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Aṣḥāb al-Ṣuffa (Arabic: أصحاب الصُفّة) refers to a group of companions of the Prophet of Islam (s) who, following the Hijra to Medina, took up residence in the northern section of Masjid al-Nabi. Having lost or voluntarily abandoned their homes, wealth, and tribal status to embrace a life of poverty and hardship, they dedicated themselves to worship, education, learning, and participation in Jihad. The Prophet of Islam (s) took them under his personal care. Various exegetes have discussed the revelation of specific Quranic verses regarding this group.

Life, Status, and Number of Companions

The Ashab al-Suffa resided in the northern area of the Prophet's (s) Mosque,[1] within a covered, spacious portico attached to the mosque's exterior known as the "Suffa" (meaning ledge or bench).[2] Over time, they came to be known by various titles, including "Ashab al-Suffa" (Companions of the Suffa), "Ahl al-Suffa" (People of the Suffa), and occasionally "Ashab al-Zulla" (Companions of the Shade).[3] They became enduring archetypes of the renunciation of worldly trappings in favor of the Hereafter.

The Prophet (s) extended special patronage to the Ashab al-Suffa. By frequently sitting and associating with them—and by designating them "Adyaf al-Islam" (Guests of Islam)[4]—he encouraged Muslims to honor them, thereby acknowledging their spiritual status, virtue, and rank.[5]

Historical reports regarding the number of Ashab al-Suffa vary due to the evolving definition and application of the title. Witnesses in Medina provided differing estimates based on the conditions of the time, with some sources citing figures as high as 400.[6] Prominent figures counted among the Ashab al-Suffa include Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Hudhayfa al-'Absi, Wathila al-Laythi, Abu Muwayhiba, 'Ammar Yasir, Bilal al-Habashi, Khabbab b. al-Aratt, Salman al-Farsi, and Suhayb b. Sinan al-Rumi.[7]

The distinct Islamic character and values of the Ashab al-Suffa led various exegetes to interpret several Quranic verses[8] as having been revealed specifically concerning them.[9]

Poverty and Hardship: Symbols of Simple Living and Asceticism

Traditions vividly describe the poverty and hardship endured by the Ashab al-Suffa; they often subsisted on a few dates and, lacking sufficient clothing, were sometimes compelled to bury themselves in the sand for cover. Through the efforts of the Prophet of Islam (s), their financial straits gradually eased, and more suitable housing was provided for those who desired it. Nevertheless, some who had renounced the world chose to remain in the Suffa to engage in worship and learning, even after better conditions became available. Researchers suggest that while the term "Ashab al-Suffa" initially referred to a specific group of destitute Muhajirun, it eventually evolved into a general designation for all who resided in the Suffa due to poverty and homelessness.[10]

Ahl al-Suffa in the Works of Authors

Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani,[11] Hujwiri,[12] and other Sunni historians and hadith scholars who regarded the Ashab al-Suffa as divine saints (Awliya), included several of them in their biographical works. These lists feature individuals such as Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Salman al-Farsi, Bilal b. Rabah, Wathila b. Asqa', and Abu Hurayra.[13] However, the selection of names and the categorization of individuals as Ashab al-Suffa were sometimes influenced by the theological or hagiographical inclinations of the authors.[14]

Additionally, Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami (d. 412/1021-22) composed a treatise on their virtues and merits titled Tarikh Ahl al-Suffa.[15]

Attribution to Ahl al-Suffa

During the 4th/10th and 5th/11th centuries, ascetic groups—particularly the Sufis—sought to establish a lineage connecting themselves to the Ashab al-Suffa.[16] They even linked the title "Sufi" to "Suffa," attempting to portray this connection as deep-rooted and historical. However, the derivation of "Sufi" from "Suffa" is largely a conceptual association rather than a morphological one.[17][18] As prominent mystics such as Abu l-Qasim al-Qushayri (d. 465/1072-73) and Shihab al-Din Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Suhrawardi (d. 632/1234-35) have explicitly stated, this etymology is symbolic rather than linguistic.[19]

