One of the most renowned Muslim scholars who served as a jurist under the Abbasids and whose numerous literary contributions earned him praise, Abu Mohammad Abdullah ibn Muslim ibn Qutaybah, established the Baghdad School of Philologists — where language in its written forms was studied within historical sources — in the 9th Century, and practiced adab literature that went beyond “norm of conduct” or “customs,” but added a further connotation of “good breeding, courtesy and urbanity.”
This leading Hanbali theologian was a key figure in the Caliph Al Mutawakkil’s campaign to replace Mu‘tazili ideology with Sunni traditionalism. Despite his espousal of orthodoxy, Ibn Qutaybah was an eclectic intellectual who also wrote on subjects such as drinking and gambling. At a time when dogma was slowly transformed into jurisprudence, Ibn Qutaybah rejected earlier rationalist schools (developed by the Ahl al-Ra’i), established philological traditions that combined literary criticism, history and linguistics in what is nowadays known as the study of literary texts and written records.
His goal was to establish authentic texts and appraise their original forms to better determine their meaning. As such, he succeeded in empowering a thinker to become an ideal clerk who would loyally serve his ruler. Four of his studies — which probably formed a series although no evidence existed that the author contemplated such an option — were geared towards such an objective: the “Adab al-Katib” (Training of the Clerk), which provided detailed instructions on writing and stood as a useful compendium of Arabic style; the “Kitab al-Ma‘arif” [Book of Knowledge], which described how an adviser should gather knowledge to better serve his leader; the “Kitab al-Shi‘r wal-Shu‘ara” [Book of Poetry and Poets], which highlighted the critical importance of poetry as a form of communication; and his opus, the “Uyun al-Akhbar” [Sources of Information] that, in 10 tight chapters, dealt with lordship, war, nobility, character, science and eloquence, asceticism, friendship, requests, food, and women. These studies, along with at least a dozen others, secured his historical position as one of the most respected Muslim jurists ever.
Life and times
Abu Mohammad Abdullah ibn Muslim ibn Qutaybah Al Kufah (from Kufah where he was born according to some historians) Al Marwazi (from Marw or Merv in Khorasan - presently called Mary in Turkmenistan) Al Dinawari (from Dinawar where he became a judge (qadi) and al-Baghdadi (from Baghdad according to other historians, where he settled, worked and died), must be considered one of the greatest jurists in Muslim history. Known as Ibn Qutaybah — the name being a diminutive form of qitbah, qitb or qatab that is the singular form of aqtab (“intestines”), which the author defined in his Adab al-Katib — the transliterated meaning of his name must denote that of a “traditionalist” that is common among Shiites. Though overlooked by most contemporary analysts, Shiites rejected traditions because they claimed these were fabricated by Ummayad scholars who praised the first companions (the sahabah, led by ‘Uthman) of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and neglected Ali and other Banu Hashim officials. That was why Shiites invented their own traditions that, naturally, praised Ali and members of the Banu Hashim, naming such isnad (plural of Sanad or authentic transmissions) as Ibn Qutaybah, to make Sunnis believe that they were the famous Sunni traditionalists.
Beyond his famous name, little is known about Ibn Qutaybah’s personal life, except that he attended a traditional religious school where he memorised the Holy Scriptures, learned prophetic traditions, became acquainted with poetry, trained in Usul Al Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), perfected language skills, and delved into arithmetic. It was not long after that he reached Baghdad where the young man frequented some of city’s great mosques. It was there that he received his first exposure to advanced religious and scientific subjects under the guidance of learned men (ulama). Theology, tafsir, Sharia, hadith, literature and history fascinated him. He also studied various books translated from foreign languages, especially Persian, a language he probably read and spoke fluently.
According to the renowned French scholar Gérard Lecomte (1926-1997) who taught at the Paris Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, edited Arabic, and wrote several items on Ibn Qutaybah, the Muslim scholar was taught by 28 leading Baghdadi “ulama”, though he also came into contact with dozens of their assistants since that was a common development at the time. Among the more important were the theologians Ishaq ibn Ebrahim ibn Ruhawayh Al Hanzali who was a student of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the Sunni philologist and traditionalist Abu Hatim Sahl Ibn Mohammad Al Sijistani, and the philologist Al Abbas Ibn Al Faraj Al Riyashi who transmitted the works of pioneers of philology in the 2nd/8th century, such as Al Asma and Abu Ubaydah. All concluded that Ibn Qutaybah was a “trustworthy, religious and a noble” character. According to legend, Ibn Qutaybah died suddenly after a meal of harisah (a traditional dish that combines cooked meat with bulgar) and was stricken with a fever.
