Spiritual Purification in Islam

The Life and Works of al-Muhasibi

Gavin Picken

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781136853708
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

Purification of the soul is a principle that is central to understanding Islamic spirituality but despite this, relatively little has been written explicitly in the Islamic tradition regarding this discrete method of spiritual purification. This book examines the work of a scholar of this discipline, al-H?rith al-Muh?sib?, who lived and worked during the classical Islamic period under the Abb?sids.

Although al-Muh?sib? was well known for his skills in many disciplines, including the Qur'?n, Prophetic narration and scholastic theology, it is his mastery in the field of Islamic spirituality and moral psychology for which he is best remembered. Assessing the extent to which the political, social and economic factors played a part in his life and work, Gavin Picken provides a comprehensive overview of his work and its great significance in the development of Islamic spirituality. Reconstructing his life in chronological order and providing the most comprehensive appraisal of his works to date, it explores a facet of al-Muh?sib?'s teaching which as yet has not been studied, namely his understanding, concept and methodology regarding the purification of the soul within the Islamic paradigm. As such, it will be of great interest not only to researchers and students of Sufism but also to scholars of comparative spirituality and mysticism.

1 The ʿAbbāsid crucible

The historical background to al-Muḥāsibī’s life

Al-Muḥāsibī was born in a highly interesting and well-chronicled era known as the Abbāsid period. Bearing in mind that individual works have been entirely dedicated to this rich historical part of history, it is difficult to represent in a short chapter such as this. Nevertheless, this section of the book concentrates on the factors within the reign of the ʿAbbāsids that may have directly affected the life of al-Muḥāsibī. This chapter will begin, therefore, by providing a brief impression of the ʿAbbāsids, so as to furnish the reader with an overview of the rulers of this particular period of Islamic history. Similarly, the early ʿAbbāsid period is often regarded as the ‘Golden Age’ of Islamic learning and thus an assessment of intellectual life under these caliphs will also be made. Thirdly, since al-Muḥāsibī spent his formative years in Basra and the better part of his life in Baghdad, both these geographical locations will be discussed to assess their influence on our author. Finally, perhaps the single most important religio-political event in this period was the miḥna, commonly termed the ‘Inquisition’, which affected religious praxis during a large proportion of al-Muḥāsibī’s life and therefore this event will also be examined.

The ʿAbbāsids

The ʿAbbāsid period covers approximately half a millennium in its entirety, spanning the years 132/750 to 656/1258.¹ Consequently, historians have commonly divided this era into three sub-periods.² The primary era, being known as the first ʿAbbāsid period (132/750–247/861),³ is generally regarded as a period of growth and prosperity, having built upon the successes of the Umayyads. This is followed by the second ʿAbbāsid period (247/861–447/1055),⁴ which is regarded as an era of political decline, due to the events leading to the loss of ʿAbbāsid power. Finally, there is the third ʿAbbāsid period, which includes the eventual collapse of the caliphate and the sacking of Baghdad at the hands of the Mongol horde (447/1055–565/1258).⁵

The ʿAbbāsids took charge of the Islamic empire from the Umayyads with the ascension to the throne of Abū ’l-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad (r. 132/749– 136/754), commonly known as ‘al-Saffāḥ’ (lit. ‘the blood spiller’) due to his merciless execution of the remaining Umayyad dignitaries. The rise of the ʿAbbāsids was mainly due, on the one hand, to the lack of popularity of the Umayyads, who were seen as a debauched, ‘pro-Arab’ aristocracy who had little regard for the welfare of their subjects, and the messianic campaign of the ʿAbbāsids for a return of authority to the house of the Prophet or ‘al-riḍāʾ min āl Muḥammad’, as they put it, on the other. Their claim to authority came through their familial link to the Prophet’s uncle al-ʿAbbās and they would later counter the ʿAlid claim to authority – since they were also of Prophetic lineage – by showing that their link was through a male relative, i.e. al-ʿAbbās and not through a female one, i.e. Fāṭima, the Prophet’s daughter, which was apparently still an important factor despite this being a supposed post-jāhilī, Arab society. This call, or daʿwa, proved very popular and gained great support in the eastern provinces generally and in Khurasān in particular. Subsequently, it would be support from this province that would bring the ʿAbbāsids to ascendancy and remain their powerbase for years to come.⁶

The seemingly religious overtone to their claim of legitimacy as rulers was consolidated by their adoption of honorific titles synonymous with the Prophet (alqāb, sin. laqab), which was unprecedented and seemingly added to their apparent link with God and His primary worldly representative. Later, they would enhance this even further by their patronising of religious learning, which equally added to their claim of ‘orthodoxy’ and hence, legitimacy. Despite this, however, their powerbase constituted a departure from the ‘Arab aristocracy’ of the Umayyads, since the majority of their supporters were in fact of Persian origin. Thus, the early ʿAbbāsid period became synonymous with the rise of the Persian ‘clients’ or mawālī, who occupied key positions in the ʿAbbāsid administration and who seemingly ‘Persianised’ the running of the state along the lines of the old Sasanian model.⁷

