Part of Ramadan events and lessons (series completed)
· Lesson 20 of 31
Ramadan events and lessons | Episode (20) | The death of Imam Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak
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Transcript
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In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
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Summary of the book:
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*Ramadan: Events and Lessons*.
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The Death of Imam 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak.
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The time: in the month of Ramadan,
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in the year 181 AH.
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A person may be renowned among people
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for a single fine, commendable quality,
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and become famous among them for that virtuous trait
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whenever his share of it exceeds that of others.
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Thus, some people are singled out for their knowledge and understanding,
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others are renowned for asceticism and worship,
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others are noted for military expedition and frontier-guarding (ribat),
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others are known for generosity and abundant charity,
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while others are recognized for their mastery of the Arabic language, poetry,
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horsemanship, commerce, and the like.
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But for all these traits to unite in a single person
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is among the rarest of examples found in humankind.
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Yet the bounty of Allah Almighty upon certain servants of His
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may grant them all of this,
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uniting in one person virtues that were scattered among many.
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Though he may be a small body,
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the entire world is enfolded within him.
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Among the prime examples of such a personality, uniting all noble traits,
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is Imam 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him.
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His Name, Lineage, and Birth, may Allah have mercy on him:
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He is 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak ibn Wadih,
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Abu 'Abd al-Rahman,
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al-Hanzali by clientage,
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al-Turki, then al-Marwazi,
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the Hafiz, the warrior, one of the eminent luminaries,
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the Imam, Shaykh al-Islam,
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the scholar of his era and the leader of the pious of his time.
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His father was a Turk, a freedman belonging to a merchant of the Banu Hanzalah from the people of Hamadhan.
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Whenever Ibn al-Mubarak visited it, he would treat the children of their patrons with kindness.
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His mother was from Khwarazm.
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He was born in the province of Khurasan, in Merv,
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in the year 118 AH.
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His Studies and Pursuit of Knowledge, may Allah have mercy on him:
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Imam Ibn al-Mubarak was eager to acquire knowledge,
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so he began seeking it when he was twenty years old.
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We do not know the reason for his delay in doing so;
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perhaps it was due to his family's circumstances.
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Nevertheless, he acquired a vast amount of knowledge.
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For what truly matters is not starting early in seeking knowledge or spending many years in it,
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but rather the attainment of blessing and divine guidance.
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Once Ibn al-Mubarak set foot upon the path of knowledge,
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he exerted tremendous effort in acquiring it,
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to the point that he surpassed everyone else.
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Ahmad ibn Hanbal said:
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"There was no one in his time who sought knowledge more eagerly than him.
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He amassed a momentous body of learning;
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no one made fewer errors than him.
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He was a master of hadith and a Hafiz."
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Ibn al-Mubarak said of himself:
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"I received knowledge from four thousand shaykhs,
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and I narrated from one thousand shaykhs."
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His Knowledge, may Allah have mercy on him:
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Imam Ibn al-Mubarak was among the foremost scholars,
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whose deep-rooted grounding in knowledge was recognized by the scholarly community,
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who bore witness to their lofty rank in acquiring, teaching, and practicing it,
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and who praised him for this momentous trait,
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which was merely one of his many virtues.
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Abu 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-Barr said:
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"The scholars are unanimously agreed on his acceptability, majesty, leadership, and integrity."
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Ibn Ma'in said:
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"'Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him,
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was intelligent, scrupulously verifying, and trustworthy;
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he was a scholar whose hadiths were authentic,
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and his books from which he narrated
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numbered twenty thousand or twenty-one thousand."
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Ibn al-Mubarak regarded knowledge as the greatest of noble distinctions,
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in the presence of which no other nobility is needed.
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He said: "I marvel at someone who did not seek knowledge:
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how could his soul ever prompt him toward any noble deed?"
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He, may Allah have mercy on him, was passionate about reading,
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fond of books,
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finding his comfort and delight in sitting among them,
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and seeing in his seclusion with them salvation from gatherings of backbiting
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and assemblies where time is wasted.
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Shaqiq al-Balkhi said:
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"It was said to Ibn al-Mubarak:
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'When you finish praying, why do you not sit with us?'
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He replied: 'I sit with the Companions and the Tabi'un;
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I look into their books and traditions.
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What would I do with you?
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You backbite people.'"
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He, may Allah have mercy on him, did not study or memorize knowledge to outshine others
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or to pursue any worldly gain;
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rather, he sought it in order to act upon it.
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Therefore, he was widely renowned for his devotion to worship and acting upon what he learned.
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Nu'aym ibn Hammad said:
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"I have never seen anyone wiser than Ibn al-Mubarak,
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nor anyone more dedicated in worship."
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Among the examples of his acting upon his knowledge
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is what al-Hasan ibn 'Arafah related, saying:
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"Ibn al-Mubarak said to me:
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'I borrowed a pen in the land of the Levant,
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and I set out intending to return it.
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But when I reached Merv, I looked and found that it was still with me!
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So I returned to the Levant just to hand it back to its owner.'"
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This is the pinnacle of trustworthiness.
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He was beloved among the people for his knowledge and his practice of it,
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widely recognized among them;
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whenever he arrived in a town, its people celebrated his arrival.
