Imam Ibn Hazm .. Prime Minister of Andalusia, who foresaw its loss and presented an intellectual project in 80 thousand pages

“By God, if they (= the kings of the sects in Andalusia) knew that in the worship of crosses they would align their affairs, they would hasten to it.

This was the words of a man who lived his time, or in a more precise sense, he lived the crises of his time;

So look forward to the loss of his great Andalusian Egypt.

He is Imam Ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH/1065 AD), the most prominent founder of the apparent doctrine in Andalusia, and the establishment of a doctrine or empowerment has a great civilized event, and every doctrine keeps pace with its context, armed with its sayings and tools appropriate to its time, and this is what fully applies to the apparent doctrine in Andalusia.

The truth is that whoever separates Abi Muhammad’s reform and innovation project from the political crises of Andalusia of his time represented in the fragmentation of his kingdoms, and the scientific manifested in the dominance of tradition;

He will not reach the depth of this project and its far goals.

The context behind this project was a set of political and religious stances.

The first interrupted Ibn Hazm’s political dreams at the beginning of his life, and the second fueled his scientific reform ambitions after leaving the corridors of politics, so he accepted legal science as the gateway through which he would penetrate to every mind, turning his face away from every political ambition and worldly position.

Our aim in this article is to show you part of the biography of this exceptional personality, addressing the reasons for his genius and the historical and scientific context of his reform project, upon which her life stood to revive the reference of Sharia texts;

Perhaps in the biography of this imam a compass that guides living in our time, which is marked by political and scientific wandering, almost identical to what he faced in his time!

Rising from the West

an hour before the sunrise of the last day of Ramadan in the year 384AH/995AD;

Cordoba witnessed the birth of the “Sun of Science,” Ali bin Ahmed bin Saeed bin Hazm (d. 456 AH/1065 AD), who said: I am the sun in the atmosphere of science shining bright ** But it is my fault that those who are aware of the West!

His childhood was an extended feast;

He grew up in the house of a ministry and virtue. His father, Ahmed bin Saeed, “the wise minister in his time, the most correct in his balance” - as described by Ibn Bassam Al-Shantarini (d. 542 AH / 1147 AD) in his book 'Ammunition', quoting from Ibn Hayyan al-Andalusi (d. 469 AH/1077 AD) - was Famous for virtue and literature, and a great minister of prestige in the court of the administrator of the Umayyad Caliphate in Andalusia, Al-Mansur bin Abi Amer (d. 382 AH / 993 AD).

We do not know anything about his mother Kabeer, so Abu Muhammad did not tell us about her, and this is due in our estimation of what was revealed to us - in the 'pigeon collar' - speaking of "extreme jealousy that was imprinted on her."

The same was the case with his wife and sisters, and we did not find any mention of them in his books.

This is one of the wonders of paradoxes according to Abu Muhammad, who grew up - as he says - in the confines of women, content with their sittings rather than men's, until his youth fled and his facial hair grew, and he accompanied his fellow-citizens.

As for his lineage, Ibn Hazm tells us that he is of Persian ancestry, but Ibn Hayyan was not satisfied with what Abu Muhammad told about himself;

He said - according to what the advanced Al-Shantarini reported on him - that "one of his strangeness was his belonging to Persia and the followers of his family following him in that after a period of time..., the people knew him, the inactive paternity, the birth of the lineage (= the origin) from Ajam Libla (= a city that belonged to Seville). How can he move from the hillock of Libla to the castle of Askhar at Faris?!"

But al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1347 AD) - in 'Sir of the Nobles' - and al-Muqari al-Tilmisani (d. 1041 AH / AD) - in 'The good smell of the moist branch of Andalusia' - proved his Persian lineage, and they did not raise a head with what Ibn Hayyan said!

An early apprenticeship

Abu Muhammad grew up in Cordoba, which was then the capital of the world in luxury and civilization, as it was at that time “the country of Andalusia has the most books, and its people are the most caring of book treasuries, and this became for them a means of appointment (= prestige) and leadership”;

As Al-Maqri says.

So, Ibn Hazm set out to acquire science and knowledge, pushing his craving for knowledge by reading, and he left what people say about you that he did not seek knowledge until after the twenty-sixth. The Umayyad (d. 401 AH / 1011 AD), and he attributes to Ibn Hazm what he said about him: “He is the first sheikh I heard of him before the four hundred [year],” and this is an explicit text from him that he was a student of the sheikhs even before he reached the age of sixteen!

Moreover, his collection of all the arts of sciences in which all the people of Andalusia were presented does not make it possible to believe this narration which is strange from his late academic beginning, given that the gates of knowledge are not limited to the narration of hadith and the study of jurisprudence, especially in the countries of Andalusia whose people used to offer memorization of the Qur’an and poetry and mastering the knowledge of the language. on other arts.

Ibn Hazm was not a heresy among his countrymen.

He told us himself that he received the beginning of the first Islamic acquaintances from the neighborhood of his father's palace, the vizier, and in that he says: "And they taught me the Qur'an, and they narrated many poems to me, and they trained me in calligraphy."

In this text, you find a window from which to look at the cultural situation of the people of Andalusia, and you see the prevalence of culture within the homes and among the prostitutes!

Abu Muhammad was a talent astrologer and a science kindergarten;

Perhaps the best person to express the breadth of his knowledge is his brilliant student, the judge and historian Sa`id Al-Andalusi (d. 462 AH/1070 AD), who said in his history, as was reported by al-Dhahabi in “Al-Siyar”: Tongue, rhetoric, poetry, biographies and news... His son Al-Fadl (d. 479 AH/1086 CE) told me that he gathered with him in his father's handwriting... from his composition of four hundred volumes containing close to eighty thousand papers!!

