The weekend before Ramadhan I happened to meet Dr. Akram in London. I had been informed the thabat of Shaykh Yunus was finally out and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy. Dr. Sahib was kind enough to gift me a copy and had asked me to share some thoughts on it. I had initially thought planned to write a lengthy detailed literary review, giving full and exhaustive commentary on Shaykh Yunus's method and subjectivities, as well as a personal account based on my sittings with him during my student days. However, time does not permit. IA, maybe some other time.
I did, nonetheless, manage to put something of a review together and it was published on behalf of the Muzakarah initiative. http://muzakarah.com/index.php/2015/06/21/review-thabat/
It is reproduced here:
Review: Thabat of Shaykh Muḥammad Yūnus Jawnpūrī
Dr. Muḥammad Akram al-Nadwī
Ed. Muḥammad Ziyād al-Tuklah
Al-Farā’id Fī ‘Awālī al-Asānīd Wa Ghawālī al-Fawā’id
Beirut: Dār al-Bashā’ir, 2015
208pp. (price: n/a)
The book title translates literally as, “unique particulars on exalted chains of transmission and invaluable points of commentary/information.”
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This volume is essentially a thabat which has the added value of an introduction of the Shaykh and includes a fine selection of his views, a great deal of which sheds light on his subjectivities and method. Thabat (pl. athbāt, also referred to as mashyakhah or fihrist) is a genre of writing in which a ḥadīth scholar (or one of his students) gathers names of scholars he has studied the ḥadīth with and from whom he has received ‘permission’ (ijāzah) to narrate through his line(s) of transmission. These permissions vary in their quality and have been conveniently explained by the author in the first chapter of the book. Through these thabat collections it is shown how a scholar is linked to the major works of ḥadīth, to which tradition he is affiliated and from which scholarly networks he has received ‘recognition’ (ijāzah).
Ḥadīth scholars since time immemorial have always travelled and studied with as many teachers as they could. In addition, they sought permissions, especially from recognised critics or those whom were blessed with an exceptionally short isnād. Sitting with critics gave scholars the valuable opportunity to sharpen their faculties and critically engage previously acquired knowledge, whilst seeking short chains of transmission brought them closer to the Prophet (SAW).
Not all ḥadīth scholars had thabats, or catalogues enlisting their licenses and permissions, showing their connections to major works and authorities. In our later generations, only the outstanding few who dedicated their lives to the service of ḥadīth, who rose above the par and won recognition by the scholarly community and had students flock to them for study, had thabats commissioned.
Of these is the thabat under review. As the book title suggests, “unique particulars on exalted chains and invaluable points of commentary”, this work focuses on two parts: the Shaykh’s lines of transmission (chapters 4, 5 & 6) and a selection of his views (chapter 3 & addendum). These are preceded by some introductory comments on the science of ḥadīth pertaining to the isnād and ijāzah (chapter 1), in addition to a biographical sketch of the Shaykh (chapter 2).
The author explains the purpose of the thabat in the foreword, “of recent, student interest has grown in travelling to listen to the Shaykh, reading [ḥadīth] to him, learning and benefitting from him. Likewise, their desire to seek permission (ijāzah) from him and connect [themselves] with his lines of transmission has grown. Therefore I felt it appropriate to prepare a biography of him and his teachers, summarising what ḥadīth or fiqh related gems I have managed to gather, collate his lines of transmission and [show] his connections to the thabats of the major ḥadīth narrators (musnidīn), their transmitter indices and narrator catalogues…” (p. 18)
I can assert with great confidence and without any hesitation, and with the utmost respect to my immediate teachers, that I have not seen a scholar as well-versed, dedicated and thorough as Shaykh Yūnus Jawnpūrī. He is without doubt the greatest ḥadīth scholar I have met and in whose awe-inspiring company I have been able to spend time, ask questions and benefit in more ways than I can think of.
Suffice it to note that the Shaykh has been teaching ḥadīth for over fifty years; that he helped Shaykh Zakariyyā prepare much of his works in the way Shaykh Zakariyyā helped his teacher Mol Khalīl Aḥmad Sahāranpūrī; that Shaykh Zakariyyā’s students find Shaykh Yūnus to have excelled further than Shaykh Zakariyyā in the science of ḥadīth; that Shaykh Zakariyyā, upon retirement and leaving for the Prophet’s city Madinah, appointed Shaykh Yūnus to take over his position of teaching the ṣaḥīḥ al-bukhārī despite having so many other teachers at his disposal, and more recently to have discovered a private letter in which Shaykh Zakariyyā predicted Shaykh Yūnus would excel further than him in ḥadīth — all this, and much much more, indicate to his great position in ḥadīth and to his incredible person.
