Malik Dinar
Mālik b. Dīnār, مالك بن دينار | |
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 The grave adornment (Mazar) of Malik Dinar | |
| Preacher, Theologian, Mystic,Ascetic | |
| Born | Kufa,Iraq[1] |
| Died | 748 C.E. possiblyThalangara,Kasaragod,Kerala,India |
| Majorshrine | Malik Dinar Mosque,Thalangara,Kasaragod,Kerala,India |
| Influences | Ali,Hasan al-Basri |
| Part ofa seriesonIslam Sufism |
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 Islam portal |
Malik Dinar(Arabic:مالك دينار,romanized:Mālik b. Dīnār,Malayalam:മാലിക് ദീനാര്) (died 748 CE)[2]was a Muslim scholar and traveller. He was one of the first knownMuslimsto have come toIndiain order to teachIslamin theIndian Subcontinentafter the departure of KingCheraman Perumal.[3][4]Even though historians do not agree on the exact place of his death, it is widely accepted that he died at Kasaragod and that his relics were buried at theMalik Dinar MosqueinThalangara,Kasaragod.Belonging to the generation of thetabi'i,Malik is called a reliable traditionalist in Sunni sources. He was the son of a slave fromKabulwho became a disciple ofHasan al-Basri.[2][3]He died just before the epidemic of plague which caused considerable ravages inBasrain 748-49 CE, with various traditions placing his death either at 744-45 or 747-48 CE.[5]
Life
[edit]Malik, a preacher and moralist ofBasra,made a living as a teacher and translator of theQur'an,[6]and seems to have been interested in the question of the variousreadingsof the scripture.[7]During his life, Malik had the occasion to follow more or less regularly the teaching of Basran traditionists and mystics as famous asAnas b. Mālik,Ibn Sīrīn,Hasan of BasraandRabīʿa al-ʿAdawiyya.[8]He was considered to have led anasceticlife himself, and tradition attributed to him severalthaumaturgicgifts and miracles, including the ability to walk on water. He seems, moreover, to have been "a most eloquentḳāṣṣ"[9]or popular orator of religious sermons who admired, in particular, the eloquence of his contemporary al-Ḥaj̲j̲āj̲ "whom he naturally could see at Baṣra."[10]
According toIbn al-Faḳīh,"he brought honour to his native town because he was accounted one of the six Baṣrans who were without equals at Kūfa."[11]Later scholars ranging fromAbū Nuʿaym[12]toIbn al-Jawzī[13]reproduce "whole hosts" of proverbial sayings from him,[14]which clearly reflect the extent to which Malik continued to influence Sunni thinkers of all types. According to Pellat, the explicit articulation of theSufiideal of the "innerjihad"(the war against one's own soul)," also finds its original formulation in Malik, who is believed to have saidd̲j̲āhidū ahwāʾakum kamā tud̲j̲āhidūn aʿdāʾakum( “fight against your desires just as you fight against your enemies” ),[15]in a maxim that would wield considerable influence upon Islamic mystics through the medieval period. Malik also seems to have had an appreciation for the Christian religion, and may have even read parts of theNew Testamentfor spiritual inspiration in imitating the example ofJesus.[16]
Legacy
[edit]
See also
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Ibn Ḳutayba,Maʿārif,470, 577
- ’Ibn Saʿd,Ṭabaḳāt,vii/2, 11
- Ṭabarī, iii, 281
- Abu ’l-ʿArab,Ṭabaḳāt ʿulamāʾ Ifrīḳiya,ed. and tr. M. Ben Cheneb, Algiers 1915-20, 17
- Makkī,Ḳūt al-ḳulūb,iv, 187
- Nawawī,Tahd̲h̲īb,537
- Pellat,Milieu,99-100, 257.
References
[edit]- ^Al-Dhahabi, Siyar a`lam al-nubala', vol. 5, p. 362.
- ^abAl-Hujwiri, "Kashf al-Mahjoob", 89
- ^abIbn Nadim, "Fihrist", 1037
- ^"History".Malik Deenar Grand Juma Masjid. Archived fromthe originalon 13 January 2012.Retrieved18 November2011.
- ^Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in:Encyclopaedia of Islam,Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.
- ^Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in:Encyclopaedia of Islam
- ^Ibn al-D̲j̲azarī,Ṭabaḳāt al-ḳurrāʾ,ii, 36
- ^Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in:Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- ^Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in:Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- ^Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in:Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- ^Buldān,190, tr. Massé, 231, cited in Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in:Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- ^Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ,ii, 357-89
- ^Ṣifat al-ṣafwa,Ḥaydarābād 1356, iii, 197-209
- ^Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in:Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- ^Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in:Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- ^Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in:Encyclopaedia of Islam
