Al-Tabari
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazid al-Ṭabarī was an influential Iranian scholar, historian and exegete of the Qur'an from Amol, Tabaristan, who composed all his works in Arabic. Today, he is best known for his expertise in Qur'anic exegesis and Historiography but he has been described as "an impressively prolific polymath. He wrote on such subjects as world history, poetry, lexicography, grammar, ethics, mathematics, and medicine."
His most influential and best known works are his Qur'anic commentary known as Tafsir al-Tabari and his historical chronicle History of the Prophets and Kings, often referred to Tarikh al-Tabari. Al-Tabari's madhhab flourished among Sunni ulama for two centuries after his death before it eventually became extinct. It was usually designated by the name Jariri.
Biography
Tabari was born in Amol, Tabaristan in the winter of 838–9. He memorized the Qur'an at seven, was a qualified prayer leader at eight and began to study the prophetic traditions at nine. He left home to study in 236 AH when he was twelve. He retained close ties to his home town. He returned at least twice, the second time in 290 AH when his outspokenness caused some uneasiness and led to his quick departure.He first went to Ray, where he remained for some five years. A major teacher in Rayy was Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Razi, who had earlier taught in Baghdad but was now in his seventies While in Ray, he also studied Muslim jurisprudence according to the Hanafi school. Among other material, ibn Humayd taught Jarir Tabari the historical works of ibn Ishaq, especially al-Sirah, his life of Muhammad. Tabari was thus introduced in youth to pre-Islamic and early Islamic history. Tabari quotes ibn Humayd frequently, but little is known about Tabari's other teachers in Rayy.
Tabari then travelled to study in Baghdad under Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who, however, had recently died. Tabari possibly made a pilgrimage prior to his first arrival in Baghdad. He left Baghdad probably in 242 AH to travel through the southern cities of Basra, Kufah and Wasit. There, he met a number of eminent and venerable scholars. In addition to his previous study of Hanafi law, Tabari also studied the Shafi'i, Maliki and Zahiri rites. Tabari's study of the latter school was with the founder, Dawud al-Zahiri, and Tabari hand-copied and transmitted many of his teacher's works. Tabari was, then, well-versed in four of the five remaining Sunni legal schools before founding his own independent, yet eventually extinct, school. His debates with his former teachers and classmates were known, and served as a demonstration of said independence. Notably missing from this list is the Hanbali school, the fourth largest legal school within Sunni Islam in the present era. Tabari's view of Ibn Hanbal, the school's founder, became decidedly negative later in life. Tabari did not give Ibn Hanbal's dissenting opinion any weight at all when considering the various views of jurists, stating that Ibn Hanbal had not even been a jurist at all but merely a recorder of Hadith.
On his return to Baghdad, he took a tutoring position from the vizier, Ubaydallah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan. This would have been before A.H. 244 since the vizier was out of office and in exile from 244 to 248.There is an anecdote told that Tabari had agreed to tutor for ten dinars a month, but his teaching was so effective and the boy's writing so impressive that the teacher was offered a tray of dinars and dirhams. The ever-ethical Tabari declined the offer saying he had undertaken to do his work at the specified amount and could not honourably take more. That is one of a number of narrative about him declining gifts or giving gifts of equal or greater amount in return.
In his late twenties, he travelled to Syria, Palestine, India and Egypt. In Beirut, he made the highly significant connection of al-Abbas ibn al-Walid ibn Mazyad al-'Udhri al-Bayruti. Al-Abbas instructed Tabari in the Syrian school's variant readings of the Qur'an and transmitted through his father al-Walid the legal views of al-Awza'i, Beirut's prominent jurist from a century earlier.
Tabari arrived in Egypt in 253 AH, and, some time after 256/870, he returned to Baghdad, possibly making a pilgrimage on the way. If so, he did not stay long in the Hijaz. Tabari had a private income from his father while he was still living and then the inheritance. He took money for teaching. Among Tabari's students was Ibn al-Mughallis, who was also a student of Tabari's own teacher Muhammad bin Dawud al-Zahiri; Ibn al-Mughallis lavished Tabari with almost excessive praise. He never took a government or a judicial position.
