al-Hafiz Abu Bakr Ahmed al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 H. in Nishapur)

[b Profil]

(d. 458 H. in Nishapur)

Imām, Ĥāfiž, Scholar, Jurist, Shaykh al-Islām Abū Bakr Aĥmed ibn al-Ĥusayn ibn Álī ibn Mūsā al-Khusrawjirdi, al-Khurāsānī was born in Shábān in the year 384 AH. Bayhaq is among the precincts of Nīshapūr at a distance of about 12 km [from Nīshāpūr] hence he is famous as Al-Bayhaqī.

He attended the class of Abu’l Ĥasan Muĥammad ibn al-Ĥusayn al-Álawī, the student of Abū Ĥāmid ibn ash-Sharqī since he was fifteen. He also reports extensively from Al-Ĥākim Abū Ábdullāh, the famous Ĥāfiž. He was a very intelligent, knowledgeable, wise, pious and a prolific author. He was a major Shāfiýī jurist and a prominent Ashárī theologian.

His prominent teachers:

1. Abū Ţāhir ibn Maĥmish az-Ziyādī, the jurist
2. Ábdullāh ibn Yūsuf al-Aşbahānī
3. Abū Álī ar-Rūdhbārī
4. Abū Ábd ar-Raĥmān as-Sullamī
5. Abū Bakr ibn al-Fūrak, the Theologian [al-mutakallim]
6. Ĥamzah ibn Ábd al-Ázīz al-Muhallabī
7. Abū Bakr al-Hayyiri, the Qāđī
8. Yaĥyā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Muzakkī
9. Abū Saýīd as-Şayrafī
10. Álī ibn Muĥammad ibn as-Saqqā
11. Abū Saýīd Aĥmed ibn Muĥammad al-Mālīnī, the Sufi
12. Abu’t Ţayyib as-Şálūkī
13. Hilāl al-Ĥaffār
14. Abu’l Ĥusayn ibn Bishrān

and scholars from Ţabaran, Nawqān, Baghdād, Makkah, Kūfah; and also among the companions of [Ĥātim] Al-Aşamm, the famous Sufi. As-Subki writes that he studied under more than hundred teachers.

His Works

He was granted munificence in his knowledge and he has written very beneficial books among which are:

1. Sunan al-Kabīr [The Greater Collection of Sunnah] in ten volumes which is his masterpiece. It is outstanding because nobody has compiled a book of ĥadīth like it in organization, classification and excellence.
2. Márifatu's Sunan wa’l Āthār [The Science of Hadith] in four volumes, which is a must read for every Shāfiýī jurist. Taqiyuddin Al-Subki says that Bayhaqi meant to demonstrate the expanse of Imām Shāfiýī’s knowledge of ĥadīth with this book.
3. Al-Asmā’a wa’s Şifāt [Divine Names and Attributes] in two volumes; Taj as-Subki says: ‘I haven’t seen anything like it.’ [It was published by Imam al-Kawthari, with his foreword and notes]
4. Kitāb al-Mútaqad [or Kitāb al-Iýtiqād] [Handbook of Creed]
5. Al-Báath [wa’n Nushūr] [Resurrection and Judgement Day ]
6. At-Targhīb wa’t Tarhīb [Encouragement to do good and Warning to abstain from evil]
7. Ad-Dáwāt al-Kabīr, a prayer book. [The Bigger Prayer Book]
8. Ad-Dáwāt as-Şaghīr [The Smaller Prayer Book]
9. Az-Zuhd [Asceticism]
10. Al-Khilāfiyyāt [The Differences] in three volumes on the differences of opinion among jurists. As-Subki writes that none except a master of both fiqh and ĥadīth can grasp it.
11. Al-Mabsuţ fī Nuşūş al-Shāfiýī [The Extensive: Documents used by Al-Shafiyi] in two volumes, the proofs of Shāfiýī madh’hab – the first book of its kind.
12. Dalāyil an-Nubuwwah [Proofs of Prophethood] in four volumes
13. As-Sunan as-Şaghīr [The Smaller Collection of Sunnah] as one big tome
14. Shuáb al-Īman [Branches of Faith] in two volumes
15. Al-Mad’khal ila’s Sunan [An Introduction to the Sunnah]
16. Al-Ādāb [The book of Etiquette]
17. Fađayil al-Awqāt [The excellence of certain specific times] in two slim volumes
18. Al-Arbaýīn al-Kubrā [The Greater Quadraginta] in two slim volumes
19. Al-Arbaýīn as-Şughrā [The Smaller Quadraginta]
20. Ar-Ru’yah [The Book of Dreams]21. Al-Asrā’a [The Book of Ascension]
22. Manāqib ash-Shāfiýī [Al-Shafiyi's Hagiography]
23. Manāqib Aĥmed [Hagiography of Ahmed ibn Hanbal]
24. Fađāyil as-Şaĥābah [The Superiority of the Companions]


