Ibrahim al-Kurani

Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī
Personal life
BornBurhān al-Dīn Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥasan
1616 (1616)
Shehraneh
Safavid Iran
Died1690 (aged 73–74)
Medina
Ottoman Empire
Spouse
Daughter of Ahmad al-Qushashi
​
​
(before 1690)​
ChildrenAbu Tahir al-Kurani
EraEarly modern period
RegionWest Asia
Main interest(s)Sufism, Tawhid, Islamic jurisprudence
Religious life
ReligionIslam
DenominationSunni (Sufi)
JurisprudenceShāfiʿī
CreedAtharī (formerly Akhbari)
Muslim leader
Disciple ofAhmad al-Qushashi
Influenced by
Influenced

Burhān al-Dīn Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥasan al-Kūrānī (1616–1690) better known as Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī, was a 17th-century Islamic scholar and theologian of the Shafi'i school of thought. As a theologian, he was a former proponent of Wahdat al-Wujud before his adherence to Atharism. He was also the teacher of Abd al-Rauf al-Fansuri, a prominent ulama of Aceh, and Yusuf al-Makassari, who spread Islam in South Africa.

Biography

Burhān al-Dīn Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥasan al-Kūrānī was born in the year 1616.[1][2][3] He was of Kurdish descent, with his eptithet al-Shahrānī indicating that he was from the Kurdish-dominated village of Shehrāneh in Safavid Iran.[1][2][3] In his adulthood, Al-Kurani went on a journey throughout the Middle East and the Levant to seek knowledge as well as study the Islamic religion.[1][2][3]

In Egypt, Al-Kurani was a student at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo for three months in 1650. There, he studied the book Al-Taysīr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-Sab.[4] In Syria, he studied under Abd al-Baqi al-Hanbali, a leading authority of the Hanbali school, where he also memorized the Sahih of Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari.[5][6] After he had received his ijazah for becoming an Islamic scholar, he migrated to Medina in 1652, where he stayed for the rest of his life.[1][2][3] He became a disciple of Ahmad al-Qushashi, a murshid, who initiated him into the Shattari order of Sufism and gave him his daughter in marriage.[3] Al-Kurani was later initiated into the Naqshbandi order as well, following his vision that one could be initiated into multiple orders without conflict. He was also employed as an Imam at the Prophet's Mosque, where he gave sermons and taught students.[4][6]

A majority of students under Al-Kurani's entourage were from Southeast Asia, especially from places that are now Indonesia and Malaysia, including the wider Nusantara.[4] Abd al-Rauf al-Fansuri, a student of Al-Kurani, maintained a close and friendly relationship with him, spreading his manner of teaching to Aceh.[7][8] Another student of his from Nusantara was Yusuf al-Makassari, who was best known for establishing Islam in the Cape Town. Al-Kurani's son Abu Tahir also studied under his father and later became the teacher of Muhammad Hayyat al-Sindhi, an Indian Muslim scholar who was the teacher of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of Wahhabism.[9] He also dedicated a treatise for answering questions from the Malay Peninsula relating to jurisprudence and creed.[7][8] Due to his entourage of Nusantaran students, Al-Kurani is a celebrated figure in Indonesia and Malaysia.[10][11]

Al-Kurani passed away in 1690 and was buried in the Jannat al-Baqi cemetery of Medina.[1][2][3]

Views

Fiqh (jurisprudence)

Ibrahim al-Kurani adhered to the Shafi'i school of thought, which was the dominant school in the places he studied at, such as in Syria and at the Al-Azhar institution in Cairo, Egypt.[1] However, had an ijazah to teach Hanbali fiqh as well in Medina, and was sometimes regarded as a Hanbali himself.[12]

Sufism

Ibrahim al-Kurani was a supporter of Sufism and other forms of Islamic mysticism. He delved into the teachings of Ibn Arabi and Abd al-Karim al-Jilli, encouraging one to follow the views of both Sufi scholars instead of one of them.[4][6] Al-Kurani was also initiated into the Shattari and Naqshbandi orders of Sufism in Medina.[4][6] He emphasized the importance of not following one path to God, but the compatibility of following as many paths that could lead one closer to God without deviations.[4][6] He also obligated that a Sufi may do as he pleases to draw closer to God, as long as he does not contradict what is said in the Qur'an and Sunnah.[6]