Tabari was some fifty years old when al-Mu'tadid became caliph. He was well past seventy in the year his History was published. During the intervening years, he was famous, if somewhat controversial, personality. Among the figures of his age, he had access to sources of information equal to anyone, except, perhaps, those who were directly connected with decision making within the government. Most, if not all, the materials for the histories of al-Mu'tadid, al-Muktafi, and the early years of al-Muqtadir were collected by him about the time the reported events took place. His accounts are as authentic as one can expect from that period.
One of Abbasi's ministers, along with a patch, also offered to be a minister for Tabari, but she turned down the offer.
Tabari final years were marked by conflict with the Hanbalite followers of Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Barbahari, a student of the students of Ibn Hanbal. Tabari was known for his view that Hanbalism was not a legitimate school of thought, as Ibn Hanbal was a compiler of traditions and not a proper jurist. The Hanbalites of Baghdad would often stone Tabari's house, escalating the persecution to the point where Abbasid authorities had to subdue them by force. The Baghdad chief of police tried to organize a debate between Tabari and the Hanbalites to settle their differences. While Tabari accepted, the Hanbalites did not show up but instead came later to pelt his house with stones again. The constant threat of violence from the Hanbalites hung over Tabari's head for the rest of his life.
Tabari finally died on 17 February 923. Abbasid authorities actually buried Tabari in secret as they feared mob violence by the Hanbalites. Regardless, Tabari was remembered positively by contemporaries such as Ibn Duraid, and the Hanbalites were condemned by Abbasid authorities in their entirety for persecuting opponents, roughly a decade later. They even prevented people from meeting with him, and Ibn Jarir remained trapped in his home until he died. The period in which Tabari lived was full of religious differences and political unrest, which was characterized by Stigmatize and accusation of individuals.
Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi and Ibn Asakir said "Those who counted nothing but God gathered at his funeral, and he was prayed on his grave for several months, day and night, and he was buried in the daytime of Monday, tomorrow, that day in his house located in the heart of Yaqoub in Baghdad.
Personal characteristics
He is described as having a dark complexion, large eyes and a long beard. He was tall and slender and his hair and beard remained black until he was very old. He was attentive to his health, avoiding red meat, fats and other foods he deemed unhealthy. He was seldom sick before his last decade when he suffered from bouts of pleurisy. When he was ill, he treated himself. He had a sense of humour, though serious subjects he treated seriously. He had studied poetry when young and enjoyed writing, reciting and participating in poetic exchanges. It is said that he was asked in Egypt about al-Tirimmah and was able to recite this 7th century poet's work for Egyptians who had merely heard al-Tirimmah's name.Ali ibn al-Athir, in his memoirs, he confirmed these features.
He was witty and urbane, clean and well mannered. He avoided coarse speech, instead displaying refined eloquence. He had a good grounding in grammar, lexicography and philology. Such were considered essential for Qur'anic commentary. He knew Persian and was acquainted with the origins of various foreign loan words in Arabic from a number of other languages.
Al-Tabari was very humble to his companions, visitors and students, without being proud of his position, condescending with his knowledge, or exaggerating over others, so he was called and went to it, and he was asked at the banquet and answered. He did not bear hatred against anyone, and he had a satisfied soul, exceeding those who had wronged him, and forgiving those who offended him
He died in Baghdad on 17 February 923.
's 14th century Persian version of Universal History by Tabari
Works
Al-Tabari wrote history, theology and Qur'anic commentary. His principal and most influential works were:- Tafsir al-Tabari ; Qur'anic commentary.
- Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, historical chronicle, often referred to as Tarikh al-Tabari.
Initially, Tabari belonged to the Shafi'ite madhhab of fiqh, and was welcomed by them. He established his own madhhab, usually designated the Jariri madhhab after his patronymic. His school failed to endure in the competitive atmosphere of the times. As a youth in Baghdad he had applied to the Hanbalite's but received a hostile rejection.
Al-Tabari's jurisprudence belongs to a type which Christopher Melchert has called "Rationalism", largely associated with the Shafi'i madhhab. It was characterized by strong scripturalist tendencies. He appears, like Dawud al-Zahiri, to restrict consensus historically, defining it as the transmission by many authorities of reports on which the Sahaba agreed unanimously. Like Dawud al-Zahiri, he also held that consensus must be tied to a text and cannot be based on legal analogy.