Ĥāfiž Ábd al-Ghāfir ibn Ismāýīl says in his Tārīkh:
Bayhaqi was an exemplary scholar – content with little and adorned with austerity and scruplousness. He was a jurist, a Ĥāfiž, a master of principles [uşūlī], pious, scruplous in his religion, peerless and unequaled in his time, outstanding in his proficiency and rigorousness [in the sciences.] Though he was among the prominent students of Al-Ĥākim, he surpassed even his teacher [Al-Ĥakim] by mastering various other sciences. He copied Ĥadīth and memorized it from a very young age; he took to fiqh and mastered it. He traveled to Íraq, Al-Jibāl and Al-Ĥijāz and then took to writing. He wrote close to a thousand folios among which are pioneering works and many of them first of their kind. He was a master of both Ĥadīth and Fiqh; of justifications of Ĥadīth [ílal] and reconciliation of conflicting reports.

Many scholars requested him to relocate to Nishapur from Bayhaq in order to benefit from his books; he therefore shifted to Nishapur in the year 441 AH and began reciting his book Al-Márifah; many imāms attended the gathering.


Three Dreams

When Bayhaqi was writing his book Al-Márifah fi’s Sunan wa’l Āthār, a pious scholar Muĥammad ibn Aĥmed saw a dream in which Imām Shāfiýī was holding the book and he said: ‘Today, I have written seven folios from the jurist Aĥmed’s book.’

Another scholar saw Imām Shāfiýī in his dream sitting in the mosque and he said: “Today, I have availed from such and such Ĥadīth mentioned in the jurist’s [Aĥmed] book.”

Another jurist Muĥammad ibn Ábd al-Ázīz al-Marwaziy says: “I saw a chest suspended in the sky and light emanating from it. I asked: ‘What is this?’ I heard someone say: ‘These are the books of Aĥmed Al-Bayhaqi.”

All these three dreams are reported by Imām Bayhaqi’s son, Ismāýīl ibn al-Bayhaqi. Imām Dhahabī comments: “These are true dreams. Indeed, Ĥāfiž al-Bayhaqī’s books are of immense value and of great stature. Few can match the class or clarity of his writing. It is necessary for every scholar to acquaint himself with his books, mainly his Sunan Al-Kabīr.”

Abū’l Máālī Imām Al-Ĥaramayn al-Juwaynī said: “There is no Shāfiýī jurist who is not beholden to Imām Shāfiýī except Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqi; he has done a favor to Shāfiýī instead by writing books in support and verification of his madh’hab.”

Dhahabi comments: “Abū’l Máālī is right in making such a claim. And the truth is just as he has said it. Because, if Al-Bayhaqī wished to form his own madh’hab, he had the necessary qualities and mastery of the sciences; including a comprehensive knowledge of differing opinions.”

He passed away in Nishāpur on the 10th of Jumādā al-Ūlā, 458 AH (1066 CE). He was washed and placed in a casket and carried to Bayhaq [two days journey in that age] where he was buried. He was 74. May Allāh táālā have mercy on him and be well pleased with him.

