Al-Khattabi

Abū Sulaymān, Ḥamd b. Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. al-Khaṭṭāb Abū Sulaymān al-Khaṭṭābī, al-Bustī, commonly known as Al-Khaṭṭābī (الخطابي), was a Sunni Islamic scholar from Sijistan. He is unanimously regarded as the leading figure in the sciences of Hadith and Shafi'i jurisprudence. He was widely considered to be one of the most intelligent and authoritative scholars of his time, renowned for his trustworthiness and reliability in transmitting narrations, and the author of a many famous works. Moreover, he was famously known as the man of letters, philologist, and lexicographer, as well as a master in poetry.

Political climate
During the time Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi lived, Islamic civilization in the eastern regions of the empire saw especially significant, if not dramatic, change. On the one hand, the Sunni elements of Muslim culture that originated earlier had grown so powerful that they appeared certain to triumph in the struggle for governmental authority and dominance. However, the Abbasid dynasty had evolved into a "champion of perceived orthodoxy" and a "symbol of religious unity" although already experiencing political weakness. However, Muslim intellectuals and leaders were extremely concerned about the techniques and strategies that religious scholars (ulama) in general and legal experts (fuqaha) in particular would employ to identify the "right religious path" guiding Muslims' lives and societies.

Name
The name "Al-Khattabi" is based on his origin. It is said that Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi was a descendant of Zayd ibn al-Khattab, a brother of the second caliph, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab.

Birth
Al-Khattabi was born in Rajab 319 which corresponds to July 931 in Bust (now Lashkargah) which is a city in south of Afghanistan.

Education
Since he made his living through trade, al-Khattabi's numerous travels allowed him to see a great deal of the eastern region of the Islamic empire. His travels were motivated by his desire to learn and grow. Al-Khattabi's enduring "thirst of knowledge" nevertheless propelled him to go on multiple lengthy expeditions as he grew older. In addition to the cities and regions he spent the most of his life in, he journeyed between Bust, Nishapur, the Hejaz (Mecca and Medina), Basra, and Baghdad, which is home to him. He travelled between Bust, Nishapur, the Hejaz (Mecca and Medina), Basra, Baghdad (where he spent most of his lifetime) and other cities and regions of the eastern Islamic world.

Teachers
The core areas of study for al-Khattabi were Islamic jurisprudence and the Hadith literature. He is reported to have studied under the “leading scholars of his time” and, according to Yaqut al-Hamawi, “to have acquired knowledge from many of those possessing it”.

Al-Khattabi departed from Bust at an early age and went to Baghdad to study Islamic jurisprudence under the guidance of Ibn Abi Hurayrah (d. 345/556), a teacher of law and Hadith, and Abu Bakr al-Najjad (d. 348/959), a master of Hadith and literature. After that, he became a member of Abu 'Ali al-Saffar's (d 451/952) study circle and committed himself to learning Arabic philology and literature. He studied Tasawwuf under al-Khuldi (d. 348/959), a student of Junayd al-Baghdadi. Later, he travelled to Basra, where he studied under the renowned Hadith and Islamic law expert Abu Bakr Ibn Dasa (d. 346/957). Before departing for Khorasan and Transoxiana, he studied Hadith literature at Mecca under the guidance of Hadith expert Abu Sa'id ibn al-A'rabi (3. 341/952). Finally, in Nishapur, he studied for several years under the esteemed Hadith scholar Abu al-'Abbas al-Asamm (d. 356/957) and the reputable scholar Abu Bakr al-Qaffal al-Shashi, who was very knowledgeable in a wide range of related Islamic studies. Under him he studied Islamic law.

Scholastic specialization
Among the biographers who have written overwhelmingly positive things about al-Khattabi are his colleague and friend Abu Mansur al-Tha'alibi of Nishapur, draws scientific attention to his writing activities (ta'lif) as well as his expertise in belletristic literature (adab), ascetism (zuhd), piety (wara), and transmission of knowledge and teaching (tadris). Owing to his unique academic credentials and abilities, al-Khattabi's peers equated him to Abu Ubaid al-Qasim bin Salam, the renowned Qur'anic scholar, philologist, and narrator of Prophetic traditions. Al-Tha'alibi points out that the sole distinction between the two scholars was that, in addition to his accomplishments in science, al-Khattabi was also a gifted poet.

Students
Al-Khattabi had a number of students, some of whom achieved prominence in their own right; from them:
 * Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri
 * Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani
 * Abu Dharr al-Harawi
 * Abu Hamid al-Isfarayini
 * Abd al-Ghafir al-Nishapuri
 * Abu Ubaydh al-Harawi

Death
During the end of his lifetime, he returned to his hometown, Bust and met with the Sufi monastery where he would join them located right at the Helmand River right near his hometown. He passed away there at the age of 67 on the date of Rabi' al-Akhir 388 which corresponds to April 998.

Theological position
In his book entitled Ma'alim al-Sunan, he stated the middle path position in dealing with ambiguous ahadith regarding the attributes of God:

"The people of our time have split into two parties. The first one [The Mu'tazila and their sub-groups] altogether disavow this kind of hadith and declare them forged outright. This implies their giving the lie to the scholars who have narrated them, that is the imams of our religion and the transmitters of the Prophetic ways, and the intermediaries between us and Allah's Messenger. The second party [Mujassimah (Anthropomorphists) give their assent to the narrations and apply their outward (apparent) meaning literally in a way bordering anthropomorphism and. As for us we steer clear from both views, and accept neither as our school. It is therefore incumbent upon us to seek for these hadiths, when they are cited and established as authentic from the perspectives of transmissions and attributes, as an interpretation derived according to the known meaning of the foundations of the Religion and the schools of the scholars, without rejecting the narration outright, as long as their chains are acceptable narrators are trustworthy."