And with Ibn Taymiyyah's (d. 728 AH/1328 CE) claims on Ibn Hazm;

He testifies to him - in “Majmoo’ al-Fatwas” - that “he has faith, religion and a wide range of sciences that only an arrogant person can motivate him, and there is in his books a great deal of insight into sayings, knowledge of conditions, and veneration for the pillars of Islam and the side of the message that cannot be combined with anyone else”!!

Imam Al-Dhahabi also described him with many comprehensive descriptions, among them being “the only imam, the sea, the possessor of arts and knowledge... the jurist, the hafiz, the speaker, the writer, the vizier... He was the ultimate in intelligence, unity of mind, and knowledge of the Qur’an, Sunnah, doctrines, religions, bees, Arabic, literature and logic. And poetry, along with honesty and religion... and happiness, wealth and abundance of books.”

Abd al-Wahed al-Marrakchi (d. 647 AH / 1249 AD) - in his book 'The admirer' - commented on this rising talk after attributing its content to "other than one of the scholars of Andalusia";

He said about the size of Ibn Hazm’s classifications: “This is something we did not teach to anyone who was in the period of Islam before him, except for Abu Jaafar Muhammad bin Jarir al-Tabari (d. 310 AH / AD), for he is the most categorized among the people of Islam.”

Al-Marrakchi adds: "This Abu Muhammad bin Hazm has a rich position in the science of grammar and language, and a good section of poetry and the art of rhetoric."

Perhaps his skill in public speaking was one of the “blessings” of his companionship with women. British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (d. 1298 AH / 1881 AD) mentioned - in his memoirs - that he was asked about the secret of his eloquence and skill in public speaking, and he said to his questioner: You should accompany women!

The keys to Ibn Hazm's brilliance The keys to Ibn Hazm's brilliance can be summed up in three reasons: the innate readiness for the strength of his memorization and his attachment to knowledge

then devote himself to collecting it;

Then the incentive scientific environment.

As for his memorization, it is described by the Andalusian historian Elisa bin Hazm Al-Ghafiqi (d. 575 AH / 1179 AD), he says: “As for his preserved (= Ibn Hazm), it is an argy sea, and fresh water comes out of its sea, the coral of wisdom.., and he has preserved the knowledge of Muslims and taught the people of every religion and religion.” .

Abu Muhammad was not satisfied with this divine gift, but continued to pledge to it, consuming foods that help strengthen the memory, until Abu Al-Khattab Ibn Dihiya (d. 633 AH / 1236 AD) said about him, as Al-Dhahabi narrated from him: “Ibn Hazm had leprosy from eating frankincense and had a time ( = a chronic disease).” He also attributed to Imam Al-Ghazali (d. 505 AH / 1111 AD) his admiration for Ibn Hazm and his testimony to him as “the greatness of his memorization and the flow of his mind”!

However, Ibn Hazm’s confidence in his repository sometimes prompted him to rush into his rulings on the men of hadith, both by wounding and modifying;

That is why Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH / 1448 AD) says about him - in 'Lisan Al-Mizan' - that "he was very extensive in memorization, but because of his confidence in his repository, he was attacking the saying in the modification and defamation and clarifying the names of the narrators, so he has terrible delusions."

Here, we present to you two news that have clear indications of the breadth of Mahfouz Ibn Hazm and his passion for science;

He said in one of his messages: "I was detained (= between late 414 AH / 1024 AD and early 415 AH / 1025 AD) in the hands of [the Umayyad Prince] nicknamed Al-Mustaqfi Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman (d. 417 AH / 1027 AD) in Mutabbaq (= prison), and I was not safe and I killed him. Because he was an unjust, ordinary sultan with little religion and a lot of ignorance.. and I was thinking about a difficult issue in which there was a lot of riots, old and new, in the rulings of religion..!

So I thought about it for days and nights, until the face of the statement appeared to me..!

By God, who there is no deity but Him... It is not permissible to swear by anything other than Him: I was pleased at that time - while I was in that condition - with my winning of the truth in what I was preoccupied with.., more than I was pleased with my release from what I was in!! He even offers his pleasure to the pleasure of life and freedom!

As for the breadth of his memory and the abundance of his archives;

It suffices in his clarity that he preserved - and he is the Persian of race - of the lineages of the Arabs, so that he was able to draw a relative map that shows - as he says in the 'Arab Genealogy Population' - the power of "the intercourse of the wombs of the Arabs" with all their tribes and clans.

And in his briefing on the lineage of the Umayyads among them, a very strange news, which he recorded for us by saying - in the introduction to his book 'The Jamharat Ansab al-Arab' - indicating the practical importance of genealogy: "When Muhammad bin Ubaidullah died in Cordoba (his lineage ends with Marwan bin Al-Hakam the Umayyad d. 65 AH / 687AD).. I inherited his money, Muhammad bin Abdul Malik bin Abdul Rahman (died after 415 AH/1025 AD) at al-Qad (= the closest existing relatives to the dead) and I gave it to him.. and Muhammad bin Abdul Malik had no knowledge that he was owed this money. If it wasn't for my knowledge of the lineage, this money would have been lost."

Ibn Hazm reached the extent of reading the books of the people of religions that he was able to invoke their texts against their followers, and therefore the Spanish orientalist Asin Platius believes that he preceded the Europeans by a few centuries in studying the history of religions, which was not known in the West until the middle of the nineteenth century

Ibn Hazm, may God have mercy on him, completed the tools of knowledge with the strength of his memorization and the availability of his determination to expand it, so he began to draw from certain libraries of Cordoba, replacing his readings in them about the journey in seeking knowledge, thus obtaining abundant and diverse knowledge, and he did not leave any branch of Islamic knowledge except that he singled out a composition or a treatise, Until he became the most categorized author of Islamic scholars until his time;

According to the Marrakchi advanced certificate.

