Poonawala (Ismail K.)_A Reconsideration of al-Qāḍī al-Nu‘mān's “Madhhab»

7/27/2019 Poonawala (Ismail K.)_A Reconsideration of al-Q al-Numn's Madhhab

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A Reconsideration of al-Q al-Nu'mn's "Madhhab"

Author(s): Ismail K. PoonawalaSource: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 37,No. 3 (1974), pp. 572-579Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/613800 .

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A RECONSIDERATION OF AL-QADI AL-NU'MAN'SMADHHABBy ISMAIL K. POONAWALA

It has been generally accepted by modern scholars that al-Q&dial-Nu'manwas in the beginning either a Maliki or a Hanafi and that he subsequentlybecame an Imami and finally adopted the Isma'ili faith. The Imami savants,from al-Q&diNfir Allah Shiishtari to Agha Buzurg-i Tihrani, maintain thatal-Qadial-Nu'man was one of their co-religionists. Isma'ilis, on the other hand,regardhim as one of the pillars of their da'wa. In the light of recently discoveredsources and of the consequent revaluation and reinterpretationof earlierworks,a re-examination of the question of al-Q.di al-Nu'man's madhhab becomesnecessary. The present article attempts to do precisely that, and show how andwhen the theory of al-Qadi al-Nu'man's conversion originated.First, we shall examine the Imami sources.1 It is reportedby the authors ofMustadrak al-wasd'il 2 and Fawt'id al-Ridawiya 3 that Muhammad b. 'Allal-Karajaki (d. 449/1057),4 a pupil of Abfi Ja'far al-TfisI and al-Sayyid al-Murtada, made compendiums of al-Q&dial-Nu'man's Da'd'im al-Isldm andSharh al-akhbdr. This report indicates how early some works of al-Qadi al-Nu'man were known among certain Imami groups. Both the aforementionedworksand al-Mandqibwa'l-mathalib,which becamepopularamongthe Imamis,have all the essential Shi'ite features. Moreover, these works of al-Qadial-Nu'man and those of his two contemporaries,al-Kulayni (d. 329/941) andIbn Babawayhi (d. 381/991-2), are among the early Shi'ite contributions tofiqh and mandqib. Hence it is not surprising that those works of al-Qadial-Nu'man were accepted by some Imami circles.However, the early Imami bio-bibliographers, such as al-Najashi (d.450/1058) 5 and al-Tfisi (d. 460/1067),6 do not mention al-Qadi al-Nu'man.Perhaps, either they were not acquainted with the works of al-Qadial-Nu'man,or the latter had not yet acquired an Imami stamp. Ibn Shahrashiib (d.588/1192) was probably the first Imami author to include al-Q&dial-Nu'manin his bibliography.7 He mentions with appreciation some works of al-Q&dial-Nu'man, such as Sharhal-akhbdr8and al-Mandqibwa 'l-mathalib,but, at thesame time, asserts that the author is not an Imami. This assertion supports the

1 For the detailed description of the sources, cf. I. K. Poonawala, ' Al-QAdial-Nu'min's worksand the sources', BSOAS, xxxvI, 1, 1973, 109-15.2 Mirz Husayn al-Nuiri,Mustadrakal-wasa'il, Tehran, 1318-21/1900-3, IIi, 319.3 'Abbis Qummi, Fawd'id al-Ridawiya, Tehran, 1327/1948-9, II, 572.4He is said to have spent several years in Cairoduring the second decade of the fifth/eleventhcentury, cf. Muhammad al-Baqir al-Khwinsdri, Rawddt al-janndt, Tehran, 1367/1948, 552-3.5Ahmad b. 'Ali al-Najdshi, Kitdb al-rijSl, Tehran, n.d.6 AbTiJa'far Muhammad al-Tfisi, Rijdl al-TIsF, Najaf, 1961; idem,al-Fihrist, ed. MuhammadSddiq, Najaf, 1960.7 Ibn Shahrdshilb, Ma'Slim al-'ulamd', ed. 'Abbis Iqb&l,Tehran, 1353/1934, 113.8 Ibn Shahrdshiib states that Sharhal-akhbdrdeals with the fa4d'il of the Imims until Ja'faral-Sadiq. Thus, it seems that the later parts of the book (parts xiv-xvI, cf. Ismi'il b. 'Abd

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A RECONSIDERATION OF AL-QADI)AL-NU'MAN'S MADHHAB 573assumption that some Imdmi circles did consider al-Q&dial-Nu'mdn to be anImami.

