This article focuses on some aspects of the prophetic veneration through a very specific sub-genre of
The chronological framework I have chosen is that of the Naṣrid Kingdom of Granada, even though this study must be a continuation of other works on prophetic veneration during the Almoravid and Almohad periods, the time of the introduction and consolidation of this genre in the Iberian Peninsula and the North Africa. I have collected the authors and transmitters of
Finally, I have shown that this ritualization process becomes an identity question among the pious Andalusian ulama, which contributes to increasing their pre stige and integrating them into a privileged group of experts.
Este artículo analiza algunos aspectos de la veneración profética a través de un subgénero muy específico de la literatura de hadiz, el llamado
El marco cronológico elegido es el del Reino Nazarí de Granada, aunque este estudio es una continuación de otros trabajos sobre la veneración profética durante los períodos almorávide y almohade, época de la introducción y consolidación de este género en la Península Ibérica y el Norte de África. He compilado los autores y transmisores de
Por último, he demostrado que el proceso de ritualización de la transmisión de hadices encadenados se convierte en una cuestión identitaria entre distintos grupos de ulemas andalusíes caracterizados por su piedad, y contribuye a incrementar su prestigio e integrarlos en una elite privilegiada de expertos.
Due to political events that have shaken the West in recent years, the subject of the veneration of the prophet Muhammad has gone from being a marginal issue about which few scholarly studies were written, to being now, sadly, a hot issue.
Despite this belated interest and decades long disregard on the part of the academic world, only mended in part by some exceptional but very highly qualified studies,
On the other hand, this heterogeneity of criteria does not prevent us from stating emphatically that the perception that the Muslims have of Muḥammad has been undergoing a diachronic change and that a phenomenon of growing admiration took place which even led to the veneration of his personality. From his death onwards, his figure was idealized but not venerated. Veneration began centuries later, and then, not by the entire Islamic community. Despite the Qurʾan’s insistence on the humanity of the prophet Muhammad, it can be affirmed that the idealization of his figure and of the period of time he lived in is almost an inherent part of the Muslim religion. There was a consensus among the believers from the beginning to accept the belief that there had been a golden age during which the community of the faithful had been governed by the precepts of Islam and that those who had had the good luck to have known the prophet or to have lived at a time close to the time he lived in -
The success and repercussion in al-Andalus and in the North of Africa of the religious literature of prophetic veneration have not yet been studied in depth except in very specific periods and aspects. This is the case even though they have had enormous consequences in Muslim religious observation over the centuries.
Consequently, it would be necessary to address future studies on the veneration of the prophet Muḥammad from two fundamental perspectives: on the one hand, the creation and transmission of works belonging to different genres but which have as a common denominator their being dedicated to the exaltation of the figure of Muḥammad; and on the other hand, the study of religious observation in different periods and societies through the knowledge of the devotional practices obtained from the Arabic sources. Likewise, it is just as important that, alongside with the study of the content of the works, scholars become familiar with the authors and transmitters. The veneration of the prophet is a form of devotion that is not exclusive to mystics or to the Sufis, although in some periods it was so prominent among them that the tendency was to think that it was so.
Finally, to the interest placed on the contents of the works and their authors and transmitters, a third aspect must be added, the study of the way in which the transmissions and teachings take place. As I have repeatedly stated in previous works, the transmission of some forms of prophetic traditions and the veneration of Muḥammad, both with respect to the content of these texts and to the rites that accompany the traditions, are a distinctive feature of certain traditionist circles, who consciously, through their dedication and work, want to set themselves apart from other groups of ulema and other forms of contemporary religious practice.
The research on specific themes cited above shows how we are still lacking global studies regarding both the East and the West. There can be many reasons for this and they all belong to the field of speculation. I can think of several, and they would certainly not be the only ones: the first is the lack of partial studies that would allow for other more encompassing studies. Although with some important exceptions,
This article will focus on some of the aspects described above through a very specific sub-genre of
The chronological framework I have chosen is that of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, even though this study must be a continuation of the work on prophetic veneration during the Almoravid and Almohad periods, the time of the introduction and consolidation of this genre in the Iberian Peninsula and the N. Africa.