Ibn Hazm’s readings were not the readings of a student for entertainment, but rather the readings of a researcher, a prospector and an accomplished scholar, so much so that we see him in his review of the books of the people of religions. A few centuries before the Europeans to study the history of religions, which was not known in the West until the middle of the nineteenth century.

Among the examples of his arguments with them in their books is what was stated in his response - within his book 'Al-Fasl' - to Ismail Ibn Al-Nagrilla the Jew (d. 448 AH / 1057 AD) when he discussed it in what the Prophet of God Ibrahim - peace be upon him - said to Nimrod about his wife Sarah that she is his "sister". Ibn Packing what Ibn Al-Nagrela said that the sister here means kinship, not brotherhood, and he replied to him saying: “It is forbidden to use this word to the relative. My father’s daughter. So it was assumed that he wanted the sister, the mother’s daughter.. So he mixed [Ibn Al-Naghrila] and he did not come up with anything!

Ibn Hazm was not satisfied with reading the books of the early ones, but his craving for knowledge went beyond reading the books of his opponents, in which he did not see rooting or reasoning power, as he says in one of his letters: ".

As for the knowledge of the Prophetic Sunnah, which is the basis of his doctrine;

He won the lead in it until he said: “We have gathered.. true news of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and the majority of what was narrated by the concealed ones who have not reached the point that their transfer is invoked. If he was able to deny it, let him highlight his page and debate the debate of scholars.

for his devotion to science as a lesson, study, debate and classification, it was one of the biggest factors of the political context in Andalusia at the time.

In Dhu al-Qa’dah 414 AH / 1024 AD, the memorized Umayyad “caliph” Abd al-Rahman bin Hisham - grandson of Abd al-Rahman al-Nasir (d. 350 AH / 961 AD) - was executed after his “caliphate” lasted two months, “and Ibn Hazm al-Zahiri visited him [in them],” as al-Dhahabi says In 'Sir'.

And here ended Ibn Hazm's political ambitions that led him to the position of "minister", which in those days was equivalent in executive powers to the position of "prime minister" today.

And here is an issue that we must present to, which is the secret behind Ibn Hazm’s retraction from politics, despite his being from a house of management and a ministry;

He saw in the continuation of the Umayyad Caliphate as a continuation of the political unity of Muslims in Andalusia, and with the imbalance of their conditions - starting in the year 399 AH / 1010 AD - Ibn Hazm saw things in political life that repelled him from being preoccupied with it, especially after the failure of the last attempt to restore the Umayyad rule with his memorized companion, so he pushed him Despair from political reform to dedicating his life to scientific reform in all its forms.

What reinforced this was that Andalusia was dominated by political fragmentation in the time of the Taifas (422-484 AH/1032-1091AD), and political corruption - despite the flourishing of sciences and literature that accompanied it - entailed similar corruption in the positions of some scholars.

This Ibn Hayyan al-Andalusi, contemporary of Ibn Hazm, tells us the scientific scene as he sees it. He says, according to what al-Shantarini narrates about him in “Al-Thakhira”: “And the scourge of people - since they were created - has been divided into two types of them, they are like salt in them: the princes and the jurists.. The Qasitun princes have been afflicted. With them from the road.. and the jurists their imams are silent about them, they are coincidences (= they turn away) from what God confirmed them in explaining to them.

Here is an important feature, which is that the jurists’ confinement to the books of the branches in their scientific construction weakened their moral scruples, because they were far from working with the legal text that beats with its moral load.

Perhaps Ibn Hazm saw that restoring the consideration of the legal text and its authority is a rectification of those who have money from among the jurists by means of caution and piety.

Therefore, he did not accept for himself to walk with one of the two groups of the previous jurists, and he did not mix with the sultans, nor did he remain silent about them. Rather, he was absolutely decisive in describing their conditions and the misery of their reality, they and their scholars.

. Here he - in one of his messages - addresses his listeners, saying: "Do not deceive yourselves, and do not be deceived by immoral people and those affiliated with jurisprudence, who wear sheep's skins on the hearts of beasts, who adorn themselves with evil people, their evil, who help them in their immorality";

Then he incites them to boycott the two groups and resist them: “The one who purifies us in (= sedition) is to hold the tongues in one sentence, except for enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and slandering all of them. He denies this in his heart when they were defeated.”

We find him referring to us - from a hidden side - to the reason for his relinquishment to science and avoiding politics by saying about the dissolution of the Umayyad state: “This is a matter with which we have been tested. That is because every administrator of a city or a fortress - in something from Andalusia.. - is a warrior of God and His Messenger and a courier in the land with corruption, as you can see firsthand from their raids on the money of Muslims.. The tribute and tax from the people of Islam!

Ibn Hazm mocks these princes who are fighting over an imaginary legitimacy, and he talks - according to al-Dhahabi in 'Al-Siyar' - about a "scandal [is existence]: four men in a distance of three days are called the 'Commander of the Faithful' at a time [at one time]... This is a creature of which the likes of which have not been heard. "!!

Then he declares to us his categorical despair over the righteousness of these opportunists who have overpowered the affairs of the Muslims. He says:

“By God, if they knew that in the worship of crosses their affairs would go along with them, they would hasten to it, for we see them taking the Christians from the sanctuaries of the Muslims, and their sons and their men, carrying them as captives to their countries.. And perhaps they gave them cities and castles voluntarily, so they evacuated them from Islam and built them with bells, God cursed all of them and gave them a sword of his swords.” !!

And after two decades;

The realization of Ibn Hazm's foresight for the fate of Qatar began with the loss of Toledo in the year 478 AH / 1085 AD, before its episodes continued later with the fall of Cordoba in the year 633 AH / 1236 AD.

