KHUTAB V: 17. ABDULLAH IBN ‘ABBᾹS (2)

17. ABDULLAH IBN ‘ABBᾹS (2)

            Ibn ‘Abbās, as an eminent scholar in various branches of Islamic knowledge is reflected in the following story: 

The rulers of Rome once sent a letter to Mu’āwiyah containing a number of questions. He asked Abdullah Ibn Abbās to give the answers.  The questions and his answers are as follows:

Q.:  Which are the five phrases most loved by Allah?

A.: 1. La ilāha illallāh (“there is no god but Allah”), as the action is only accepted by Allah if it is accompanied with īmān (faith in tawḥīd, the oneness of Allah). 2. Subḥānallāh (“Glory to Allah”), as it is the salutation of Allah’s creature to Him. 3. Al-ḥamdu lillāh (“praise be to Allah”), as an expression of praise and appreciation. 4. Allāhu Akbar (“Allah is Great” or “Allah is the Greatest”) cited many times during the performance of the prayer: when the prayer is started, when bowing and prostrating. 5. Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh (“There is no power and no strength save in Allah”).

Q.:  Which man and woman were the most esteemed servants of Allah?

A.:  Adam a.s. was the most esteemed man, as he was created by Allah with His own hands, and taught the names of things by Him. The most esteemed among women was Maryam (Mary) the daughter of ‘Imrān, because she guarded her chastity.

Q. : What four things had souls but never in the wombs of mothers?

A.: Adam a.s., Ḥawwā’ (Eve), the staff of Prophet Mῡsā (Moses) a.s. which turned into a serpent, and the ram brought to be sacrificed as substitute of Ismā’īl (Ishmael) a.s.

Q.: Which grave that moved around with its inmate?

A.: The fish that swallowed Prophet Yūnus (Jonah) a.s.

Q.:  Which portion of the earth was exposed to the sun only once?

A. The portion of the sea which split open for the Banu Isra’il to pass through.

Q.  What is the status of the Milky Way?

A. The Milky Way is the one of the doors of the sky.

Q. What is the origin of the rainbow?

A. It is a sign showing that after the people of Nuh (Noah) a.s, no other nation would be destroyed by being drowned in a similar manner.

One day Nāfi‘ bin al-Azraq and Najdah ibn ‘Uwaymir went with a group of leaders of Khawarij people seeking knowledge until they reached Makkah. Suddenly they saw Abdullah ibn ‘Abbās sitting beside the well of Zamzam, wearing a red cloak and a white shirt. They saw people standing and asking him questions on the tafsīr (interpretation, commentary) of the Qur’ān. They asked, “O Ibn ‘Abbās, what do you say about such-and-such, and he answered, such-and-such.”

          Nāfi‘ bin al-Azraq said to him: “How dare you, O Ibn ‘Abbās , to say what you have said…! [meaning, giving interpretation of the  Qur’ān]”.

“May your mother bereave you, O Nāfi‘,” answered Ibn ‘Abbās . [ ثَكِلَتْكَ أُمُّكَ , was a common expression of disappointment towards someone among the Arabs in the past, i.e., “may you die”  a prayer but not wished to happen]. “Would you like me to tell you about a person who is darer, bolder than me?”

“Who is he, O Ibn ‘Abbās?” asked Nāfi‘

“A man who talks about something which he has no knowledge of it, or a man who conceals a knowledge he knows,” answered Ibn ‘Abbās .

  Ibn ‘Abbās  himself narrated,

  قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنْ قَالَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ

فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنْ النَّارِ  (رواه أحمد)

The Messenger of Allah said: “Whoever says (something) about

the  Qur’ān without (proper) knowledge, should prepare his

seat in the Hellfire.’ (Reported by  . Aḥmad)

Allah Himself threatens those who conceal the truth with punishment. He says:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْتُمُونَ مَا أَنْزَلْنَا مِنَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَالْهُدَى مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا بَيَّنَّاهُ لِلنَّاسِ

فِي الْكِتَابِ أُولَئِكَ يَلْعَنُهُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَلْعَنُهُمُ اللاعِنُونَ (الْبَقَرَة: 159)  .

Verily, those who conceal the clear proofs,

 EvidencesAnd the guidance, which We have

 sent down, after We have made it clear

 for the people in the Book, they are the

 ones cursed by Allah and cursed

 by the cursers. (Q. 2:159)

He also says:

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ

وَلا تَكْتُمُونَهُ... (آل عمرَان: 187)

And (remember) when Allah took a covenant

 from those who were given the Scripture (Jews

 and Christians) to make it )the news of (the coming

 of Prophet Muḥammad and the religious knowledge)

 known and clear to mankind, and

 not to hide it…(Q. 3:187)

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet s.a.w. said:

مَنْ سُئِلَ عَنْ عِلْمٍ يَعْلَمُهُ فَكَتَمَهُ، أُلْجِمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِلِجَامٍ مِنْ نَارٍ». حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ

Whoever is asked knowledge which he knows

then he concealed it, a bridle of fire would be

put on him in the Judgment Day.”

