Will you give information about Imam Tabarani and Imam Suyuti?

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TABARANI (873-970)

There is not much detailed information about Tabarani, whose real name is Sulayman; there is limited information about him. It is not definitely known where he got his primary education, from whom he took lessons and where he went for his education. The information about him is limited with about his youth, ilm services and the hadiths he narrated. 

It is reported that Sulayman was born in the town of Tabariyya in Damascus in 873. His father’s name is Ahmad. It is stated that he left the town where he was born and that he settled in Isfahan. However, there is not much information about why he left his hometown and why he settled in Isfahan.

That Tabarani had a famous personality, that he narrated many hadiths and that he became famous for his strong memory show that he received a very good education. His wisdom in ilm and the level he reached indicates that he received lessons from the great scholars of that period. Among the scholars that he took lessons from are Abu Zura ath-Thaqafi, Hashim bin Murthad at-Tabarani, Ishaq ad-Dabri, Idris al-Attar, Hafs bin Umar, Bashir bin Musa, Abdullah bin Mahmud, Ali bin Abdulaziz al-Baghawi, Yahya bin Ayyub al-Allat. It is stated that he also benefitted from the knowledge of some other scholars.

Sulayman took lessons from famous scholars and he himself taught many scholars. Many people like Ibn Uqda, Abu Nuaym al-Hafiz, Abu Khulayfa al-Jamhi, Abu Husayn bin Fazishah and Abdan learned hadiths from him and became hadith reporters.  

Sulayman, whose sensitivity in collecting hadiths and learning them was known, was accepted as a reliable and sound person and as evidence in the ilm of hadith. It is known that he memorized thousands of hadiths. When he learned these hadiths, he did not memorize only the hadith texts but also the chains of narrators. His reputation spread everywhere because of the efforts he made and especially the distance he covered in the ilm of hadith. He became one of the well-known scholars in the Islamic world.

Tabarani put up with all kinds of trouble for the sake of ilm. He underwent material and spiritual troubles. It is stated that he slept on a mat for years and memorized thousands hadiths as a result of this effort of his. He abandoned his comfortable life for the sake of ilm. He led a plain life until he died. He travelled for thirty-three years in order to learn hadiths and to increase his ilm.

Tabarani regarded Allah’s consent superior to everything. While he was learning, he tried to help people find the true path. His students praised him in their books. He died in Isfahan in 970 after living about one hundred years. After he died, his dead body was buried near the grave of Hammad ad-Dawri, who was one of the Companions of the Prophet and whose tomb was in Isfahan.

Some hadiths reported by Tabarani are included in Risale-i Nur. The phrases “reliable and sound investigator” and “Imam Tabarani” were used for him. The following two hadiths reported from him are included in Risale-i Nur Collection:

“Abu Hurayra related: “The Noble Messenger (pbuh) commanded me:

‘Invite the poor Meccan migrants who have made the suffa of the mosque their home and who number more than a hundred.’

So, I went and searched for them and gathered them together. A tray of food was set before us, and we ate as much as we wanted, then we arose. The dish was as full as it had been when first set down, only, there were fingermarks on the food.” (Mektubat, p.116).

“Imam Tabarani, and Abu Nu‘aym in his Dalail an-Nubuwwa, relate from Nu‘man b. Bashir:

Zayd b. Kharija suddenly dropped down dead in the marketplace. We took his body to his house. That evening between sunset and the night prayer, while the women were weeping all around him, he exclaimed: ‘Silence! Silence!’ Then, saying: ‘Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger! Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah!’, he spoke most eloquently for a while. We looked: he was dead, without life” (Mektubat, p.156).

Some examples of the hadiths that Tabarani reported:

“Love and friendship among Muslims pass to children from fathers.”,

“It is enough as a bad deed for a person to be pointed at by fingers.”,

“Allah likes ease for the religion of Islam and regards difficulty as bad.”,

“Every pious person is from Muhammad’s (pbuh) ahl al-bayt.”,

“If a person goes out to work in order to make a living for his wife and children, he is in the way of Allah. If a person goes out to take care of his old parents, he is in the way of Allah. If a person goes out to work in order to protect his soul from harams, he is in the way of Allah. If a person goes out in order to show off and to boast, he is not in the way of Allah but in the way that Satan leads him.”

JALALUDDIN SUYUTI (1445-1505)

He is one of the greatest Islamic scholars. He is mentioned as follows in Risale-i Nur Collection: "who many times was honored in a waking state by the presence and conversation of God’s Noble Messenger" (Sözler, p. 451), and "differentiated the diamonds of authentic traditions from other sayings and fabrications" (Mektubat, p. 114). His real name is Abdurrahman. His nickname, Jalaluddin, was given to him by his father. His full name is Jalaluddin Abul-Fadl Abdurrahman bin Kamaluddin Abi Bekr bin Muhammad al-Huzayri as-Suyuti ash-Shafii.

Abdurrahman was born in the city of Asyut in Egypt in 1445. His name "Suyuti" comes from this city. His father, Kamaluddin Abi Bakr, was a Shafii fiqh scholar. He also has an important place in other branches of ilm. When Abdurrahman was six years old, his father died. He was educated and brought up under the guardianship of Qadi Izzuddin Ahmad bin Ibrahim Kinani, who was a friend of his father’s. This scholar gave him the nickname Abul-Fadl.

Abdurrahman read many books. He became specialized in many branches like tafsir, hadith, fiqh, nahw (syntax), maani (semantics), bayan (style), badi (rhetoric) and lugah (lexicology) at a very young age. He wrote his first book when he was seventeen years old. He took lessons from Taqiyuddin Shibli al-Hanafi, who was regarded as one of the most important scholars in hadith and Arabic at that time, for four years. He also learned from the great scholar Muhyiddin Kafiyaji. He received diploma from his teacher in the branches of tafsir, usul (methodology), Arabic, maani, etc.  