See Also

Notes

  1. ↑ Ibn Taymiyya, Majmūʿat al-rasāʾil wa l-masāʾil, 1403 AH, vol. 1, p. 34.
  2. ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, 1414 AH, vol. 9, p. 159.
  3. ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, 1410 AH, vol. 1, p. 48.
  4. ↑ Ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Dār al-Minhāj, vol. 2, p. 515.
  5. ↑ Abū Naṣr al-Sarrāj, al-Lumaʿ, Tehran, pp. 132-133.
  6. ↑ Rāwandī Kāshānī, al-Nawādir, 1418 AH, p. 25; Bayḍāwī, Anwār al-tanzīl, 1418 AH, vol. 1, p. 267.
  7. ↑ Mashkūr, Farhang-i firaq-i Islāmī, 1375 Sh, p. 62.
  8. ↑ Qur'an 2:273; Qur'an 6:52; Qur'an 18:28.
  9. ↑ For example, see: Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, 1410 AH, vol. 1, p. 13; Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, 1363 Sh, vol. 1, p. 202; Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, 1412 AH, vol. 25, p. 19; Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, al-Tafsīr al-kabīr, 1420 AH, vol. 7, p. 84; Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-manthūr, 1414 AH, vol. 2, p. 88, vol. 7, p. 352.
  10. ↑ Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, 1413 AH, p. 400; Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-manthūr, 1414 AH, vol. 2, p. 89.
  11. ↑ Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, Dār Umm al-Qurā, vol. 1, pp. 143, 374.
  12. ↑ Hujwīrī, Kashf al-maḥjūb, 1375 Sh, pp. 97-99.
  13. ↑ Ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Dār al-Minhāj, vol. 3, p. 490; Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, 1410 AH, pp. 14, 48; Hujwīrī, Kashf al-maḥjūb, 1375 Sh, pp. 97-99.
  14. ↑ Hujwīrī, Kashf al-maḥjūb, 1375 Sh, p. 99.
  15. ↑ See: Hujwīrī, Kashf al-maḥjūb, p. 99; Ibn Taymiyya, Majmūʿat al-rasāʾil wa l-masāʾil, vol. 1, p. 36.
  16. ↑ Abū Naṣr al-Sarrāj, al-Lumaʿ, Tehran, p. 27.
  17. ↑ Ibn al-Jawzī, Talbīs Iblīs, 1928, p. 162.
  18. ↑ Attributed to Suffa becomes "Ṣuffī" and "Ṣūfī" is attributed to the word "Ṣūf" which means wearer of wool. (Mashkūr, Farhang-i firaq-i Islāmī, 1375 Sh, p. 63.)
  19. ↑ Khāwarī, Dhahabiyya, 1383 Sh, vol. 1, p. 33; Kalābādhī, al-Taʿarruf, 1380 AH, p. 21.

References

  • Abū Naṣr al-Sarrāj, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAlī, al-Lumaʿ fī l-taṣawwuf, ed. Reynold Alleyne Nicholson, Tehran, n.p., n.d.
  • Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ wa ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyāʾ, Cairo, Dār Umm al-Qurā, n.d.
  • Bayḍāwī, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar, Anwār al-tanzīl wa asrār al-taʾwīl: Tafsīr al-Bayḍāwī, ed. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad, Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1418 AH.
  • Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, Tārīkh al-Islām wa wafayāt al-mashāhīr wa l-aʿlām, ed. ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salām Tadmurī, Beirut, Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 2nd ed., 1413 AH.
  • Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar, al-Tafsīr al-kabīr, Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1420 AH.
  • Hujwīrī, ʿAlī b. ʿUthmān, Kashf al-maḥjūb, intro. Qāsim Anṣārī, Tehran, Nashr-i Ṭahūrī, 1375 Sh.
  • Ibn al-Jawzī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī, Talbīs Iblīs, ed. Muḥammad Munīr Dimashqī, Cairo, 1928.
  • Ibn Ḥanbal, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad, Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, ed. Aḥmad Maʿbad ʿAbd al-Karīm, Jeddah, Dār al-Minhāj, n.d.
  • Ibn Manẓūr, Jamāl al-Dīn, Lisān al-ʿArab, Beirut, Dār Ṣādir, 1414 AH.
  • Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad b. Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, Manshūrāt Muḥammad ʿAlī Bayḍūn, 1410 AH.
  • Ibn Taymiyya, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm, Majmūʿat al-rasāʾil wa l-masāʾil, Beirut, n.p., 1403 AH.
  • Kalābādhī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm, al-Taʿarruf li-madhhab ahl al-taṣawwuf, ed. ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Maḥmūd & Ṭāhā ʿAbd al-Bāqī, Cairo, 1380 AH.
  • Khāwarī, Asad Allāh, Dhahabiyya: taṣawwuf-i ʿilmī - āthār-i adabī, Tehran, Dānishgāh-i Tehrān, 1383 Sh.
  • Mashkūr, Muḥammad Javād, Farhang-i firaq-i Islāmī, intro. Kāẓim Mudīrshānechī, Mashhad, Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍawī, Bunyād-i Pazhūhishhā-yi Islāmī, 1375 Sh.
  • Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm, Tafsīr al-Qummī, ed. Ṭayyib Mūsawī Jazāyirī, Qom, Dār al-Kitāb, 3rd ed., 1363 Sh.
  • Rāwandī Kāshānī, Faḍl Allāh b. ʿAlī, al-Nawādir, trans. Aḥmad Ṣādiqī Ardistānī, Tehran, Bunyād-i Farhang-i Islāmī-yi Kūshānpūr, 1418 AH.
  • Suyūṭī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr, al-Durr al-manthūr fī l-tafsīr al-maʾthūr, Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, 1414 AH.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr, Jāmiʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān (Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī), Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1412 AH.
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