Ahmad al-Muhajir
Aḥmad Al-Muhājir | |
|---|---|
أحمد | |
 Mausoleum of Ahmad bin Isa Al-Muhajir | |
| Born | Aḥmad 873 CE Basra, Iraq |
| Died | 956 (aged 82–83) al-Husaisa, Yemen |
| Resting place | al-Husaisa, Yemen |
| Nationality | Arab |
| Other names | Ibn Isa, |
| Occupation(s) | Islamic scholar, teacher |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age (Middle Abbasid era) |
| Known for | Descendant of Muhammad Rasulullah |
| Children |
|
| Parent | Isa al-Rumi (father) |
| Arabic name | |
| Personal (Ism) | Aḥmad |
| Patronymic (Nasab) | Aḥmad al-Muhājir ibn ʿĪsā ar-Rūmī ibn Muḥammad an-Naqīb ibn ʿAlī al-ʿUrayḍī ibn Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq ibn Muḥammad al-Bāqir ibn ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib |
| Teknonymic (Kunya) | Abu Muḥammad |
| Epithet (Laqab) | al-Muhājir (lit. 'emigrant') |
Ahmad al-Muhajir (Arabic: أحمد المهاجر, Aḥmad al-muhāǧir, Arabic pronunciation: [ɑhmɑd ɑl muhɑːdʒiɽ]; 260-345 AH or c. 873-956 CE)[1] also known as al-Imām Aḥmad ibn ʿĪsā was an Imam Mujtahid and the progenitor of Ba 'Alawi sada group which is instrumental in spreading Islam to India, Southeast Asia and Africa. He was the son of 'Isa the son Muhammad the son of Ali al-Uraydi[2] who was the fourth son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, a fifth generation descendant of Ali and Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad. He was a known acquaintance of Bishr al-Ḥāfī.
Early life
[edit]According to another history, he is thought to have been born in 241 Hijrah (854 CE).,[3] but this seems to be weaker opinion. Aḥmad grew up under the supervision of his parents in an environment surrounded by scholars and living examples of prophetic character. He memorized the Qur'an and then mastered the sciences of the sacred law until he reached the rank mujtahid. He also had his own hadith collection (musnad, not to be confused with Musnad Ahmad) and was held in great esteem by the Sunni Imam Al-Tabari.
Migration
[edit]Al-Imam Aḥmad ibn Isa is called al-Muhâjir (emigrant) because he left Basra, Iraq during the Abbasid Caliphate that was headquartered in Baghdad in the year 317H (929 CE). Aḥmad ibn Isa left Basra with a group of 70 people. He left his three sons Muḥammad, Ali and Husayn in Iraq to take care of their wealth and property.
He first went to Medina and Mecca, and then from Mecca to Yemen in around 319 H. He migrated at a time when there was much internal strife, bloodshed and confusion in Iraq, where a large number of the descendants of Muhammad were persecuted for political reasons by the ruling Abbasids and also because there was turmoil due to revolt against Abbasids ruling by members of the Qaramita.[4][5]
He set out for Yemen in 319 H with his party and eventually reach Hadhramaut, while Aḥmad al-Qudaymi settled in northern Yemen and Sharif Muḥammad ibn Sulayman in Tihama on the Red Sea coast. He first settled in the village of Jubayl and then Hajrayn. Next he traveled to the village Qarat Bani Jushayr and finally settled in al-Husayyisah near Seiyun.
Later life and death
[edit]Imam al-Muhâjir arrived in Hadhramaut at a time when an offshoot of the Kharijite sect called Ibadiyyah held political power and had widespread influence throughout the valley. He persevered in the spreading of Islamic truths until he almost single-handedly removed the Ibadi sect from Hadhramaut without ever taking up arms against them.[6]
He died in 345 H or 956 CE in al-Husaisah, a town between Tarim and Seiyun, Hadhramaut. His shrine stands on a hill and is among the first shrines that visitors to Hadhramaut pay their respects to when visiting the area.[7]
School of thought
[edit]There is a controversy about what Madhhab followed by Aḥmad ibn ʻIsa. Most ulama (Islamic scholars) have the opinion that he was a Sunni imam. Some other ulama such as Imam ʻAbd al-Raḥman ibn ʻUbayd Allah al-Saqqāf, Habib Ṣalih al-Ḥamid, and Sayyid ʻAbd Allah ibn Ṭāhir al-Ḥaddād (brother of Habib Alwi bin Thahir al-Haddad, Mufti of Johor) and some others contend that he was a Shi'a Zaydi follower.[8][9][10] However the majority of his descendants followed Sunni Islam.