He became famous in a short time. Along with his students, some professors attended his classes. He became a specialist in the branch of hadith; the fatwas he issued in hadith were greatly accepted. His strong memory enabled him to read books in a very short time, to learn them and to answer all questions. He even answered a question about a book by knowing the number of the page and lines. He memorized two hundred thousand hadiths. 

He travelled to Damascus, Hejaz, Yemen, India and Sudan when he was young. He stayed in Makkah for a while when he went there for hajj. He also went to Dimyat, Fayyun, Alexandria and some other regions in Egypt.  

He started to give lessons after having wide knowledge in the field of hadith. Along with teaching, he wrote many books. He continued writing until he died. He lived in seclusion in an islet called ar-Rawda in the Nile to write books. He wrote the hadiths after presenting them to the Prophet (pbuh) in the realm of spirituality.

Suyuti's knowledge and expertise in the ilm of hadith is indicated in Risale-i Nur Collection. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi narrates in his booklet called Mucizat-ı Ahmediye how hadiths were filtered, how sensitively Islamic scholars acted regarding the issue and gives examples of the meticulous study done by the scholars and especially madhhab imams for centuries. He states the following regarding the issue:

"... Later, learned and exacting scholars like Jalaluddin Suyuti, who seventy times was honored in a waking state by the presence and conversation of God’s Noble Messenger (pbuh), differentiated the diamonds of authentic traditions from other sayings and fabrications.

Thus, the incidents and miracles we shall speak of, have come down to us through numerous, perhaps uncountable, strong and trustworthy hands, and have reached us in sound condition." (Mektubat, p. 114)

Thus, he indicates the praiseworthy studies done by Suyuti in the field of hadith.

Suyuti has an important place in the field of tasawwuf (sufism) too. His name is also mentioned in Risale-i Nur Collection when the reason why great saints cannot reach the Companions is explained: 

"The conversation of the Prophet was such an elixir that someone who experienced it for one minute received lights of reality equivalent to years of spiritual journeying. For in conversation there is reflection and a being coloured. It is well-known that through reflection and following and imitating, and through the sublime light of prophethood, a truly exalted level may be reached; –like through allegiance to his sovereign and following him, a sultan’s servant may rise to a position so high a king cannot rise to it.

It is due to this mystery that the greatest saints cannot reach the level of the Companions. Even saints like Jalaluddin Suyuti, who conversed many times with God’s Noble Messenger (PBUH) while awake, even if they do this and are honored in this world with his company, they still cannot reach the Companions. For through the light of Muhammad’s (PBUH) prophethood, the Companions’ conversation was with him as Prophet. While the saints saw him (PBUH) after his death and conversed with him (PBUH) through the light of his sainthood. That is to say, the personification and appearance of God’s Noble Messenger (PBUH) is in respect of his sainthood, not in regard to his prophethood. Since that is so, however much higher the level of prophethood is to that of sainthood, one should differentiate between the two conversations to that degree." (Sözler, p. 451)

One of the fields in which the name of Suyuti is mentioned is about the profession that was called soothsaying in the past and mediumship today and that can harm people a lot. This profession is of philosophic origin and can harm believers a lot. Ten wrong statements is added to a true statement in a topic and it becomes very difficult to distinguish between what is wrong and right. Since there is no criterion, the jinn that have bad spirits and that help Satan can harm both the hearts of the people who are busy with that profession and Islam. For, they give news contrary to Islamic facts and general rules under the disguise of spirituality and bad spirits present themselves as good spirits. Therefore, some people who think they are great saints utter words that are contrary to Islamic principles, change the truths and deceive some gullible people:

"Yes, 'calling spirits' (necromancy), which does not originate from religion but from the sensitivity of philosophy, is contrary to the truth and good manners. For, to bring those who are in the highest of the high and in holy levels to the table of the lowest of the low and to the board of toys, which is the place of lies, is complete betrayal and disrespect. It is like calling a king to a small hut. The truth, good manners and respect necessitate elevating like the elevation of saints like Jalaluddin as-Suyuti, Jalaluddin ar-Rumi and Imam Rabbani, approaching them and making use of them." (Emirdağ Lahikası, p. 379-380)

Everybody loved Suyuti because of his exemplary ethics along with his knowledge and career. He did not ask any grants or gifts from anybody and did not accept the ones given to him. When he was in real financial difficulty, he preferred selling some of the books in his big library to accepting gifts. He died in Egypt in 1505. His tomb is in Cairo near Babul-Qarafa.

His Books:

Jalaluddin Suyuti wrote about six hundred books in various fields. Most of his books were compilations and he quoted from various resources; however, this did not mean a deficiency in his studies; on the contrary, he contributed a lot by transferring some issues to the people living after him up to now enabling them to benefit from his works. He wrote in almost all fields. He classified his books under six headings: Quranic sciences, hadith, fiqh, language and literature, methodology and style, and miscellaneous issues.

Tarjumanul-Quran fi-tafsiril-musnad, Kitabul-Durr al-Manthur, Lubabun-Nuqul fi Ashabin-Nuzul are among the tafsir books that he wrote. His hadith collection called Jamius-Saghir has been an important book among Islamic works for centuries. Ottoman scholars gave great importance to that book. His book called al-Muzhir fi Ulumil-Lugha is an encyclopedic work with rich content for the fields of grammar and lexicology.

In addition, Suyuti left a great legacy by writing and compiling important books in history, ethics, medicine and many other fields.

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