Ibn Hazm does not stop at questioning the intentions and credibility of these politicians. Rather, he declares that the rest of the money that they expand and spend on their ministers and workers is erroneous money. It is halal."

Therefore, it is not surprising that these bleak conditions prompted Ibn Hazm to move away from the political scene to find his scientific reform project.

It suffices you as a fruit to empty it that he left - as he passed with us - scientific traces estimated at eighty thousand pages in four hundred volumes;

What an impact, what a legacy!!

A repulsive environment

As for the role of the stimulating scientific environment in his brilliance;

Ibn Hazm was living in an environment that was politically repulsive and sectarian fanatic;

So I pushed him the most for intellectual production, armed with tools of argument and debate, for he was of a fiery nature that sharpened his enthusiasm in the presence of the violator, and his spirit was revived in the presence of the opponent!

The news of his severity was spread about him, and people talked about its causes until they exaggerated in the interpretation of some of his texts in them, and even took responsibility for it, until Ibn Hayyan said that “the most defective – they claimed – in the opinion of the one who is fair to him is his ignorance of the politics of science,” meaning that he left the dissenters!

We will point you to some features of the jurisprudential environment in Andalusia, and to the extremism of some of its opponents from among the followers of the Maliki school of thought that prevailed in the country at that time;

Then, to put Ibn Hazm’s sharpness and daring against his opponents in its place, and to show you how in his sharpness there was a revival of the Sunnah among the people of a country whose determination did not help them in reaching the first source of Islamic knowledge, so they stopped their lives on the books of Malik bin Anas (d. 179 AH / 795 AD), the imam of their sect.

He used his sharpness to be an effective tool for managing the conflict with the Malikis, and without it he would have buried the history of Andalusia written by the pens of his opponents, although accuracy requires saying that his sharp fiery nature was deviating from payment, so it affects other doctrines that were not apparent in Andalusia such as Hanafi and Shafi’i, as well as other theological teams .

The Maliki judge, Iyad al-Yahsabi (d. 544 AH / 1149 AD) - in his book 'Tarreeb al-Madarik' - describes the beginnings of the entry of the Maliki sect into Andalusia, and how it settled and was circulated by the power of the Sultan;

He says: "As for the people of Andalusia, their opinion - since the [country] was conquered - was according to the opinion of al-Awza'i (d. 157 AH / 775 AD), until he went to Malik [his students]: Ziyad bin Abd al-Rahman (nicknamed 'Shabtoun' d. 193 AH / 209 AD), and Qaraous Ibn al-Abbas (d. 220 AH / 835 AD), Al-Ghazi bin Qais (d. 199 AH / 815 AD) and those who came after them, they brought his knowledge and demonstrated to the people his virtue and the nation’s emulation with him, so his right was known and his doctrine was studied, until the Prince of Andalusia - then - took Hisham bin Abd al-Rahman [inside ] bin Muawiyah (d. 180 AH / 796 AD) .. all people adhere to the doctrine of Malik, and the judiciary and fatwas became his.”

It seems that the Umayyads' adoption of the doctrine of the Imam of the Prophet's city as an official doctrine for their state in Andalusia was not without a political occasion reinforced by its coincidence with the beginning of the link of the Hanafi school to the state of Bani al-Abbas;

It came to the knowledge of Hisham mentioned that Imam Malik had an inclination towards him when he heard of his beautiful biography from one of his Andalusian students, and Hisham was - as al-Dhahabi says in 'Al-Siyar' - "a pious religion...and fair in the parish";

Malik said: "We ask God to beautify our sanctuary with the like of it" from the kings.

Ibn Hazm: Two doctrines spread at the beginning of their command of leadership and authority: the doctrine of Abu Hanifa, for when Abu Yusuf appointed the judiciary of judges, the judges were before him, so he was not appointed to the judiciary of the country except his companions belonging to his doctrine;

And the doctrine of Malik bin Anas we have in Andalusia

Then the political background for the final demarcation of the Maliki school as a doctrine of the state is completed by recalling the effects of the armed clash between the Umayyad regime and some of the senior Maliki jurists, which culminated in the “Rabad Revolution” in 202 AH/817 AD led by senior jurists among them, in which Prince Al-Hakam bin Hisham (d. 206 AH/821 AD) was resolved ) The struggle in favor of the regime, then his successor, his son Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hakam (d. 238 AH / 852 AD) saw that the matter should include a new, deeper alliance between the state and the owners of the dominant jurisprudential school.

Thus, advocating adherence to Malik’s doctrine became part of the state’s identity, thus gaining a kind of 'constitutional immunity' to the extent that they 'protected it with the sword altogether';

As Ayyad says.

The strictness of the Umayyad authority in Andalusia in adherence to the Maliki doctrine continued to escalate with extremes, until those who deviated from it became described as a stray and an innovator;

Judge Iyad says that Prince Al-Hakam Al-Mustansir (d. 366 AH / 977 AD) wrote a letter in which he stated that “Whoever deviates from the doctrine of Malik is one of those who have seen (= printed) on his heart, and his bad deeds have been decorated for him”!!

Ibn Hazm noted that the Maliki school of thought did not take a natural path towards the Andalusian embrace of it. Rather, it was an imposition of the authority of the state;

In this, he says in his usual assertive tone: “Two doctrines spread at the beginning of their leadership and authority: the doctrine of Abu Hanifa (d. 150 AH / 768 AD), when he appointed the judiciary of judges Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH / 298 AD) the judges were before him, so he did not appoint the judiciary of the country - from The Far East to the Farthest African Actions (= Tunisia) - except for his companions belonging to his [Hanafi] school, and the doctrine of Malik bin Anas among us, because Yahya bin Yahya (Al-Laithi d. In our countries except with his advice and his choice, and he only refers to his companions and those who follow his madhhab.”