The consolidation of ʿAbbāsid power did not lie with Abū ’l-ʿAbbās al-Saffāḥ, however, and, indeed, it was his successor Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ‘al-Manṣūr’ who succeeded in suppressing the ʿAlid uprisings and provided the ʿAbbāsid state with a new epicentre, Baghdad, which would remain the state capital for more than half a century to come.⁸ It was into this era that our subject al-Muḥāsibī is reported to have been born in 165/782 and since he died in 243/857, he lived through a considerable portion of the entire primary period of the ʿAbbāsid era. Thus, al-Muḥāsibī lived through the reign of eight ʿAbbāsid caliphs.

1. Muḥammad b. al-Manṣūr, ‘al-Mahdī’ (r. 158/775–169/785)

Due to the determination, energy, political acumen and renowned frugality of his father, al-Mahdī inherited an empire that was stable, powerful and richly endowed. Consequently, al-Mahdīis remembered as being generous in comparison with his father and he used the state’s substantial wealth to improve relations with the ʿAlids, by offering them generous stipends and esteemed positions. Seen as a religious ruler due to his building of mosques and patronising of the pilgrimage, al-Mahdī is also remembered for his persecution of those with anti-Islamic tendencies known as zindīqs. At the political level, his reign is also a period in which the ‘clients’ mawālī continue to come to prominence and there is a continuation of the expansion of the new secretarial class of civil servants known as the ‘kuttāb’, who helped define the administration’s bureaucracy.⁹

2. Mūsā b. al-Mahdī, ‘al-Hādī’ (r. 169/785–170/789)

With his reign being so short and with the sources comparing him unfavourably with his brother Hārūn, al-Hādī is a difficult figure to assess. Despite this, we are given the impression that he was determined, forceful and on occasion hasty and ill-tempered. In many ways his reign was a reaction to his father’s, as he reversed his policies regarding the ʿAlids and attempted to limit the influence of both the mawālī and, consequently, the kuttāb. His greatest aim, however, was to remove his brother Hārūn from the succession and replace him with his own son Jaʿfar but his life was cut short in suspicious circumstances and considerable court intrigue.¹⁰

3. Hārūn b. al-Mahdī, ‘al-Rashīd’ (r. 170/789–193/809)

Arguably the most famous of the ʿAbbāsid caliphs, Hārūn al-Rashīd is well known due to his relations with Europe through the French king Charlemagne and perhaps more so for his apparent immortalisation as the caliphal character in the One Thousand and One Nights. Similarly, he has a privileged place in Sunni hagiography for his frequent trips of pilgrimage and his own personal support of the jihad against Byzantium. His reign would be marked, however, by his appointment of members of the Barmakid family as his closest ministers and confidantes, who essentially administered the caliphate on his behalf for most of his reign until their untimely demise in controversial circumstances under the very same caliph. Al-Rashīd’s caliphate is considerably marred, however, by his almost naive decision to divide power after his death between his sons Muḥammad and ʿAbd Allāh – a decision that would lead ultimately to civil war.¹¹

4. Muḥammad b. al-Rashīd, ‘al-Amīn’ (r. 193/809–198/813)

Often portrayed as politically incompetent, reckless and somewhat debauched, al-Amīn remains one of the most tragic figures in ʾAbbāsid history. Having been denied the entire caliphate to himself by his father’s will, he wasted little time in attempting to manipulate it back to his own control. His step-brother’s steadfastness in resisting the caliph’s attempt at wresting power away from him could only have one possible outcome – a civil war. Hostilities soon ensued and culminated in a siege of Baghdad that lasted several months and destroyed great areas of the city but a more severe blow was dealt to the ʿAbbāsid caliphate when al-Amīn was executed by his brother’s forces, this being the first incident of fraternal regicide during the dynasty’s rule.¹²

5. ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Rashīd, ‘al-Maʾmūn’ (r. 198/813–218/833)

After receiving the caliphate in the most inauspicious manner, al-Maʾmūn redeemed himself somewhat by proving himself a patron of the arts through actively supporting the translation movement and is intimately associated with the celebrated ‘House of Wisdom’ (Bayt al-Ḥikma). Thus, he is remembered for his role in the translation of Greek, Indian and Persian works on astronomy, mathematics, medicine and philosophy, as well as his encouraging of court debates on a variety of intellectual matters. His spirit of ‘tolerance’ was further enhanced by the fact he seemingly attempted to bridge the gap between his own family’s dynasty and the rival ʿAlids by appointing ʿAlī al-Riḍāʾ as his heir but this attempt proved doomed to failure. Due to his tolerant approach to ‘foreign’ learning and ‘unorthodox’ views he was labelled ‘commander of the unbelievers’ (amīr al-kāfirīn), a title which would be given further credence in the eyes of his opponents by his adoption of the...