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Ibn Fūrāk, Muh.ammad ibn al-H.asan ibn Fūrāk, Abū Bakr al-As.bahānī
al-Shāfiʿī (d. 406), the Imām and foremost specialist of kalām and us.ūl,
transmitter of al-Ashʿarī's school, specialist of Arabic language, grammar
and poetry, orator, jurist, and h.adīth scholar. He studied doctrine under
al-Ashʿarī's companion, Abū al-H.asan al-Bāhilī, and Abū ʿUthmān al-Maghribī
who stipulated, before his death, that Ibn Fūrāk lead the funeral prayer
over him.
ʿAbd al-Ghaffār ibn Ismāʿīl said: "Ibn Fūrāk's works in us.ūl al-dīn,
us.ūl al-fiqh, and the meanings of the Qur'ān count nearly one hundred
volumes." Among them: Mujarrad Maqālāt al-Ashʿarī and Mushkal al-H.adīth wa
Bayanuh, in which he refuted both the anthropomorphist tendencies of
H.anbalī literalists and the over-interpretation of the Muʿtazila.
Ibn Fūrāk
said that he embarked on the study of kalām because of the h.adīth reported
from the Prophet ﷺ: "The Black Stone is the
right hand of Allāh Most High"1 
which a mutakallim explained to his
satisfaction in contrast to the fuqahā'.
Upon returning from Ghazna after the failure of the Karrāmiyya to have him
executed by the Sultan - after the latter questioned him then exonerated him
of the charges they had brought against him - he fell on the road, poisoned.
He was carried back to Naysabūr and buried in al-Hira. Ibn ʿAsākir relates
that his grave is a place of visitation where one seeks healing (istishfā')
and one's prayer is answered.
Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq was heard supplicating on
behalf of a number of a people and was asked: "Why do you not supplicate on
behalf of Ibn Fūrāk?" He replied: "How can I supplicate on his behalf when
only yesterday I implored Allāh to cure me for the sake of Ibn Fūrāk!"
Al-Dhahabī in his cursory notice on Ibn Fūrāk mentioned spurious
derogatory reports from Ibn H.azm - without questioning nor commenting them
in the least - whereby Ibn Fūrāk said that the Prophet ﷺ is no longer a Prophet after his death and other things which
entail disbelief then stated: "But Ibn Fūrāk was better than Ibn H.azm, of
greater stature, and better belief."2
Ibn al-Subkī showed that these were
anti-Ashʿarī fabrications falsely attributed to Ibn Fūrāk, al-Ashʿarī, and
his companions and declared false by al-Qushayrī and Ibn al-S.alāh..3
Ibn
al-Subkī further relates that Ibn Fūrāk considered a disbeliever whoever
said that the Prophet ﷺ is no longer a Prophet.
Furthermore Ibn Fūrāk said: "The Ashʿarī doctrine is that our Prophet ﷺ is alive in his grave and is the Messenger of
Allāh ﷺ forever until the end of time,
literally, not metaphorically, and that he was a Prophet when Adam was
between water and clay, and his prophethood remains until now, and shall
ever remain."4
Finally, Ibn al-Subkī took al-Dhahabī to task for his
ambiguity: "As for his declaring that Ibn Fūrāk was better than Ibn H.azm,
it is a matter for Allāh Most High, and we ask our Shaykh: If Ibn Fūrāk
truly said this, then there is no good in him at all; and if he did not,
then why did you not clarify it lest someone be misled by this report?!"
The martyred Imām Abū al-H.ajjāj Yūsuf ibn Dūnas al-Findalawī al-Mālikī mentioned that Ibn Fūrāk never slept in a house that contained a volume of the Qur'ān, but would go and sleep somewhere else out of respect. Among his sayings:
* "Every instance in which you see scholarly endeavor but upon which there
is no light: know that it is a hidden innovation (bidʿa khafiyya)." Ibn
al-Subkī said: "This is truly well-said and shows the great refinement of
the Teacher. Its foundation is the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: ʿVirtue is what sets the soul at rest."5
* "It is impermissible for the walī to know that he is a walī because it
annuls his fear and imposes self-security upon him." Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq
considered it permissible. Al-Qushayrī said: "And this is what we prefer,
and choose, and declare." Ibn al-Subkī said: "Abū al-Qāsim is right without
the shadow of a doubt, for knowledge of one's wilāya does not do away with
one's fear of Allāh, nor knowledge of one's Prophethood. Indeed, Prophets
are the most fearful of Allāh of all people, yet they know that they are
Prophets.
