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IKHWANUS SAFA
A RATIONAL AND LIBERAL
APPROACH TO ISLAM
PART-I
By Asghar Ali Engineer
Rasa'il-e-Ikhwanus Safa (Epistles of Brethren of Purity) have been
considered an encyclopaedic work of 3rd or 4th century of Islam. This work
consists of 52 epistles (Rasa'il) though there is controversy about the
exact number. Some scholars claim they are 50 in number while others
maintain 51 and yet others 52 or 53. However, a more authentic number is
52 and the 53rd risala is known as Jami' i.e. the summation of the earlier
rasa'il.
There is a great deal of controversy about every aspect of this
pathbreaking encyclopaedic work. Who wrote these epistles and when? There
are no easy answers forthcoming as far as scholarly controversies are
concerned. Also what was the madhhab (i.e. sect) of the compilers of these
epistles? Were they Sunnis or Shi'as? Or if Sunnis were they M'utazilas or
Sufis or others? Or if Shi'as were they Ithna 'Asharis (twelvers) or
Isma'ilis? Were these epistles written by a single individual or by a
group of people?
Some scholars claim that there was a debating society in Basra which met
once every week and debated issues of which notes were taken and these
notes were later compiled in the form of these epistles. There is no doubt
that whosoever they were they were very liberal in their approach and well
informed about various sciences including the Greek sciences of their
time. There is an attempt to examine various issues, particularly Islamic,
in the light of these sciences. Thus the liberal approach is obvious.
We would like to examine, though briefly, some of these controversies. The
Isma'ilis (who are so named as they followed Isma'il, the elder son of
Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, as their Imam after Imam Sadiq's death) claim that
the rasa'il were compiled by their 9th Imam Ahmad al-Mastur or some
maintain by earlier Imam Abdullah al-Mastur and these epistles were kept
in the mosques of Baghdad during the Abbasid period (at the end of 3rd
century hijri).
The reason for compilation of these rasa'il is said to be that the
Abbasids were transferring the Greek works on various sciences and
philosophy into Arabic thereby creating doubts in the minds of believers
and the compiler(s) of Ikhwanus Safa met this challenge through this
compilation.
One finds references to this work in the Isma'ili sources. Prof. Abbas
Hamdani has shown the Isma'ili authorship of these rasa'il in his paper
"An Early Fatimid Source on the Time and Authorship of the Rasa'il
Ikhwanus Safa" published in Arabica in 1979.
Abbas Hamdani says, "The great encyclopaedic work of medieval Islam,
Rasa'il Ikhwanus Safa has been described as Mu'tazilite, Sunni, Sufi,
Shi'ite, Isma'ili or Qarmatian. Its Fatimid character (the Isma'ili Imams
referred themselves to as Fatimi Imams) is now no longer in dispute.
Various dates have been suggested for its appearances ranging from 350/961
to 557/1162. The most tenacious theory about the authorship of the Rasa'il
and its time of composition is the one derived from Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi
(320-414/932-1023) who supposedly provides a contemporary evidence. I
have, however, refuted this theory in a recent article..."(p-62)
Abbas Hamdani quotes the famous Fatimi da'i (missionary or summoner)
Sayyidna J'afar bin Mansur al-Yaman who says in his work - the biography
of his father Ibn Hawshab (Sira Ibn Hawshab) - that Abdallah, the son of
Imam Muhammad bin Isma'il, went into seclusion and faced many hardships,
his hudud - the hierarchy of the Fatimi D'awah officials - carried on the
mission during his absence until his son Ahmad who also remained in
concealment took over and he issued the Rasa'il.
Da'i Ja'far is supposed to have lived between 270/883 to 360/970 and died
at the advanced age of 80-90 in Maghrib i.e. north western Africa. The
Rasa'il, if they are of Fatimid origin - and there is every reason to
believe they are, were compiled around the end of third century Hijra i.e.
during the life time of his father Ibn Hawshab. This further strengthens
the Fatimid claim that the Rasa'il(epistles) were compiled during the time
of Imam Ahmad al-Mastur.
However, there are some references in the Rasa'il which indicate their
Sunni origin. At one place there is a praiseworthy reference to al-Siddiq,
al-Farouq and Dhu'l Nurayn i.e. Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman. A later
Isma'ili writer tries to explain it away. But then there is also
insistence in the Rasa'il on the esoteric interpretation of the Qur'an
(i.e. its ta'wil) which is a Shi'a, particularly the Isma'ili concept.
At another place a hadith is related from Hazrat 'Ayisha (I, 358) which no
Shi'a would ever do, unless the introduction of 'Ayisha's name is an
editorial interpolation. Also, at two places (III, 489 and IV, 408) there
are references to al- khulafa al-rashidun i.e. the first four Caliphs
which again is a Sunni belief.