The Isma'ili movement, from its beginning, seems to have drawn a certainnumber of Imamis into its fold. Some of the outstanding Isma'll d&'is,forexample Munsfiral-Yaman,9 'Ali b. al-Fadl,10 Abfi 'Abdallah al-Shi'i,11andHIasan-iSabbh,12 were first Imamis; subsequently they were converted andrecruitedby the Isma'ili da'wa., With the decline of the Bfiyids in Baghdad andtheir ensuing fall, Fatimid Cairoproved to be a refuge for Shi'ites; and manyImdmis were attracted to this new centre. The existence of a large number ofImamis in the Fatimid capital is attested to by the proclamation of the Imamifaith as the officialcreed of the Fatimid empireby Abfi 'Ali Ahmad (nicknamedKutayfat) b. Afdal, the grandson of Badr al-Jamali, in the year 524/1129-30,and the appointment of an Imami qd~4 along with three others.13 It is notimprobable, therefore, that such a group of Imdmis might have been instru-mental in introducing al-Qadi al-Nu'man's works to the Imami circles and alsoin giving him an Imami character.For the period under discussion no Imami source is known that specificallyasserts that al-Q.di al-Nu'man was an Imami. However, the situation changesdramatically in the later period, as most of the Imami divines now unequivocallyvouch for al-Q&dial-Nu'man's being a strict Imami. Al-Qadi Nfir AllahShfishtari (d. 1019/1610) was probably the first Imami divine to state that al-Qadi al-Nu'man was at first a Malikiand then became an Imam.l14 The sourceal-Rasfil al-Majdii', Fihrist, ed. A. Munzavi, Tehran, 1966, 69-72) dealing with Ismi'il b. Ja'farand his son Mulhammad, he hidden Imams, he good tidings about the appearance of al-Mahdi,etc., were probably removed from it. The copy of this book in the possession of Mirza Husaynal-Niiri (Mustadrakal-wasi'il, III, 321) and now deposited in the central library, University ofTehran (A. Munzavi and M. T. Ddnish-pazhtih (comp.), Fihrist-i kitabkhana-i markazi-iDinishgdh-i Tihrin, Tehran, 1330/1951-2-1340/1961-2, v, 1365-74) also does not contain thelater parts.9Al-Qddi al-Nu'min, Iftith. al-da'wa, ed. Wadid al-Qddi, Beirut, 1970, 33; H. F. Hamdini,al-Sulayhfyiin, Cairo, 1955, 30.10Muhammad b. Milik al-Hammddi, Kashf asrdr al-BSitiniya, ed. 'Izzat al-'Attir, Cairo,1939, 21; al-BahA' al-Janadi, al-Sultk in H. C. Kay (ed. and tr.), Yaman, its early mediaevalhistory, London, 1892, Arabic, 139.11Ibn Khaldfin, TdrikhIbn Khaldfn, Beirut, 1956-9, Iv, 65; Hasan IbrdhimH.

asan, Tdrikhal-dawla al-Fctimiya, Cairo, 1958, 47.12 'Ati Malik al-Juwayni, Tdrikh-iJahangush&, d. Mirz&Muhammad Qazvini (GibbMemorialSeries, xvi, 1-3), Leiden, 1912-37, III, 188; IHamdAllh Mustawfi, Tdrikh-i Guzida,ed. 'Abd al-

.IIFusaynNavd'i, Tehran, 1339/1960-1,518.13 He himself was an Imgmi and remained in power for a little over one year and with hisassassination on 16 Muharram 526/1131 the Imgmi faith was reversed. Ibn Muyassar, AkhbdrMisr, ed. Henri Masse, Cairo, 1919, 74-5; Ibn Khallikin, Wafayit al-a'yin, ed. M. Muhy al-Din,

Cairo, 1948, IT, 400-1; al-Maqrizi, al-Khitat, Baghdid, 1970 (offset print of B5il1q edition),II, 17.Ibn Taghribirdi, on the contrary, states that Abfi 'Ali Ahmad was a Sunnite; however, hebelieved in the doctrine of al-Imdm al-muntagar,cf. al-Nujiim al-zdhira, Cairo, 1929-56, v, 239.Cf. also S. M. Stern, 'The succession to the Fatimid Imam al-Amir', Oriens,Iv, 2, 1951, 193-255; Jamil al-Din al-Shayyil, Majmi'at al-watha'iqal-Fdtimiya, Cairo, 1958, 89-92; 'Abd al-Mun'im Mijid, Zuhfr khildfatal-Fdtimfyin, Cairo, 1968, 426-7.14Shiishtari, Majalis al-mu'minin, Tehran, 1375-6/1956-7, I, 538-9.



