It cannot be said of any other prophet or messenger that their words, actions, and tacit affirmations received such accurate preservation and provided such forthcoming details about their lives as that of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad ﷺ.
The sources of the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ descriptions are none other than his contemporaries, most of whom not only came to believe in his message but were deeply enamoured of him. For he was the beloved of God ﷺ and all that issued from him carried Divine approval. Therefore, they were willing to sacrifice everything at his behest, knowing it was for the truth.
Scholarly generations arose through Divine Providence, after his companions, to safeguard these Prophetic descriptions. They were unmatched as a second generation of followers following a prophet. They were driven by love and concern, which saw them forgo the allure of this world to provide the subsequent generations with works that would act as a portal back in time. These works came to form a genre called shamāil (noble characteristics). Hence, giving our attention to such texts, born out of a labour of love involving many righteous hearts and hands, allows us today to experience the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as if living alongside him. Imam al-Tirmidhi wrote a seminal work in this area, forming the basis of this course.
This module will cover His ﷺ physical aspects which are mentioned over six chapters, His ﷺ attire is described over fourteen chapters, His ﷺ different postures are defined over three chapters, His ﷺ manners and types around food and drink are covered in twelve chapters.
Module Outline
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Module Text
The course draws on works that came to inform Islam’s traditional pedagogy and represent its’ normative expression. These works are cited below for reference, followed by a brief biography of the authors:
al-Tirmidhi, Abū ‘Esā and Bajūri, Muhammad b. Ibrahim. Sharh al-Muwwāhib al-Laduniyya ‘alā al-shamāil al-Muhahmmadiyya. Edited by Muhammad ‘Awāmah. Dar al-Minhāj: Saudi 2001
al-Lahjī, Abdulah bin ‘Saīd, Muntaha al-Sūl ‘an al-shamāil al rasūl, 4 vols. Dar al-Minhāj: Jeddah 2005 Mahmood, Thaqib, The Perfect Paragon A Summary of al-shamāil al-Muhahmmadiyya. CEI. fourth edition, London 2013
Muhammad ibn `Isa al-Tirmidhi
Muhammad ibn `Isa al-Tirmidhi was born during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun. His birth year was 209 AH (824/825). Adh-Dhahabi only states that at-Tirmidhi was born near 210 AH (825/826); thus, some sources give his birth year as 210 AH. Some sources indicate that he was born in Mecca (Siddiqi says he was born in Mecca in 206 AH (821/822)), while others say he was born in Tirmidh (Persian: Termez), in what is now southern Uzbekistan. The stronger opinion is that he was born in Tirmidh. Specifically, he was born in one of its suburbs, the village of Bugh (hence the nisbats “at-Tirmidhi” and “al-Bughi”).
At-Tirmidhi began the study of hadith at the age of 20. From 235 AH (849/850), he travelled widely in Khurasan, Iraq, and the Hijaz to collect hadith. ...Read More
At the time, Khurasan, at-Tirmidhi’s native land, was a major learning centre, home to many muhaddiths. Other significant learning centres visited by at-Tirmidhi were the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Basra. At-Tirmidhi reported hadith from 42 Kufan teachers. In his Jami`, he used more reports from Kufan teachers than from teachers of any other town. At-Tirmidhi was a pupil of al-Bukhari who was based in Khurasan. Adh-Dhahabi wrote, “His knowledge of hadith came from al-Bukhari.” At-Tirmidhi mentioned al-Bukhari’s name 114 times in his Jami`. He used al-Bukhari’s Kitab at-Tarikh as a source when saying discrepancies in the text of a hadith or its transmitters. He praised al-Bukhari as being the most knowledgeable person in Iraq or Khurasan in the science of discrepancies of hadith. When mentioning the rulings of jurists, he followed al-Bukhari’s practice of not saying the name of Abu Hanifah. Because he never received a reliable chain of narrators mentioning Abu Hanifa’s decrees, he would attribute them to “some people of Kufa.” Al-Bukhari held at-Tirmidhi in high regard. He is reported to have told at-Tirmidhi, “I have profited more from you than you have from me,” in his Sahih, he narrated two hadith from at-Tirmidhi.
At-Tirmidhi also narrated some hadiths from Abu Dawud and one from Muslim. Muslims also narrated one hadith from at-Tirmidhi in his own Sahih.
A.J. Wensinck mentions Ahmad ibn Hanbal as among at-Tirmidhi’s teachers. However, Hoosen states that according to the most reliable sources, at-Tirmidhi never went to Baghdad, nor did he attend any lectures of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Furthermore, at-Tirmidhi never directly narrates from Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his Jami`. Several at-Tirmidhi’s teachers also taught al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and an-Nasa’i.
Shaykh Thaqib has travelled to numerous places over the last 10 years in pursuit of sacred knowledge. This began at several deen intensives with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf from whom the impetus to his seeking sacred knowledge belongs. After travelling to Morocco he went to Hadramawt to the village of Tarim where he sat at the feet of the spiritual Masters and jurists including Habib Umar bin Hafiz.
He travelled to Damascus a number of times and studied under Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, Shaykh Abdul Wahaab Shaykh Muhammad al Yaqoubi, Shaykh Adnan al Majd, Shaykh Maree al Rashid and Shaykh Khalil al Sabbagh. His travels also led him to Mauritania to study with Murabit al Hajj, to Liverpool to study with Shaykh Siraj Ud-Din and to Istanbul at the feet of the gnostic and friend of Allah, Shaykh Mahmud Effendi; and studied with Shaykh Ehsaan Hojah and Shaykh Muhammed Ameen Siraj.”
Shaykh Thaqib has been teaching on Sacred Study for 12 years and part of the Fountain teacher for now over 22 years.
Location
INPERSON – Bury Park Community Centre, 161, 161b Dunstable Rd, Luton LU1 1BW ONLINE – ZOOM – (Details will be provided closer to the time)
Date/Time
Starting – 27th April 2024 for 10 weeks Saturday – 9.30AM to 10.30AM (In person & Online)
Module Content
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