THE ELEMENTS OF ISLAM
(Excerpts Only)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

Appendix: Outstanding Muslims

The Qur`an describes those who are most honored by Allah among men and women as those who are the most pious in remembrance of Allah. The great Muslims mastered combinations of numerous disciplines and knowledges and were acknowledged as outstanding by their peers and other leading Muslims.

Because so many of them were polymaths it is difficult to categorize them according to the skill or subjects for which they subsequently became known. For example At-Tabari, a ninth/tenth-century scholar from northern Iran whose work on history earned him renown, was also a great commentator on the Qur`an and an acknowledged expert on other sciences. The objective of the serious or scholarly Muslim was not to specialize in one field of academic study, but to gain knowledge of God and His creation. We therefore find that the gamut of natural sciences, history and above all the religious sciences were all explored as part of the final quest: knowledge of Allah.

It is a historically significant fact that most of these outstanding Muslims were not Arabs, though they were all masters of the Arabic language and often lived in the Arab lands of the Muslim world.

The list of outstanding Muslim women would be extensive had it not been for the fact that very little has been written about them in publicly available records and literature. This lack of recording is due to the general tradition of women's natural self-effacement, and their being the 'hidden' teachers and saints without feeling compelled to announce themselves. For example the great Shaykh Ibn 'Arabi gained his first foundations in tasawwuf from two women saints.

By no means exhaustive, the following list (chronologically arranged according to dates of death) is a small selection of some of the most famous Muslim personalities and leaders whose names have also become familiar in the West, and whose influence on the development of human knowledge has been long-lasting.

ZAYNAB BINT 'ALI (c.684) was the Prophet's granddaughter and a truly heroic example of womanly virtue and honor. This was revealed when, after the martyrdom of her beloved brother Imam Husayn at Karbala, she was taken prisoner along with the other remaining women and children of their party, and confronted the tyranny and injustice of the Umayyad rulers.

HASAN AL-BASRI (d.728) was conside  red to be the earliest Sufi. Born in Medina, the son of a freed slave, he later settled in Basrah, Iraq. Many Sufi tariqahs claim connection to him and through him to Imam `Ali and the Prophet.

JA'FAR AS-SADIQ (d.765) was a descendant of the Prophet, and a renowned scholar of religious and natural sciences. Malik Ibn Anas and Abu Hanifa were among his students estimated at over four thousand. The Shi`is consider him to be the founder of their School of Law, called Ja`fari Fiqh.

ABU HANIFA (d.767) was the founder of the Hanafi School of Law that is dominant in India, Pakistan and the Middle East. He was born in Kufah of Persian origin and died imprisoned in Baghdad because of his support for a Zaydi revolt.

MALIK IBN ANAS (d.795), the founder of the Maliki School of Law, was born and died in Medina. His book, Al-Muwatta, is the earliest collection of Hadith, and his first book of law. Maliki fiqh is dominant in North and West Africa.

RABI`AH AL-'ADAWIYYAH (d.801) was one of the most famous women saints in Islam. She extolled the way of divine love and intimacy with God. A contemporary of Hasan al-Basri, her life in Basrah was marked by extreme asceticism.

NAFISAH (c.830) was a great granddaughter of 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib. Born in Mecca, she later migrated with her husband to Egypt to escape persecution. Most of her life was spent fasting and in night vigils of prayer. While still alive she had her grave dug and recited the Qur`an several thousand times while sitting in it. People still throng to her tomb in today's Cairo.

AHMAD IBN HANBAL (d.855) founded the Hanbali School of Law which grew out of his selection of Hadith entitled Al-Musnad. Hanbali fiqh prevails in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

ABU YUSUF YA`QUB IBN AL-KINDI (d.870) was the first important philosopher in Islam and a master of calligraphy, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy and medicine. Al-Kindi's philosophical approach was based on harmony between reason and revelation and he advocated allegorical interpretation of the Qur`an.