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574 ISMAIL K. POONAWALAof his information, as stated by him, is Ibn Khallikdn's (d. 681/1282) Wafaydtal-a'ydn. In his assumption Shfishtari was followed by Mirz&Muhammadal-Astardbadi (d. 1029/1619)15 and Muhammad b. al-HIasanal-Hurr al-'Amili(d. 1104/1692).16

Muhammadal-Bdqir al-Majlisi (d. 1111/1699) used both Da'd'im al-Isldmand al-Manaqibwa 'l-mathalibas sources for his magnumopus, Bih~r al-anwar.17Refuting the claim that Da'a'im al-Isldm was written by al-Shaykh al-Sadflq,he states:'Al-QAdi al-Nu'man was at first a Maliki, then he was led to the right pathand became an Imdmi. Most of the traditions reported by him in Da'd'imal-Isldm are in conformity with the ones found in our celebrated books. Hedid not, however, report from any Imim later than al-.Sdiq because of hisfear of the Ism'lili caliphs. He thus reported the truth by practisingtaqiya '. 1

Al-Sarawi,19 on the other hand, expresses a different opinion. He states:'Al-QAdi al-Nu'mdn wrote commendable works on the Imdmate andfadJ'il of the Imdms; however, he was not an Imami. It is also true thatmost of the traditionsreportedin Da'a'im al-Isldm arein accordancewith theones found in the celebrated books of our savants, yet in some cases, such asthe mut'a marriage, he did contravene the legal views held by our jurists.It was for these reasons that the author of Wasa'il al-Shi'a excludedDa'd'im al-Isldm from his list of authoritative works '.20Muhammad al-Mahdi Bahr al-'Ulfim al-Tabdtaba'i, generally known asSayyid al-td'ifa (d. 1212/1797),21 is in accord with al-Majlisi,while Muhammad

al-BAqiral-Khwansari(d. 1313/1895) 22 agrees with Ibn Shahrashiibin denyingthat al-QAdi al-Nu'man was an Imdmi. Conversely, Mirza HIusaynal-Ninri(d. 1330/1912), a contemporaryof al-Khwdnsrli,vehemently maintains that al-Qadi al-Nu'mdn was an Imam.I23 Enumerating both Da'd'im al-Isldm andSharhal-akhbdr s sourcesfor his voluminous work Mustadrakal-wasd'il, al-Ninridevotes 10 pages to an interesting polemic as to whether al-QAdial-Nu'mdnwas an Imami or an Isma'ili. In orderto support his contention that the latter

15Al-Astardbddi, Manhaj al-nuwqdl,Tehran, 1307/1890, 512.16Al-Hurr al-'Amili, Amal al-dmil, ed. Ahmad al-Husayni, Baghdid, 1385/1956, II, 335.17AI-Majlisi,Bi4cr al-anwdr, Tehran, 1376/1956-7, I, 20.18ibid., I, 38-9.19Unfortunately, al-Niri does not give his full name, hence I am unable to identify him. Hemight be the same as Sulaymin b. 'Abdallih al-Buhrini al-Sarawi (d. 1121/1709), listed by al-KhwInsiri, op. cit., 303-5.20 Al-Nuiri, op. cit., III, 314.21 Al-Tabdtabi'i, Rijjl al-Sayyid Babr al-'Ulfim, ed. Muhammad and IHusayn Bahr al-'Ultim,Najaf, 1385-6/1965-7, Iv, 5-14. Hasan b. 'Ali Yazdi (d. 1297/1880) quotes both al-Majlisi andIbn Shahrdshfib regarding al-Qdi al-Nu'mdn's madhhab, cf. Hiddyat al-asmi' ft bayn ikutubal-'ulamd', ed. Dinish-pazhfih in Bulletin de la BibliothuqueCentralede l'Universit' de Tehran,vi, 1348/1969-70, 15.22 A-1.Khwinsgri, op. cit., 727-8.23 Al-Nuiri, op. cit., III, 291, 313-22. In his NasIm-i bahdr! dar a4hwl-i Haklm-i Nizdrf,Mashhad, 1344/1965, 7-8, Murtadi Mujtahidzida agrees with al-Nilri that al-Qldi al-Nu'mAnwas an Imimi.



