The stories of Al-Burjulani Sufi Hadith Expert of the 3rd Century Hijriyah

 

The stories of Al-Burjulani Sufi Hadith Expert of the 3rd Century Hijriyah

Is Abu Ja'far Muhammad bin al-Husain al-Burjulani. A Sufi as well as a famous hadith expert. He learned from Ibnu Abdullah bin al-Junaid and Abu Bakr bin Abu Dunya. He died in the year 238 H or coincides with the year 825 AD. Sources of his biography can be seen in al-Fihrisat by Ibn Nadhim, Tarikh Baghdad Khatib al-Baghdadi, Mizan al-I'tidal Ad-Dzahabi, al-Wafi bil Wafayat - as-Shafadi, Lisan al-Mizan Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and Mu'jam al-Muallifin .

A number of hagiographical sources that mention al-Burjulani's biography agree that he died in 238 H. Meanwhile, regarding the year of birth of this Sufi, no source has been found that explains it. However, the year of birth of al-Burjulani can be estimated from the year of death of his main teachers. For example Amr bin Muhammad al-Anqari, al-Burjulani's foremost teacher, died in 199 H. Then Ishaq bin Sulaiman ar-Razi died in 200 H. His other teacher Ali bin 'Ashim al-Washiti died in 201 H. From here it can be assumed that he learned (listened to hadith) from al-Anqari when he was 20 years old as is the general standard of obtaining narrations and listening to hadith according to a number of hadith scholars such as Sufyan al-Tsauri, Abu Abdillah al-Zubairi, Musa bin Ishaq and other hadith scholars. About this thing, Ibn Shalah in his Muqaddimah said that the sunnah of learning hadith for someone is when he has reached the age of 20, because at the age of 20 his capacity and intellectual abilities are quite capable. From the point of view of this hadith science, al-Burjulani is estimated to have been born between 175-178 H.

 Scholars praise him:

As a Sufi who is also a muhaddis, al-Burjulani received praise from a number of jarh wa at-ta'dil expert scholars such as Ibn Abu Hatim who narrated from his father that one day someone asked Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal about asceticism. Then Ahmad bin Hanbal replied, "You have to learn from Muhammad bin al-Husain al-Burjulani."

Ibn Hibban in his book, al-Tsiqat , also mentions ketsiqahan (the reliability of the narration of al-Burjulani's hadith) and states that al-Burjulani is a storyteller of wisdom. Al-Dzahabi in Mizan al-I'tidal also said that the narration of al-Burjulani's hadith can be trusted. He is a trusted person and no one looted him. Even Ibrahim al-Harbi confirmed it by saying that in al-Burjulani there was nothing that I knew other than his goodness.

Kitab al-Karam wa al-Jud wa Sakha' an-Nufus

Al-Burjulani has written a number of works in the field of Sufism. More specifically to review the themes of asceticism (zuhud). Ibn Nadhim in al-Fihrisat mentions a number of al-Burjulani's works such as: as-Shuhbah, al-Himmah, at-Tha'ah, as-Shabr, al-Mutayammaini, and al-Karam wa al-Jud wa Sakha' an-Nufus . It's just that of all of al-Burjulani's works, only the last-mentioned book has come down to us.

In the book al-Karam wa al-Jud wa Sakha' an-Nufus al-Burjulani collected some hadiths and atsars that contain questions of husnul khuluq (character) such as silaturrahim, al-karam, al-haya', al-hubb fillah , and other themes. There are around seventy-three hadiths and atsars of which around twenty-seven hadiths have the status of marfu', atsars totaling twenty-four, and atsar-atsar maqtu'ah attributed to the tabiin around thirty atsars.

As a Sufi who is also a muhaddith, al-Burjulani used the method of hadith experts in the systematic writing of this book. It also includes the sanad. He did not make comments and notes on the hadiths. It only features hadiths with the theme of asceticism. This type of work is indeed commonly written by classical Islamic scholars. And this work is one of the classic works in the field of Sufism that is rarely known to the public.