Among his prominent students and those who narrate from him are:

1. Shaykh al-Islām Abū Ismāýīl al-Anşārī
2. his own son, Ismāýīl ibn Aĥmed al-Bayhaqī
3. his own grandson Úbaydullāh ibn Muĥammad ibn Aĥmed al-Bayhaqī
4. Ĥāfiž Abū Zakariyyah Yaĥyā ibn Mandah
5. Abū Ábdullāh Muĥammad ibn al-Fađl Al-Furāwī
6. Zāhir ibn Ţāhir ash-Shaĥāmiyy
7. Abu’l Máālī Muĥammad ibn Ismāýīl al-Fārisī
8. Abdu’l Jabbār ibn Abdu’l Wahhāb ad-Dah’hān
9. Abdu’l Jabbār ibn Muĥammad al-Khuwārī and his brother
10. Abdu’l Ĥamīd ibn Muĥammad al-Khuwārī
11. Abū Bakr Abdu’r Raĥmān ibn Ábdullāh ibn Abdu’r Raĥmān al-Buĥayrī an-Nīsābūrī

Dhahabī mentions a report through Imām Al-Bayhaqī:
Aĥmed ibn Hibatullāh told us:- that Zayn al-Umanā’a Al-Ĥasan ibn Muĥammad, Muĥammad ibn Abdu’l Wahhāb ash-Shirjī and Ibn Ghassān said:- Ĥāfiž Álī ibn al-Ĥasan told us:- Abu’l Qāsim al-Mustamlī told us:- Aĥmed ibn al-Ĥusayn al-Bayhaqī told us:- Ábdullāh ibn Yūsuf told us:- Ibn al-A’árābi told us:- Ibn Abi’d Dunyā narrated to us:- Abū Álī al-Madāyiniyy narrated to us:- Fiţr ibn Ĥammād ibn Wāqid narrated to us that my father narrated to me that: I heard Mālik ibn Dīnār say: “People say that Mālik is an ascetic! What kind of ascetic is he when he has a cloak and cloth? Úmar ibn Ábd al-Ázīz is a true ascetic, rather. Worldly wealth, pleasure and comfort came to him with a wide open mouth, and he turned away from it.” [atat’hu’d dunyā fāghiratan fāhan fa aárađa ánhā]

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Sources:
Dhahabī, Siyar Aálām an-Nubalā’a Entry:4318 [Vol.11, pg.457]
Ibn Kathīr, Al-Bidāyah wa’n Nihāyah Year:458 AH. [Vol.8/pg.222]
As-Subkī, Ţabaqāt ash-Shāfaýiyyah, The Fourth Generation, Entry: 251.

[b Profil]

Dr. Jibril Haddad
Damascus
http://www.sunnah.org/history/Scholars/imam_bayhaqi.htm

Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn `Ali ibn `Abd Allah ibn Musa, Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi al-Naysaburi al-Khusrawjirdi al-Shafi`i al-Ash`ari (384-458), “the jurisprudent imam, hadith master, authority in the foundations of doctrine (usuli), scrupulous and devoted ascetic, defender of the School both in its foundations and its branches, one of the mountains of Islamic knowledge.” He is known in the books of the scholars of Naysabur and his direct students as “al-faqih Ahmad.” He took fiqh from the imam Abu al-Fath Nasir ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Qurashi al-`Umari al-Marwazi al-Shafi`i al-Naysaburi (d. 444) among others.

Al-Bayhaqi belongs to the the third generation of Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash`ari’s students and took kalam from the two Ash`ari imams Ibn Furak and Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi. His oldest shaykh was the imam and hadith scholar of Khurasan al-Sayyid Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Dawud al-`Alawi al-Hasani al-Naysaburi al-Hasib (d. 401), who was also the shaykh of the hadith master al-Hakim al-Naysaburi. Al-Bayhaqi’s other shaykhs in hadith include the latter, whose foremost pupil he was; the hadith master Abu `Ali al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Rudhabari al-Tusi (d. 403); the Ash`ari imam in the foundations of doctrine Abu Bakr ibn Furak (d. 406); the imam, jurist, philologist, and hadith master of khurasan Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmish al-Ziyadi al-Shafi`i al-Naysaburi (d. 410); the Sufi master, Ash`ari imam, hadith master, and author of Tabat al-Sufiyya Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad, Abu `Abd al-Rahman al-Azdi al-Sulami (d. 411); Muhammad bin Hibat Allah al-Lalika’i’s teacher, Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Qattan al-Baghdadi (d. 415); and the Ash`ari imam, jurist, and hereseiologist Abu Mansur `Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi al-Shafi`i (d. 429).

