CHAPTER: 1 INTRODUCTION

Transcription

1 CHAPTER: 1 INTRODUCTION Nahj al-balâghah, The Peak of Eloquence is a collection of Khutbât (Sermons), Maktûbât (Letters) and Mawâ iz (Short utterances) of aìrat Alî on different themes. It was collected and compiled by MuÍammad bin al-musavî Aliâs Sayyid al-raìî. He was born in 359 AH/970 C.E. and was among the fifth generation of descendants of aìrat Mûsâ ibn Ja far (Rad.A), a direct descandant of aìrat Alî Nahj al-balâghah, has always been considered not only the best specimen of the Arabic literary prose but an important source for the study of socio-historical developments of the period as well.it can be regarded as the milestone in the Arabic prose and the first compiled book of early Islamic period after the Qur ân and A adîth. Nahj al-balâghah is divided into three parts. The first being the largest part is based upon the Khutbât (sermons) varying in different editions from 238 to 241.The second part consists of Maktûbât (letters) varying from 77 to 79 and the third part constitutes short utterances which are full of wisdom. Each word contains treasures of truth and each point is full of oceans of wisdom. When Shaykh MuÍammad Abduhu, former grand Mufti of Egypt ( ) came to know about Nahj al-balâghah incidentally, its eloquence and style impressed him. This preliminary acquaintance grew into a passionate love for the sacred book and led him to write a commentary on it. It also prompted him to endeavor to make it popular amongst the Arab youth.in the preface to his commentary, he says, 1

2 Among all those who speak the Arabic language, there is not a single man who does not believe that aìrat Alî s discourses after the Qur ân and Ahâdîth are the noblest, the most eloquent, the most profound and the most comprehensive. The valuable research done by Imtiyâz Alî Arshî Khan on the Isnâd of various sermons, letters and utterances of aìrat Alî, as contained in Nahj al-balâghah under the title Istinâd-i-Nahj al-balâghah is a highly commendable research work on this aspect of Nahj al-balâghah.it is due to the fact that aìrat Alî (Rad.A) was one of the best orators of his time. The excellence of Nahj al-balâghah is its impromptu style, free from artificiality. aìrat Alî (Rad.A) always used to deliver his speeches extempore. Sentences are consistent often small but terse and sometimes rhythmical also. But the rhyming is not a product of any deliberate effort. It is spontaneous; especially the sermons which are in praise of Allâh are more rhymed. Comparison of sentences is much in admonitory sermons. Nahj al-balâghah comprises various issues that cover the major problems of metaphysics, theology, fiqh, tafsîr, adîth, taîawwuf, Prophetology, Imâmmah, ethics, social philosophy, history, politics, administration, civics, sciences and literature. Most of the discussions about various theological issues and philosophical notions in Islam have derived their origin from this book. The book not only reflects the spirit of early Islam and the teachings of the Qur ân and the Sunnah of Prophet MuÍammad in the proper perspective, but also serves as a guide to traverse the future course in the light of these teachings. 2

3 An indepth study of the subjects discussed in Nahj al-balâghah will be helpful in ascertaining the wide scope of this invaluable treasure of knowledge. The themes of Nahj al-balâghah are based on the principles of administration as provided in the Qur ân; code to establish, an order based on the ethics of a benign and pious rulership,where the Adl and mercy is shown to human beings irrespective of class, creed and colour,where poverty is neither a stigma nor a disqualification and where Adl is not taried with nepotism,favouritsm or religious fanaticism; and on the other hand it is a thesis on the various aspects of Islamic taîawwuf. For the sake of convenience of the study, the contents of Nahj al- Balâghah can be divided into eight categories, each dealing with a specific subject that can further be classified into various sub-issues pertaining to the main theme. a) Ma rifat Allâh ( Knowledge of Allâh):It can further be divided into these sub-headings: 1. Tawhîd (Oneness of Allâh). 2. Sifât al- Dhât (The attributes of essence). 3. Azamâh wa Qudrah(Greatness and power of Allâh) 4. Jabarûtiyyah(Omnipotence) 5. Adl (Divine Justice) 6. Al Tahmîd Lahu(gratitude to Him (Allâh) 7. Al Razzâq wa al rizq(the Provider and the provision) 8. Ibâdah and Abdiyah(worship and worshippers) b) Ma rifat NiÐâm al Hakûmah wa al- Mujtama (Knowledge of System of government and society).this deals with the issues of society and politics which further deals with: 3

4 1. Adl and oppression. 2. aqq and BâÏil (Right and Wrong). 3. Poverty 4. Semblance of truth 5. People and their kinds. 6. Government and Society. c) Ma rifat al-kawn (Knowledge of Creation):It deals with the following issues: 1. Heaven and the earth. 2. Creation and the properties of living beings where aìrat Alî describes various animals like bat, ant, peacock and other birds. 3. Man, where he describes their worship and utterances with special to aìrat Jibra îl and aìrat Mîkâ îl. d) Ma rifat al-hujjah (Knowledge about proofs of Allâh):This category includes Prophetology; Where aìrat Alî mentions the aims and the characteristics of Prophets including Prophet MuÍammad e) Ma rifat al-târîkh (Knowledge of History): It deals with the historical events as viewed by aìrat Alî. f) Ma rifat al- AÍkâm (Knowledge of Religious Laws): It consists of Islamic fundamentals as: 1. Salâh. 2. Sawm. 3. Zakâh. 4. Jihâd. 5. ajj. 4