Political environment
If little was known about his upbringing, what historians accepted was that Ibn Qutaybah lived during a period of fundamental theological changes, after the new caliph Al Mutawakkil changed the ideology of the state from Mu‘tazilah to Sunni orthodoxy in 846, when the scholar found himself favoured by the new government because his views backed the new trend. The vizier Abul Hasan Ubaydallah Ibn Yahya Ibn Khaqan appointed him qadi of Dinawar around 851, and he probably remained in this office until 870. He then became an inspector of mazalim (courts for the redress of wrongs) of Basrah, until the Zanj sacked the city in 871, although the post was given to him probably as a favour of another powerful Abbasid official, Sa‘id Ibn Makhlad.
Support and criticism
These political developments notwithstanding, Ibn Qutaybah was first and foremost, a teacher who taught dozens of pupils, shared his books gratis — since students paid to access a scholar’s library — and seldom favoured one over the other even when his own son, Ahmad, a gifted scholar in his own right, shared his study-chambers. Over time, he earned the reputation of being a great Sunni scholar, as well as an advocate of the Sunni orthodoxy, although some “ulama” criticised and denounced him.
Lecomte divided these “ulama” and biographers into two categories: those who looked at him very favourably and those who merely perceived him favourably. Among the first group were Ibn Taymiyyah, Al Dhahabi, Ibn Kathir and Ibn Al Imad, four heavyweight scholars. In the second category were Ibn Al Nadim, Al Khatib Al Baghdadi, Al Sam‘ani , Abu Al Barakat Ibn Al Anbari, Ibn Al Jawzi, Al Qifti, Ibn Khallikan, and Al Suyuti, another distinguished group of “ulama” who accepted Ibn Qutaybah’s teachings and, especially, philological emphasis since all understood that the approach was the only way to explain dogma.
A few were mesmerised by his narratives that, to the untrained, posed serious problems. For example, when Ibn Qutaybah wrote in his Ta’wil Mukhtalif Al Hadith: “The People of Hadith unanimously agree that whatever Allah wills happens and whatever He does not will does not happen,” the sentence required elaboration. Moreover, when he stressed that: “And (they agree) that He is the Creator of good and evil. And (they agree) that the Quran is the Speech of Allah – it is not created. And they agree that Allah will be seen on the Day of Judgment. They agree on giving precedence to Abu Bakr and Umar (over Ali). They unanimously agree on having faith about the punishment in the grave. They do not differ in these fundamental issues So whoever opposes them in any of these matters, then they reject and hate him, and declare him to be an innovator, cutting themselves off from him,” many were awestruck.
Likewise, Ibn Qutaybah advanced several critical explanations that also stood as perfect illustrations of orthodoxy, which were not universally accepted: “Whoever likens Allah to His creation, then he has committed disbelief. And whoever denies what Allah has described Himself with, then he has committed disbelief. And what Allah has described Himself with and what His Messenger has described Him with is not considered tashbih (likening to the creation).” Over time, leading theologians delved over such pronouncements and, in the words of the Imam Al Dhahabi, for example, the previous sentence was explained in the following way: “He means by this that the Attributes belong to the One being described. So if Allah is such that “There is nothing equal to Him in comparison” in His Divine Essence, then the same applies for His Attributes — there is no comparison to them. So therefore, there is no difference between talking about the Essence (of Allah) and between talking about His Attributes. And this is the belief of the Salaf.”
No one was as generous as Ibn Taymiyyah who praised Ibn Qutaybah when he wrote: “Ibn Qutaybah was from those who ascribed themselves to Ahmad (Ibn Hanbal) and Ishaq (Ibn Rahaywih) and from those who aided the Sunnah. And he has authored many books with that regard... he is to Ahl Al Sunnah like Al Jahiz is to the Mu‘tazilah, for he is the spokesman for the Sunnah, just as Al Jahiz is the spokesman for the Mu‘tazilah.” In fact, Ibn Taymiyyah described Ibn Qutaybah in his Majmu Al Fatawa as being “…from the Imams of the Salaf, the Sunnah and the Hadith, from those who would learn according to the views of Ahmad and Ishaq.”