However, the Prophet explained that the knowledge intended here is the important one dealing with religion and the application of the shari’ah. For example, if someone asks us about alcohol in Islam, and we know it is ḥarām (prohibited) then we keep silent. Not something unimportant, or something which we have to keep secret, which would be dangerous to reveal to the questioner. So, when Ibn ‘Abbās meant that he did nothing wrong in explaining the meanings of difficult verses of the  Qur’ān, Nāfi‘ said: 

“You are right, but I come to ask you”

“Ask me,” said Ibn ‘Abbās .

          Nāfi‘ asked Ibn ‘Abbās  the meanings of 287 difficult words in the  Qur’ān, and to refer them to the poetry.  These questions and answered were collected in a form of a book entitled Masā’il  Nāfi‘ bin al-Azraq (“Nāfi‘ bin al-Azraq’s Questions”)

Some examples of these questions are as follows:

Nāfi‘ : Tell me about the verse 

مَا لَكُمْ لَا تَرْجُونَ لِلَّهِ وَقَارًا  (نوح : ١٣)

What is the matter with you that you do not

 fear Allah’s majesty.  (Q. 71:13).

Ibn ‘Abbās , said: … “[What is the matter with you that] you are not afraid of the majesty of your Lord”

“Did the Arabs know it?”, asked Nāfi‘.

“Yes,” said Ibn ‘Abbās, “haven’t you heard Abū Dhu’ayb al-Hudhalī ( d. ca. 28/649), said in his poem,

إذا لَسَعَتْهُ النّحْلُ لمَ يَرْجُ لَسْعَهاَ *  وَخَالفَهَا فَي بَيْتِ نُوْبٍ عَوَاسِلُ

 If the bees sting him he will not be afraid

 [will not care], as it will be compensated

 with honey in the place of misfortune (i.e.,

 the stings of bees in the bee hive).”

 [Masā’il, p. 38]

The term rajā’ means “to hope, to expect”; as a noun it means “hope, expectation”. The Arab woman called Rajā’ is equivalent to the Italian one called Speranza. But in verses like the one mentioned earlier, the term rajā’ is translated not as “hope”, but as “fear”. It will be unreasonable that if you take the honey from the beehive, that you would not expect the bees to attack and sting you. What is reasonable is that you do not fear, or do not care, of the attack of the bees.   

Classical mufassirīn (commentators of the  Qur’ān), such as al-Ṭabarī, and Ibn Kathir, both followed the interpretation of Ibn ‘Abbās  in such verses. Al-Qurṭubī and al-Ṭabarsī, also followed Ibn ‘Abbās’s interpretation, but they also used “not fearing Allah’s punishment” instead of “… Allah’s Majesty.” This term has been dealt with in my early khutbah (2007) entitled Problems in Translating the  Qur’ān in Selected Khutab Vol. 3, no. 31

Another example is that Nāfi‘ asked Ibn ‘Abbās  the meaning of yaḥūra in the verse:  إِنَّه ظَنّ أَنْ لَنْ يَحُوْرَ (الإنشقاق:14) “Verily, he thought that he would never come back (to Us)” (Q. 84:14). Ibn ‘Abbās  said that it means “that they would never come back”, and cited the poem of Labīd bin Rabī‘ah, as follows:

وَمَا المَرْءُ إِلاَّ كَالشِّهَابِ وَ ضَوْءِهِ  *  يَحُوْرُ رَمَاداً بَعْدَ إِذْ هُوَ سَاطِعُ

Man is only like the shooting star and its light,

it returned  ashes after shining.

It is said that the term itself is originally from the Ethiopian language adopted into Arabic language. [Masā’il, p. 55]

The Qur’ānic commentators al-Qurṭubī and Ibn Kathīr followed Ibn ‘Abbās’s interpretation in this verse. Al-Ṭabarī translates it “he would never be raised” instead of “he would never return (to Us)”.

These two examples are just two out of 287 difficult words in the Qur’ān explained by Ibn ‘Abbās  to Nāfi‘ citing as evidence from classical Arabic poetry. Were Nāfi‘ bin al-Azraq asked more questions Ibn ‘Abbās would have given him more answers. This indicates his deep knowledge of Arabic poetry. This also indicates the importance of Arabic poetry in understanding difficult words of the Qur’ān. (CIVIC, 31.05.13)

Bibliography:

Al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah

Dr. Muḥammad Aḥmad al-Dālī (ed.), Masā’il Nāfi‘ bin al-Azraq. Cyprus: Yaffan & al-Jafi, 1992.

http://www.thecompanions.info/2012/03/the-great-mufassir-abdullah-ibn-abbas-%d8%b1%d8%b6%d9%8a-d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d9%87-%d8%b9%d9%86%d9%87/