And the walī does not cease to fear the design of Allāh as long as
he lives, and this is the greatest proof of fear. ʿUmar said: 'If one of my
feet were inside Paradise and the other still outside, I would not feel
secure from the design of Allāh Most High.'"6
The Prophet ﷺ described the "friends of Allāh"
(awliyā') as "Those who, when you see them, remind you of Allāh"7
while ʿAlī
( exclaimed: "Ah! how one yearns to see them!"8
Al-Qushayrī defined the walī
as
"One whose obedience attains permanence without the interference of sin;
or one whom Allāh Most High preserves and guards, in permanent fashion, from
the failures of sin through the power of acts of obedience: {He befriends
the righteous} (7:196)."9
Their position in relation to Allāh on the Day of
Judgment is described as an object of desire for the Prophets in the
authentic narrations. One h.adīth qudsī states:
"Those who love one another
for the sake of My Majesty shall have pulpits of light and the Prophets and
martyrs shall yearn to be in their position."10
Another narration states:
"Truly Allāh has servants whom He shall seat on pulpits of light, and their
faces shall completely overcome the fire of hell until the judgment of
creatures is concluded."11
The following are longer versions of the same h.adīth as narrated respectively by Abū Hurayra and Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī:
[Abū Hurayra:] The Prophet ﷺ said: "Truly there are servants, among the servants of Allāh, that are not Prophets but whom the Prophets and martyrs yearn to be like." Someone asked: "Who are they so that we may love them?" He said: "They are a folk who loved one another with the light of Allāh, without kinship nor affiliation. Their faces are light on pulpits of light. They shall not fear when all people fear, nor shall they grieve when all people grieve." Then he recited: {The Friends of Allāh! Truly no fear shall there be for them, nor shall they grieve} (10:62).
[Abū Mālik:] When the Prophet ﷺ finished his
prayer he turned facing the people and said: "O people! Listen to this,
understand it, and know it. Allāh has servants who are neither Prophets nor
martyrs and whom the Prophets and martyrs yearn to be like, due to their
seat and proximity in relation to Allāh.
" One of the Bedouin Arabs who came
from among the most isolated of people twisted his hand at the Prophet ﷺ and said: "O Messenger of Allāh! People from
humankind who are neither Prophets nor martyrs and yet the Prophets and the
martyrs yearn to be like them due to their seat and proximity in relation to
Allāh? Describe them for us!" The face of the Prophet ﷺ showed delight at the question and he said:
"They are of the
strangers from here and there. They frequent this tribe or that without
belonging to any of them. They do not have family connections with each
other. They love one another for the sake of Allāh. They are of pure intent
towards one another. On the Day of Resurrection Allāh shall place for them
pedestals of light upon which He shall seat them, and He will turn their
faces and clothes into light. On the Day of Resurrection the people will be
terrified but not those. They are {the Friends of Allāh upon whom fear comes
not, nor do they grieve} (10:62)."12
NOTES
1 Narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās, Jābir, Anas, and others by Ibn Abī ʿUmar
al-Maʿdanī in his Musnad, al-T.abarānī, al-Suyūt.ī in his Jāmiʿ al-Saghīr
(1:516 #3804-3805), Ibn ʿAsākir in Tārīkh Dimashq (15:90- 92), al-Khat.īb in
Tārīkh Baghdād (6:328), and others. It is considered forged by Ibn al-Jawzī
and Ibn ʿAdī (al-Kāmil 1:342). Cf. al-Ah.dab, Zawā'id Tārīkh Baghdād
(5:321-323 #949). However, al-ʿAjlūnī stated that it is s.ah.īh. as a halted
report from Ibn ʿAbbās as narrated by al-Qud.āʿī with the wording: "The
Corner [of the Black Stone] (al-rukn) is the Right Hand of Allāh on
earth...," and declared it h.asan as a h.adīth of the Prophet ﷺ
Ibn Qutayba in Ta'wīl Mukhtalif al-H.adīth (1972 ed. p.
