حسن المعبري

An entire army, disciplined to the point that a ruler needed only glance in a direction to have his commands obeyed. Yet Muawiyah رضي الله عنه understood that all of it could unravel in less than a day. Ibn Abd Rabbih (d. 328 AH), the great Andalusian scholar, preserves two extraordinary accounts of Muawiyah's political wisdom in his al-Iqd al-Farid. He first relates that Muawiyah said “I do not draw my sword where my whip would suffice, nor do I raise my whip where my tongue would suffice. And were there but a single thread between me and the people, it would never break.” He was asked, “And how would that be?” He replied “Whenever they pulled it taut, I would loosen it. And whenever they loosened it, I would draw it taut.” The second account, related by Amr ibn al-As, is even more fascinating. “On one of our days at Siffin, I saw Muawiyah emerge with an army arrayed in numbers unlike anything I had seen him command before. He stood at the heart of his army and began surveying its right wing. Whenever he noticed a gap, someone would immediately hasten to fill it. He would then turn his attention to the left wing, where the same thing would occur. A mere glance was enough to spare him the need for even a signal. Pride stirred within him at what he saw, and he said to me, ‘O Ibn al-As, what do you think of these men and the condition in which you see them?’ I replied, ‘By God, O Commander of the Faithful, I have seen men govern people in matters of religion and worldly affairs, but never have I seen anyone granted such obedience from his subjects as you have been granted from these men.’ He said, ‘Do you know when all of this might fall into disorder, and how long it would take for everything you see to unravel?’ I answered, ‘No.’ He said, ‘In a single day.’ I expressed my great astonishment. He continued, ‘Yes, by God, even in part of a day.’ I asked, ‘And how could that be, O Commander of the Faithful?’ He replied, ‘When promises and warnings become falsehoods, and rewards are bestowed according to personal inclination rather than merit, everything you see will fall into ruin.’” Ibn Abd Rabbih, al-Iqd al-Farid, vol. 1, pp. 18–19.

In 96 AH (714 CE), Christian stonecutters working in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley carved the name of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid b. Abd al-Malik into the rock. Their inscriptions, written in Syriac and dated using the Hijri calendar, commemorate the opening of quarries at Kamed, approximately 17 kilometers from the Umayyad city of Anjar. The inscriptions preserve an extraordinary picture of the workforce. Several workers came from northern Mesopotamia, including Jazirat Qardu and Marga. They identify priests, deacons, and individuals involved in quarrying, while other inscriptions at the site were written in Greek and Pahlavi. Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away in Egypt, a contemporary Greek administrative papyrus, P.Lond. IV 1434 (714–716 CE), mentions a requisitioned worker associated with Αειναλγερ, the Greek rendering of Ayn al-Jarr, or Anjar. Together, these records provide a glimpse into the movement of labor and expertise across the early Umayyad world, connecting Egyptian administration, Christian communities of northern Mesopotamia, and imperial construction in the Levant. The Kamed quarries may have supplied stone for Anjar, although the precise architectural connection remains to be established. Among the inscriptions is an especially personal trace left by a man named Lucien, who requested: “Whoever reads my inscription, pray for me.” Thirteen centuries later, the people behind these building projects can still be encountered through the words they left on stone. Sources: Paul Mouterde (1939), pp. 81–106; Nikolaos Gonis (2013), p. 271; Leone Pecorini Goodall (2022), pp. 396–397.

