In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
Summary of the book:
*Ramadan: Events and Lessons*.
The Death of Imam 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak.
The time: in the month of Ramadan,
in the year 181 AH.
A person may be renowned among people
for a single fine, commendable quality,
and become famous among them for that virtuous trait
whenever his share of it exceeds that of others.
Thus, some people are singled out for their knowledge and understanding,
others are renowned for asceticism and worship,
others are noted for military expedition and frontier-guarding (ribat),
others are known for generosity and abundant charity,
while others are recognized for their mastery of the Arabic language, poetry,
horsemanship, commerce, and the like.
But for all these traits to unite in a single person
is among the rarest of examples found in humankind.
Yet the bounty of Allah Almighty upon certain servants of His
may grant them all of this,
uniting in one person virtues that were scattered among many.
Though he may be a small body,
the entire world is enfolded within him.
Among the prime examples of such a personality, uniting all noble traits,
is Imam 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him.
His Name, Lineage, and Birth, may Allah have mercy on him:
He is 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak ibn Wadih,
Abu 'Abd al-Rahman,
al-Hanzali by clientage,
al-Turki, then al-Marwazi,
the Hafiz, the warrior, one of the eminent luminaries,
the Imam, Shaykh al-Islam,
the scholar of his era and the leader of the pious of his time.
His father was a Turk, a freedman belonging to a merchant of the Banu Hanzalah from the people of Hamadhan.
Whenever Ibn al-Mubarak visited it, he would treat the children of their patrons with kindness.
His mother was from Khwarazm.
He was born in the province of Khurasan, in Merv,
in the year 118 AH.
His Studies and Pursuit of Knowledge, may Allah have mercy on him:
Imam Ibn al-Mubarak was eager to acquire knowledge,
so he began seeking it when he was twenty years old.
We do not know the reason for his delay in doing so;
perhaps it was due to his family's circumstances.
Nevertheless, he acquired a vast amount of knowledge.
For what truly matters is not starting early in seeking knowledge or spending many years in it,
but rather the attainment of blessing and divine guidance.
Once Ibn al-Mubarak set foot upon the path of knowledge,
he exerted tremendous effort in acquiring it,
to the point that he surpassed everyone else.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal said:
"There was no one in his time who sought knowledge more eagerly than him.
He amassed a momentous body of learning;
no one made fewer errors than him.
He was a master of hadith and a Hafiz."
Ibn al-Mubarak said of himself:
"I received knowledge from four thousand shaykhs,
and I narrated from one thousand shaykhs."
His Knowledge, may Allah have mercy on him:
Imam Ibn al-Mubarak was among the foremost scholars,
whose deep-rooted grounding in knowledge was recognized by the scholarly community,
who bore witness to their lofty rank in acquiring, teaching, and practicing it,
and who praised him for this momentous trait,
which was merely one of his many virtues.
Abu 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-Barr said:
"The scholars are unanimously agreed on his acceptability, majesty, leadership, and integrity."
Ibn Ma'in said:
"'Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him,
was intelligent, scrupulously verifying, and trustworthy;
he was a scholar whose hadiths were authentic,
and his books from which he narrated
numbered twenty thousand or twenty-one thousand."
Ibn al-Mubarak regarded knowledge as the greatest of noble distinctions,
in the presence of which no other nobility is needed.
He said: "I marvel at someone who did not seek knowledge:
how could his soul ever prompt him toward any noble deed?"
He, may Allah have mercy on him, was passionate about reading,
fond of books,
finding his comfort and delight in sitting among them,
and seeing in his seclusion with them salvation from gatherings of backbiting
and assemblies where time is wasted.
Shaqiq al-Balkhi said:
"It was said to Ibn al-Mubarak:
'When you finish praying, why do you not sit with us?'
He replied: 'I sit with the Companions and the Tabi'un;
I look into their books and traditions.
What would I do with you?
You backbite people.'"
He, may Allah have mercy on him, did not study or memorize knowledge to outshine others
or to pursue any worldly gain;
rather, he sought it in order to act upon it.
Therefore, he was widely renowned for his devotion to worship and acting upon what he learned.
Nu'aym ibn Hammad said:
"I have never seen anyone wiser than Ibn al-Mubarak,
nor anyone more dedicated in worship."
Among the examples of his acting upon his knowledge
is what al-Hasan ibn 'Arafah related, saying:
"Ibn al-Mubarak said to me:
'I borrowed a pen in the land of the Levant,
and I set out intending to return it.
But when I reached Merv, I looked and found that it was still with me!
So I returned to the Levant just to hand it back to its owner.'"
This is the pinnacle of trustworthiness.
He was beloved among the people for his knowledge and his practice of it,
widely recognized among them;
whenever he arrived in a town, its people celebrated his arrival.