215=1995 ed. p. 198, 262) said that it was a saying of Ibn ʿAbbās and
relates a saying of ʿA'isha that the Black Stone is the depository of the
covenant of human souls with Allāh ( on the Day of Promise (alastu bi
rabbikum). Its mention in the Reliance of the Traveller (p. 853b) as
"narrated by al-H.ākim, who declared it s.ah.īh., from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr,"
is incorrect. Note: An authentic narration states that the Black Stone shall
appear with two eyes and a tongue on the Day of Resurrection. Narrated by
al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājh, Ah.mad, al-Dārimī, Ibn H.ibbān (#3711-3712), and
others. 
2 He claims that Ibn Fūrāk said of the Prophet ﷺ:
"He was the Prophet of Allāh, but today no longer is" and he cites Ibn
H.azm's claim that Ibn Fūrāk said something even more derogatory. Siyar
(13:131). Ibn H.azm is known for his rabid enmity to Ashʿarīs, and he is the
model of those who attack Ashʿarīs in later times as Ibn Taymiyya and some
of his modern epigones.
3 T.abaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya al-Kubrā (3:384-385; 3:399-423; 4:131-132;
4:406-416). "As for what is alleged whereby al-Ashʿarī and his companions
said that Muh.ammad ﷺ is no longer a Prophet in
his grave nor a Messenger after his death: this is a great calumny and a
crass lie. None of them ever said anything of the kind; nor was it heard
from them in any debate; nor is it found in any of their books. And how can
such a thing be correctly related from them when their position is that the
Prophet ﷺ is alive in his grave?" Al-Qushayrī,
Shikāyat Ahl al-Sunna in Ibn al-Subkī, T.abaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya al-Kubrā
(3:406, cf. 3:384).
4 T.abaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya al-Kubrā (4:131-132).
5 Narrated from Abū Thaʿlaba al-Khushanī by Ah.mad with a sound chain as
stated by al-Haythamī (1:175) and Ah.mad Shākir in the Musnad (13:479
#17671), and from Wābis.a ibn Maʿbad al-Asadī by Ah.mad and al-Dārimī.
6 Tabyīn (p. 230-231); Siyar (13:130-131 #3739); T.abaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya
al-Kubrā (4:127-135 #317).
7 H.adīth (h.asan) of the Prophet ﷺ in response
to the question: "Who are the awliyā of Allāh?" and - in some narrations -
the question: "Who should we sit with?" Narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās by
al-Nasā'ī in al-Sunan al-Kubrā (6:362), Ibn al-Mundhir, Abū al-Shaykh, Ibn
Mubārak, al-Bazzār in his Musnad (#3626, cf. Ibn H.ajar's Mukhtas.ar
2:394-395 #2083 and al-Haythamī's Majmaʿ al-Zawā'id 10:78), al-T.abarī in
his Tafsīr (11:131), Ibn Abī H.ātim, al-ʿAskarī, al-T.abarānī in al-Kabīr
(#12325), Ibn al-Mubārak in al-Zuhd (#218), Abū Nuʿaym in Akhbār As.bahān
(1:231), and Ibn Mardūyah; from Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, and Anas
ibn Mālik by al-H.akīm al-Tirmidhī in Nawādir al-Us.ūl (p. 140, cf. p. 158
"The conditions of wilāya and p. 204-209 "
Profile of the awliyā'"); from Ibn
Masʿūd by al-T.abarī in his Tafsīr (11:131) and al-T.abarānī with a chain of
trustworthy narrators but for one unknown per al-Haythamī (10:78); from Abū
Mālik al-Ashʿarī by al-Kharā'it.ī in Masāwi' al-Akhlāq (#233); mursal from
the Tābiʿī Saʿīd ibn Jubayr by Ibn al-Mubārak in al-Zuhd (#218), Ibn Abī
Shayba, al-T.abarī in his Tafsīr (11:131-132), Abū al-Shaykh, al-Dūlābī
in
al-Kunā (1:106), Abū Nuʿaym in the H.ilya (1985 ed. 1:6) and Ibn Mardūyah;
mursal from the Tābiʿī ʿAbd al-Rah.mān ibn Ghanam al-Ashʿarī by Imām Ah.mad
in his Musnad (al-Zayn ed. 14:31 #17921: isnād h.asan; al-Arna'ūt. ed.
