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Muhammad Ibn Jarir Al-tabari Information

Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (Arabic: أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري‎) (224 – 310 AH; 838–923 CE) was a prominent and influential Sunni scholar, historian and exegete of the Qur'an from Tabaristan, modern Mazandaran in Persia/Iran.

His most influential and best known works are his Qur'anic commentary known as Tafsir al-Tabari and his historical chronicle Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk (History of the Prophets and Kings), often referred to Tarikh al-Tabari. Al-Tabari founded his own madhhab which is usually designated by the name Jariri.

Contents

Biography

Tabari was born in Amol, Tabaristan (some twenty kilometres south of the Caspian Sea) in the winter of 838–9.[1] He memorized the Qur'an at seven, was a qualified religious leader at eight and began to study the prophetic traditions at nine. He left home to study in A.H. 236[2] (850–1) when he was twelve. He retained close ties to his home town. He returned at least twice, the last time in A.H. 290 (903) when his outspokenness caused some uneasiness and led to his quick departure.[3]

He first went to Ray (Rhages), where he remained for some five years.[4] A major teacher in Rayy was Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Razi, who had earlier taught in Baghdad but was now in his seventies.[5] Among other material, ibn Humayd taught Jarir Tabari the historical works of ibn Ishaq, especially al-Sirah, his life of Muhammad.[6] Tabari was thus introduced in youth to pre-Islamic and early Islamic history. Tabari quotes ibn Humayd frequently. We know little about Tabari's other teachers in Rayy.[7]

Tabari then travelled to study in Baghdad under ibn Hanbal, who, however, had recently died (in late 855 or early 856).[8] Tabari possibly made a pilgrimage prior to his first arrival in Baghdad.[9] He left Baghdad probably in 242 A.H. (856–7)[10] to travel through the southern cities of Basra, Kufah and Wasit.[11] There he met a number of eminent and venerable scholars.[12]

On his return to Baghdad, he took a tutoring position from the vizier Ubaydallah b. Yahya b. Khaqan.[13] This would have been before A.H. 244 (858) since the vizier was out of office and in exile from 244 to 248 (858-9 to 862).[14] There is an anecdote told that Tabari had agreed to tutor for ten dinars a month, but his teaching was so effective and the boy's writing so impressive that the teacher was offered a tray of dinars and dirhams. The ever-ethical Tabari declined the offer saying he had undertaken to do his work at the specified amount and could not honourably take more.[15] This is one of a number of stories about him declining gifts or giving gifts of equal or greater amount in return.[16]

In his late twenties he travelled to Syria, Palestine and Egypt.[17] In Beirut he made the highly significant connection of al-Abbas b. al-Walid b. Mazyad al-'Udhri al-Bayruti (c.169-270/785-6 to 883–4). Al-Abbas instructed Tabari in the Syrian school's variant readings of the Qur'an and transmitted through his father al-Walid the legal views of al-Awza'i, Beirut's prominent jurist from a century earlier.

Tabari arrived in Egypt in 253H (867),[18] and some time after 256/870 returned to Baghdad,[19] possibly making a pilgrimage on the way. If so, he did not stay long in the Hijaz. Tabari had a private income from his father while he was still living and then the inheritance.[20] He took money for teaching. He never took a government or a judicial position.[21]

Quran Tabari

Personal Characteristics

He is described as having a dark complexion, large eyes and a long beard. He was tall and slender[22] and his hair and beard remained black until he was very old. He was attentive to his health, avoiding red meat, fats and other unhealthy foods. He was seldom sick before his last decade when he suffered from bouts of pleurisy. When he was ill, he treated himself )to the approval of physicians).

He was witty and urbane, clean and well mannered.[23] He avoided coarse speech, instead displaying refined eloquence.[24] He had a good grounding in grammar, lexicography and philology. Such were considered essential for Qur'anic commentary. He knew Persian and was acquainted with the origins of various foreign loan words in Arabic from a number of other languages.