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A RECONSIDERATIONF AL-QAPIAL-NU'MAN'SMADHHAB 575was an Imami, he presents various arguments. First, he cites all earlier Imdmiauthors who made use of al-Q!i al-Nu'min's works, the implication being thatthose authors considered him an Imami. Next, he enumerates the authoritieswho pronounced al-Qadi al-Nu'man an Imami. Then he gives a summary ofthe Isma'ili/Batini doctrines taken from anti-Isma'ill sources. It is followed bylengthy quotations from Da'a'im al-Islsm regardingthe position of the Imams.[The tone of the Da'&'im,being a Zhiri work, is moderate.] Al-Nfri thusdeduces that al-Qadial-Nu'man had nothing in common with the Batiniya, whoheld extremist doctrines about the Imams. Al-Qadi al-Nu'man's silence aboutthe names of the hidden Imams (in the Da'd'im), after Ja'far al-Sadiq, is takenas another example to prove that he was not an Isma'ill. Finally, the argumentsof al-Sarawi are refuted one by one at great length.24'Abbas Qummi, writing in the year 1332/1913, considersal-Qadi al-Nu'manan eminent Imami pundit.25 Yet Agha Buzurg-i Tihrani, another modernImami scholar, who is acquainted with the writings of W. Ivanow andMuhammadKamil Husayn, not only maintains that al-Qdi al-Nu'man was anImami, but goes a step further to state:' It is true that al-Q&lial-Nu'man, because of his fear of the Isma'ili caliphswhom he served, did not narrate traditions explicitly from any Imam laterthan Ja'far

al-.Sdiq.However, he did it implicitly with indirect allusions-

the kunya Abfi 'l-.IHasanimplied Imam al-Rida while the kunya Abit Ja'farimplied Imam al-Jawd '.26Finally, al-Qadi al-Nu'man is included by Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin (d. 1952)in his A'ydn al-Shi'a.27The foregoing survey clearly indicates that the assumption that al-Qh1dal-Nu'min was an Imami, held by most of the later Imami savants, was basedon Ibn Khallikan's statement. Let us, then, turn to the theory of al-Q&dial-Nu'man's conversion stated by Ibn Khallikdn himself. According to him,al-Qadial-Nu'min was at first a Malikiand then became an ' Imami ' and wroteseveral works for the Fatimids.28 Unfortunately, A. A. A. Fyzee erroneouslytakes the above statement to imply that al-Qadi al-Nu'man, after having em-braced the Imami faith, was converted to the Isma'ili faith.29 Hence allmodern scholars of Isma'ilism, such as W. Ivanow,30 Muhammad KamilHusayn,32and R. Strothmann,32have been misled by Fyzee. The question now

24 The importance of this discussion seems to have escaped A. A. A. Fyzee, cf. ' Qddi an-Nu'min : the Fatimid jurist and author ', JRAS, 1934, pt. 1, 5.25 Qummi, op. cit., 11,693-4.28 Agh! Buzurg, al-Dharf'a ild tas.nif al-Shf'a, Najaf and Tehran, 1355-90/1936-70, I, 60.27 Al-Amin, A'yin al-Shi'a, Beirut, 1960-, L, 13-15.28Ibn Khallikin, op. cit., v, 48; cf. also C. H. Becker, Beitriigezur GeschichtekAgyptens nterdem Islam, Strassburg, 1902, 11.29 Fyzee, op. cit., 8.30 W. Ivanow, A guide to Ismaili literature, London, 1933, 37; idem, Ismaili literature,Tehran, 1963, 32.31M. Kimil Husayn, Fi adab Misr al-Feltimiya, Cairo, 1950, 43; al-Q&di al-Nu'mdn, Kitlbal-himma, ed. M. Kimil I.Iusayn, Cairo, n.d., 6.32 R. Strothmann,' Recht der Ismailiten ', Der Islam, xxxT, 2-3, 1954, 131.