Therefore, the followers of the legal schools were not spared the harassment of the ruling jurists of the Malikis of Andalusia, who are in force in the government.

This imam al-Hafiz Ibn al-Fardi (d. 403 AH / 1013 AD) tells us - in 'The History of the Scholars of Andalusia' - how the jurists of the different sects were called to abandon their sects and move to the state's doctrine;

He says that the Al-Qurtubi jurist Abu Kinana Zuhair bin Malik Al-Balawi (d. about 239 AH / 853 AD) “was a jurist of the Al-Awza’i school of thought, as the people of Andalusia were before the entry of the Umayyads..., and that Abd al-Malik bin Habib (the head of the Malikite community in Andalusia, d. 238 AH/852 AD) He used to blame (= blame) Abu Kinana for deviating from the doctrine of the people of Medina and sticking to the opinion of al-Awza`i!

, and someone might say that confining oneself to a satisfactory doctrine of Islam - such as Malik's doctrine - does not contain atrocities that require Ibn Hazm to sharpen his pens and outsmart his arrows.

And the one who said this is answered that the picture was not complete for him, for the matter did not stop at the support of one sect and hostility to others, but rather it was mixed with neglect of the hadith among the influential and authoritarian Maliki jurists, and a celebration of the books of the branches at the expense of the books of the Sunnah, and we will show you this by reviewing some of the heads of the Maliki madhhab in Andalusia, and showing the weakness of their merchandise in Talk testimony senior colleagues in the doctrine.

This is Qarous bin al-Abbas - and he is one of the first to carry his knowledge from Malik to Andalusia - Ibn al-Fardi says about him: “His knowledge of issues was according to the doctrine of Malik and his companions, and he had no knowledge of hadith.”

This is Yahya Al-Laithi, who led the school of thought in Andalusia.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Abd al-Barr al-Maliki (d. 463 AH/1071 AD) says about him that “the Sultan and the public came to his opinion…, and he had no sight of the hadith”!

It is as if al-Dhahabi did not like this absolute ruling on the famous narrator of al-Muwatta on the authority of Malik.

Commenting, he said: “I said: Yes, he was not one of the knights in this matter, but rather he was moderate in it.”

And this is Abdul Malik bin Habib - who is the heir of Yahya Al-Laithi in the presidency of the doctrine and the author of the book “Al-Wadah” celebrated by the owners of Andalusia - Ibn Al-Fardi says about him: “Abdul Malik bin Habib had no knowledge of hadith, and he did not know its authenticity from his sickness.”

Imam al-Maliki Iyad - in 'Taran al-Madarik' - transmitted this testimony of Ibn al-Fardhi in Ibn Habib without comment, as if he acknowledged its authenticity.

So was Asbagh bin Khalil al-Qurtubi (d. 273 AH / 886 AD), and the fatwas passed on him in Andalusia for fifty years;

Ibn al-Fardi says about him: “He had no knowledge of hadith or its ways, but rather he kept away from it and slandered its companions.”

Ibn Abd al-Bar said about him - as narrated by Iyadh - that "he was hostile to antiquities, had no knowledge of hadith, was very intolerant of the opinion of Malik and his companions, and Ibn al-Qasim (Al-Ataki, 191 AH/807AD) was among them."

The Maliki jurists sought the hadeeth of Andalusia Baqy bin Mukhled (d. 276 AH / 889 AD) with the Sultan, and they still deceived him with it until they accused him of heresy and incited his killing. And the Musnad, which are unparalleled.”

Ibn Taymiyyah: Ibn Hazm had faith, religion, and a wide range of sciences that only an arrogant person could push him, and there is in his books a lot of knowledge of sayings, knowledge of conditions, and veneration for the pillars of Islam and the side of the message that cannot be combined with others.

The traveler al-Maqdisi al-Bashari (d. 380 AH / 1091 AD) - in "The Best Partitions" - draws for us the limits of Andalusian knowledge of the sources of legislation in his time;

He says: “As for Andalusia, the school of Malik [is the approved one], and they say: We know nothing but the Book of God and the Muwatta of Malik.

Ibn Hazm was criticizing his opponents among the Maliki jurists for their weakness in hadith, and he said, commenting on their criticism of the isnads of some hadiths: “As for their saying: due to weakness in its path (= weakness of its chain of transmission), it is not correct, because this is a knowledge that no one of them knows who knows a word or above!

In response to their accusation of his weak knowledge of the hadith, he says: “As for what they say about us about the weakness of the narration and the nudity of the sheikhs, if they had brains, they would have abstained from this, because they are not from the people of the narration, so they know its strong from its weak, and they never occupied themselves with it for an hour of eternity. Correct them!"

And this judge Ibn al-Arabi (d. 543 AH / 1148 AD) tells about their situation while he is a star in the sky of the Maliki school of thought: “The tradition has become their religion and emulation is their certainty. Working with the doctrine of Malik..., and centuries continued with the death of knowledge and the emergence of ignorance, everyone who specialized was unable to do more than cling to the apparent innovation (= the apparent doctrine)...!

Then incidents occurred that they did not meet in the texts of the Malikis, so they looked at them without knowledge, so they fatwas.., and if a group had not fled to the House of Knowledge [in the East] and came with a door from it - such as Al-Asili (d. 392 AH / 1003 AD) and Al-Baji (d. 474 AH / 1081 AD) - it spread water of knowledge on the Dead hearts and the nation's breath perfume the sigh;

The debt would be gone!!