Legacy to Arabs and Muslims
Like several equally prominent scholars, Ibn Qutaybah was viewed by Sunni Muslims as a Hadith master, a foremost philologist, linguist, and a man of letters. In addition to his anthologies, the scholar delved in various problems related to Quranic interpretations, which preoccupied medieval “ulama”. His book “Uyun Al Akhbar” is considered as one of the most important works for those who wished to base their speaking and writing on facts in as eloquent a fashion as possible. In one of its key passages, Ibn Qutaybah advises the ruler to be firm yet just. His recommendations on good government, which were emulated by hundreds of his successors, resonated after all these years and that continued to preoccupy Arab and Muslim leaders: “There can be no government without an army, no army without money, no money without prosperity, and no prosperity without justice and good administration.” Then as now, such simple words left an echo, and while few applied them, Ibn Qutaybah anticipated the German philosopher Hegel (1770-1831), who believed that “In the East only one individual was free: the despot.” Like Hegel, nevertheless, Ibn Qutaybah rejected the corollary that whosoever was not a despot must be a slave, as he hammered that men craved justice above all else.
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List of Selected works
Ibn Qutaybah authored dozens of key studies, including:
1. “Gharib al-Quran” also known as “Mushkil al-Quran”, on its lexical difficulties.
2. “Al-Imamah wal Siyasah” (Concerning Imamate and Politics) also known as “Tarikh al-Khulafa”.
3. “Ta’wil Mukhtalif al-Hadith” (Finding an Interpretation for Hadiths that seem to Contradict each Other)
4. Adab al-Katib (Training of the Clerk)
5. Al-‘Arab wal ‘Ulumiyyah [Arab intellectual history]
6. Al-Ashribah [Book of Drinks]
7. Dala’il al-Nubawiyyah [Proofs of Prophethoods]
8. Fadl al-‘Arab ‘ala al-‘Ajam [Virtue of the Arab over the Persian]
9. I‘rab al-Qur’an [Pronunciation of the Qur’an], a philological commentary
10. Al-Ikhtilaf fil-Lafz wal-Radd ‘ala al-Jam‘iyyah wal-Mushabihah, a refutation of both the Allegorizers and the Anthropomorphists
11. Al-Ishtiqaq [Book on Etymology]
12. Islah al-Ghalat [Correcting Errors]
13. Kitab al-Ma‘arif [Book of Knowledge]. This monumental book on History is a slim volume that manages to cover topics from the beginning of creation and facts about the Jahiliyyah to the names of the Companions and famous jurists and hadith masters
14. Al-Masa’il wal-Ajwibah [Questions and Answers]
15. Al-Maysar wal-Qidah (The Ruling on an Arabian Game)
16. Al-Furs (The Persians)
17. Al-Qira’at (Recitations of Quran) in the canonical readings
18. Al-Radd ‘ala al-Qa’il bi Khalq al-Qur’an (A Refutation against those who say the Quran is Created)
19. Al-Radd ‘ala al-Shu‘aybiyyah, a refutation of a sub-sect of the ‘Ajridah ‘Atawiyyah, itself a sub-sect of the Khawarij
20. Ta‘bir al-Ru’yah (Book on Dreams)
21. ‘Uyun al-Akhbar (Sources of Information)
22. Kitab al-Shi‘r wal-Shu‘ara’ (Book of Poetry and Poets)
23. Al-Ibil (The Camels)
24. Adab al-Qadi (Etiquettes of a Judge)
A few of these works are available in English, including:
Fiqih Risalah, Islamic Political Ethics in Advice Literature: A Study of Ibn Qutaybah’s Kitab al-Sultan (Book of Authority) of ‘Uyun al-Akhbar (Springs of Narratives), Saarbrücken, Germany: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2012.
Abd Allah ibn Muslim Ibn Qutaybah, An extract from Ibn Kutaiba’s “Adab al-Kâtib,” or, The writer’s guide, with translation and notes, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library, 1877.
Selected Readings
Franz, Rosenthal, “Ebn Qoyaba, Abu Mohammad ‘Abd-Allah,” Encyclopædia Iranica, Retrieved 13 June 2014.
Gérard Lecomte, Ibn Qutayba (Mort en 276/889): l’homme, son oeuvre, ses idées, Damascus: Catholic Printing Press, 1965.
Charles Péllat, Ibn Qutaybah wal-Thaqafah al-‘Arabiyyah, in the Taha Husayn Memorial Volume, Cairo: N.p., 1962.
Dr. Joseph A. Kéchichian is an author, most recently of, Legal and Political Reforms in Sa‘udi Arabia, London: Routledge, 2013.
This article is the 26th of a series on Muslim thinkers who greatly influenced Arab societies across the centuries.
