Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Thabit who is better known as Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi was born in Ghuziyah, a town in Hijaz, in 392 A.H., corresponding roughly to 1002 A.D., but he grew up in Darzeejan, a large village to the southwest of Baghdad, where his father was the imam who led the prayers and addressed the congregation on Fridays for over 20 years. This tells us that Al-Khateeb was brought up in a family of learning. He showed much promise at an early age. Indeed he learned the Qur’an and its different methods of recitation at an early age. When he was 14, he began his study of Hadith under a number of scholars many of whom were resident in Baghdad, but he was also keen to study under visiting scholars.
Baghdad was still a center that attracted numerous scholars from all over the Muslim world. Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi was keen to learn from them their books and obtained the certification of many of these scholars. They had a large number of books which they were able to teach, and Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi was keen to obtain these books. He would borrow books to copy them in his own fine handwriting. That enabled him to have one of the largest private libraries of his time.
Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi did not confine himself to the great opportunity life in Baghdad offered him to pursue his studies. He started to travel to nearby cities and villages to meet scholars and learn from them. When he was 20 he traveled to the two other seats of learning in Iraq, Kufah and Basrah. But even then, he was keen to achieve what is better and more varied in education. So he traveled in 415 to Naissapur, which was renowned as a center of research and intellectual pursuit, as well as Azadabad, Hamthan, Sawa and Al-Rai. Four years later, he started on another journey to the east, when he traveled to Esfahan, where he was welcomed by its great scholar, Abu Nuaim, who granted him full access to his own books and those of other scholars.
Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi settled in Baghdad between 423 and 440, when he wrote some of his books, including the History of Baghdad, his best history book. After 440, Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi traveled several times to Damascus, before finally settling there in 451. At the time he was a recognized top scholar. In Damascus, he was able to organize his own circle in which he taught, and to write some of his books. However, his scholarship was not particularly welcome by the Fatimi rulers, who considered killing him, but one of the Alawi nobility covered him with his own protection. The Fatimis, who were Shia, could not refuse to honor this protection. Nevertheless, Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi decided to travel from there to Sur in Lebanon in 459. He stayed there until 462 when he went back to Baghdad, visiting Tripoli and Aleppo on his way.
Now back in Baghdad at the age of 70, Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi steered away from the established schools. He had his own circle in Al-Mansoor Mosque and also taught in his own home. This was partly due to his desire to spare himself any involvement in controversial issues. In Ramadan the following year, i.e. 463, he fell ill. He donated all his wealth, which came to 200 dinars, i.e the gold currency at the time, to scholars of Hadith. He also made his library an endowment for students, putting it in the custody of Abul-Fadhl ibn Khairoon, but most of its books were consumed by a fire not long afterward. Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi died toward the end of the same year, and his funeral was attended by a large number of eminent personalities in Baghdad.
Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi was a prolific author. He wrote no less than 86 books, of which 37 were on the various disciplines in the study of Hadith, with the exception of the history of reporters. He also wrote 25 books of history including those concerned with reporters of Hadith. His other books include 14 on different subjects of Fiqh and its basic principles. Two of his books are concerned with the essentials of faith and 3 with literature.
Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi gave much attention to explaining the importance Islam attaches to the pursuit of knowledge, as it considers it a duty of every Muslim. In his book, “Travel for Learning Hadith”, Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi explains that efforts made in pursuit of Hadith learning and meeting scholars of Hadith are well rewarded, as they represent fulfillment of an Islamic duty.
Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi has demonstrated a thorough insight in the way learning and academic achievement should be pursued. He makes it clear that it is important to start early in life, because what is learned when one is young remains well-engraved in one’s mind. Moreover, if one leaves learning until one is a grown up, it is often the case that one might feel embarrassed to learn from a scholar who is younger than one. That leads to abandoning the attempt to seek knowledge.
It is important, as Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi makes clear, to study the Hadith thoroughly in order to be able to ascertain its meaning and its application to questions that people may have or experience. When a scholar of Hadith studies Fiqh, he spares himself the criticism that he lacks in-depth understanding. Hence, scholars of Hadith should allocate some of their time to understanding and acquiring a broader scope in Islamic disciplines. They must not be mere records. While it is important to commit certain matters to memory, such as the Qur’an and the text of Hadith, studying the meaning of these and the acquisition of a good insight in them is essential.
Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi was able to acquire a vast amount of knowledge and to study in-depth various disciplines. Hence, he was able to rewrite and reorganize much of the subject matter of various disciplines, to make it easier for younger scholars to achieve their goals. This skill of reorganization and reclassification has been his great point of strength, and his suit was followed by many later scholars.
Our scholar comes strongly in favor of writing down all branches of knowledge including Hadith. In his book on this point, Taqyied Al-Ilm, he reconciles the Hadiths which allow the writing down of the Prophet’s statements and those which order Muslims not to write anything of what the Prophet said. He compares these and studies them thoroughly, coming in the end strongly in favor of writing Hadith down. He then goes into details of how and what to write, stressing the importance of accuracy so that no one is misled into holding a false notion, or a view which makes lawful what is unlawful, or vice versa.
Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi stresses the importance of giving practical credence to what one has learned. He makes it clear that when a scholar learns something, he should implement it in practical life. Otherwise the credibility of a scholar is called into question. In connection with that he denounces the pursuit of learning in order to make a profession out of it, seeking either reputation or wages. He makes it clear that this applies particularly to people who learn the Qur’an for such purposes.
The Qur’an should be learned in order to conduct one’s worship well and to learn what God wants us to do and to put that into effect. That is the way to earn God’s pleasure and His reward.
He also takes care to point out many other issues that are relevant to the pursuit of learning. Among these are the approaches scholars follow in order to make their pursuit properly organized. He also speaks about the need to add a humorous dimension in a session of learning in order to encourage students, and the need to continue one’s pursuit of learning. He speaks of the student’s freedom to choose from whom to learn, and stresses the importance of having as many teachers as possible. All this goes to show that Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi was not merely a scholar of great knowledge but also one who attended much to methods and approaches of education. May God bless his soul.