And fairness requires that the judge Ibn al-Arabi should have mentioned Ibn Hazm - who is the sheikh of his father, the minister of the kingdom of Bani Abbad and the ambassador of the Almoravid state to the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad - in the counter of those who revived the dead of Andalusians;

Abu Muhammad built the building of the Athar School with his book “Al-Muhalla Bi’l-Athar” and fenced it with “The Ruling of Usool Al-Ahkam,” thus bringing this consideration back to the honorable Sunnah.

As Golden says.

. Hence, Ibn Hazm's revival project should be addressed in this dark context of belittling his opponents against him, and the domination of the owners of branches and tradition over the Muslim community in Andalusia, and their neglect of the legal principles that alone have the character of obligation;

Individual project consideration of the assets, and opened the door of ijtihad after its closure due to corruption of tradition, and exaggerated in its expansion until the introduction of every Muslim.

Some say: “The tongue of Ibn Hazm and the sword of Hajjaj were two brothers,” and they take this as a challenge to him, and in fact, the tongue of Ibn Hazm was accompanied by sectarian fanaticism armed with the sword of Hajjaj represented in power. “The Malikis were intolerant of him due to the length of his tongue and his fallibility among the great jurists!!”

But what might the author of the reformist message do if the balance of power tends to his opponent? Ibn Hazm found in the scientific struggle a way to fix what the influential jurists of Andalusia had corrupted, whom he described as “dumb if we include them in a council, and if they were absent, they brought such funny rotten rhetoric.” !

Ibn Hazm met Anatah from the fanatical jurists of his time, and his students began to underestimate their relation to him.

This is one of his disciples writing to him - in a message 'phone from afar' - asking him not to reveal his case or declare his name in response to his message and question, for they have become "strangers among fanatics";

As he says in the message 'The Statement on the Truth of the Brotherhood'.

It seems that Ibn Hazm realized with his age that he should change his strategy, and get his opponents out of the midst of his opponents to a neutral area where he works in construction and teaching, so he went in the year 430 AH / 1040 AD to the island of Mallorca, east of Andalusia, to settle in the fold of its minister, Ahmed bin Rashik (d. after 440 AH / 1049 AD). ), displaced from the conflict areas and the predominance of opponents in Cordoba and its counterparts from the major metropolises.

Ibn Hazm: The luck of the one who prefers knowledge and knows its virtues is to use it as much as he can and read it as much as he can and achieve it as much as possible. Rather, if he is able to cheer it on the pedestrians’ roads, and make it easy for him to donate money to his students and pay the wages to those looking for it, patiently in that through hardship and harm;

That would be a revival of science

وقد عاد هذا القرار بالخير على مذهبه، إذ تخرج على يديه من أهالي ميورقة من سيحمل مذهبه إلى المشرق ويطير باسمه في الآفاق، ذلكم هو تلميذه الحُميدي الأَزْدي (ت 488هـ/1095م) الذي "اختص به وأكثر عنه وشُهِر بصحبته"؛ كما يقول ابن بَشْكُوال (ت 578هـ/1182م) في كتابه ‘الصلة‘.

لكن عداوة فقهاء المالكية له لم تهدأ بنجاحهم في إبعاده عن قرطبة؛ فقد بلغه -وهو بميورقة- خبرُ إحراق أمير إشبيلية المعتضد بن عباد (ت 461هـ/1069م) لكتبه بتحريض من هؤلاء الفقهاء.

ثم لما توفي الوزير ابن رشيق عاد فقهاء المالكية إلى مطاردته وتشريده، و"طفق الملوك يُقْصونه عن قربهم ويسيّرونه من بلادهم، إلى انتهوا به إلى مُنقطَع أثَرِه بتُربة بلده بادية لبلة..، وهو في ذلك غير مُرْتَدِع ولا راجع إلى ما أرادوا به، يبث علمه فيمن ينتابه من بادية بلده من عامة المقتبسين، منهم من أصاغر الطلبة الذين لا يخشون فيه الملامة، يحدثهم ويفقههم ويدربهم، ولا يدع المثابرة على العلم، والمواظبة على التأليف"؛ حسب الشنتريني.

على أن أجواء الصراعات العلمية التي خاضها ابن حزم لم تمنعه من إنصاف خصومه والاعتراف بمزاياهم؛ فالذهبي يروي -في ‘السِّيَر‘- قوله في أحدهم: "ما لقيت أشد إنصافا في المناظرة من [الفقيه القاضي] ابن بشر (المعروف بابن غرسيَّة ت 422هـ/1032م)، ولقد كان مِن أعلم مَن لقيته بمذهب مالك، مع قوته في علم اللغة والنحو ودقة فهمه".

وكذلك فعل مع مجادله الأشهر الباجي؛ فقد حكى الشنتريني أن ابن حزم "كان يقول: لم يكن لأصحاب المذهب المالكي بعد عبد الوهاب (البغدادي ت 422هـ/1032م) مثل أبي الوليد الباجي! وقد ناظره بميورقة ففلَّ من غَرْبه..، ولكن أبا محمد وإن كان اعتقد خلافَه فلم يطرح إنصافَه"! بل إنه ذكر -في كتابه ‘الفصل‘- ما يشير لاستفادته من الباجي آراء عقدية لبعض الفرق الكلامية!

استثناء حميد
لم يخلُ مشهد الصراع بين ابن حزم وفقهاء المالكية من حلقات وصل بين الطرفين، تراوحت بين الصداقة الحميمة واللقاء العلمي الساخن في مجالس المناظرة الحافلة بالجمهور؛ فمن أمثلة الأولى علاقة الودّ العميقة التي ربطت ابن حزم بابن عبد البر اللذين جمعتهما وشائج عدة ربما جعلتهما يخدمان مشروعا إصلاحيا واحدا وإن بأساليب منوّعة.