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576 ISMAIL . POONAWALAarises: from what sources did Ibn Khallikin derive his information ? In allprobability, neither fromIbn Zfillq (d. 387/997) noral-Musabbihi(d. 420/1029).Perhaps the statement about al-Qadial-Nu'man'sconversion aroseas a result ofmisapprehensionover the identity of the person who was converted. It wasal-Qadi al-Nu'mdn's father, as we shall see later, who was converted from theMaliki school to the Isma'ill faith. The error,therefore, might have originatedeither with Ibn Khallikan or from the source of his information.

Before we proceedfurther, the term ' Imami ' itself as used by Ibn Khallikanneeds some clarification. Both the Imami authors, Sa'd b. 'Abdallhhal-Ash'ari(d. 301/913) 33and Hasan b. Mfisaal-Nawbakhti (d. c. 310/922),34use this termfor the Twelvers. The eleventh Imam, I.Iasan al-'Askari, died in 260/874,without leaving any male offspring. His followers split into 14 or 15 groupsdiffering widely about the latter's succession. The Twelvers, maintaining theImamate of al-'Askari'shidden son, formed a group from among those groups.In the course of time other groups disappeared and the Twelvers became thedominant force.35 Thus it seems that by the end of the third century of theHijra the term' Imami ' had acquireda specialconnotation and was used by theTwelvers for themselves, replacing the earlier appellation 'al-Qat'iya' 36 bywhich they bad been known since the death of Imam Mfisa al-Kazim. Thisusage, however, seems to have been limited to Imami writers themselves for along time.The account of both Abfi THItim l-Razi (d. 322/934) 37 and al-Q&dial-Nu'man 38about the various groups after the death of HIasanal-'Askari is thesame as that given in the two above-mentioned Imami sources. Nevertheless,it is worth noting that the term 'Imami ' is not used for any of those groups,rather the cognomen ' al-Qat'iya ' is used.Let us now turn to the Sunnite sourcesand their usage of the term ' Immi'.Abfi 'l-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324/935) defines the Imamiya as those who assert,on the strength of nass, the Imamate of 'Ali after the death of the Prophet.Hence he uses the term Imamiya to signify various sub-sects of the Shi'ites,except al-Ghaliya and al-Zaydiya.39 He has therefore classified 24 sub-sects ofthe Shi'ites, including the Twelvers (for whom the appellation al-Qat'iya is

33Al-Ash'ari, Kitab al-rmaqldtwa 'l-firaq,ed. M. Javid Mashkfir,Tehran, 1963, 102-6.34AI-Nawbakhti, Firaq al-ShV'a,ed. H. Ritter, Istanbul, 1931, 90-3.35 'Abdallih Fayyid, Thrikh al-Imdmlya, Baghdad, 1970, 73-85.36This appellation was used in contradistinction to al-Wlqifa who denied the death of Mfiss

al-K.zim, maintainingthat he was raised to the Heavens and would reappear as al-Q&'im.Al-Qat'iya, on the other hand, asserted the death of Mfis& l-Kilim, maintaining the Imdmate of

his son 'Ali al-Rid..7AI-RMzi,Kitdb al-zina, MS, Hamdani collection, 374. Two parts of it are edited by H. F.Hamdini, Cairo, 1956-8. Abfi Hdtim states that most of the groupsof al-Qat'iya describedby himhave already vanished except two; one, maintaining the Imdmate of al-'Askari's hidden son;the other, maintaining the Imdmate of Ja'far, al-'Askari'sbrother.38 Al-Q&dial-Nu'mdn, Sharh al-akhbdr,MS, School of Oriental and African Studies, London,xIv, 17-22.39Al-Ash'ari, Kitdb maqdlt al-Islmiyin, ed. H. Ritter, second ed., Wiesbaden, 1963, 16-17.