In medieval Damascus, some of the greatest scholars of Islam gathered to hear hadith from a woman whose knowledge connected them to generations of authorities long since passed away. Among those who studied with her were al-Dhahabi, al-Mizzi, al-Barzali, and Taj al-Din al-Subki. Historians, jurists, and travelers sought her transmissions, while entire books were read in her presence. She was Zaynab bint Ahmad b. Abd al-Rahim al-Maqdisiyya, better known as Bint al-Kamal, one of the foremost women hadith transmitters of the eighth Islamic century. Born in 646 AH, Zaynab belonged to the scholarly community of al-Salihiyya, at the foot of Mount Qasyun in Damascus. She came from a family associated with the Hanbali tradition, and her uncle, Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Maqdisi, was connected with the Madrasa al-Diya'iyya, an important center of learning. Her education placed her within an extensive network of scholars. She heard from Muhammad and Abd al-Hamid b. Abd al-Hadi, Ibrahim b. Khalil, Ahmad b. Abd al-Da'im, Khatib Marda, and others. She also possessed transmissions from scholars associated with Baghdad, Aleppo, Harran, Alexandria, Cairo, and Mardin. Through these connections, Zaynab preserved an immense collection of hadith, scholarly dictations, and transmitted books. Among the works associated with her were the Amali of Hamza al-Kinani, the Mashyakha of Shuhda al-Katiba, the Amali of al-Najjad, portions of al-Fitan by Hanbal b. Ishaq, and numerous other collections. Her scholarly network also reached some of the most distinguished women transmitters of earlier centuries. Through documented intermediaries, her transmissions connected to Shuhda al-Katiba, the celebrated Baghdadi scholar who died in 574 AH, and Tujanni bint Abd Allah al-Wahbaniyya. These were not merely impressive names attached to her biography. Their actual transmission routes survive, often with the individual intermediaries and the books they carried identified. Zaynab's scholarly gatherings were equally significant. In 721 AH, she was among the authorities presiding over a reading attended by more than a hundred participants at the Jami al-Muzaffari in Damascus. In 738 AH, when she was over ninety lunar years old, a gathering of twenty-one men and women was recorded at her own home after Friday prayers. Her teaching extended across decades, taking place in mosques, schools, religious establishments, and private residences. Students continued to gather around her well into her final years. Al-Dhahabi remembered her as a pious, modest, generous, and gracious woman. Ibn Hajar preserved the observation that students crowded around her and that substantial books were read in her presence. Her reputation rested not simply upon the number of scholars she knew, but upon the remarkable breadth of the learning she preserved and the generations of students to whom she transmitted it.

Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH), in his Tahdhib al-Asma' wa-l-Lughat, transmits the words of Imam Abu Mansur al-Azhari (d. 370 AH) concerning the uncreated Speech of Allah. He then cites several linguistic authorities on the distinction between kalam and qawl, before transmitting al-Sam'ani's explanation of why the discipline of Islamic theology came to be known as ilm al-kalam. Imam al-Nawawi writes: “Imam Abu Mansur al-Azhari said: [...] ‘The Qur'an is the Speech of God Most High, the words of God Most High, His Word, and His Words. The Speech of God Most High is neither bounded nor numbered, and it is uncreated. Blessed and exalted is God, far above what the fabricators say.’ [...] The author of al-Muhkam said: ‘Kalam is qawl [speech or saying]. It is also said that kalam is what is complete in itself, namely the sentence, whereas qawl is what is not complete in itself, namely a part of the sentence. Sibawayh said: “Know that ‘I said’ occurs in speech to introduce a quotation, and what is quoted after ‘saying’ is kalam, not qawl.” Among the clearest proofs of the distinction between kalam and qawl is people's agreement in saying that the Qur'an is the kalam of God Most High; they did not say that the Qur'an is the qawl of God Most High.’ Abu al-Hasan said: ‘They may, however, use the terms more broadly, putting either in the place of the other.’ [...] As for kalam and the mutakallimun, what is meant by kalam is the foundations of religion, and by the mutakallimun the practitioners of this discipline. Al-Sam'ani said in al-Ansab, under the entry al-Mutakallim: ‘This branch of knowledge was called kalam because the first disagreement arose over the Speech of God Most High: is it created or uncreated? People therefore discussed this matter, and the discipline came to be known as ilm al-kalam.’” — Imam al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma' wa-l-Lughat, vol. 4, pp. 118–119.