Private letter in which Sh Zakariyyā predicts
Sh Yūnus would surpass him in ḥadīth
The author and editor are not new to thabat writing. Indeed both have separately worked on editing and preparing a number of thabats. They are also experienced in biographical writing of the ḥadīth standard, and not the taṣawwuf oriented hagiographies. Be that as it may, the following statements by the author, Dr. Akram, are in no sense hyperbole but well-considered and carefully measured observations:
شيخنا العلامة الكبير، الإمام الناقد البصير، محمد يونس الجونفوري ثم السهارنفوري، ذلك العالم العامل، والفقيه المتمكن، والمحدث الحافظ المتقن، العارف بمناهج الرواية، وأصول الدراية، العاكف على تدريس الحديث النبوي الشريف ونشر السنة منذ أكثر من خمسين سنة، انفرد في العالم بعنايته بالأخبار والآثار عناية لا يوجد لها نظير منذ مئات من السنين، وغاص في بحار ((صحيح البخاري))، واستثار من كنوزه ودفائنه، واستكشف من خبايا أسانيده ومتونه، ودقائق تراجمه وفقهه ما أثبت تقدمه وفضله على غيره.
إذ العلماء بالظواهر قنعوا، وفي البواطن زهدوا، والمحدثون بالألفاظ والرسوم رضوا، وعن المعاني والحقائق أعرضوا، والفقهاء على جزئيات الفروع اقتصروا، وعن فهم الأصول والكليات وردّ ما نتازع فيه العلماء إلى المـصْـدَرَيْن القرآن والسنة عجزوا وعيوا، فهو معين علم لا يكاد ينضب مع زهد في الدنيا، وإقبال على الآخرة، وصيانة تامة، وورع كبير، ودين متين.
Upon discussion of the Shaykh’s expertise on the ṣaḥīḥ al-bukhārī, he writes:
وهو أعلم من لقيته بدقائق ((صحيح البخاري)) وغوامضه وخفاياه ورموزه، ولا أبالغ إذا قلت: لم يأتِ بعد الحافظ ابن حجر العسقلاني من يقاربه في شرح ((الصحيح)) إسنادًا ومتنًا وفقهًا، وتوصلًا إلى غرض الإمام البخاري ومقصوده في كل باب، وفي كل ما يورده من أسانيد، أو متابعات وشواهد، أو تعليقات وشرح للمفردات وبيان للمعاني، وترتيب بديع للكتب والأبواب، والأحاديث والآثار.
يمتاز تدريسه لـــ ((الصحيح)) بالاستقراء والتعمق، والإحاطة بجميع جوانب المسائل والبحوث في قوة عقل وسعة أفق، مع دراسات حديثية وفقهية مقارنة، مقربة للبعيد، ومؤنسة للغريب، تقتنص أوابد الحديث والفقه فتجعلها ذللًا، قريبة مألوفة، بينة مكشوفة.
ورأيت كلما أشكل علي أمر في ((صحيح البخاري))، أو على غيري من طلبة العلم وشيوخه، فاستفسرناه عاجلنا بالجواب، وأسرع علينا بالحل كأنه مهيأ حاضر، يستعد له كما يستعد الجندي للقتال إذا دعا داعيه، وقد أصبح الشيخ منذ سنوات طوال مرجع أهل العلم والحديث والفقه يُــقصد من أرجاء الهند بل ومن آفاق الأرض لعلمه ومعرفته، وإن كثيرا من الفوائد الحديثية والدقائق المتعلقة بــــ ((صحيح البخاري)) التي نسمع العلماء والشيوخ يرددونها فيها لشيخنا المترجم حظ موفور ونصيب كامل غير منقوص.
Such accuracy and fair treatment is not restricted to the Shaykh, it is maintained throughout the book. For example, Imām al-Shawkānī is introduced as, “al-imām al-muḥaddith al-atharī al-mujtahid al-‘allāmah al-nadhdhār al-qāḍī muḥammad ‘alī al-shawkānī…” (p. 147) and ‘Allāmah Zāhid al-Kawtharī is described as, “al-‘allāmah al-muḥaddith al-faqīh al-uṣūlī al-mu’arrikh al-imām al-shaykh muḥammad bin al-ḥasan al-kawtharī al-ḥanafī … lam yakun mithluhū fī al-ḥifz wa al-ma’rifah” (p. 157)
The author has to be commended for allowing the editor to voice his disagreement with some of the author’s assertions (see, for example, p. 116). This type of magnanimity, a hallmark of scholarship, is often lost in today’s environment and is exemplary. The editor is also to be commended for his scholarly input (p. 172, for e.g.) and the grace with which he contributed to the book. His foreword is valuable, and contains some heartfelt and personal anecdotes which set the tone of the book.