فقد جمعت بينهما زمالةٌ في طلب العلم على شيوخ مشترَكين، واعتناقٌ خاطف منهما للمذهب الشافعي، وتمذهبٌ مؤقَّت لابن عبد البر بالمذهب الظاهري، وعنايةٌ عظيمة منهما بالحديث جعلتهما إمامين فيه غير منافَسيْن بقُطرهما؛ فقد ذكر الذهبي أن ابن عبد البر "كان ينبسط إلى أبي محمد.. ويؤانسه، وعنه أخذ ابن حزم فن الحديث..، كان أبو عمر أعلم مَن بالأندلس في السنن والآثار..، وكان في أول زمانه ظاهري المذهب..، كان كثيرا ما يميل إلى مذهب الشافعي".

ولذلك لا غرابة إنْ قرن الذهبي -في ‘السِّيَر‘- بين الرجلين في التميز العلمي على مستوى العالم الإسلامي؛ فقد نقل قولَ العز بن عبد السلام (ت 660هـ/1262م): "ما رأيت في كُتب الإسلام في العلم مثل ‘المحلَّى‘ لابن حزم، وكتاب ‘المُغْني‘ للشيخ موفق الدين (المقدسي ت 620هـ/1223م)".

ثم أضاف الذهبي: "قلت: لقد صدق الشيخ عز الدين. وثالثهما: ‘السُّنن الكبير‘ للبيهقي (ت 458هـ/1066م)، ورابعها: ‘التمهيد‘ لابن عبد البر". ويلفت النظر هنا أن ثلاثة من الأربعة اشتركوا في عصر واحد، يمثله عُمُر البيهقي (384-458هـ/995-1066م) المضاهي قدراً لعمر ابن حزم!

وأما المناظرات العلمية فأشهرها ما جرى بين ابن حزم وأبي الوليد الباجي -وقد جمعهما التتلمذ على شيوخ منهم "شيخ الأندلس" ابن مغيث القرطبي (ت 429هـ/م)- من "مناظرات ومنافرات" -وفق تعبير الذهبي في ‘السِّيَر‘- في بلاط ابن رشيق.

وقد وجد الباجي -الذي كان رحل إلى المشرق فاستوعب حصيلة معارف أهله في العقليات والنقليات وتمرّن على فن المناظرات- العونَ من زميله في المذهب والطلب أبي عبد الله الميورقي (ت نحو 460هـ/1068م)، فقررا القضاء على تفرد ابن حزم بالمشهد العلمي فـ"تظافرا معا وناظرا ابن حزم فأفحماه وأخرجاه، وهذا كان مبدأ العداوة بين ابن حزم والباجي". وبالطبع لا يمكن للباحث التسليم بدعوى الإفحام هذه لغياب النصوص الكاملة لهذه المناظرات.

وبقدر ما كانت هذه المناظرات سببا في عزلة ابن حزم عن المجال العام؛ كانت مدخلا واسعا للباجي نحو هذا المجال الذي سرعان ما احتلّ فيه مكانة عظيمة لنجاحه في أمور ثلاثة: أولها تحييد رأس "الظاهرة الحزمية" في الأندلس عن الصدارة، وثانيها جمعه بين علوم الأثر ومذاهب الرأي في الفقه والعقائد، وثالثها الصلة القوية بجميع سلاطين الأندلس.
خِلالٌ كريمة
ومع كل ما تقدم من مظاهر الصراع بين ابن حزم وخصومه؛ فإننا نرى لدى هذا الإمام ميلًا لجمع الكلمة وأن خصومته للفقهاء ليست عداوة لأتباعهم. فها هو -في ‘رسالة الإمامة‘- يجيب مَن سأله عن صحة صلاة المرء خلف إمام لا يدري مذهبه الفقهي بما يحقق وحدة المسلمين؛ فيقول: "إن البحث عن مثل هذا أحدثه الخوارج فهي التي كشفت الناس [عن] مذاهبهم وامتحنتهم في ذلك…، وما امتنع قط أحد من الصحابة.. ولا من خيار التابعين من الصلاة خلف كل إمام صلَّى بهم".

ثم يختم ابن حزم فتواه بعبارة تبيّن لنا أنه كان يرى أن القيام بمشروعه الإصلاحي متعيِّنٌ عليه، وأنه لم يطلبه لشهوةِ شهرةٍ أو خصومةٍ أو رئاسةٍ، فيقول: "اللهُ يعلم أني غير حريص على الفتيا، ومَن عَلِمَ أن كلامه من عمله -مُحْصًى له مسؤول عنه- قلّ كلامُه بغير يقين".

وليس أبلغ في الدلالة على إحساس ابن حزم بنُبْل وأهمية مشروعه الإصلاحي من قوله الذي حكاه عنه أبو حيان الأندلسي (ت 745هـ/1344م) -في تفسيره ‘البحر المحيط‘- نقلا عن الحافظ الحُميدي تلميذِ ابن حزم؛ وهو: "الحظّ لمن آثر العلم وعرف فضله أن يستعمله جهده ويقرئه بقدر طاقته ويحققه ما أمكنه، بل لو أمكنه أن يهتف به على قوارع طُرُق المارّة ويدعو إليه في شوارع السابلة وينادي عليه في مجامع السيارة!

بل لو تيسر له أن يهب المال لطلابه ويُجري الأجور لمقتبسيه ويُعظم الأجعال (= الجوائز) للباحثين عنه ويُسني مراتب أهله، صابرا في ذلك على المشقة والأذى؛ لكان ذلك حظا جزيلا وعملا جيدا وسعدا كريما وإحياء للعلم، وإلا فقد دَرَس وطُمس ولم يبق منه إلا آثار لطيفة وأعلام داثرة"!!