In fifth-century Mecca, a scholar named Abu al-Ghana'im al-Narsi sat before an elderly woman who possessed one of the most sought-after transmissions of Sahih al-Bukhari. She brought out her manuscript, from which he copied seven leaves and read them back to her. When he offered to compare his transcription against her original independently, she refused: “No, not until you collate it with me.” The woman was Karima bint Ahmad al-Marwaziyya (d. 463 AH / 1070 CE), known as Umm al-Kiram, one of the foremost transmitters of Sahih al-Bukhari in the fifth Islamic century. Her insistence on personally supervising the comparison of manuscripts offers a glimpse into the care with which she preserved and transmitted the text. Originally from the region of Merv in Khurasan, Karima belonged to a family associated with the village of Kushmihan. Her father reportedly took her to Jerusalem before bringing her to Mecca, where she settled and devoted her life to learning and transmitting hadith. She never married, according to the biographical accounts, and lived to approximately one hundred years of age. Her most important teacher was Abu al-Haytham al-Kushmihani (d. 389 AH), from whom she received Sahih al-Bukhari through an exceptionally short chain: Imam al-Bukhari (d. 256) → Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Firabri (d. 320) → Abu al-Haytham al-Kushmihani (d. 389) → Karima al-Marwaziyya (d. 463). Only two transmitters separated her from the compiler himself. As earlier authorities passed away, scholars travelled to Mecca seeking her elevated isnad, making her one of the principal authorities through whom the Sahih continued to circulate. But her education was not confined to this single transmission. She also heard from Zahir ibn Ahmad al-Sarakhsi (d. 389 AH), who had studied dialectics and theology under Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324 AH), as al-Dhahabi records. Through Zahir, Karima was thus connected by a documented scholarly lineage to al-Ash'ari himself, although this does not establish her personal theological affiliation. Among her other teachers was Abd Allah ibn Yusuf al-Isfahani (d. 409 AH), from whom leading scholars such as al-Bayhaqi and al-Qushayri also transmitted. Her standing attracted some of the most distinguished scholars of her generation. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 463 AH) read Sahih al-Bukhari to her during the pilgrimage season. Abu al-Muzaffar al-Sam'ani (d. 489 AH) received transmission from her, as did the Hanafi jurist Abu Talib al-Zaynabi (d. 512 AH), who later became an important transmitter of her recension. Her scholarly authority extended beyond the boundaries of legal schools and geographical regions. Scholars from Iraq, Khurasan, Egypt, Syria, and al-Andalus sought her transmission in Mecca, bringing her teachings back to their respective scholarly circles. What distinguished Karima was not simply the brevity of her isnad, but the seriousness with which she guarded the accuracy of the text entrusted to her.

Before Imam Ibn al-Salah became one of the most celebrated authorities in the history of hadith, he sat before a woman in Nishapur. She transmitted Sahih al-Bukhari, preserved the writings of Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri, inherited the learning of distinguished men and women of Khurasan, and stood within a remarkable scholarly lineage reaching back through Imam Ibn Furak to Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari. Her students would include some of the most influential hadith scholars and historians of the following generation. Her name was Umm al-Mu'ayyad Zaynab bint Abd al-Rahman al-Shi'riyya, also known as Hurra Naz. And al-Dhahabi introduced her with a title of extraordinary distinction: “The venerable shaykha, the great authority of transmission in Khurasan.” These were not empty words of praise. To be recognized as a musnida was to possess a distinguished position in the preservation and transmission of the Prophet's hadith and the scholarly inheritance of earlier generations. Zaynab was one of the most remarkable women to occupy that position. Born in 524 AH (c. 1130 CE), she belonged to a scholarly family of Jurjani ancestry established in Nishapur, one of the great intellectual capitals of the eastern Islamic world. This was the city of Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, the great hadith traditionists of Khurasan, the Shafi'i jurists, and the Ash'ari scholars whose writings would profoundly influence the development of Sunni theology. It was also the city in which Imam al-Qushayri had brought together theology, hadith, and spiritual discipline in one of the most influential intellectual traditions of his age. It was within this environment that Zaynab received her education. Her father, Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman al-Shi'ri, belonged to a learned household associated with religious scholarship and spiritual discipline. Her brother, Abd al-Rahim al-Shi'ri, was himself a recognized transmitter of hadith. Zaynab would become the most illustrious representative of this family's scholarly inheritance. Her teachers were among the distinguished authorities of