Views
Al-Khattabi was a major scholar of his day who made a sincere effort to clarify the “correct religious path” and draw attention to a moderate route that avoided both excess and laxity. This is ultimately known as the Sunni orthodoxy. Al-Khattabi played a crucial role in unifying two most prominent factions of the people of knowledge (Ahl al-Ilm) namely; The people of Hadith and Athar (Ahl al-Hadith wa-Athar) and the people of juridical knowledge and reflective reasoning (Ahl al-Fiqh wa-Nazar). He carefully examines both groups, pinpointing their weaknesses, and clarifies their mistakes. He harshly criticizes both groups of knowledge for their division and errors. Al-Khattabi explains the middle path; he wholeheartedly accepts the divine revelation found in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. He persuasively argues that the literature of the Prophetic traditions (Hadith) and the Prophetic heritage (Athar) are essential to an Islamic community both materially and spiritually. Surprisingly enough, though, as a practicing scholar at the Shafi'i law school, al-Khattabi also emphasises the vital role that legal experts must play in any group effort to decipher revelation and identify the laws and guidelines that Muslims should follow. More precisely, in light of al-Khattabi's critical evaluation in the state of the religious learning, a few factors are important to remember. While al-Khattabi is a vocal and occasionally caustic opponent of a particular breed of speculative theological group, it is unclear just which kind of Mutakallimin his fellow Muslims ought to shun. In fact, the delicacy and nuance in his tone of worry indicate that he was not particularly bothered by scholars who employ rationalistic approaches to scholarship. Instead, he advises using caution when interacting with those who use the kalam approach without having the necessary training and expertise. By supporting the preservation of conventional religious beliefs and, on the one hand, fully utilising formal textual research and analysis, he describes himself as a Shafi'i scholar in accordance with the main features of classical Ash'arism by advocating the upholding of traditional religious credo (a) making a full use of formal textual study and analysis on the one hand and (b) using a careful application of certain type of reflective reasoning (nazar) on the other hand More over, he explicitly appeals to both Hadith scholars and jurisconsults to learn from and support each other. He thus implicitly promotes a balanced combination of different research approaches and methodologies. Given the government's strong backing for Ash'aris in the Islamic East during al-Khattabi's time, it is noteworthy that many Ash'ari thinkers were appointed to Shafi'i law chairs at the newly founded madrasahs (colleges of law) by Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk. This shift, as is well known, allowed traditional Sunni thought to exert a significantly greater influence on Islamic society.

Legacy
In his three major works on Hadith, Al-Khattabi earned his spot in Islamic intellectual history as a major pioneer in the science of Hadith studies for his famous works. This assessment's accuracy is supported by a number of factors. Firstly, his Ma'alim al-Sunan is not only one of the most well-known medieval commentaries of a reliable compilation of Prophetic traditions in general and Abu Dawud al-Sijistani collection in particular; it is also considered the first-ever commentary of what was to become the official body of Sunni Hadith literature. It is also by far the most referenced in relation to Sunan Abi Dawood by scholars of the past and present. Secondly, his commentary on al-Bukhari's Sahih entitled Kitab A'lam al-Sunan fi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, which he wrote soon after the Ma'alim is considered valuable for at least two reasons: (a) It is the first commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, which is a collection of writings that is considered the most significant of the six canonical Sunni books of traditions. (b) Al-Khattabi's commentary of Sahih al-Bukhari is highly original in many ways, producing a work that is better described as a polemical treatise than a neutral commentary. Put differently, the commentators of al-Khattabi on the two most significant Hadith collections are not only the first and most comprehensive, but also the most underappreciated, literature of Hadith commentary; in fact, they founded the genre.

His book Gharib al-Hadith suppresses an important contribution to another kind of hadith study, which looked at rare and frequently unique prophetic narratives drawn from the body of Hadith literature rather than from a single Hadith collection. Al-Khattabi, then, did two things: first, he followed in the footsteps of eminent scholars who are well-known for their works in this subcategory of Hadith studies, such as Ibn Sallam al-Harawi and Ibn Qutayba; second, he inspired later scholars with his own research in this field, most notably his student Abu Ubayd al-Harawi (d. 401/1011). His other works have also reached great prominence.

Works
Al-Khattabi's authored many famous scholarly works which include:
 * Sharh Sunan Abi Dawood' (Expounding on Sunan Abi Dawood), considered the earliest and one of the best commentaries of Sunan Abu Dawood
 * Kitab A'lam al-Sunan fi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari (The Book of Outstanding Examples from the Prophet Traditions: Explaining al-Bukhari's compendium "The Sound Prophet Traditions"), considered the earliest commentary on Sahih Bukhari.
 * Kitab al-Uzlat (The Book of Seclusion)
 * Gharib al-Hadith (The Difficult Meanings of Hadith), where Al-Dhahabi put on an equal length with Ibn Sallam and Ibn Qutayba's famous works regarding this difficult subject.
 * Sharh al-Asma' a-Husna, where Al-Bayhaqi heavily relied on his Al-Asma' wa al-Sifat.
 * Al-Ikhtiyarat al-Fiqhiya, an early work of authority in the Shafi'i school.
 * Ma'alim al-Sunan
 * Kitab al-Ghunyah 'anil Kalam wa Ahlih
 * Kitab Islah Ghalat al-Muhadithin
 * Kitab al-Shujaj
 * Kitab al-Jihad
 * Risalat fi i'Jaz al-Qur'an
 * Ilm al-Hadith