp. 283-5]
Legacy
Al-Bayhaqi contributed to a significant reform in the traditionalist evaluation of hadith, emphasizing the use of reflective reasoning in evaluating which hadith material should be considered incompatible with Islamic theology. Often, Al-Bayhaqi would then understand such hadith as less reliable or allegorical.
[Umar Muhammad Noor. "Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi and his Approach to Sifat Traditions," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2019, pp328-9.]
Al-Bayhaqi is regarded as the last person in history to comprehensively collect and assemble the textual evidence of the Shafi'i madhab including the hadith, the opinions of Imam Shafi'i and those of his direct students. Al-Juwayni said: "There is no Shafi'i except he owes a huge debt to Al-Shafi'i except al-Bayhaqi, to whom al-Shafi'i owes a huge debt for his (Bayhaqi's) works which imposed al-Shafi'i's school and his sayings (enforced and strengthened)." Al-Dhahabi comments: "Abu Al-Ma'ali (Ibn Al-Juwayni) is right! It is as he said, and if al-Bayhaqi had wanted to found a school of Law (madhab) for himself he would have been able to do so, due to the vastness of his sciences and his thorough knowledge of juridical differences (legal matters)."
Al-Bayhaqi arranged the Imam al-Shafi'i statements and proof texts in the extensive Marifat al-Sunan wa-al-Athar. He then assembled his Al-Sunan al-Kubra, a gigantic collection of hadiths that included prophetic traditions and companions opinions to support every point of Shafi'i's substantive law. As a specialist in the Shafi'i law and al-Muzani's Mukhtasar, al-Bayhaqi was much sought for. His writings were highly revered and frequently cited by both later Shafi'is and Hanbalis. Al-Bayhaqi's writings reflected the new Shafi'i orthodoxy. Works like Sunan al-Kubra and Al-Sunan al-Wusta championed the body of substantive law of the school and the Shafi'i transmission-based legal methodology.
According to Scott Lucas in "Perhaps You Only Kissed Her?", al-Bayhaqi sealed and consolidated the hadith canon since what he added was accepted as canonical and what he left out was not, and his decisions were respected by later scholars. In his thesis, he added that al-Bayhaqi was the final compiler of the original hadith collections.
Imam Ibn Subki states:
"He was the Imam Bayhaqi: one of the Imams of the Muslims, guides of the believers, and callers to the firm rope of Allah. He was a sublime jurist (faqih jalil), an eminent ( kabir) hafiz; an adept jurisprudent ( usulu nihrir); abstinent; godly; obedient to Allah ( qanit li'llah); firm in supporting the Shafi'i legal school, in terms of methodology ( aslan) and derivation of law ( fur'ian); and a mountain from the mountains of knowledge...He was the muhaddith of his time ( zaman) Shaykh of the Sunnah in his era ( waqt).
Works
Bayhaqi was a prominent prolific author in his time, having authored more than one thousand volumes according to
Al-Dhahabi.
Al-Dhahabi also said in Siyar A'lam al-Nubala': "Al-Bayhaqi’s writings are of great value and abundant in benefits. There are few who wrote as good as Imam Abu Bakr (al-Bayhaqi), so the world should take care of these (books).
[Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, volume 18, page 168]
Among the most well-known books authored by him are:
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Sunan al-Bayhaqi ("The Major Book of the Prophet's Sunnnas"), is a 24 volume hadith compilation and considered his magnum opus.
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Shu'ab al-Iman ("The Branches of Faith").
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Al-Sunan al-Wusta, also referred to as Ma`arifa ("The Knowledge of Sunnas and Reports"), is a textual compilation supporting the Shafi'i doctrine.
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Bayan Khata Man Akhta`a `Ala al-Shafi`i ("The Exposition of the Error of Those who have Attributed Error to al-Sahfi`i").
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Al-Mabsut fi Nusus al-Shafiyi ("The Extensive: Documents used by Al-Shafiyi") in two volumes
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Al-Mabsut ("The Expanded Reference"), on Shafi`i Law.
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Al-Asma' wa al-Sifat ("The Divine Names and Attributes"), Ibn al-Subki said: “I do not know anything comparable to it!”
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Al-I`tiqad `ala Madhhab al-Salaf Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a ("Islamic Doctrines According to the School of the Predecessors Which is the School of the People of the Prophet’s (S) Way and Congretgatoin of His Companions") in about forty brief chapters.
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Dala’il al-Nubuwwa ("The Signs of Prophethood") in about seven volumes, about Prophet Muhammad (s) as Qadi Iyad Al-Shifa bi Ta'rif Huquq al-Mustafa is the foremost condensed book on this topic.
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Al-Da`awat al-Kabir ("The Major Book of Supplications") in two volumes, which, like al-Adhkar by al-Nawawi and al-Jazari's corresponding work, arranges the narrations linked to the subject according to circumstance.
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Al-Da`awat al-Saghir ("The Minor Book of Supplications")
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Al-Zuhd al-Kabir ("The Major Book of Asceticism"), which uses subject headings to organise the pertinent narratives for the early Sufis and Companions.
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Al-Báath wa’n ("Resurrection and Judgement Day")
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At-Targhib wa’t Tarhib ("Encouragement to do good and Warning to abstain from evil")
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Al-Sunan al-Şaghir ("The Smaller Collection of Sunnah")
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Al-Arb`un al-Kubra ("The Major Collections of Forty Hadith") in two volumes.
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Al-Arb`un al-Sughra ("The Minor Collections of Forty Hadith").
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Al-Khilafiyyat ("The Divergences" between) in three volumes on the differences of opinion among jurists.
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Al-Mad’khal ila’s Sunan ("An Introduction to the Sunnah")
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Al-Adab ("The book of Etiquette")
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Fada’il al-Awqat ("Times of Particular Merit")
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Ar-Ru’yah ("The Book of Dreams")
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Al-Asra’a ("The Book of Ascension")
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Manaqib al-Shafi`i ("The Immense Merits of al-Shafi`i") in two volumes
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Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad ("The Immense merits of Imam Ahmad")
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Tarikh Hukama al-Islam ("History of the Rulers of Islam")
See also
Bibliography