Khurasan. Al-Dhahabi names Isma'il al-Qari, Zahir ibn Tahir al-Shahhami, his brother Wajih al-Shahhami, Abu al-Ma'ali al-Farisi, Abd Allah al-Farawi, Abd al-Jabbar al-Khuwari, Abd al-Razzaq al-Tabasi, and Abd al-Wahhab ibn Shah al-Shadhiyakhi. She also received knowledge from learned women, including Fatima bint Za'bal and Fatima bint Khalaf al-Shahhamiyya. This is an important part of her story. Zaynab did not emerge as an isolated exception to an otherwise exclusively male intellectual tradition. She inherited knowledge from women who were respected authorities in their own right, and she would later become a teacher to subsequent generations of women as well as men. Yet among her scholarly connections, one is particularly remarkable. Zaynab stood within the intellectual inheritance of Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri (d. 465 AH), the celebrated Ash'ari theologian, Shafi'i scholar, and master of Islamic spirituality. Among her teachers was Abd al-Mun'im ibn Abd al-Karim ibn Hawazin al-Qushayri, a son of that illustrious Imam. Her connection to al-Qushayri's inheritance was even more substantial than this family relationship suggests. The hadith scholar Ibn Nuqta, who personally heard from Zaynab, records a striking detail concerning the books she had received: “And she heard the Risala and the Mi'raj of Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri.” The Risala al-Qushayriyya is among the most celebrated works of classical Islamic spirituality, bringing together the teachings of early spiritual masters with a profound concern for religious knowledge, sincerity, divine transcendence, and disciplined devotion. Its opening theological discussion presents the beliefs of the spiritual masters as grounded in the principles of Sunni monotheism, rejecting both anthropomorphism and the negation of the divine attributes. The Mi'raj, likewise, belonged to the scholarly literature associated with al-Qushayri's treatment of the Prophet's Night Journey and Ascension. Zaynab had received both works through the scholarly transmission of her age. But the connection becomes even more extraordinary when we follow one of her recorded chains backward. Al-Dhahabi preserves a hadith transmitted through the following sequence: Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari ↓ Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Bahili ↓ Imam Abu Bakr Ibn Furak ↓ Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri ↓ Abd al-Wahhab ibn Shah ↓ Zaynab al-Shi'riyya The earlier relationships belong to the documented scholarly lineage of Ash'ari theology, while the transmission from Ibn Furak through al-Qushayri and Abd al-Wahhab to Zaynab is preserved in an actual hadith isnad. The report concerns beautifying the recitation of the Qur'an: “Beautify the Qur'an with your voices, for a beautiful voice increases the Qur'an in beauty.” A woman scholar in sixth-century Nishapur stood at the receiving end of a chain passing through two of the great figures of classical Ash'ari scholarship, while her own students would carry that knowledge into the seventh century and beyond. Nor was her distinction confined to this scholarly inheritance. Zaynab was also an authority in the transmission of Sahih al-Bukhari. Ibn Nuqta records her reception of the collection through Wajih al-Shahhami and Abd al-Wahhab ibn Shah, as well as through Abu al-Ma'ali al-Farisi. One of these routes passed through Sa'id al-Ayyar, Ibn Shabawayh, and Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Firabri, the celebrated transmitter of Imam al-Bukhari's Sahih. For the scholars of hadith, these chains possessed immense significance. The value of an isnad lay not merely in the distinguished names that composed it, but in its documented continuity. As generations passed, the opportunity to receive a work through a relatively short chain to an earlier authority became increasingly precious. Zaynab's unusually long life meant that she preserved connections to scholars who had died many decades before the students who eventually came to learn from her were born. She became a bridge between generations. Her scholarly reach also extended beyond the canonical hadith collections. In al-Nashr fi al-Qira'at al-Ashr, Imam Ibn al-Jazari preserves her within a chain for the transmission of Kitab al-Ghaya, the important work on Qur'anic readings by Ibn Mihran. Her reception of the book is explicitly distinguished as sama', or direct audition. She also received ijazas from distinguished authorities, including Abd al-Ghafir al-Farisi and the renowned grammarian al-Zamakhshari, author of al-Kashshaf. Her documented learning embraced prophetic traditions, the transmission of classical religious texts, Qur'anic scholarship, and the literary inheritance of the great masters of the Islamic East. And for more than sixty years, she continued to transmit knowledge. Yet perhaps the greatest testimony to her standing is not simply the extraordinary teachers from whom she received knowledge. It is the identity of the scholars who came after her. For the woman known as the Musnida of Khurasan would become a teacher to men whose works still define the study of Islamic scholarship today. Continued in Part II.