Regarding what Madhab of law he followed, Habib Abd al-Rahman ibn Ubayd Allah al-Saqqaf emphasized that al-Muhâjir was not Sunni Shafi'i in fiqh (jurisprudence), as Imam Aḥmad ibn Isa is a Mujtahid, he does not need to follow any madhhabs.[11]
Descendants and status
[edit]At first the term Alawi is given to all descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib, both of his al-Hasan and al-Husayn. Later, to distinguish the descent of Alawi ibn Ubayd Allah, the title Aal Bani Alawi is then used.
The Habibs from the family of Ba 'Alawi sada of Yemen fused their descent to Aḥmad al-Muhâjir through his grandson, Alawi "Sahib al-Sumal" ibn Ubayd Allah.[12] It become controversy in Indonesia because in 2022, a moslem scholar from Indonesia stated in his thesis that this "Ubayd Allah" (Alawi's father) existence is lacks of evidence. The thesis claims that all books and manuscripts from 4th through 9th century didn't mentioned any of 'Abdullah' or 'Ubayd' or 'Ubayd Allah' as one of Ahmad bin Isa's son. The name "Ba-Alawi" has been mentioned in some books in 8th centuries. A recent finding of the manuscript of Imam Tirmidhi written in around 589 H, hence a contemporary book debunking the deniers' claim, mentioned a person named Muhammad Sahib Mirbath from Ba'alawi family.[13][14] A Genealogy scholar in 8th Hijri, Bahaudin Al-Janadi in his book, "As-Suluk Fi Tabaqatil Ulama Wal Muluk"[15] said:
Among them (Bait Abi Alawi) is Hasan bin Muhammad bin Ali Ba 'Alawi (who belongs to the Alawi lineage), he is a jurist who memorizes outside the head of the Al-Wajiz book is imam Ghazali" (volume 2, page 463).
The Ba'alawi in Indonesia claimed some of the Nine Saints of Java or Wali Sanga in Indonesia in some traditions to be descendants of him as well.[16] Walisongo lineage like KH Abdurrahman Wahid and KH Abdul Hamid also claimed as Ba Alawi clan. This is one of their way to alter Indonesian history for their own benefit. They also tried to claim old 'sacred' cemeteries of prominent leader figures as one of their clan member. They claimed only one cemetries and its claimed by one Ba Alawi (Habib Lutfi) not all Ba Alawi agreed with him. Most of Ba Alawi didnt agreed with Habib whom enter politic like Habib Lutfi (Jokowi supporter) or Habib Rizieq (anti Jokowi). The two of them dont represented Ba Alawi at all.
Alawi son of Ubayd Allah or also known as Alawi al-Awwal (The first Alawi) was the first of his descendants to be born in Yemen (one version says he was born in al-Husaisa, another version says he was born in Sumal)[17] The word Bā in Ba 'Alawi sada is a strict Hadhrami term meaning the descendants of.[18]
Currently, descendants of Imam Aḥmad through Alawi ibn Ubayd Allah spread out mostly to Yemen, Africa, mainly in Kenya (Lamu, Mombasa, Malindi) Tanzania, Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, some in Singapore, South Philippines and a few in Thailand), and South Asia (Pakistan and India). Some of the prominent descendants of Imam Aḥmad are Imam Muhammad al-Faqih al-Muqaddam in the 13th century, Sayyid Abu Bakr al-Aydarus of Tarim and Azmatkhan in India, Sunan Ampel in Indonesia in 15th century, Imam Abd Allah ibn Alawi al-Haddad in the 17th century, Raden Saleh bin Yahya (an aristocrat and an artist) in the 19th century Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas (former prime minister of Yemen), Habib Umar bin Hafiz of Tarim, Habib Ali al-Jifri of Jeddah in the 21st century. Some of his descendants in Indonesia, among others, are claimed to be Sayyid Abdullah Al-Aidarus, Habib Ali Kwitang, Ali Alatas, Alwi Shihab, and Hamid Algadri. Habib Umar bin Hafiz from Yemen was listed at number 1 in The 500 Most Influential Muslims for 2024,[19] an annual ranking compiled by Georgetown University's Prince Al-Waleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding and the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.