Aqeeda (Creed and theology)

Ibrahim al-Kurani considered Atharism to be the standard theological doctrine of the Islamic religion.[13] He was also a former proponent of Akhbarism, including concepts such as Wahdat al-Wujud.[14][15] He was a supporter of Ibn Taymiyyah, defending him in terms of creed and theology.[6][13]

Ibrahim al-Kurani had a favourable view of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, the founder of the Ash'ari school of theology, claiming to have followed his book al-Ibānah 'an Uşūl ad-Diyānah in terms of theology.[16] However, the work al-Ibānah is heavily criticized by Ash'ari scholars, who believe that the work is falsely attributed to Abu al-Hasan because of its contents, which are clearly Hanbali influenced and not adhering to the proper Ash'ari doctrine.[17] Al-Kurani also criticized the Ash'arite doctrine of metaphorically interpreting Qur'anic verses and concepts of tafwid, stating that one should not accept metaphorical interpretations of verses and accept the verses in a literal manner, even if there are anthropomorphic implications.[18][19] Regarding the Maturidi school, he was indifferent towards them and did criticize them as well although he did assist in uncovering the chain of transmission of the manuscript of Kitāb al-Tawhīd to help with more authentic re-publications of the manuscript.[20] Al-Kurani also attempted to reconcile the theological views of Ash'aris with those of Ibn Taymiyyah.[6][15]

In 1682, Al-Kurani wrote a treatise, Tanbīh al-ʿUqūl ʿalā Tanzīh al-Ṣūfiyyah ʿan Iʿtiqād al-Tajsīm wa-l-ʿAyniyyah wa-l-Ittiḥād wa-l-Ḥulūl, which defended Ibn Arabi and the theology of Wahdat al-Wujud, refuting misconceptions that the teachings of Ibn Arabi espoused anthropomorphist, pantheist, incarnationist and corporealist ideas.[21]

Works

Al-Kurani had written over three hundred works, most of which do not survive to this day.[4] Among these works include:

  • Itḥāf al-dhakī, a treatise for his Nusantaran audience.[4]
  • Tanbīh al-ʿUqūl ʿalā Tanzīh al-Ṣūfiyyah ʿan Iʿtiqād al-Tajsīm wa-l-ʿAyniyyah wa-l-Ittiḥād wa-l-Ḥulūl, a treatise that defends Akhbarism from accusations of heresy.[21]