The results of the research have been collected in a table (
The compilation of
Attention should also be drawn to the fact that Arab authors do not distinguish a general genre of works dedicated to the prophet and that, therefore, the works described are classified in different sections, for example either among the works of prophetic traditions (
As I have said, the subgenre, transmission of
Broadly speaking, since the main subject of this paper is the Nasrid period,
To conclude this brief reference to the transmitters and authors of
As for the content of the transmissions, it is possible to affirm that the last quarter of the 5th/11th century and the first half of the 6th/12th are the period of gestation of a type of religious observation that will continue to be practiced for quite some time. There is continuity in the transmission of works by certain authors, as mentioned above, but also in the
I arrived to where the Messenger of God was, may He bless and save him, he welcomed me and took my hand (in his); then he said: “Do you know, Barāʾ why I took your hand”. I answered: “Out of kindness, O Prophet of God”. He replied: “A Muslim does not meet another Muslim, acts friendly towards him, greets him and takes his hand (in his), without the sins of both of them dying just like the leaves of a dry tree die.
Likewise, and as has been mentioned above, it is during the Almoravid period that the composition of
Another question that arises is what could have been the reason for collecting these traditions and turning them into small treatises. First, we must bear in mind that this custom is part of a general predisposition to compose small religious works, mostly collections on prophetic traditions dedicated to one specific theme of devotion and religious practice. The
Even though, as has been pointed out repeatedly, there is a continuity in the transmission of these
In the first place, it should be noted that the references to
On another matter, it is interesting to observe how the sources that allow us to trace the transmission of these religious treatises are not outside or foreign to the transmission process itself. As can be seen in the table (
Along with the objectives stated above, there is another obvious purpose to their writing, to increase their own social and religious prestige. We must bear in mind that prestige gives access to spaces that are closed to those who do not have it and places them within a group of people who consider themselves to have been chosen due to their abilities, a merit recognized by the rest of society. Additionally, in politically convulsive times, such as those lived in during the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, religious prestige can function as life insurance, since the persecution or violent death of an ulema could have turned into social scandal. Who would ever dare attack those who safeguard the word of the prophet, those, who through their knowledge and actions are closest to him in the scale of pious human beings? The
An important characteristic of the period under analysis is that relative to the number of
Despite the above, if we take into account that the first four creators of treatises of
Other composers of treatises during the 7th/13th century, in addition to the aforementioned Ibn Abī l-Aḥwāṣ, are Ibn al-Abbār, whose text is transmitted later (nos. 3, 15) and Ibn Masdī, author of a
In the 8th/14th century I have found only two authors. The first one is, Ibn Jābir al-Wādī Āshī who composed a work that, judging by its title, must have been a collection of chained
The second author from the 8th/14th century is al-Muntawrī, who composed a
Transmission is much more abundant than creation, which is logical since we are dealing with a
A significant number of the traditionists listed in
Transmissions of
In the Kingdom of Granada works of this type written by oriental authors were also transmitted, but they are not many in number and all the references found belong to the first period; since I have not found any references from the second half of the 8th/14th century: Ibn Rushayd mentions in the 7th/13th century the transmission of the
In this article it has already been mentioned that some
Finally, it is worth highlighting among the transmissions the chained
Whereas during the Almoravid period the most widespread
The most popular ḥadīth from this period is the so-called “
To those who show mercy, the Merciful will show
Show mercy to those on earth, then (the Angels) in heaven will show mercy to you.