While we still lack a satisfactory scholarly biography of this remarkable scholar, interested readers now have access to a meticulous and well-annotated translation of the sections from al-Tabari's chronicle, which constitute the most important primary source for the
history of his reign. Anyone familiar with al-Tabari's chronicle knows what a formidable challenge it poses for a translator, especially for one attempting to make it accessible to an audience that includes non-specialists. There is first of all the obstacle of al-Tabari's Arabic prose, which varies greatly in style and complexity according to the source he is using. The sections in the McAuliffe translation, drawn mostly from al-Mada'ini and 'Umar ibn Shabba, do not represent the most obscure passages to be found in al-Tabari, but they are nonetheless full of linguistic ambiguities and difficulties for the translator.
He wrote extensively; his voluminous corpus containing three main titles:
- History of the Prophets and Kings –
The History commenced with the Creation, followed by accounts regarding the patriarchs, prophets, and rulers of antiquity. The history of the Sasanian Empire came next. For the period of the Prophet’s life, al-Ṭabarī drew upon the extensive researches of 8th-century Medinan scholars. Although pre-Islamic influences are evident in their works, the Medinan perspective of Muslim history evolved as a theocentric universal history of prophecy culminating in the career of Muhammad and not as a continuum of tribal wars and values.
The sources for al-Ṭabarī’s History covering the years from the Prophet’s death to the fall of the Umayyad dynasty were short monographs, each treating a major event or the circumstances attending the death of an important person. Al-Ṭabarī supplemented this material with historical reports embodied in works on genealogy, poetry, and tribal affairs. Further, details of the early ʿAbbāsid period were available to him in a few histories of the caliphs that unfortunately have come down only in the fragments preserved by al-Ṭabarī. Almost all of these accounts reflected an Iraqi perspective of the community; coupled with this is al-Ṭabarī’s scant attention to affairs in Egypt, North Africa, and Muslim Spain, so that his History does not have the secular “universal” outlook sometimes attributed to it. From the beginning of the Muslim era, the History is arranged as a set of annals according to the years after the hijrah. It terminates in the year 915.
- The Commentary on the Qur'an –
- Tahdhīb al-Athār was begun by Tabari. This was on the traditions transmitted from the Companions of Muhammad. It was not, however, completed.
In recounting his history, Tabari used numerous channels to give accounts. These are both channels that are given by the same author in a work, such as for example three different accounts that start with the isnad al-Harita.
Tabari although no subject history, recitation of the Quran and its interpretation, poetry, grammar and vocabulary, ethics, mathematics, and theology remained untouched, he is primarily known as the author and author of history.
Translations of Tabari's book
This book has been translated a lot so far. Less than fifty years after the author's death, the history of the Prophet and the Kings has been translated into Persian by Muhammad Bal'ami, the minister of science of Nuh II, in 352 AH.Theodor Nöldeke, The German orientalist in 1990 has also translated the Sassanid section of Tabari's history into German and has since been reprinted several times.
Dutch orientalist Michael Jan de Goeje, in several volumes, translated Tabari's history book into Dutch, The book was later translated into English and republished in 1998 by State University of New York Press and Paris Diderot University.
Hermann Zotenberg, published the history of Tabari in French Language in four volumes in Paris. His book on the nativities and history was translated into Latin by Giovanni da Siviglia and published in Venice in 1503. Franz Rosenthal in 1989 did translated Tabari history book of three volumes, with title "History of the Middle East".
Clifford Edmund Bosworth, published the book History of Tabari in three volumes with an introduction by Ehsan Yarshater in 1999 in the United States, Albania and France. Planning for the translation of this great chronicle book into English began in 1971 in forty volumes, led by Ehsan Yarshater as General Editor and assisted by an Editorial Board Ihsan Abbas, American University of Beirut, Clifford Edmund Bosworth University of Manchester, Jacob Lassner Wayne State University, as Supervising Editor and Franz Rosenthal in Yale University. Estelle Whelan at the Columbia Center for Iranian Studies served as Editorial Coordinator.