Both the author and the editor have a tremendous amount of regard for the Shaykh. This can be gleaned from their writing. The concluding anecdotes in the editor’s foreword illustrates how the Shaykh has won him over and how, indeed, he has won the Shaykh over. Dr. Akram states the approbation and special words the Shaykh has privileged him with are, to him, “more superior and valuable than university degrees, academic awards and medals of recognition.” (p. 56)
The objective has been to present the Shaykh and his views as clearly as possible. To that extent this book has made great in-roads, broaching topics that are otherwise considered taboo or too controversial in some circles, actively censored or conveniently brushed aside by many of his own students in an effort to avoid controversy and provide a sanitised and homogenous portrayal of the Shaykh. The task is now to have his close students corroborate the finer details and expound upon them, not to open doors for flagrant criticism and cliched tirades of polemics, but to allow closer study of his person and subjectivities; to allow students a fuller picture of this rich, complex and unique personage. None of this can be possible without courage and freedom, both of which are hallmarks of true scholarship.
Take the Shaykh’s position on Mevlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī as an example. In the book he is recorded as “severely criticising him” (p. 104). I have heard the Shaykh refer to him as an “impostor” (dajjāl). Views and approaches of the scholars of the Shaykh’s tradition have differed on this matter. For example, where the founder of Deoband Mol Qāsim Nānotwī is said to have considered the mathnavī the greatest work after the Qur’ān, his colleague Mufti Rashīd Aḥmad Gangohī forbade his affiliates from reading it. Mol Ashraf ‘Alī Thānvī, who is one of the greatest Urdu commentators on the mathnavī (his commentary runs in 24 volumes no less!), is not unaware of the line of argument Shaykh Yūnus and before him Mol Gangohī has forwarded. He accedes to it, “the mathnavī only benefits those who have sound understanding, otherwise it can transform the believer into a disbeliever”, adding, “If the understanding is correct, however, it can turn the disbeliever into a believer.”
We are told Gangohī did make exceptions nonetheless and allowed few individuals to feast their eyes on the mathnavī. Thānvī maintained the book should be read under supervision or with correct understanding and is extremely beneficial for some souls, not all. The purpose of his commentary is to address the potential deviance that can creep in from reading the mathnavī independently and to delineate correct understanding (see, for example, Thānvī’s tanbīhāt barāy-i kalīd-i mathnavī).
Subjecting the Shaykh’s views to the above type of analysis will not be possible if his views are suppressed and censored.
There is an addendum (mulḥaq) to the book, of twenty points of commentary, noted by Shaykh Muḥammad al-Ḥarīrī during his ḥadīth reading sessions with the Shaykh. He is amongst the few individuals who punctually sit with the Shaykh when he visits the holy lands each year and read ḥadīth to him. The addendum confirms the Shaykh’s aqīdah to be in line with the salaf, critical of theologians. What is at the root of this is an unflinching commitment to the ḥadīth, and it is this which makes him critical of some of the positions of the ḥanafī school.
This is to be expected from a person of his stature, and would only provoke the ire and censure of those burdened with the methods of the theologians and perhaps those who find any form of departure from one’s legal school near blasphemy. For example, on the famous ḥadīth of muṣarrāt, the Shaykh commented, “the issue is clear, I do not accept the arguments of those who have undermined it.” He then said, “If and when I die, propagate my verdict. For my fellow countrymen are not able to tolerate differences on such clear matters!” (p. 195)
The book is a great introduction to the Shaykh, especially for his admirers and students; it is a good reminder for his close students to continue with preserving his legacy, seeing that his works are published, and collaborate for accuracy and precision. Lastly, it is a good opportunity for students and scholars unaware of him to acquaint themselves with him, to benefit from his work and assist in whatever way we can. On all these counts, I recommend the book to all. For individuals like this are rare to come by.
May Allah keep the Shaykh long amongst us and may we benefit from his knowledge and person. Allāhumma Āmīn.