29:521-523 h.asan bi shawāhidih) cf. al-Haythamī (8:93) and al-Mundhirī in
al-Targhīb (=3:499); and from Ibn ʿAbbās mawqūf by T.abarānī, Abū al-Shaykh,
Ibn Mardūyah, and al-D.iyā' al-Maqdisī in al-Mukhtāra. Also narrated with
the wording: "The best among you are those who, when they are seen, Allāh is
remembered" from Asmā' bint Yazīd by Ah.mad, al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Imān
(7:494), Abū Nuʿaym in the H.ilya, Ibn Mardūyah, Musaddad, Ibn Abī Shayba,
ʿAbd al-Razzāq, ʿAbd ibn H.āmid, Abū Yaʿlā al-Maws.ilī, and Ibn Mājah with a
fair (h.asan) chain as stated by al-Būs.īrī in Mis.bāh. al-Zujāja (4:215);
from Ibn ʿUmar by al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Imān (5:297 #6708 with a weak
chain because of Ibn Lahīʿa and a missing Tābiʿī link); and from ʿUbada ibn
al-Samit with a very weak chain because of Yazīd ibn Rabīʿa by al-Bazzār in
his Musnad (#2719) and by al-T.abarānī as stated by al-Haythamī (8:93). Ibn
H.ajar in his Mukhtas.ar (2:395) considers it a saying of the Tabiʿī Tawus
ibn Kaysan.
8 Narrated by Ibn al-Jawzī in S.ifat al-S.afwa 2(4):10 (#570) and 1(2):203
(#254) and Abū Nuʿaym, H.ilyat al-Awliyā' (6:155) and in the chapter titled
"Abū Hāshim."
9 Al-Qushayrī as cited in Ibn ʿAbidīn, Rasā'il (2:277).
10 Narrated from Muʿādh and ʿUbada ibn al-S.āmit. by al-Tirmidhī who graded
it h.asan s.ah.īh. and Ibn H.ibbān (2:338 #577), Ah.mad in the Musnad and
his son ʿAbd Allāh in Zawā'id al-Musnad (5:328), al-T.abarānī in al-Kabīr
(20:167-168), and Abū Nuʿaym in the H.ilya (1985 ed. 2:131), all with a good
chain according to al-Arna'ūt. in Ibn H.ibbān. One of ʿUbada's versions
replaces the Martyrs with the S.iddīqūn.
11 Narrated from Abū Umāma by al-T.abarānī [in Musnad al-Shāmiyyīn (2:10)]
with a good chain according to al-Haythamī (10:277).
12 Narrated from Abū Hurayra by Ibn H.ibbān (2:332-334 #573) with a sound
chain according to Shaykh Shuʿayb al-Arna'ūt., and al-Nasā'ī in al-Sunan
al-Kubrā (6:362 #11153), al-T.abarī in his Tafsīr (11:132), and al-Mundhirī
in al-Targhīb (=4:20); from Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī by Ah.mad, al-T.abarānī,
and Abū Yaʿlā with a chain of trustworthy narrators [except for Shahr ibn
H.awshab who is mostly reliable]; also by al-Baghawī
in Sharh. al-Sunna
(13:50 #3464) and al-T.abarī in his Tafsīr (11:132)]; from Abū al-Dardā' by
al-T.abarānī with a fair chain according to al-Mundhirī]; and from ʿAmr ibn
ʿAbasa al-Sulamī with a chain of narrators considered trustworthy,
all three
gradings according to al-Haythamī (10:276-277, 10:77); from ʿUmar by Abū
Dāwūd with a chain of sound narrators, Abū Nuʿaym in the H.ilya (1985 ed.
1:5) with a good chain as per al-Arna'ūt., and al-T.abarī in his Tafsīr
(11:132); from Ibn ʿUmar by al-H.ākim (4:170-171 s.ah.īh., confirmed by
al-Dhahabī); and from Abū Umāma by al-T.abarānī with a good chain according
to al-Mundhirī (=4:20) and al-Haytamī (10:277); also by Ibn ʿAsākir, Ibn Abī
al-Dunyā in Kitāb al-Ikhwan, Ibn Abī H.ātim, and Ibn Mardūyah.
Hajj Gibril
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