Ignác Goldziher Hungarian scholar, in 1920 wrote a book focusing on Tabari, entitled German "Die Richtungen der islamischen Koranauslegung" was published by Brill Publishers. Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary also published the complete History of the Prophets and Kings in 17 volumes in his center. W. Montgomery Watt researched the history of Tabari and from 1987 to 1999 published the book History of Tabari entitled "Muhammad at Mecca". Also Manuscripts Tabari history, Tabari interpretation and translation of Tabari history stored in Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi.
Moshe Pearlman, Ismail Poonawala, Fred Donner, Hugh N. Kennedy, Khalid Yahya Blankinship, R. Stephen Humphreys, Michael G. Morony, G. R. Hawting, Martin Hinds, Carole Hillenbrand, George Saliba and Yohanan Friedmann authors and researchers were prominent, they published a collection of books on the history of Tabari with different titles.
Texts relating to al-Tabari
It is an extremely early witness to the reception of al-Tabari's text-indeed much earlier than the sources that are customarily pressed into service to improve our understanding of the Tarikh al-rusul wa-l-muluk, e.g., Miskawayh, Ibn Asakir, Ibn al-Athir, and Ibn Khallikan. Second, since al-Azdi was writing in the decades following al-Tabari, his Tarikh can say something about the reception of al-Tabari Tarikh among those who immediately followed the great master. That al-Tabari's history was immensely significant we can all agree; but as to precisely how he became so significant there is no clear consensus.8 Third-and returning to Forand's insight-al-Azdi frequently drew on the same authorities tapped by al-Tabari, but whose works are for the most part now lost, such as Abu Ma'shar, Abu Mikhnaf, al-Haytham ibn 'Adi, al-Madaini, and 'Umar ibn Shabba.Realistic depictions alternate with formalized and archetypal narrative.
Tabari is careful to give his reports of these conquests a religious frame, though it is worth noting that Tabari describes the initiation of the campaign in pragmatic rather than ideological terms. He states that 'Umar's decision to invade came as a result of his realization Yazdegerd was making war on him every year and when it was suggested to him that he would continue to do this until he was driven out of his kingdom". The religious frame in Tabari's account is therefore not inflexible or exclusive.
Reception
In the Words
- Yaqut al-Hamawi says ""Abu Jafar al-Tabari, was headmost the modernist, jurist, reciter, historian, philosopher."
- Al-Masudi, spoke about Tabari in The Meadows of Gold, "The history of Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir is superior to all other histories and to all the books written in history."
- Ibn Taymiyyah and Ali ibn al-Athir the two great scientists said of Tabar, "He was the leader in everything, and he did not turn to lust to convey history, and he observed justice."
- Al-Nawawi says about Tabari, "He has had a great look and thought among all his contemporaries."
- Ibn Khallikan says "In his day, he was the most diligent person in science and research."
- Ali ibn al-Athir says "Abu Ja`far is more reliable than transmitting history and its interpretation indicates evidence of abundant knowledge and achievement."
- Mohammad-Taqi Bahar says, "Although more historians like the Miskawayh, Al-Biruni, Al-Masudi and Ya'qubi but no one has suffered as much as Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari and no one has as much information about the Sassanids as Tabari."
- Jalal Khaleghi Motlagh says in University of Hamburg, "Ferdowsi Shahnameh with the History of the world by Tabari is complementary."
Public
There are streets and schools named after him in Riyadh, Doha, Amol, Qazvin, Khobar, Aqaba, Madaba, Beirut, Dhahran, Heliopolis, Kuwait, Homs, Hama and Baghdad.
Abdolhossein Zarrinkoob and Lefebvre Lucidio in a speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, founded the Tabari History Research Structure Institute. The Jarir Tabari first international commemoration in 1989, With a suggestion Mohammad Ebrahim Bastani Parizi was held by Kayhan magazine at Mazandaran University.
In 1987, The ERTU produced the first TV series that presented the life of Jarir Tabari under the name “Imam al-Tabari”, it was directed by Magdy Abou Emira starring Ezzat El Alaili. In addition to Egypt, the biographical series was shown on Arabic channels in other countries.