It is noteworthy that neither al-Tirmidhi’s Sunan, nor al-Nasa’i’s, nor Ibn Majah’s were transmitted to al-Bayhaqi, as stated by al-Dhahabi and others. Al-Dhahabi said, “His sphere in hadith is not large, but Allah blessed him in his narrations for the excellence of his method in them and his sagacity and expertise in the subject-matters and narrators.”

His Ascetiscm

Al-Bayhaqi lived frugally in the manner of the pious scholars. He began fasting perpetually thirty years before his death. Perpetual fast (sawm al-dahr) is the practice of several of the Companions and Salaf such as Ibn `Umar, `Uthman, Abu Hanifa, al-Shafi`i, al-Tustari, al-Qurashi al-Zuhri, and others such as al-Nawawi. Ibn Hibban devoted a chapter of his Sahih to the subject in which he said, commenting the hadith of the Prophet (s): “Whoever fasts all his life has neither fasted nor broken his fast”:

He means: whoever fasts all his life including the days in which one was forbidden to fast, such as the days of tashriq and the two `Ids. By the words: ‘he has neither fasted nor broken his fast’ he means that he did not in fact fast all his life in order to reap reward for it. For he did not omit [the fasting of] the days in which he was forbidden to fast. That is why the Prophet (s) said, ‘Whoever fasts all his life, the Fire shall straiten him for this much,’ and he counted ninety on his fingers, meaning the days of his life which he was forbidden to fast. It does not apply to the person who fasts all his life – being strong enough to do so – without the prohibited days.

Imam al-Nawawi said on the topic:

Ibn `Umar fasted permanently, i.e. except the days of `Id and tashriq. This perpetual fast is his way and the way of his father, `Umar ibn al-Khattab, `A’isha, Abu Talha and others of the Salaf as well as al-Shafi`i and other scholars. Their position is that perpetual fasting is not disliked (makruh).

His work

Ibn Qudama states something similar in al-Mughni and adds that the same view is related from Ahmad and Malik, and that after the Prophet’s (s) death Abu Talha fasted permanently for forty years, among other Companions. Ibn Hajar al-Haytami in al-Khayrat al-Hisan similarly relates that Abu Hanifa was never seen eating except at night.

The works of al-Bayhaqi count among the treasures of Islamic knowledge for their meticulousness, reliability, and near-perfection in the estimation of the scholars. Among those which have been published are the following:

*
Al-Sunan al-Kubra (“The Major Work of the Prophet’s (s) Sunna”) in about ten large volumes, concerning which Ibn al-Subki waid: “No such book was ever compiled in the science with respect to classification, arrangement, and elegance,.”
*
Ma`arifa al-Sunan wa al-Athar (“The Knowledge of Sunnas and Reports”) in about twenty volumes, which lists the textual evidence of Shafi`i school under fiqh sub-headings. Ibn al-Subki said: “No Shafi`i jurist can do without it.” While his father said,: “He meant by the title: Al-Shafi`i’s Knowledge of the Sunnas and Reports.”
*
Bayan Khata Man Akhta`a `Ala al-Shafi`i (The Exposition of the Error of Those who have Attributed Error to al-Sahfi`i). This book complements the Sunan and the Ma`rifa in the presentation of the textual evidence of the Shafi`i school.
*
Al-Mabsut (The Expanded [Reference Book]), on Shafi`i Law.
*
Al-Asma’ wa al-Sifat (The Divine Names and Attributes), concerning which Ibn al-Subki said: “I do not know anything which compares with it.”
*
Al-I`tiqad `ala Madhhab al-Salaf Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a (Islamic Doctrines According to the School of the Predecessors Which is the School of the People of the Prophet’s (S) Way and Congretgatoin of His Companions) in about forty brief chapters.
*
Dala’il al-Nubuwwa (The Signs of Prophethood) in about seven volumes, the foremost large ook exclusively devoted to the person of the Prophet (s), as al-Qadi `Iyad’s al-Shifa’ fi Ma`rif Huquq al-Mustafa (The Healing concerning Knowledge of the Elect Prophet’s Rights) is the foremost condensed book on this noble subject.
*
Shu`ab al-Iman (The Brances of Belief) in about fourteen volumes, in which al-Bayhaqi provides an exhaustive textual commentary on the hadith of the Prophet (s) whereby, “Belief has seventy-odd branches.”
*
Al-Da`awat al-Kabir (The Major Book of Supplications) in two volumes, which arranges the narrations related to the subject by circumstance, like al-Nawawi’s al-Adhkar and al-Jazari’s similar book.
*
Al-Zuhd al-Kabir (The Major Book of Asceticism), which arranges the relevant narrations fo the Companions and early Sufis by subject-heading.
*
Al-Arb`un al-Sughra (The minor Colleciont of Forty Hadith), which is devoted to the purification of the self and the acquisition of high manners.
*
Al-Khilafiyyat (The Divergences [between al-Shafi`i and Abu Hanifa) of which Ibn al-Subki said: “No-one preceded him in writing a book of this kind, nor followed him in writing its like. It is an independent method in hadith science which is appreciated only by experts in both fiqh and hadith. It is precious for the texts it contains.
*
Fada’il al-Awqat (Times of Particular Merit [for worship]).
*
Manaqib al-Shafi`i (The Immense Merits of al-Shafi`i) in two volumes, which al-Nawawi said was the most reliable book on the merits of the Imam. Ibn al-Subki said: “Of al-I`tiqad, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa, Shu’ab al-Iman, Manaqib al-Shafi`i, and al-Da`awat al-Kabir, I swear that none of them has any peer.”
*
Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad (The The Immense Merits of Imam Ahmad).
*
Tarikh Hukama al-Islam (History of the Rulers of Islam), Etc.

The Ash`ari school

Ibn al-Subki relates that al-Bayhaqi considered the Prophet’s (s) references to Abu Musa al-Ash`ari’s people to include Abu al-Hasan al-Ash`ari and his school. Al-Bayhaqi said:

The Prophet (s) pointed to Abu Musa al-Ash`ari in relation to the verse: “Allah will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him” (5:54) saying: “They are that man’s people,” due to the tremendous merit and noble rank attributed by this hadith to the imam Abu al-Hasan al-Asha`ri. For he is part of Abu Musa’s people and one of his children who have received knowledge and were granted discernment, and he was singled out for strengthening the Sunna and repressing innovation by producing clear proofs and dispelling doubts. It is most likely that the Prophet (s) named Abu Musa’s people a people beloved by Allah because he knew the soundness of their religion and the strength of their belief. Therefore, whoever leans towards them in the sciences of the foundations of Religion and follows their position in disowning tashbih while adhering to the Book and the Sunna, is one of their number.

Al-Bayhaqi is the last of those who comprehensively compiled the textual evidence of the Shafi`i school including the hadith, the positions of the Imam and his immediate companions. Imam al-Haramayn said: “There is no Shafi`i except he owes a hurge debt to al-Shafi`i, except al-Bayhaqi, to who al-Shafi`i owes a huge for his works which imposed al-Shafi`i’s school and his sayings.” Al-Dhahabi comments: “Abu al-Ma`ali is right! It is as he said, and if al-Bayhaqi had wanted to found a school of Law for himself he woul dhave been able to do so, due to the vastness of his sciences and his thorough knowledge fo juridical differences.” Among al-Shafi`i’s legal positions reported by al-Bayhaqi is the following in his book Fafa’il al-Awqat.

.