Criticism

His treatise on the Event of Gharānīq was largely criticized by a group of scholars in Algeria and Morocco including Yahya al-Shawi, who wrote and signed a fatwa against Ibrahim al-Kurani and demanded his execution.[4][22] When the fatwa reached Medina, it was largely ignored, before it was later discarded by Al-Kurani's student Muhammad al-Barzanji, who was serving as the Mufti of Medina at the time.[22] Al-Kurani was also accused of having Mu'tazilite leanings when he explained the faith of Amenhotep III.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 al-Ālūsī, Nu‘mān (1981). al-Madanī, ‘Alī al-Sayyid (ed.). Jalā' al-'Aynayn fī Muḥākamat al-Aḥmadayn [The Book of Clarification of the Eyes in the Trial of the Two Ahmads] (in Arabic). Maṭba‘at al-Madanī. pp. 54–55.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Albānī, Nāṣiruddīn (1996). Naṣb al-Majāniq li-Nasf Qiṣṣat al-Gharānīq [Setting Up Catapults to Destroy the Story of the Cranes] (in Arabic). al-Maktab al-Islāmī. pp. 66–67.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 al-Anṣārī, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān (1970). al-‘Arūsī, Muhammad (ed.). Tuḥfat al-Muḥibbīn wa al-Aṣḥāb fī Ma'rifat mā lil-Madaniyyīn min al-Ansāb [A Gift for Lovers and Companions in Knowing the Genealogies of the People of Medina] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Tunis: al-Maktabah al-‘Atīqah. pp. 456–457.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hanif, Nur (2002). Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia And Middle East (1st ed.). India: Sarup & Sons. p. 250.
  5. ↑ al-Ya‘qūbī, Muḥammad (2019). al-Madkhal ilā Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī [Introduction to Sahih al-Bukhari] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). London: Dār Tawqī‘āt. p. 278.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fathurrahman, Oman (2011). "Itḥāf al-dhakī by Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī: A Commentary of Waḥdat al- Wujūd for Jāwī Audiences". Archipel (81): 183–188.
  7. 1 2 Riddell, P.G. (2001). Islam and the Malay-Indonesian World: Transmission and Responses. Hurst Publishers. pp. 125–127. ISBN 9781850653363.
  8. 1 2 Azyumardi, Azra (2006). Islam in the Indonesian World: An Account of Institutional Formation. Indonesia: Penerbit Mizan Pustaka. pp. 137–140. ISBN 9794334308.
  9. ↑ Nafi, Basheer M. (2006). "A Teacher of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb: Muḥammad Ḥayāt al-Sindī and the Revival of A๣ḥāb al-Ḥadīth's Methodology". Islamic Law and Society. 13 (2): 208–241. ISSN 0928-9380.
  10. ↑ "Ahmad Ginanjar Sya'ban, Kaji Pengaruh al-Kurani di Nusantara" [Ahmad Ginanjar Sya'ban, Study of the Influence of Al-Kurani in the Archipelago]. Republika (in Indonesian). 17 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Mubarok, Hamdani (2 September 2019). "Ibrahim al-Kurani, Mahaguru Para Ulama Nusantara" [Ibrahim al-Kurani, Grand Master of the Nusantaran Scholars]. Islamico (in Indonesian).
  12. ↑ al-Dimashqī, Muḥammad. Mashyakhat Abī al-Mawāhib al-Ḥanbalī (Digitized Manuscript ed.). Al-Maktaba Al-Shamela.
  13. 1 2 Nafi, Basheer M. (2002). "Taṣawwuf and Reform in Pre-Modern Islamic Culture: In Search of Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī". Die Welt des Islams. 42 (3): 307–355. ISSN 0043-2539.
  14. ↑ Dumaireh, pp. 251–253
  15. 1 2 Shihadeh, Ayman; Thiele, Jan (2020-01-01). Philosophical Theology in Islam: Later Ashʿarism East and West. BRILL. doi:10.1163/9789004426610. ISBN 978-90-04-42661-0.
  16. ↑ Dumaireh, p. 253, "According to Al-Kurani, al-Ash'ari thereby affirms the apparently anthropomorphic passages in the Quran and hadith without allegorical reinterpretation of them, all the while simultaneously affirming that "there is nothing like Him."
  17. ↑ Klein, W.C. (1967). Al-ibānah 'an uṣūl ad-diyānah [The Elucidation of Islam's Foundation] (Reprinted ed.). New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriental Society.
  18. ↑ Dumarieh, p. 251, "Al-Kurani disagrees with later Ash'arite allegorical interpretations of the ambiguous verses, nor was he satisfied with the attitude of tafwid."
  19. ↑ Dumarieh, pp. 253–254 "Al-Kurani connects the idea of accepting apparently anthropomorphic meanings with his interpretation of absolute existence as the One who is not restricted or conditioned by anything and who can manifest Himself in any conceivable form, without His absoluteness being affected."
  20. ↑ Çelik, Şerife Nur (2022-04-15). "The Intellectual Interaction of a Hijazī Scholar with the Lands of Rum: Ibrahīm al-Kūranī's Criticism of the Hanafi-Maturidi Tradition in His Treatise Jila' al-Anzar" (PDF). Nazariyat İslam Felsefe ve Bilim Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi (Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences). 8 (1): 63–100. doi:10.12658/Nazariyat.8.1.M0152en.
  21. 1 2 Naṣṣār, M.A. (2011). Al-Maslak al-Jalī fī Ḥukm Shaṭḥ al-Walī [The Clear Path on the Ruling Regarding the Ecstatic Utterances of the Saint] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Cairo, Egypt: Dārat al-Karaz. ISBN 9789774620621.
  22. 1 2 Sa‘d Allāh, Abū al-Qāsim (1998). Tārīkh al-Jazā'ir al-Thaqāfī [Cultural history of Algeria] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī. p. 107.

Quoted bibliography

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