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A RECONSIDERATION OF AL-QAp) AL-NU'MAN'S MADHHAB 577used) and the Isma'ilis, under the common term Imamiya.40 The use of theterm Imami in this loose sense continued for a long time among Sunniteheresiographers,such as al-Malati (d. 377/987),41 al-Baghdadi (d. 429/1037),42Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064),43 al-Isfara'ini (d. 471/1078),44 and al-Shahrastani(d. 548/1153).45 It is therefore very likely that Ibn Khallikan, who is closer tothe Sunnite tradition of the usage of the term Imamiya, employs it in the sameloose sense.46 This assumption is also supportedby the use of another term, aswe shall see, for an Isma'ili convert in North Africa.Ibn Taghribirdi (d. 874/1469), on the other hand, states that al-Qadi al-Nu'man was at first a Hanafi and later became an Isma'ili (Batini).47 HadyRoger Idris, a modern scholar, concurs with Ibn Taghribirdi.48 The Isma'llisources are totally silent in this respect. They regardal-Qadi al-Nu'man as onewho derived his knowledgefrom the fountain-head of the Imams and was there-fore one of the pillars of their da'wa. Hence the question of his conversionwasirrelevant to them.

Al-Qadi al-Nu'man served the Fdtimid dynasty for almost 50 years, from313/925, when he entered the service of al-Mahdi, until his death in 363/974.Although the date of his birth is not known, it would be safe to assume that hewas in his twenties when he entered the service of the first Fatimid caliph al-Mahdi. This places the date of his birth somewhere between 283/896 and293/905, which coincides with the gaining of momentum of the mission ofd6'i Abfi 'Abdallah al-Shi'i in North Africa.Sham'fin Lokhandwala, in his unpublished thesis, rejects Ibn Khallikan'sstatement about al-Qadi al-Nu'man's conversion. He argues that al-Qadial-Nu'man's monumental work Kitabal-Tdshwas begun in the days of al-Mahdiand this undertaking, at an early age, requiredfirm and devout attachment tothe new cause.49 The chronology of al-Qadi al-Nu'man's work supports the

40 ibid., 17-30. Abfi 'l-Qhsim 'Abd al-WAhidb. Ahmad al-Kirmini, who lived during the firsthalf of the sixth/twelfth century, uses the term Imdmiya in the same way as al-Ash'ari doesand for the Twelvers he uses the appellation al-Qat'iya, cf. M. T. DMnish-pazhfih, Guft&r-iAb'i'l-Qd&im l-WJhid b. Ahmad KirmanEdar bdra-i haftdd-u-sih guriih', Bulletin de la Faculti desLettres(Mashhad), xvI, 1, 1343/1964-5, 35-6.41 Abfi 'l-Husayn Mubammad al-Malati, Kitab al-tanbFh wa 'l-radd, ed. Sven Dedering,Istanbul, 1936, 14-27.

42 'Abd al-QAhiral-Baghdadi, al-Farq bayn al-firaq,ed. M. Muhiy al-Din, Cairo, n.d., 21, 23.Al-Qat'iya and al-Ithni-'ashariya are mentioned as distinct groups.43 Ibn Hazm, Kitdb al-fasi ft 'l-milal, Cairo, 1317-21/1899-1903-4, Iv, 181." Abfi Muzaffaral-Isfard'ini, al-Tab.sr ff 'l-din, ed. M. ZAhid al-Kawthari, Cairo, 1940, 16,20-4. He uses the appellation al-Qat'iya and states that they are also called al-Ithni-'ashariya.4 Al-Shahrastini, al-Milal wa 'l-nihal, ed. 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Wakil, Cairo, 1968, I, 162-5,167-73. He prefers the term al-Ithni-'ashariya to al-Qat'iya. He is generally regarded as an

Ash'ari; however, he was an Ismd'ili and held the rank of d&'ial-du'dt in the da'wa hierarchy.A detailed description of the sources and his works which bear an Ismi'ili imprint has been givenin my forthcoming book, History of Ismd'flf literature.46 Ibn Khaldfin sometimes uses the term Imnmi in its loose sense, cf. Ibn Khaldfin, op. cit.,Iv, 58.47 Ibn Taghribirdi, op. cit., Iv, 106-7.48 H. R. Idris, La Berbirie orientale sou8 les ZFrfdes, Paris, 1962, 67, 559, 699, 734.49S. Lokhandwala, The origins of Ismnd'lUaw (Oxford D.Phil. thesis, 1951), 22.