Imam Aḥmad al-Muhâjir is an Imam Mujtahid, which means he is regarded as a primary source for rulings on religious matters.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^ Abdullah bin Muḥammad Bakutsair. Rihlah al-Asywaq al-Qawiyah. p. 34.
- ^ Morton, Shafiq. "A History of Wahabi Desecrations in the Holy Land of al-Hijaz". Notebooks from Makkah & Madinah: A modern journey to Islam's two Holy Cities. Archived from the original on 12 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ Sayyid Ali bin Hasan al-Attas. al-Qirtas fi Manaqib al-Attas.
- ^ "Persecution of the Shia by the Abbasid kings". Retrieved January 12, 2014.
- ^ Abu'l-Faraj Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Isfahani. Maqatil at-Talibiyyin (hardcover). Lebanon: Dar al-Fajr. p. 366.
- ^ Amin Buxton (2012). Imams of The Valley. Western Cape, South Africa: Dar al-Turath al-Islami.
- ^ "Ali al". Habeebsab. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ Abdurrahman bin Ubaidillah al-Saqof. Nasim Hajir fī Ta'kid Qawli 'an Madhhab al-Imam al-Muhājir.
- ^ Muḥammad bin Aḥmad As Shaṭiri. Adwar Tarikh Hadramaut. Vol. 1. p. /56.
- ^ Shaleh al-Hamid. Tarikh Hadramaut. Vol. 1. pp. 323–325.
- ^ Shaleh al-Hamid. Op.cit. Vol. 1. p. 325.
- ^ Ho, Engseng (2006). The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility across the Indian Ocean. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24453-2. Archived from the original on 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ BUKTI SEZAMAN] Nama "UBAIDILLAH" Tertulis dengan Jelas sebagai Putra Ahmad bin Isa an-Naqib (in Indonesian). Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "مخطوط-سنن-الترمذي-نسخه-الكروخي" (in Arabic). Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ Al-Janadi, Bahauddin. السلك فى طبقة العلماء والملك. p. 463.
- ^ van den Berg, Lodewijk Willem Christiaan, 1886. ''Le Hadhramout et les colonies arabes dans l'archipel Indien. Impr. du gouvernement, Batavia.
- ^ "Alwi Bin Ubaidillah". Benmashoor. July 11, 2014.
- ^ "ALWI-UBAIDILLAH-12". Retrieved July 12, 2014.
- ^ "The 500 Most Influential Muslims for 2024" (PDF). themuslim500.com. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
Bibliography
[edit]- al-Aṭṭas, Syed Hassan bin Muḥammad. Umar bin Abd al-Rahman. Singapore.
- Freitag, Ulrike (2003). Indian Ocean Migrants and State Formation in Hadhramaut: Reforming the Homeland. Brill. ISBN 978-9004128507.
- Ho, Engseng (2006). The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility across the Indian Ocean. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24453-2.
- Berg, Lodewijk Willem Christiaan van den (1886). Le Hadhramout et les colonies arabes dans l'archipel Indien. Batavia: Imprimerie du gouvernement.
- Muḥammad Bakutsair, Abdullah. Rihlah al-Asywaq al-Qawiyah.
- Al-Aththas, Abdullah bin Alwi. Al 'Ilm An-Nibras.
- Al-Masyhur, Abubakar al-Adeni Bin Ali. الابنية الفكريه.
- Al-Syatri, Muḥammad Bin Aḥmad. أدوار تاريخ حضرموت.
- Al-Sagof, Abdurrahman bin Ubaidillah. Nasîm Hajir fi Ta'kid Qauli 'an madzhab Al Imam al-Muhâjir.
- Al-Bijani, Muḥammad bin Salim. Al-Asy'ah al-Anwar. Vol. 2.
- Al-Syathiri, Muḥammad bin Aḥmad. Sirat As-Salaf min Bani Alawy Al Husainiyin.
- Shahab, Muḥammad Dhiya; Bin Nuh, Abdullah (1980). Al-Imâm al-Muhâjir. Jeddah: dār aš-šurūq.