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Once, Harun al-Rashid arrived in al-Raqqah,
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and the crowds surged behind Ibn al-Mubarak;
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sandals were broken and dust billowed into the air.
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An umm walad of the Commander of the Believers looked out
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from a tower of the wooden palace
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and asked: "Who is this?"
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They replied: "A scholar from the people of Khurasan has arrived."
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She said: "By Allah, this is true kingship!
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Not the kingship of Harun, who cannot gather the people
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except with guards and helpers."
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His Generosity, may Allah have mercy on him:
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Generosity and magnanimity were among the most prominent virtues of Ibn al-Mubarak.
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Among the facets of his generosity for which he was renowned
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was honoring his companions and neighbors by covering their Hajj expenses.
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Another facet of his generosity was paying off the debts of the indebted.
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His generosity in this regard reached such a level
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that a man once came to him
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asking him to pay off a debt he owed.
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So he wrote a letter for him to his financial agent.
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When the letter reached him,
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the agent asked the man:
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"How much is the debt you asked him to pay?"
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He replied: "Seven hundred dirhams."
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But lo and behold, 'Abdullah had written instructing him to give the man seven thousand dirhams!
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The agent wrote back to him, saying:
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"The revenues have been exhausted."
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So 'Abdullah wrote back to him:
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"If the revenues have been exhausted,
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one's lifespan is likewise being exhausted;
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so disburse to him what my pen has already written."
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It was as though he did not want to break the debtor's heart
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or deprive him of the joy of that large sum.
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His Jihad, may Allah have mercy on him:
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'Abdah ibn Sulayman al-Marwazi said:
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"We were in a raiding party with Ibn al-Mubarak in Byzantine territory,
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and we encountered the enemy.
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When the two battle lines met,
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a man stepped out from the enemy ranks
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and challenged someone to a duel.
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A Muslim stepped out to face him, and the Byzantine killed him;
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then another stepped out, and he killed him;
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then another stepped out, and he killed him.
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Then he called for a duel once again,
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so a man stepped out against him,
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fought him for an hour, then struck and killed him.
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The people crowded around the victor,
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so I looked closely,
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and it was 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak,
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who was covering his face with his sleeve.
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I grabbed the edge of his sleeve and pulled it back,
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and sure enough, it was him!
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So he said:
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'Are you, too, Abu 'Umar,
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among those who expose us?'"
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Such was his sincerity, may Allah have mercy on him.
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His Uniting of Virtues
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that were Scattered Among Others, may Allah have mercy on him:
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After reviewing some of these virtuous traits
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found in Imam Ibn al-Mubarak,
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it becomes evident to us that this man
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united praiseworthy qualities
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that are rarely ever combined in anyone else.
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For this reason, some early scholars of the past mentioned
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several statements pointing to this very fact.
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Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash said:
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"There is no one on the face of the earth like Ibn al-Mubarak,
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and I know of no noble trait that Allah created
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except that He placed it in 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak."
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Al-'Abbas ibn Mus'ab said:
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"'Abdullah united hadith, fiqh,
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Arabic, historical chronicles,
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bravery, generosity,
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commerce, and affection among all different factions."
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His Death, may Allah have mercy on him:
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After a praiseworthy life
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that he spent in every good deed
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which Allah bestowed upon him
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and aided him to perform,
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Abu 'Abd al-Rahman surrendered his soul to its Creator,
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departing this worldly life.
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And Allah left for him among later generations
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an enduring, honorable reputation that flows with praise
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and remembers him with supplication.
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He passed away, may Allah have mercy on him, in Hit on the Euphrates,
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while returning from an expedition against the Byzantines,
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in Ramadan of the year 181 AH,
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at the age of sixty-three.
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When Ibn al-Mubarak was on his deathbed,
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a man began prompting him, saying:
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"Say: 'There is no god but Allah.'"
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He repeated it excessively to him,
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so Ibn al-Mubarak said to him:
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"You are not doing it properly,
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and I fear you might cause distress to a Muslim after me.
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When you prompt me and I say: 'There is no god but Allah,'
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and I do not utter any words after it,
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then leave me be.
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But if I speak any words after that,
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then prompt me again, so that it may be my final words."
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And this precious counsel
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was the last advice he gave to the Ummah of Muhammad.
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How magnificent a piece of counsel,
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given in such a critical state!
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Lessons from the life of 'Abdullah
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ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him:
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First:
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"How excellent is lawful wealth for a righteous servant!"
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And how beautiful is sacred knowledge
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when paired with lawful wealth,
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through which one preserves one's dignity from begging people,
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uses it to aid in obeying Allah Almighty,
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and supports one's companions in learning and teaching.
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Second:
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There is no good in knowledge if it is not accompanied by action.
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Third:
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Checking on the scholars
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and fulfilling their needs is among the best of righteous deeds.
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Fourth:
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Sincerity in performing good deeds
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is what elevates a person's standing
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both with Allah and among the people.
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Fifth:
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Let a believer have an active, virtuous contribution
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across multiple avenues of goodness
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as much as one is able,
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without restricting oneself to a single area
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when one has the capacity to extend beyond it.
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Ramadan: Events and Lessons.