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578 ISMAIL . POONAWALAcontention of Lokhandwala.5soAl-Urjiazaal-mukhtara,a polemical work on thethorny question of the Imamate composed during the reign of the secondFatimid caliph al-Q&'im,undeniably shows the author's devout commitmentto the Isma'ili cause.51 Moreover,in the introduction of another work entitledKitdbal-himma,he states that one of his teachers had given him a short treatiseto read which he assumed was written by a non-Isma'ili. However, he was toldby his teacher that he was wrong in his assumption and that the author wasindeed an Isma'Ili (min ahl al-walaya).52This narrative implies that he receivedIsma'ili training at an early age.Let us now turn to the North African milieu during the second half of thethird century of the Hijra where al-Q&dial-Nu'man was born and brought up.Prior to the advent of dd'i Abil 'Abdallah al-Shi'i in the year 280/893, theIsma'ili da'wa had sent two dc'is, Abii Sufyin and al-IHulwani; and throughtheir efforts the inhabitants of several towns, such as Marmajannaand Urbus(in the vicinity of Qayrawan), accepted Shi'ism.53 With the coming of Abti'Abdallah al-Shi'i a new phase of the Isma'ili da'wa was initiated. After theconversion of a Berber tribe, Kutama, which championed the Fatimid cause,the mission of Abni Abdallahgained momentum and in a few years succeeded inoverthrowing the Aghlabids and in founding the Fatimid dynasty.54 It is notunlikely, therefore, that this new movement attracted and won over some localsupport even before the fall of the Aghlabidcapital Qayrawin in 296/908. Thatthere was a large Shi'I population in Qayrawan and its environs during thefourth and the fifth centuries of the Hijra is borne out by their persecution andmassacreduringthe governorshipof al-Mu'izzb. Bidis, who renouncedFatimidsuzerainty and patronized the Maliki school.55

According to Ibn Khallikan, al-Q&dial-Nu'man's father was a learned manwho died at the advanced age of 104 and was buried in Qayrawan.56 In hisTabaqdt'ulam&' friqiya, Muhlammadb. al-HIrith al-Khushani al-Qayrawani(d. c. 371/981), a contemporary of al-Qadi al-Nu'man, lists Muhammad b..Hayyanamong the learned men of Qayrawanwho adopted Shi'ism (the Isma'ili

50 In his al-Qalida al-muntakhaba(MS collection of Qurbin H.IusaynF. Poonawala), 3-4,composed duringthe reign of the second Fatimid caliph al-Qa'im, al-Qadi al-Nu'man refers to hisearlier work Kitdbal-d.h4.

It was regarded as one of the highly treasured books by the thirdFdtimid caliph al-Mansfir,cf. Sirat UstddhJawdhar, ed. M. KAmil .;Iusaynand M. 'Abd al-HAdi,Cairo, 1954, 53.5- Al-Q.di al-Nu'mdn, al-Urjfiza al-mukhtara,

ed. I. K. Poonawala, Montreal, 1970.52 Kitdb al-himma, 33.53A-Maqrizi, Itti'dz al-Aunafd', ed. Jamal al-Din al-Shayydl, Cairo, 1967, 41. Al-Qdial-Nu'mdn states in Iftith4 al-da'wa, 54-8, that both the aforementioneddd'fswere sent in 145/762

by Im&mJa'far al-SQdiq;see also Ibn Khaldfin, op. cit., Iv, 65.5 Iftit(h al-da'wa, 59 ff.; Itti'dz.al-hunaf&',55 ff.55Ibn al-Athir, al-Kmil ft 'l-tA1rikh,d. C. J. Tornberg, Beirut, 1965-7, ix, 294-5; Ibn al-'Idh~ri, al-Baydn al-mughribfF akhbdr al-Maghrib, ed. R. Dozy, Leyde, 1848-51, I, 279-90;Ilasan A. Mahmfid, ' Mihnat al-Shi'a bi Ifrfqiya ft 'l-qarn al-khamis al-Hijri ', Bull. Fac. Arts,Fouad I Univ. (Cairo), xii, 1, 1950, 93-9; H. R. Idris, ' Une des phases de la lutte du milikismecontre le 'i'isme sous les Zirides', Cahiersde Tunisie, Iv, 16, 1956, 508-17.

