Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (11/217)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

He was asked about reciting the Qur’an to musical melodies, and he replied: “This is an innovation; it should not be listened to.”

Among the accounts of his conduct:

Al-Khallāl said: I asked Zuhayr ibn Ṣāliḥ, “Did you ever see your grandfather?” He answered, “Yes; he died when I was ten years old. Every Friday my sisters and I would go in to him. There was a door separating us from him, and he would write a note for each of us authorizing two silver dirhams to be taken from a money-changer with whom he dealt.

“Sometimes I passed by him while he was sitting in the sun with his back uncovered, and the marks of the lashes were clearly visible. I had a younger brother named ʿAlī, and my father wanted to circumcise him. He prepared an abundant meal and invited a number of people.

“My grandfather sent him a message: ‘I have been informed of what you have arranged for this occasion, and you have been wasteful; begin instead with the poor and the weak.’

“The next morning the barber arrived and our family gathered. My grandfather came, sat beside the boy, produced a small pouch, handed it to the barber, and left. The barber looked inside the pouch and found a single dirham.

“We had piled up many cushions, and the boy was on a raised platform of colored garments, yet he voiced no objection to that.

“A cousin of my grandfather from Khurasan came to visit us and lodged with my father. I accompanied him to my grandfather. A servant-girl brought a wooden tray on which were bread, greens, and salt, along with an earthenware dish. She placed it before us; in it was a cooked dish containing meat and plenty of chard. He ate with us, and during the meal he asked his cousin which members of his family were still alive in Khurasan, and sometimes—

They are not outright Jahmiyya, yet they do exhibit a degree of Jahmi tendency. For instance, they acknowledge God’s names and attributes in general, but reject a number of them—whether the so-called “report-based” attributes or others—and reinterpret those attributes just as the earlier Jahmiyya reinterpreted all of them. Imam Ahmad used to describe the “lafziyyah” as Jahmiyya, meaning those who said, “Our utterance of the Quran is created.” Ibn Jarir relates: “I heard a group of our companions—whose names I no longer recall—reporting that Ahmad used to say, ‘Whoever says, My recitation (lafzi) of the Quran is created, is a Jahmi.’” The early Sunni scholars would call anyone who denied the divine attributes, claimed the Quran is created, or said that God will not be seen in the Hereafter, a Jahmi. See Muhammad Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, Tarikh al-Jahmiyyah (History of the Jahmiyya), p. 53 and following.

وَسُئِلَ عَنِ القِرَاءةِ بِالأَلْحَانِ، فَقَالَ: هَذِهِ بِدعَةٌ لاَ تُسمعُ. وَمِنْ سِيْرَتِهِ: قَالَ الخَلاَّلُ: قُلْتُ لِزُهَيْرِ بنِ صَالِحٍ: هَلْ رَأَيْتَ جَدَّكَ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، مَاتَ وَأَنَا فِي عَشْرِ سِنِيْنَ، كُنَّا نَدخُلُ إِلَيْهِ فِي كُلِّ يَوْمِ جُمُعَةٍ أَنَا وَأَخوَاتِي، وَكَانَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُ بَابٌ، وَكَانَ يَكْتُبُ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنَّا حَبَّتَيْنِ حَبَّتَيْنِ مِنْ فِضَّةٍ فِي رُقعَةٍ إِلَى فَامِيٍّ يُعَامِلُه. وَرُبَّمَا مَرَرْتُ بِهِ وَهُوَ قَاعِدٌ فِي الشَّمْسِ، وَظَهرُه مَكشُوفٌ، فِيْهِ أَثَرُ الضَّربِ بَيِّنٌ، وَكَانَ لِي أَخٌ أَصْغَرُ مِنِّي اسْمُهُ عَلِيٌّ، فَأَرَادَ أَبِي أَنْ يَخْتِنَهُ، فَاتَّخَذَ لَهُ طَعَاماً كَثِيْراً، وَدَعَا قَوْماً. فَوَجَّهَ إِلَيْهِ جَدِّي: بَلَغَنِي مَا أَحدَثْتَه لِهَذَا، وَإِنَّكَ أَسرفْتَ، فَابدَأْ بِالفُقَرَاءِ وَالضُّعَفَاءِ. فَلَمَّا أَنْ كَانَ مِنَ الغَدِ، حَضَرَ الحَجَّامُ، وَحَضَرَ أَهْلُنَا، جَاءَ جَدِّي حَتَّى جَلَسَ عِنْدَ الصَّبِيِّ، وَأَخرَجَ صُرَيرَةً، فَدَفَعَهَا إِلَى الحَجَّامِ، وَقَامَ، فَنَظَرَ الحَجَّامُ فِي الصُّريرَةِ، فَإذَا دِرْهَمٌ وَاحِدٌ. وَكُنَّا قَدْ رَفَعنَا كَثِيْراً مِنَ الفُرُشِ، وَكَانَ الصَّبِيُّ عَلَى مَصطَبَةٍ مُرتَفِعَةٍ مِنَ الثِّيَابِ المُلَوَّنَةِ، فَلَمْ يُنكِرْ ذَلِكَ. وَقَدِمَ عَلَيْنَا مِنْ خُرَاسَانَ ابْنُ خَالَةِ جَدِّي، فَنَزَلَ عَلَى أَبِي، فَدَخَلْتُ مَعَهُ إِلَى جَدِّي، فَجَاءتِ الجَارِيَةُ بِطَبَقِ خِلاَفٍ، وَعَلَيْهِ خُبْزٌ وَبَقْلٌ وَمِلْحٌ، وَبِغُضَارَةٍِ، فَوَضَعتْهَا بَيْنَ أَيدينَا، فِيْهَا مَصْلِيَّةٌ فِيْهَا لَحمٌ وَصِلقٌ كَثِيْرٌ، فَأَكَلَ مَعَنَا، وَسَأَلَ ابْنَ خَالَتِه عَمَّنْ بَقِيَ مِنْ أَهلِه بِخُرَاسَانَ فِي خِلاَلِ الأَكْلِ، فَرُبَّمَا

= للجهمية، لكن فيهم نوع من التجهم، كالذين يقرون بأسماء الله وصفاته في الجملة، لكن يردون طائفة من أسمائه وصفاته، الخبرية وغير الخبرية، ويتأولونها كما تأول الاولون صفاته كلها. والامام أحمد ينعت اللفظية بالتجهم، أي الذين يقولون: لفظنا بالقرآن مخلوق. قال ابن جرير: وسمعت جماعة من أصحابنا، لا أحفظ أسماءهم، يحكون عن أحمد أنه كان يقول: من قال: لفظي بالقرآن مخلوق فهو جهمي. والسلف كانوا يسمون كل من نفى الصفات، ويقول: إن القرآن مخلوق، وإن الله لا يرى في الآخرة جهميا. انظر " تاريخ الجهمية " ص: ٥٣ وما بعدها للقاسمي.