Great contributions of Revivalists in Islamic History

1. Traditionists (Muhaddithin) and Jurists (Fuqaha) of Islam During Abbasids Period

2. Abbasid dynasty was succor of Umayyads It had same worldly attitude of life It had hereditary and autocratic system It misused public funds Ruling class was submerged in luxury Non Arabs, however, came to have upper hand in the ruling class Land they ruled over became so vast that once Harun Al Rashid said to a cloud, “ Shower rain wherever you wish, part of its produce will come back to me.” Abbasids and their influence

3. Ibn Khaldoon (historian) writes that the annual income of the state exceeded seven million and one hundred fifty thousand Dinars Due to such excessive wealth, all kind of luxurious ways and means became available Musicians, poets, slave girls and actors from all over the world flocked into the capital Historians have given an account of Mamun’s marriage ceremony. It illustrates the wealth, opulence, pomp and pageantry surrounding the ruling class. Excess material wealth brought its evils

4. There were few inspired individuals who dedicated themselves to the Dawah, Tazkiyah, teaching and edification of Islamic sciences Their focus was to protect and fortify the spiritual content of the Ummah and to elucidate the teachings of Quran and Sunnah Their seminaries were islands of peace and tranquility in the ocean of materialism If the kings controlled the bodies, they influenced the souls of the masses Harun was once on an official visit of Raqqa. When Abdullah Ibn Mubarak went there, people flocked to him Few Daiyahs of Baghdad

5. SufyanThauri Fudhayl Ibn Ayadh Junaid Baghdadi MarufKarkhi BisharHafi Their moral rectitude, kind heatedness, sincerity, detachment from material interests, sacrifice for others had won hearts of Muslims and non Muslims alike. Countless Jews, Christians, Magians and Sabians came to Islam through observing their pristine Akhlaq Who were these saints and what did they achieve?

6. As the Muslim state expanded its borders to Asia, Africa and Spain, new questions and issues were faced by the leaders State stood urgently in need of satisfactory answers to these issues in the light of Sharia Any complacency on the part of Ulama would have produced confusion and chaos State could have turned to secular laws like the Muslim states of today with disastrous results Compilation of Hadith and FiqhTwo urgent needs of the Ummah

7. A large number of traditionists had memorized Hadith who were spread all over Sunnah provides minute record of 23 years of Prophet’s life after Risalah. It is transmitted by his companions Sunnah is a reservoir of guidance for moral uplift, infusing strength of Iman to fight evil It provides detailed guidance which provides answers to all questions related to life Collection and compilation of Hadith

8. Allah (SWT) provided this Ummah with hundreds of Hadith scholars with prodigious memory, intelligence, industry and enthusiasm A large number of them from non Arab lands set off extensive travels in quest of Hadith No other science can claim to have such devoted scholars who were so meticulous and trustworthy as the muhaddithin. Efforts of the Muhaddithin

9. Al Bukhari started his quest for Hadith knowledge at the age of 13 and travelled from Bukhara to Egypt Abu HathimRazi says he travelled 9000 miles on foot and then stopped counting miles Ibn Haiven of Spain travelled from N Africa, across Red Sea and then Yemen It was not uncommon in those days to travel from Andalusia to Khurasan for the sake of acquiring knowledge of Hadith from scholars Relentless search for Hadith

10. Not only did the muhaddithin collected and compiled Hadith, they also did extensive search about the narrators of Hadith They checked about their truthfulness, moral and spiritual excellence A detailed account about the lives of narrators came to light Hundreds of thousands of these narrators became known to the posterity This branch of knowledge is a living proof about the sense of responsibility, intellectual acumen and the lofty idealism of the muhaddithin. Science of Asma Al Rijaal or Biography of narrators of Hadith

11. Muhaddithin recorded the biographical accounts of the narrators They also recorded character, disposition, integrity, prudence, knowledge and memory of the narrators They recorded this data without any pariality, fear or favor There were rulers and commanders amongst the narrators but they were assigned the rank they deserved. Ma’adh was once offered 10,000 dinars to stay quite about reliability of a witness. He rejected this offer Carefulness and trustworthiness of Muhaddithin

12. Most muhaddithin had a strong retentive memory with ardent desire to acquire knowledge When Al Bukhari arrived in Baghdad scholars there tested his memory in a novel way. Ten scholars were selected to narrate Hadith to him with mixing the Sanad of one to the Matan of the other. After listening, Al Bukhari corrected each one of them from his memory. Retentive memory of the Muhaddithin

13. People flocked in thousands to the lectures of muhaddithin with avid desire to learn hadith It is reported that more than 70,000 people wound attend the lecture of Yazid Ibn Haroon in Baghdad Once it was estimated that there were 120000 people attending lecture of Asim Ibn Ali When Imam Muslim came to Baghdad and called meeting to dictate hadith. There were 40000 inkpots in that meeting. It is reported that 90000 people heard Sahih from Imam Bukhari Enthusiasm of the masses in listening Hadith

14. SahihBukhari Sahih Muslim Muwatta of Imam Malik (d 179 AH) Jam’e of Imam Tirmizi Sunan-i- Abu Dau’d by Abu Dau’dSijistani (d275 AH) Collection of Abu AbdurRahman an Nasai (d 303 AH) Collection of Abu Abdullah Mohammad Ibn Majah (d 273 AH) SihahSittah or Six most authentic books of Hadith

15. Codification of lslamic rules regulating public and private life was necessary Deduction of rules for giving decisions in legal matters were needed. Islam had expanded to far off lands and its impact on local customs habits led to different issues and questions which needed answers It required deep knowledge of the local conditions, penetrating intellect, with a command over Islamic law, Quran, Sunnah, history and lexicon of Arabs Compilation of Fiqh

16. Numan Ibn Thabit Abu Hanifa (d 150 AH) Abu Abdullah Malik Ibn Anas (d 179 AH) Mohammad Ibn IdreesShafei (d 204 AH) Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (d 241 AH) Four Jurists of Islam

17. Abu Hanifa elucidated 83000 juristic issues. Al Kurdari writes that total number of his legal opinions are 600,000. Malik Ibn Anas 36000 decisions are contained in the book Al Mudawwanah Al Shafe’I’s writings and lectures contained in Kitabul Umm runs into 7 volumes Ahmad Ibn Hanbal’s decisions were compiled by Abu BakrKhallal(d in 311 AH) in 40 volumes Extensive works by these Imams

18. Imam Abu Hanifa- 1- Abu Yusuf wrote KitabulKharaj 2- Mohammad 3- Zufar Imam Malik Abdullah Ibn Wahab, Abdul Rahman Ibn Qasim, Ashhab Ibn Abdul Aziz, Abdullah Ibn Abdul Hakim, Yahya Ibn Yahya, Al Laithi Imam Shafe’i-Buwaiti, Muzani, Rab’I Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal- Ibn Qudamah wrote Al Mughni Disciples of these four Imams

19. Provided a framework for Islamic ethical precepts in day to day affairs Protected them from intellectual confusion and social anarchy Founded Islamic legal system on firm ground Formulated its canons in such a way that it could always solve new problems confronting Ummah. Provide a pattern of behavior consistent with the spirit of Islam Advantages of Fiqh