5 g) Ma rifat al-ma âd (Knowledge of Ressurection and The HereAfter):It deals with the preparation of Mu min for death, and the Day of Judgement.It reveals vast span of themes and subjects. h) Ma rifat al-akhlâq wa taîawwuf (Knowledge of ethical laws and Sûfism):It covers the major issues on morality and taîawwuf and deals with 1. Taqwâ 2. Zuhd and Worldliness. 3. Øabr 4. Tawakkul 5. Tawbah 6. Shukr 7. Amr bil Ma rûf wa nahi-anil-munkar. 8. Adl. 9. Kindness and Sympathy. 10. Keeping Promise. 11. Tarahum(Kinship). 12. Assocaition with good doers. 13. Ill effects of Satan. 14. Major and minor sins. 15. Ibâdah. 16. Faqr(Poverty) A number of commentaries, translations and annotations have been written on Nahj al-balâghah in different languages including Persian, Arabic, Urdu and English.The Kitâb Nameh-yi Nahj al-balâghah, published in 1359 Shâm/1980 C.E., in Persian from Iran, enlists 370 titles of various commentaries, translations, annotations and books dealing with its sources in 5

6 Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, English, Gujrati and French. Some of the important works on Nahj al-balâghah include; 1. Âlam Nahj al-balâghah by al-sayyid Alî ibn NâÎir al Alwî, a contemporary of al-raìî. 2. Ma arij Nahj al-balâghah by Shaykh Abul asan Abu al- Qâsim Zayd ibn MuÍammad Alî al- Bayhaqî al- Nishâpûrî, popularly known as Farîd-i-Khurâsan (d.565/1169). 3. SharÍ by Öiya al-dîn Abu al-riìa Fadl Allâh ibn Alî al- Rawandi(d. after 485/ ) 4. SharÍ by Izz al-din ibn Abî al- Hadîd al Mu tazilî (d. 656/1258), the most famous commentary on which about fifteen commentaries have been written. 5. Mulhaq Nahj al-balâghah, a commnentary written around the beginning of the 8 th /14 th Century by AÍmad ibn yahya, a Manuscript of which, copied in 729/1328-9, is in the kitâb khanehyi Astaneh-I- Qudus, RiÌawi, Mashhad. 6. Minhâj al-wilâyah by Mullah Abd al Baqi al-sûfî al-tabrîzi al- Khattât,known as Dânishmand(d.1039/ ) 7. Minhâj al-fasâhah by Kamâl al-din usayn ibn Khwajah Sharaf al- Dîn Abd al Haqq al-ardabili Illâhi (d.950/ ). 8. Al-Tuhfât al- Âliyyah fi Sharh Nahj al-balâghah al-haydariyyah by MuÍammad ibn HabibAllah compiled in 1881/ Sayr-i-dar Nahj al-balâghah of Ayatullah Mutahhari deserves special mention. 10. Nayrang-e-Fasâhat by Dhakir Husayn Akhtar Dehlawi. 11. SharÍ-i- Nahj al-balâghah by Raîs AÍmad Ja fari(a sunni order) 6

7 12. A subject wise index of the contents of Nahj al-balâghah has been prepared by Alî Ansâriyan and published in Arabic under the title al-dallil- ala mawdu at Nahjul-Balâghah in 1395/1975.It was later translated into Persian and published with the sub title Nahj al- Balâghah mawìu I. 13. A gujrati translation has been done by Mawlawi Ghulam Alî ibn Ismâ îl Bhawnagari (d.1367/1947/-48). 14. The first English translation of Nahj al-balâghah was done by Sayyid Muhammad Askarî Ja farî and was published first from Karâchî, and later it was reprinted in Iran. The second translation by Sayyid Alî RiÌa was reprinted with some additional prefaces and articles from Qum, Iran. 15. The best edition of the Arabic text of Nahj al-balâghah has been edited by al-shaykh MuÍammad Abduhu and Dr. Subhi al- ØâliÍ. As a matter of fact, our chosen theme Content Analysis of Nahj al- Balâghah with Special Reference to Mystical Dimensions has been least attempted so far.to our knowledge there is no scholarly work that deals exclusively with this aspect of Nahj al-balâghah.the present work comprises the following main chapters: 1. Life and Carrer of aìrat Alî. 2. An introduction to the compiler of Nahj al- Balâghah. 3. Content Analysis of Nahj al-balâghah. 4. Mystical Dimensions in Nahj al-balâghah. We have tried to be objective, analytical and dispassionate in our effort.an attempt has been made to interpret the mystical teachings of aìrat Alî in his own vocabulary. 7