ABU 'ISA MUHAMMAD AT-TIRMIDHI (d.892), a blind scholar possibly from the area around Balkh, traveled extensively to gather Hadith which he collected into what became one of the six canonical collections.

HUSAYN IBN MANSUR AL-HALLAJ (d.922) was a famous Persian mystic accused of heresy and executed by the establishment because of his frequent shocking outbursts expressing his inner intoxications and union with God.

ABU JA'FAR MUHAMMAD IBN AT-TABARI (d.923), a scholar from northern Iran, was a prolific writer on theology, literature and history.

ABU BAKR MUHAMMAD IBN ZAKARIYYA AR-RAZI (d.925) came to be known as Rhazes in the West as his teachings were followed by Nicholas Flamel, Paracelsus, and others. A Persian physician, he wrote on various topics in medicine including the role that psychosomatic medicine, or self-suggestion, plays in healing.

ABU'L HASAN 'ALI IBN ISMA'IL AL-ASH'ARI (d.935), born and raised in Basrah, was a great authority on dialectical theology, counteracting the Mu`tazilis, whose work created a basis for Sunni dogma.

ABU NASR MUHAMMAD AL-FARABI (d.950) was born in Turkestan, studied in Baghdad and died in Damascus. A great philosopher who integrated Platonic and Aristotelian thought, which was later adopted by Saint Thomas Aquinas. Included among his many original works were those on music and mathematics.

ABU'L HASAN 'ALI IBN AL-HUSAYN 'ALI AL-MAS`UDI (d.956), a historian, geographer, philosopher and natural scientist. He was born in Baghdad and studied under the best teachers of his day.

MUHAMMAD IBN ISHAQ IBN AN-NADIM (d.995), a book dealer of Baghdad who wrote the famous Al-Fihrist, or catalogue, an early comprehensive reference work.

'ALI IBN AHMAD IBN HAZM (d.1064) was a theologian born in Cordova. He opposed the Ash'aris and followed the Zahiri (exotericist) School of Law which upheld the explicit meaning of the Qur`an above all other interpretations.

MUHAMMAD IBN HASAN AT-TUSI (d.1067), a Shi`i theologian and author of one of the four basic Shi`i collections of Hadith, the Istibsar (the 'examination'). He studied under Shaykh al-Mufid and Sayyid Murtadha, and wrote numerous books, including the first catalogue of Shi`i works.

ABU ISMA'IL `ABD ALLAH AL-ANSARI (d.1089), born near Herat, was a great Sufi master, scholar and theologian. Through his works his spiritual influence continues to this day.

ABU HAMID MUHAMMAD AL-GHAZALI (d.1111) was born and died in Tus in northern Persia. He was a great theologian, jurist, Sufi and reviver of Islam.

'UMAR AL-KHAYYAM (d.1125) was a Persian mathematician and astronomer whose fame rests primarily on his poetical work, the Rub`ayyat.

ABU BAKR MUHAMMAD IBN BAJJAH (d.1138), a philosopher, known in Europe as Avempace, was born in Saragosa, Spain and died in Fez, Morocco. He contributed greatly to making available ancient Greek philosophy and physical science.

ABU'L QASIM MAHMUD IBN `UMAR AZ-ZAMAKHSHARI (d.1144) was a great Persian authority on the Arabic language, who authored studies on grammar and literature and a famous commentary on the Qur`an.

'ABD AL-QADIR AL-GILANI (d.1166) was one of the great Sufi saints and a descendant of the Prophet. He came from Gilan in north Persia, but lived and died in Baghdad. His teachings and followers are spread throughout the Middle East, the Asian subcontinent, Russia and elsewhere.

SHIHAB AD-DIN YAHYA SUHRAWARDI (d.1191) was the founder of the Ishraqi (illuminationist) school of philosophy in Persia. He was put to death by Saladin on the grounds of heresy.

