When past biographers recorded an entry in their books on any scholar, they added to his name and tribe, the city or cities in which he lived, and his main field of specialization. If he had achieved a good standard in more than one branch of study, they would mention these as titles they add to his name, then they add some of his scholarly characteristics. This may sound at times as lavishing praise unnecessarily, but it is often no more than a factual summary given at the beginning, in order to introduce the scholar in more detail.
I find it useful to give such an introduction of the scholar on whose life and works we are having this brief note. He is introduced as follows: “Abu Muhammad, Makki ibn Abu Talib, Hammoosh, ibn Muhammad ibn Mukhtar of Qais (i.e. belonging to the Arabian tribe of Qais), belonging to Qairawan and Cordoba, a scholar of recitation of the Qur’an, a linguist, an authority in Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence, a man of letters, a scholar of exceptional knowledge, a commentator on the Qur’an and a writer of many books, the leading authority in the Qur’an in his generation and the last such authority in the Andalus.”
The introductory note goes on to describe some of his characteristics as a person. Makki was born in Qairawan in present-day Tunisia in the year 355 A.H. The city was at the time a center of learning which was visited by large numbers of students and scholars from the Andalus, Morocco and Sudan. His primary education was in the Qur’anic schools which also taught principles of language study and Arabic. He then frequented the circles of a large number of scholars.
These served as high school education in our present day. In these circles, Makki studied Qur’anic commentary, Hadith and the different schools of thought, particularly the Maliki school, as well as Arabic literature and poetry, philosophy and logic. He started memorizing the Qur’an at an early age, but he did not finish it until he was 19.
Anyone who wished to achieve a high degree of learning and attain a good standard as a scholar had to travel in order to study under different scholars and teachers. Makki made several such trips, but concentrated only on Egypt and Hijaz, in present-day Saudi Arabia. He made several such visits, always returning the Qairawan to spend some time there before resuming his travels for study. He traveled four times to Egypt, starting his first trip when he was only 13 years of age.
In total, he spent ten years in Egypt where he studied qiraat, or methods of recitation of the Qur’an under Abdulmunim ibn Ghalaboon and his son, whom we introduced last week, as well as other teachers. He also made two trips to Hijaz, spending one year in the first trip and more than three in the second, performing the pilgrimage five times. He spent a total of eleven years in Qairawan after he went on his first trip to Egypt. He eventually traveled to Cordoba in the Andalus in 393, living there for 44 years, until he died in 437. There is a definite report which carries a good degree of authenticity speaking of Makki traveling once to Jerusalem and Syria.
We can describe Makki’s period of travels and the years he spent in Egypt, Hijaz and Qairawan as his period of learning, while his period in Cordoba was the period of teaching and yielding the fruits of his scholarship.
Although Makki belonged to the Maliki school of thought, he was a highly renowned scholar who attained the standard of mujtahid, which means a scholar who uses his own scholarly discretion to deduce rulings on questions that are put to him. Having said that, I must add that Makki studied other schools of thought and he often takes the views of some of them in preference to Maliki’s view. This speaks highly of his broadmindedness as a scholar.
His great knowledge was coupled with a fine character and immense modesty. He was known to be a man of great piety. We find in his books passages which describe the manners and moral values that apply to students, scholars of the Qur’an and teachers. These provide an insight of his vision of scholarship and how it should affect the scholar’s character. It also tells us much about Makki’s own fine character. The following are a few remarks which describe Makki’s view of a scholar of Qur’an.
“The worst characteristic a scholar of the Qur’an may have is that of seeking his knowledge for any reason other than earning God’s pleasure, and seeking to acquire wealth and position through it, instead of implementing it. To turn one’s back on its orders is a great sin that may lead a person to total ruin. It is reported that whoever follows the Qur’an, it will definitely lead him to Heaven, and whoever is followed by the Qur’an (for deliberately ignoring its orders) will be taken by the collar and thrown in Hell”.
“A person who has learned the Qur’an by heart must fear God properly and ensure sincerity of intention. He must not use his knowledge of the Qur’an to seek a position of favor with any person, including kings and rulers. He should only seek God’s pleasure.
“If he experiences any thought other than that, he should repent and make sure of the purity of his intention. He must always be grateful to God, praising and thanking Him for His favors, glorifying His name, relying on Him, putting his trust in Him, seeking His help, remembering always that he is certain to die and being prepared for death. He must remember the sins he might have committed, fearing God’s punishment and hoping for His forgiveness. While he is in good health, hoping to live longer, he should make fear of God the stronger possibility, then when he feels his death approaching, he should make his hope of forgiveness stronger.”
Makki has written extensively in a wide variety of disciplines. However, his main fields were the Qur’an, Islamic jurisprudence, language, biographies and worship. In all his books Makki comes out as an author of thorough knowledge, having studied his topic and researched it meticulously. He has a fine style which is simple, economic and of high literary value.
Moreover, he employs different styles and structures as suits his topic. He writes a special book on a well-defined subject, so that he concentrates on a particular area. Therefore, his books include several short ones. He is systematic in his treatment of the subject matter of all his books. When he writes, he thinks of his reader and keeps his ideas simple and well-discussed. Moreover, he divides his books into volumes as suits his subject. We have books by Makki in one volume, which is around 60 pages, while his commentary on the Qur’an is in 70 volumes.
His commentary on the Qur’an is a full length one, and there are several volumes of manuscript in some libraries which together include the whole book. His other books on the Qur’an include ones with very specialized topics, such as discussing unfamiliar words used in the Qur’an. He also wrote a famous book in five volumes on the methods of recitation of the Qur’an, called At-Tabssirah.
Then he wrote a larger book in 20 volumes under the title, Al-Kashf. This is an explanatory book of the former one, and he discusses in it every detailed difference between the methods of recitation, explaining the reasons for the difference, and the argument behind each method of pronunciation. This is a priceless book. It has been published in 1974 in two large volumes.
Makki also wrote several books on the Qur’an, its style, language and imagery. He also wrote on Fiqh and other disciplines, leaving a very rich heritage. Although only a few of his total of 80 books have been published so far, many others need to be edited from manuscripts and published. Some of his books have been lost without any manuscript available. Makki ibn Abu Talib died in 437 after a life of great scholarly achievement.