It is also known as the
Besides the
Practically all the authors listed in
It is also necessary to point out that chronologically, during the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, the creation of these works is continuous; we find authors that complement their interest in
Most of these texts have been lost and we are therefore forced to deduce from their titles both the subject matter they dealt with and their form. There are references about some of them being in verse (nos. 3, 7, 8, 20, 26) and about others being commentaries on previously existing texts (nos. 8, 24, 28). One of these commentaries was dedicated to
Within these books we find some typical themes, which had already been worked on during the Almoravid and Almohad periods: the virtue of visiting the prophet´s tomb (no. 6); the benefits of Muḥamamad’s Holy Mantle, (
When it comes to the transmissions we find a large variety of themes. There are both oriental and Andalusian works registered. Among the first group of these we find classical treatises dedicated to the prophet that had a wide readership in the Iberian Peninsula, such as the
However, what we find of greatest interest is the authorship of the Andalusian works of prophetic veneration taught by them, since those texts belong precisely to the authors that have been mentioned above repeatedly as being also transmitters or creators of
Starting at a given historical moment, a trend develops among a significant number of Sunni traditionists, experts in religious sciences, to dedicate their lives to the creation and transmission of works dedicated to the exaltation of the figure of Muḥammad. Among these, as we have seen in the previous pages, were the famous experts in
These experts in
One way of integrating their intellectual work - the teaching of
In my opinion, the
The ritualization of the process of transmission that accompanies the
Finally, we cannot conclude without pointing out that the information obtained from Arab sources, despite the difficulties that may arise when writing the history of the last years of the Kingdom of Granada, is very rich regarding the (wide) readership of religious texts. The data gathered allows us to reconstruct, be it only intuitively, what religious observation was like during different periods, even if we do not have texts that expressly describe religious practice or that have left testimony of what religious life was like in the day-to-day.
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1 |
Ibn al-Abbār BA, 1, 535-63 (173) [J. Lirola Delgado] |
Valencia 595/1199- Tunis 658/1260 |
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2 |
Ibn Furtūn Al-Fāsī Āshī ( BA, 3, 186-7 (487) [F. Rodríguez Mediano-D. Serrano Ruano] |
Fes |
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3 |
Ibn Burṭuluh BA, 2, 680-2 (417) [Rodríguez Figueroa] |
Murcia? 580/1184-5- Tunis 661/1263 |
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4 | Musà b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Tujībī al-Mursī al-Qamījī [Ibn Rushayd, |
610/1213-d. after 684/1285) |
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5 |
Ibn Abī l-Aḥwaṣ Al-Qurashī BA, 1, 675-6 (211) [Fórneas-Rodríguez Figueroa] |
Jaén 603/1206- Granada 679/1280 or 699/1300 |
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6 |
Ibn Masdī BA, 4, 159-61 (793) [ |
Guadix 599/1203- La Meca 663/1265 |
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7 | Al-Khazrajī, Abū l-Ḥasan (Diyā’ al-Dīn al-Khazrajī) BA, 6, 440-1 (1488) [Documentación] | Priego 590/1193-4-Alexandria 686/1287-8 |
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8 |
Al-Tilimsānī, Abū Isḥāq al-Waqqashī BA, 7, 462-6 (1774) [F.N. Velázquez Basanta] |
Tlemcen 609/1212- Ceuta 690/1291 |
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9 |
Al-Lablī, Aḥmad b. Yūsuf BA, 6, 460-3 (1501) [A. García Sanjuán] |
Niebla 613/1216- Tunis 691/1291 |
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10 |
Muḥammad b. ʿAyyāsh al-Qurṭubī Al-Wādī Āshī, |
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11 |
ʿAbd Allāh b. Yūsuf al-Khilāsī al-Balansī Al-Wādī Āshī, |
Valencia 610/1213- Alexandria? 697/1298 |
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12 | Muḥammad b. Abī l-Sadād | (7th/13th century) |
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13 |
Ibn Hārūn al-Qurṭubī BA, 3, 296-8 (550) [ |
Cordoba 603/1207 -Tunis 702/1303 |
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14 |
Muḥammad b. Ghālib al-Jayyānī Shams al-Dīn Al-Tujībī, |
635/1237- 703/1303 |
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A |
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15 |
Aḥmad b. Mūsā al-Baṭarnī Ibn Rushayd |
Paterna (Valencia)- Tunis 710/1311 |