Tabari never married.[25] There is a description of his normal day: rising early for prayer, studying till early afternoon, publicly praying the afternoon prayer, reciting Qur'an and teaching Qur'an, and then teaching law until late.

He died in Baghdad on February 17, 923.[26]

Bal'ami's 14th century Persian version of Universal History by Tabari

Works

Al-Tabari wrote history, theology and Qur'anic commentary. His legal writings were published first and then continued to appear throughout his life. Next were his commentaries on the Qur'an. Lastly, his history was published. Despite a style that makes it seem he drew largely on oral sources, written material (both published and unpublished) provided him with the bulk of his information. His biographers stress his reverence for scholarship and his keen intent to offer his readers hard fact.

He did not hesitate to express his independent judgement (ijtihad).[27] He stated his assessment as to which of the sources he cited was accurate. This was more understandably an aspect of his theology than of his history. This does not mean he saw himself as innovative. On the contrary, he was very much opposed to religious innovation. The story goes that when he was near death ibn Kamil suggested he forgive his enemies. He said he was willing to do so, except for the person who had described him as an innovator.[28] In general Tabari's approach was conciliatory and moderate, seeking harmonious agreement between conflicting opinions.[29]

Initially he identified as a Shafi'ite in Fiqh law and Shafi'ites were happy to have him so considered. He was later seen as having established his own school. Although he had come to Baghdad in youth to study from Hanbal, he incurred the vehement wrath of the Hanbalites.[30] Tabari's madhhab is usually designated by the name Jariri after his patronymic.[31] However, in the keenly competitive atmosphere of the times, his school failed to endure.[32]

His wrote extensively; his voluminous corpus containing two main titles:

The first of the two large works, generally known as the Annals (Arabic Tarikh al-Tabari). This is a universal history from the time of Qur'anic Creation to AD 915, and is renowned for its detail and accuracy concerning Muslim and Middle Eastern history. Tabari's work is one of the major primary source for historians.

His second great work was the commentary on the Qur'an, (Arabic Tafsir al-Tabari), which was marked by the same fullness of detail as the Annals. Abul-Qaasim Ibn 'Aqil Al-Warraq (رحمه الله) says: " Imām Ibn Jarir (رحمه الله) once said to his students: “Are you'll ready to write down my lesson on the Tafsir (commentary) of the entire Holy Quran?" They enquired as to how lengthy it would be. "30 000 pages"! he replied. They said: "This would take a long time and cannot be completed in one lifetime. He therefore made it concise and kept it to 3000 pages (note, this was in reference to the old days when they used ink and hard-paper which was a bit long format today). It took him seven years to finish it from the year 283 till 290. It is said that it is the most voluminous Athari Tafsir (i.e., based on hadith not intellect) existent today so well-received by the Ummah that it survived to this day intact due to its popularity and widely printed copies available worldwide. Scholars such as Baghawi and Suyuti used it largely. It was used in compiling the Tafsir ibn Kathir which is often referred to as Mukhtasar Tafsir at-Tabari.

See also

Arabic Wikisource has original text related to this article: Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari

References

  1. ^ Franz Rosenthal, trans., The History of al-Ţabarī (State University of New York Press, 1989), Volume 1, pp. 10-11
  2. ^ Rosenthal, pp. 15–16
  3. ^ Rosenthal, p. 11
  4. ^ Rosenthal, p. 16
  5. ^ Rosenthal, p. 17
  6. ^ Rosenthal, p. 18
  7. ^ Rosenthal, p. 17
  8. ^ Rosenthal, p. 19
  9. ^ Rosenthal, p. 19
  10. ^ Rosenthal, p. 20
  11. ^ Rosenthal, p. 19
  12. ^ Rosenthal, p. 20
  13. ^ Rosenthal, p. 21
  14. ^ Rosenthal, p. 21
  15. ^ Rosenthal, p. 22
  16. ^ Rosenthal, p. 22
  17. ^ Rosenthal, p. 23
  18. ^ Rosenthal, p. 27
  19. ^ Rosenthal, p. 31
  20. ^ Rosenthal, p. 14
  21. ^ Rosenthal, p. 36
  22. ^ Rosenthal, p. 40
  23. ^ Rosenthal, p. 41
  24. ^ Rosenthal, p. 4o
  25. ^ Rosenthal, p. 33
  26. ^ Rosenthal, p. 78
  27. ^ Rosenthal, p. 55
  28. ^ Rosenthal, p. 61
  29. ^ Rosenthal, p. 56
  30. ^ Rosenthal, p. 63
  31. ^ Rosenthal, p. 64
  32. ^ Rosenthal, p. 66