But also here are references to the sufis and praise for sufism. In fact
one of the sections is devoted to love i.e. fi mahiyyat al-ishq (III,
269-286). Also there is one section on Wajd (an inner spiritual sufi
experience) (I, 240). Both these sections are full of sufi terminology. In
fact an ideal person is described as al-sufi al-sira (i.e. possessing the
sufi character). (see II, 376).
Sayyid Husayn Nasr would, however, consider this to be a Shi'a Sufi
instead of a Sunni Sufi tendency, agreeing with A.L. Tibawi who says
"The Ikhwan al-Safa' may be taken as symbolising the Shi'a attempt,
while al-Ghazali represents the Sunni attempt at a synthesis. Susanne
Diwald on the other hand would consider the Rasa'il just Sufi, not Shi'a,
thus implying its Sunni character."
Philip K. Hitti syas about Brethren of Purity in his well known work
History of Arabs, "About the middle of the fourth century (ca. 970)
there flourished in al-Basrah an interesting eclectic school of popular
philosophy, with leanings toward Pythagorean speculations, known as Ikhwan
al-Safa' (the brethren of sincerity). The appellation is presumably taken
from the story of the ringdove in Kalilah wa-Dimnah in which it is related
that a group of animals by acting as faithful friends (ikhwan al-safa) to
one another escaped the snares of the hunter."
However, Hitti also accepts the Isma'ili origin of the Rasa'il when he
observes, "The Ikhwan, who had a branch in Baghdad, formed not only a
philosophical but also a religio-political association with ultra-Shi'ite,
probably Isma'ilite, views and were opposed to the existing political
order, which they evidently aimed to overthrow by undermining the popular
intellectual system and religious beliefs. Hence arises the obscurity
surrounding their activities and membership. A collection of their
epistles, Rasa'il, arranged in encyclopaedic fashion survives, bearing
some obscure names as collaborators." (History of Arabs, London,
1988, p-372-73).
He further observes, "The epistles number 52 and cover mathematics,
astronomy, geography, music, ethics, philosophy, embodying the sum-total
of knowledge that a cultured man of that age was supposed to acquire. The
first 51 epistles lead up to the last, which is summation of all sciences.
The language of the epistles shows that Arabic had by that time, become an
adequate instrument for expressing scientific thought in all its various
aspects. Al-Ghazali was influenced by the Ikhwan's writings and Rashid
al-Din Sinan ibn-Sulayman, the chief of the Assassins in Syria, used them
diligently." (P-373)
But it is difficult to agree with Hitti when he says that Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi
(1023), the famous Mu'tazilite who with al-Rawindi and al Ma'arri (1057)
formed the trinity of arch heretics in Islam, was a pupil if not an active
member of the fraternity. In fact the historians and scholars have often
relied on Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi's version of the origin of Ikhwan al-Safa
Rasa'il which is difficult to stand critical scrutiny. If the Rasa'il are
of the Isma'ili origin which Hitti himself thinks probably is, Mu'tazili
association with it is unlikely. The Isma'ilis and Mu'tazilis, though both
liberal and rational in their approach, had very different views on
theological and philosophical matters. On most of these matters they
totally disagreed with each other.
Husayn Marwah, a noted Marxist philosopher from the Arab world has also
written extensively in his Al-Naz'at al-Maddiyah f'il Falsafat al-'Arabiyah
al-Islamiyyah (Beirut, 1981) on Ikhwan al-Safa Rasa'il. Al-Marwah quotes
Jamal al-Din Qifti from his Akhbar al-'Ulama' fi Akhbar al-Hukama' that
the group of Ikhwan al-Safa compiled the Rasa'il containing wisdom of
knowledge but they concealed their names and people differed about their
names and origin and everyone said what they thought according to their
guess. Some maintain that this group belonged to the Imams from the
progeny of Ali ibn Abu Talib. But they differed about the name of the
Imam. And some maintain that these Rasa'il are the compilation of some
M'utazilites.
Thus it will be seen that al-Qifti also admits that it might have been
compiled by an Imam from the progeny of Ali ibn Abu Talib. No historian or
scholar, it seems, can ignore the claim of Isma'ili Imam to compilation of
this great work though no one seems to be sure about it. If it had been
the work of Mu'tazilites there is no reason why they should have concealed
the name of the compiler. Mu'tazilites were not an underground
organization. Quite a few of their works were being circulated around that
time with the names of their authors.
The Isma'ilis, on the other hand, had set up an underground organisation
as they were fighting against the Abbasid empire and were aspiring to
establish their own rule. Thus the Isma'ili Imams were in concealment and
had perfected an underground organisation. Thus they had every reason to
conceal the name of the author(s) of the Rasa'il. Thus it looks quite
probable that the Rasa'il in all probability were authored by an Isma'ili
Imam.
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IKHWANUS SAFA: A RATIONAL AND
LIBERAL APPROACH TO ISLAM
PART-II
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