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16 |
Ibn Ḥayyān al-Shāṭibī, Abū ʿAbdallāh BA, 3, 377 (586) [Consejo de Redacción |
Játiva? 635/1237-8 -Tunis 718/1318 |
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17 |
Ibn Rushayd BA, 4, 504-15 (1004) [J. Lirola Delgado] |
Ceuta 657/1259- Fez 721/1321 |
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18 |
Al-Tujībī, Al-Qāsim BA, 7, 543-54 (1803) [A. Rodríguez Figueroa |
Ceuta 666/1267-8 -Ceuta 730/1329-30 |
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19 |
Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-ʿAshshāb Ibn Ṭalḥa Ṣafadī, |
736/1335 |
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20 |
Al-Garnāṭī, Abū Ḥayyān BA, 1, 361-96 (120) [J.M. Puerta Vílchez] |
Granada 654/1256 - Cairo 745/1344 |
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21 |
Ibn Jābir al-Wādī Āshī ( BA, 6, 25-28 (1322) [J. Lirola Delgado] |
Tunis 673/1274 -Tunis 749/1348 |
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22 | Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad ʿAyyāsh al-Malaqī Ibn Ḥajar, |
759/1357 |
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23 |
Al-Balawī, Khālid b. ʿĪsā BA, 1, 180-3 (58) [J. Lirola Delgado] |
Cantoria (Almería)/ Cantoria? 2nd half 14th century (after 767/1365) |
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24 |
Ibn Marzūq al-Jadd ( BA, 4, 124-38 (782) [A. Peláez Rovira] |
Tilimsān 710/1310-1 - Cairo, 781/1379-80 |
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25 |
Al-Sarrāj, Abū Zakariyyāʾ BA, 7, 348-9 (1722) [A. Peláez Rovira] |
Ronda?/ Fes 805/1402-3 |
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26 |
Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbī, Abū Muḥammad BA, 6, 203-14 (1415) [F.N. Velázquez Basanta] |
Granada?/ Granada? Died after 819/1408 |
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27 |
Al-Muntawrī BA, 6, 566-74 (1566) [J. Lirola Delgado- E. Navarro Ortiz] |
Granada 761/1360/ Granada? 834/1431 |
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28 |
Al-Qalṣādī, Abū l-Ḥasan BA, 7, 44-58 (1596) [E. Calvo Labarta- J. Lirola Delgado] |
Baza 815/1412? - Beja (Tunis) 891/1486 |
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The present work has been carried out through the Research Project “In the footsteps of Abu ʿAlī al-Ṣadafī: tradition and devotion in al-Andalus and North Africa (11th to 13th centuries)” (FFI2013-43172-P) and the research project (CSIC_201810E19).
Since September 2005 when the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten published cartoons of the prophet Muḥammad, one of which showed him with a turban shaped like a bomb, there have been several violent events related to what Islamist groups consider a grave offense towards the figure of the prophet Muḥammad. On the representation of prophet, see
See the review by Dominique Urvoy on the book
Among these, see
On the transformation of the figure of the prophet in the eyes of Muslims after his death, see
An extensive study on prophetic veneration in al-Andalus in Almoravid and Almohad times can be seen in
Regarding the introduction of these genres in al-Andalus and the production of the first Andalusian works, see
See above
See an example in al-Marrākushī, Dhayl, pp. 4, 87.
See two examples in
For example, key predecessors of what will seen in this study are Ibn Sālim al-Kalāʿī (d. 634/1236), an important author of the
In this article we will only study the transmitters and their treaties, but unfortunately there is no space to make a detailed study of the different kinds of
At present, I will only outline some general features that serve as an introduction to the study of the
For example, Consuelo López Morillas (trans. And study),
An article on the transmission and creation of
Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ,
Thibon has traced the evolution of the Muhammadan model, in Sufism which goes hand in hand with that of the place occupied by the transmission of
All the information is systematized in
Addas emphasizes that the
It is possible that it refers to Abū ʿImrān al-Fasī’s grandfather, but it is not sure. For his biography see Pellat, Ch., “Abū ʿImrān al-Fāsī”, in
Shāfiʿī Kurdish traditionist (d. 643/1245), Robson, J., “
The Egyptian traditionist ʿAlam al-Dīn b. Muḥammad al-Sakhāwī (d. 634/1245), see <
An Egyptian author from the 6th/12th century,
See for example: <
See above
Some collections of
If it does not exist in BA (
This date, possible erroneous, is due to
It is not specified that it is
It may be the same work as the next one because no source cites the two.
It is not a book on prophetic veneration but a biography of al-Qāḍī ʿĪyāḍ. Despite this, it is possible that his interest in the life of this judge comes from his work