Bibliography

External links

Persondata
Name Muhammad Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth 838
Place of birth Amol, Tapuria, Iran
Date of death 923
Place of death

Part of the series on Quranic exegesis
Most famous

Sunni: Tafsir ibn Kathir (~1370) Tafsir al-Qurtubi (~1273) Tafsir al-Tabari (~922) Tafsir al-Jalalayn (1460-1505) Tanwir al-Miqbas

Shi'a: Tafsir al-Mizan (1892-1981)
Sunni tafsir

Tafsir al-Baghawi Tafsir al-Kabir Dur al-Manthur Tadabbur-i-Quran Tafhim-ul-Quran
Shi'a tafsir

Al-Mizan Fi Tafsir al-Quran Holy Quran (puya) Majma' al-Bayan
Ahmadiyya tafsir

Tafseer-e-Kabeer Tafseer-e-Sagheer
Sufi tafsir

Tafsir Ibn Arabi Kashf al-Asrar wa 'Iddat al-Abrar
Mu'tazili tafsir

Al-Kashshaf
Terms

Asbab al-nuzul
This article is a translation-work in progress of the قالب:مؤرخو العصر الإسلامي article from Arabic to English. If you are confident enough in your competence of Arabic and English, you can help Wikipedia by assisting in the translation.
Historians of Islamic era
Historians of the first century AH ...
Historians of the second century AH Ibn Al-Kalbi - Ibn Ishaq
Historians of the third century AH Al-Jahiz - Ibn Abd-el-Hakem - Ibn Abi Dunya - Khalifa ibn Khayyat - Ibn Hisham - Ya'qubi- Umar ibn Chebat- Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
Historians of the fourth century AH Elkendi -
Historians of the fifth century AH Ibn Elfarthi - Ibn abd al-Barr - Jābir ibn Hayyān - Ibn Hazm - Abu Naim Isfahani - ابن أبي يعلى - Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi
Historians of the sixth century AH ibn al-Jawzi
Historians of the seventh century AH Ibn Wasil - Ibn Jubair - Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari - سبط بن الجوزي - النووي - ابن خلكان - أبو شامة المقدسي
Historians of the eighth century AH Al-Dhahabi - Lisan al-Din bin al-Khatib - شهاب الدين النويري - تاج الدين السبكي - Ibn Kathir - ابن عساكر - المزي - الزركشي
Historians of the ninth century AH أبو العباس القلقشندي - Ibn Khaldun - Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani - تقي الدين المقريزي - ابن تغري
Historians of the tenth century AH Ibn Iyas - Ibn al-Daya - Al-Suyuti - السخاوي
Historians of the century atheist century AH Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali - Haji Khalifa - محمد بن فضل الله المحبي
Historians of the twelfth century AH Muhammad bin Tayyib al-Qaderi - Al-Muradi
Historians of the thirteenth century AH Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti - Uthman bin Bashar - حمد بن لعبون
Historians of the fourteenth century AH Abd ul-Aziz al-Rashid - Ahmad Amin - محمود شكري الألوسي - Ismail Pasha al-Baghdadi...
Historians of the fifteenth century AH Hassan Mohammed Ali Zainabi - Walid El-athami

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