56 Ibn Khallikin, op. cit., v, 48.



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A RECONSIDERATION OF AL-QAPI AL-NU'MAN'S MADHHAB 579faith).57 He adds that Ibn Hayyan was an aged man, originally from Silsa, ofMaliki persuasion and a follower of Ibn Sahntin.58 Later he embraced theIsma'Ili faith, but practised taqiya. It is also reported that he was in charge ofleading the Friday prayer. The Arabicword used by al-Khushani for conversionto Shi'I Isma'ili faith is tasharraqa. In his Iftitdh al-da'uwa, l-Qadi al-Nu'manexplains that when the mission of Abil 'Abdallah(who was from Kfifa) met withsuccess, he was known as al-Mashriqi' one who came from the East ', and thosewho accepted his mission were known as al-Mashariqa.59 Tasharraqas the fifthform, meaning 'to become an Ism'ili '. With the lapse of time the terms al-Mashriqiand al-Mashariqawere replaced by al-Shi'I and al-Shi'a; the verbalform remained in use, however. It is worth noting that the appellations'Isma'ili' and ' Fatimi' are not used even for the Fhtimid caliphs; instead'al-Shi'i ' is used.60

Al-Khushani was born in Qayrawan,where he received his early education.In 311/923-4 or 312/924-5, while still young, he left North Africa and went toSpain, where he compiled his Tabaqat'ulama' Ifriqgya.61 His description ofMuhammadb. Hayyan fits well with that of al-Qadi al-Nu'man's father givenby Ibn Khallikan. Therefore it seems logical to infer that both the persons areidentical. However, there is one minor difficulty: Ibn Khallikan and theIsma'ili sources give the name as Ibn Hayyfin. One can argue that it is notimprobable that al-Khushani, writing in Spain, might have remembered thename incorrectly as Ibn .Hayyan,

instead of Ibn H.Jayyfin.62It might also be anorthographical error. This error appears in many Imami sources where it iswritten as 3 >-.63 If we assume .Hayyanto be an errorfor Hayyfin, we canidentify al-Q&dial-Nu'man's father with the above-mentioned Muhammadb.IH.ayyan.It implies that the latter was converted to the Isma'ili faith severalyears before 311/923-4. Further, the report that he used to practise taqiyadoesnot make much sense afterthe establishmentof Fatimid rule. It thereforeimpliesthat his conversiontook place before297/909. This, in turn, implies that al-Q&dial-Nu'man, born between 283/896 and 293/905, was brought up as an Isma'ili.In conclusion, it should be stated that until moreevidence comes to light theforegoing interpretation should remain, at best, tentative.

57Al-Khushani, Tabaqst 'ulamd'Ifriq4ya, ed. M. Ben Cheneb (with Tabaqdtof Abfi 'l-'Arab),Paris, 1915-20, I, 223. It is hereafter cited as Ben Cheneb.58Sabnfin was a famous Miliki jurist and was appointed the qdi. of Qayrawdnby Mubammadb. Aghlab, cf. IftitO al-da'wa, 82-3; Ben Cheneb, I, 101-4, 129-32.59Iftitah al-da'wa, 76, 93; cf. also Ibn al-'Idhdri, op. cit., I, 150, 175, 189-90; Ibn al-Athir,op. cit., Ix, 295; Ibn Khaldidn, op. cit., Iv, 67; R. Dozy, Supplementaux dictionnairesarabes,Leyde, 1881, I, 751.60 Abfi 'Ubayd al-Bakri, Kitab al-mughrib t dhikrbilddIfriqiya wa 'l-Maghrib,ed. and tr. deSlane, repr., Paris, 1965, Arabic 2, 27, 46, 78; Ibn al-'Idhdri, op. cit., I, 154, 164, 170, 172,181, 184, 187, 195, 205, 231, 285.61 Ben Cheneb, ii, xviii.62 cf. W. Madelung's review of H. Idris's La Berbirie orientale in JAOS, LXXXIV, , 1964,424-5.63AI-Astarib~di, op. cit., 512; al-Iurr al-'Amili, op. cit., II, 335; al-Khwansari, op. cit.,727; al-Niri, op. cit., III, 313; Qummi, op. cit., In. 572.

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Poonawala (Ismail K.)_A Reconsideration of al-Qāḍī al-Nu‘mān's “Madhhab»

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