لم يكن ابن حزم يعيش ترفًا فكريًا؛ فقد كان يرى في حياته مشروع إصلاح لاستنقاذ الشريعة من كتب الفروع الجامدة، وإعادة الناس إلى هدْي نصوص الوحي، ولعله لم يقصد أن يقوده طبعه وحدّته إلى الخصومات، وإنما وظّف بعض طباعه في معركة حياته، وشتّان بين الأمرين.

وقد تركَ لنا -في رسالته ‘الأخلاق والسِّيَر في مداواة النفوس‘- ما يشير إلى مذهبه وأنه لم يتخذه ترفًا وافتعالًا؛ فقال: "وإياك ومخالفة الجليس ومعارضة أهل زمانك فيما لا يضرّك في دنياك ولا في أخراك وإن قلّ، فإنك تستفيد بذلك الأذى والمنافرة والعداوة… وإن لم يكن لك بُـدٌّ من إغضاب الناس أو إغضاب الله عزّ وجلّ..؛ فأغضب الناس ونافرهم، ولا تغضب ربك ولا تنافر الحق".

انتصار وحصار
وفي نهاية مسيرة علمية امتدت أربعة عقود (415-456هـ/1025-1065م) بدأت بمأساة رجل دولة محطَّم الأحلام وانتهت بحصيلة معارف وافرة لإمام موسوعي ما زال يثير الاهتمام؛ توفي ابن حزم آخر شعبان سنة 456هـ في قرية ‘منت ليشم‘ ببادية لبلة، تاركاً مذهبًا شهد على انتشاره بالأندلس ألدُّ أعدائه!!

فهذا القاضي ابن العربي المالكي يتحدث -في ‘العواصم من القواصم‘- عن هيمنة مذهب الظاهرية على المشهد العلمي في الأندلس عشية مقدمه سنة 496هـ/1103م من رحلته إلى أقطار المشرق؛ فيقول: "حين عودتي من الرحلة ألفيت حضرتي (= مدينتي: إشبيلية) منهم طافحة ونار ضلالهم لافحة"!!

ومن المفارقات العجيبة أن المذهب الظاهري -ممثلا في تراث ابن حزم- وجد بعد قرن من وفاته نصيرا سلطانيا له من دولة الموحدين التي أسقطت دولة المرابطين سنة 541هـ/1146م، وخاصة في أيام المنصور يعقوب الموحدي (ت 595هـ/1199م) الذي يروي المقّري -في ‘نفح الطيب‘- أنه كان معجبا بابن حزم، وأنه وقف يوما على قبره ثم قال: "كل العلماء عيال على ابن حزم"!

ولعل هذا الإعجاب هو الذي دفع هذا السلطان الموحدي إلى "الثأر" لابن حزم من خصومه، فألزم الناسَ بالمذهب الظاهري وأمر سنة 591هـ/1195م بحرق كتب فروع الفقه المالكي، ليس في الأندلس فحسب وإنما في بلاد المغرب أيضا.

وعن هذه المحرقة يحدثنا شاهدُ عِيان على مشهد منها وقع في فاس، وهو المؤرخ المراكشي الذي يقول في كتابه ‘المُعجِب‘: "أمر [المنصور] بإحراق كتب المذهب [المالكي]..، لقد شهدتُ -وأنا يومئذ بمدينة فاس- يُؤتى منها بالأحمال فتوضع ويُطلق فيها النار…، وكان قصده في الجملة محو مذهب مالك وإزالته من المغرب مرة واحدة، وحمل الناس على الظاهر من القرآن والحديث. وهذا المقصد بعينه كان مقصدَ أبيه (= أبو يعقوب ت 580هـ/1184م) وجده (= عبد المؤمن ت 558هـ/1163م)، إلا أنهما لم يُظهراه وأظهره يعقوب هذا".

وإثر وفاة المنصور؛ تخلى خلفاؤه عن تراث الدعوة التَّوْمرتية التي اعتنقها آباؤهم، وعادت الدولة إلى اعتماد المذهب المالكي فخضع المذهب الظاهري والميراث الحزمي مجددا لحصار خصومه حتى سقطت الأندلس بالكامل، فابن خلدون (ت 808هـ/1406م) يحدثنا -في ‘المقدمة‘- عن وضعية هذا المذهب في عصره قبل قرن من سقوط غرناطة، فيقول: "ثم دَرَس مذهبُ أهل الظاهر اليوم بدروس أئمته وإنكار الجمهور على منتحله، ولم يبق إلا في الكتب المجلدة"!

ورغم حياته العاصفة بحروب السياسة وكروب التعصب طوال نصف قرن؛ فقد كان ابن حزم -رحمه الله- سمْحًا في وصف أخلاقه، وقد أطلعنا على جانب من رقته ولطفه يتنافى مع ما اشتهر عنه من الحدة والشدة، وهو اشتهار كانت عباراته القادحة في المخالفين سببا فيه.

Ibn Hazm tells - in 'The Pigeon Collar' - about the quality of loyalty to him and being kind to everyone close to him. He says: "I do not say this in praise of [myself], but in the manners of God Almighty: 'And as for the grace of your Lord, then God Almighty spoke to me", and He granted me From loyalty to everyone who owes me one treat, and he gave me from the governorate to those who complain about me even for an hour, I am fortunate for him, thankful and Hamid.. and nothing is heavier on me than treachery!

This character was not limited to his companions and students, but he also treated those who fell in love with her among the women, and she is his childhood sweetheart, his maidservant “yes,” whom we see agonizing over her mourning her loss;

He says: "And if redemption was accepted, I would ransom her... with some parts of my body that are dear to me in a hurry and obedient manner, and I would not have been able to live after that, and I did not forget to mention them, nor did I forget anything else."