Once, Harun al-Rashid arrived in al-Raqqah,
and the crowds surged behind Ibn al-Mubarak;
sandals were broken and dust billowed into the air.
An umm walad of the Commander of the Believers looked out
from a tower of the wooden palace
and asked: "Who is this?"
They replied: "A scholar from the people of Khurasan has arrived."
She said: "By Allah, this is true kingship!
Not the kingship of Harun, who cannot gather the people
except with guards and helpers."
His Generosity, may Allah have mercy on him:
Generosity and magnanimity were among the most prominent virtues of Ibn al-Mubarak.
Among the facets of his generosity for which he was renowned
was honoring his companions and neighbors by covering their Hajj expenses.
Another facet of his generosity was paying off the debts of the indebted.
His generosity in this regard reached such a level
that a man once came to him
asking him to pay off a debt he owed.
So he wrote a letter for him to his financial agent.
When the letter reached him,
the agent asked the man:
"How much is the debt you asked him to pay?"
He replied: "Seven hundred dirhams."
But lo and behold, 'Abdullah had written instructing him to give the man seven thousand dirhams!
The agent wrote back to him, saying:
"The revenues have been exhausted."
So 'Abdullah wrote back to him:
"If the revenues have been exhausted,
one's lifespan is likewise being exhausted;
so disburse to him what my pen has already written."
It was as though he did not want to break the debtor's heart
or deprive him of the joy of that large sum.
His Jihad, may Allah have mercy on him:
'Abdah ibn Sulayman al-Marwazi said:
"We were in a raiding party with Ibn al-Mubarak in Byzantine territory,
and we encountered the enemy.
When the two battle lines met,
a man stepped out from the enemy ranks
and challenged someone to a duel.
A Muslim stepped out to face him, and the Byzantine killed him;
then another stepped out, and he killed him;
then another stepped out, and he killed him.
Then he called for a duel once again,
so a man stepped out against him,
fought him for an hour, then struck and killed him.
The people crowded around the victor,
so I looked closely,
and it was 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak,
who was covering his face with his sleeve.
I grabbed the edge of his sleeve and pulled it back,
and sure enough, it was him!
So he said:
'Are you, too, Abu 'Umar,
among those who expose us?'"
Such was his sincerity, may Allah have mercy on him.
His Uniting of Virtues
that were Scattered Among Others, may Allah have mercy on him:
After reviewing some of these virtuous traits
found in Imam Ibn al-Mubarak,
it becomes evident to us that this man
united praiseworthy qualities
that are rarely ever combined in anyone else.
For this reason, some early scholars of the past mentioned
several statements pointing to this very fact.
Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash said:
"There is no one on the face of the earth like Ibn al-Mubarak,
and I know of no noble trait that Allah created
except that He placed it in 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak."
Al-'Abbas ibn Mus'ab said:
"'Abdullah united hadith, fiqh,
Arabic, historical chronicles,
bravery, generosity,
commerce, and affection among all different factions."
His Death, may Allah have mercy on him:
After a praiseworthy life
that he spent in every good deed
which Allah bestowed upon him
and aided him to perform,
Abu 'Abd al-Rahman surrendered his soul to its Creator,
departing this worldly life.
And Allah left for him among later generations
an enduring, honorable reputation that flows with praise
and remembers him with supplication.
He passed away, may Allah have mercy on him, in Hit on the Euphrates,
while returning from an expedition against the Byzantines,
in Ramadan of the year 181 AH,
at the age of sixty-three.
When Ibn al-Mubarak was on his deathbed,
a man began prompting him, saying:
"Say: 'There is no god but Allah.'"
He repeated it excessively to him,
so Ibn al-Mubarak said to him:
"You are not doing it properly,
and I fear you might cause distress to a Muslim after me.
When you prompt me and I say: 'There is no god but Allah,'
and I do not utter any words after it,
then leave me be.
But if I speak any words after that,
then prompt me again, so that it may be my final words."
And this precious counsel
was the last advice he gave to the Ummah of Muhammad.
How magnificent a piece of counsel,
given in such a critical state!
Lessons from the life of 'Abdullah
ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him:
First:
"How excellent is lawful wealth for a righteous servant!"
And how beautiful is sacred knowledge
when paired with lawful wealth,
through which one preserves one's dignity from begging people,
uses it to aid in obeying Allah Almighty,
and supports one's companions in learning and teaching.
Second:
There is no good in knowledge if it is not accompanied by action.
Third:
Checking on the scholars
and fulfilling their needs is among the best of righteous deeds.
Fourth:
Sincerity in performing good deeds
is what elevates a person's standing
both with Allah and among the people.
Fifth:
Let a believer have an active, virtuous contribution
across multiple avenues of goodness
as much as one is able,
without restricting oneself to a single area
when one has the capacity to extend beyond it.
Ramadan: Events and Lessons.