Ibn Qutaybah (828 - 889 CE / 213 - 276 AH) was a renowned Islamic scholar from Kufa, Iraq.
Biography[]
His full name is Abu Muhammad ‘Abdullaah bin Muslim Ibn Qutaybah Ad-Dinawaree (Arabic أبو محمد عبد الله بن مسلم بن قتيبة الدينوري). He was born in Kufa in what is now modern day Iraq. He was of Iranian descent; his father was from Merv. Having studied tradition and Philology he became Qadi in Dinawar, and afterwards a teacher in Baghdad, where he died. He was the first representative of the eclectic school of Baghdad Philologists that succeeded the schools of Kufa and Basra. Throughout his life of warfare, Qutaybah succeeded in the capture of Bhari and Samarqand. Throughout the distance of over 3000km towards Sammarqand, Qutayba and his army consisting of 30,000 soldiers and cavalry fought more than 20 battles and won all of them. Once they reached Sammarqand, It was very cold, although food stocks were plentiful on the way.
Legacy[]
He was viewed by Sunni Muslims as a hadith Master, foremost philologist, linguist, and man of letters.
English translation of his quotation on good government: There can be no government without an army, No army without money, No money without prosperity, And no prosperity without justice and good administration.
Works[]
- Gharīb al-Qur’ān also known as Mushkil al-Qur’ān, on its lexical difficulties.
- Al-Imama wa al-Siyasa , also known as Ta’rikh al-Khulafa’ .
- The Interpretation of Conflicting Narrations (Arabic:Ta’wīl Mukhtalif al-Hadīth)
- Adab al-Kitāb.
- al-Akhbār al-T.iwāl.
- al-Amwāl.
- al-Anwā’.
- al-‘Arab wa ‘Ulūmuhā on Arab intellectual history.
- al-Ashriba on alcoholic beverages.
- Dalā’il al-Nubuwwa or A‘lām al-Nubuwwa on the Proofs of Prophethood.
- Fad.l al-‘Arab ‘alā al-‘Ajam in praise of the Arabs.
- I‘rāb al-Qur’ān, a philological commentary.
- al-Ikhtilāf fī al-Lafz. wa al-Radd ‘alā al-Jahmiyya wal-Mushabbiha, a refutation of both the Allegorizers and the Anthropomorphists. This slim volume received editions in Egypt.
- al-Ishtiqāq.
- Is.lāh. Ghalat. Abī ‘Ubayd, corrections on al-Qāsim ibn Salām’s Gharīb al-H.adīth.
- Jāmi‘ al-Fiqh in jurisprudence, dispraised as unreliable by al-T.abarī and Ibn Surayj, as was Ibn Qutayba’s al-Amwāl.
- Jāmi‘ al-Nah.w al-Kabīr and Jāmi‘ al-Nah.w al-S.aghīr.
- al-Jarāthīm in linguistics.
- al-Jawābāt al-H.ād.ira.
- al-Ma‘ānī al-Kabīr.*al-Ma‘ārif, a slim volume that manages to cover topics from the beginning of creation and facts about the Jāhiliyya to the names of the Companions and famous jurists and h.adīth Masters.
- al-Masā’il wal-Ajwiba.
- al-Maysar wal-Qidāh. on dice and lots.
- al-Na‘m wal-Bahā’im on cattle and livestock.
- al-Nabāt in botany.
- al-Qirā’āt in the canonical readings.
- al-Radd ‘alā al-Qā’il bi Khalq al-Qur’ān, against those who assert the createdness of the Qur’an.
- al-Radd ‘alā al-Shu‘aybiyya, a refutation of a sub-sect of the ‘Ajārida ‘At.awiyya, itself a sub-sect of the Khawārij.
- al-Rah.l wal-Manzil.
- Ta‘bīr al-Ru’yā on the interpretation of dreams.
- Talqīn al-Muta‘allim min al-Nah.w in grammar.
- ‘Uyūn al-Akhbār in history.
- ‘Uyūn al-Shi‘r in poetry.
- al-Shi‘r wal-Shu‘arā’
See also[]
- List of Islamic scholars
References[]