ABU'L WALID MUHAMMAD IBN AHMAD IBN MUHAMMAD IBN RUSHD (d.1198) was an Arab philosopher of Spain, known to Europe as Averroes through Latin translations of his authoritative work on Aristotelian philosophy. He considered the truth of revealed knowledge to be the higher truth, and theology the lower. His main work harmonized the Qur`an with philosophy and logic. For his pains he was persecuted and exiled more than once between Spain and Morocco.

FARID AD-DIN ATTAR (d.1229) was the Persian Sufi author of The Language of the Birds, an allegory of the spiritual path. He also wrote a collection of biographies about prominent Sufis.

IBN AL-FARID (d.1235) was a Sufi master and poet who lived in Egypt and whose enlightening poetry is still popular among seekers.

ABU BAKR MUHAMMAD MUHYI UD-DIN IBN 'ARABI (d.1240), known as the Shaykh Al-Akbar, or the greatest teacher, was born in Murcia but was buried in Damascus. He was possibly the greatest exponent of Islamic metaphysics, and his works, including the monumental Meccan Revelations and the Seals of Wisdom, are still actively used by serious seekers. There were several women among his teachers, and his teachings were later transmitted by many great saints such as Al-Jili, Imam Shadhili, Rumi and Mulla Sadra.

SHAMS AL-FUQARA (dates unknown) lived in Andalusia at the time of Ibn `Arabi with whom she had frequent encounters and whom she inspired with her knowledge. She was famous for her piety, ascetic lifestyle and exalted spiritual conduct.

ABU MUHAMMAD 'ABD ALLAH IBN AHMAD DIYA' ADDIN IBN BAYTAR (d.1248) was a physician, botanist and pharmacist. He was born in Malaga and died in Damascus. His findings were compiled by him into a great and much consulted compendium.

ABU'L HASAN 'ALI IBN 'ABD ALLAH ASH-SHADHI (d.1258) was born in Tunisia and buried in Egypt. He was the founder of the Shadhiliyyah, one of the most important Sufi brotherhoods in North Africa, and his teachings emphasized ma`arifah (gnosis). He was a spiritual descendant of Abu Madyan and Ibn Mashish.

JALAL UD-DIN AR-RUMI (d.1273), born in Balkh, was one of the greatest Persian Sufis. He settled in Konya, Turkey, where he taught religious sciences. He was profoundly influenced by Shams ud-Din Al-Tabrizi, an intoxicated Sufi mystic. His sublime poetical work the Mathnawi, a six-volume work of dense spiritual teachings and Sufi lore, has been translated into many languages. The Mevlevi Sufi order (the 'Whirling Dervishes') originate with him.

NASIR AD-DIN AL-TUSI (d.1274), an astronomer, astrologer, mathematician and philosopher, was born in Tus. He is known to have written Isma`ili treatises and other Shi`i books on conduct. He compiled astronomical tables and proposed a model for the study of planetary motion as well as numerous treatises on theosophy and theology.

MUSLAH AD-DIN SA`DI (d.1291), a poet and moralist, hailed from Shiraz, studied at Baghdad and traveled extensively. He was the author of Bustan ('The Fruit Garden') and Gulistan ('The Rose Garden'), and was a disciple of Shihab ad-Din Suhrawardi.

IBN TAYMIYAH (d.1328) grew up in Damascus and became a jurist of the Hanbali School of Law. His literalist interpretation of the Qur`an led him to attack many authorities in Islam, such as Al-Ghazali, Ibn `Arabi and all Sufis and Shi`is. He is an important forerunner of the Wahhabis.

ABU 'ABD ALLAH MUHAMMAD IBN BATUTA (d.1378) was born in Tangier and traveled extensively throughout Muslim lands as far east as Sumatra. His travelogues vividly describe the cultural and religious life of his times. He is nicknamed the Arab Marco Polo.

NURAD-DIN 'ABD AL-RAHMAN JAMI (1414-1492) was a Persian Sufi poet, famous for his allegorical works such as Yusuf and Zulaykhah and Salman and Absal.