Jump to content

Al-Ashbah Sermon

Priority: c, Quality: b
From wikishia
(Redirected from Sermon of Skeletons)
This article is an introduction to the al-Ashbah Sermon; to read its text see text:al-Ashbah Sermon.
Al-Ashbah Sermon
SubjectAttributes of God • Description of the sky, Angels and Creation of earth
Issued byImam Ali (a)
Main narratorMas'ada b. Sadaqa
Validity of the chain of transmissionReliable
Shi'a sourcesAl-Tawhid • Nahj al-balagha
Sunni sourcesRabi' al-abrar • Al-'Iqd al-farid


Al-Ashbāḥ sermon (Arabic: خُطْبَة الأشْباح; lit: the Sermon of Skeletons) is one of the sermons in Nahj al-Balagha delivered by Imam Ali (a) on the subject of theology and knowing God. Ibn Abi al-Hadid, highlighting the literary value of this sermon, compared the eloquence of Arab orators to mere dust in contrast to this sermon, which he described as pure gold. Sayyid Ibn Tawus, emphasizing the merit of its content, maintained that there is no room for doubt regarding its authenticity.

In addition to Shi'a sources, this sermon has also been transmitted in Sunni works. Some of the theological topics addressed in Khutbat al-Ashbah include: the attributes of God, the Qur'an as the standard for recognizing God's names and attributes, the human inability to fully comprehend the Divine Essence and attributes, the creation of angels and their characteristics, and God's encompassing knowledge of all human secrets.

Introduction

Al-Ashbah sermon is one of the sermons of Nahj al-balagha which is regarded as highly valuable and content-rich.[1] Ibn Abi al-Hadid, one of the commentators of Nahj al-balagha, in his analysis of the eloquence and rhetoric of this sermon, compared it with the speech of the most eloquent Arabs and stated that their speech, in comparison to this sermon, is like dust compared to pure refined gold.[2]

According to the account of al-Sharif al-Radi, the compiler of Nahj al-balagha, the sermon was delivered in response to a person who requested Imam Ali (a) to describe God for him in such a way that it would be as if he were seeing Him with his own eyes. Upon hearing this request, Imam Ali (a) became angry, gathered the people, and delivered this sermon from the pulpit of the mosque of Kufa.[3] Several interpretations have been offered regarding the reason behind the Imam’s anger. One possibility is that the individual expected the attributes of God to be like those of created beings, so that God could be perceived visually.[4] Another explanation is that the Imam (a) was distressed that, despite the many years since the advent of Islam, people were still unfamiliar with the attributes of God.[5]

The numbering of this sermon varies across different editions of Nahj al-balagha, and is as follows:[6]

Version's name Sermon's number
Al-Mu'jam al-mufahras by Subhi Salih 91
Fayd al-Islam, Minhaj al-bara'a by Mirza Habib Allah al-Khoei, Mulla Salih Qazwini, Sharh nahj al-balagha by Ibn Abi l-Hadid 90
Misbah al-salikin by Ibn Maytham al-Bahrani 88
Shaykh Muhammad 'Abduh 87
Sharh-i Nahj al-balagha by Mulla Fath Allah Kashani 97
Fi zilal nahj al-balagha by Muhammad Jawad Mughniyya 89


Naming

Several explanations have been suggested regarding the reason this sermon is referred to as al-Ashbah:

  • "Ashbah" is an allusion to angels, a topic that is addressed in part of the sermon;[7]
  • The word "ashbah" appears within the text of the sermon (according to some narrations[8] other than those found in Nahj al-Balagha);[9]
  • The term "ashbah" can also mean "things that are seen from a distance and appear indistinct"; since the sermon discusses matters that may have been unclear or abstract to the listeners, it has been given this title.[10]

Content

Some of the topics covered in this sermon include:

  • Mention of some of God's attributes;
  • The Quran's standard for knowing God's names and attributes;
  • Man's inability to comprehend the essence and attributes of God;
  • God's plan in the world of creation;
  • The creation of the majestic heavens;
  • The creation of angels and their attributes and characteristics;
  • The creation of the earth, the creation of Adam (a), and the mission of the prophets;
  • God's knowledge of all of man's secrets.[11]

Authenticity of the Sermon

According to Sayyid Ibn Tawus, author of the book Faraj al-Mahmum, there is no need to examine this sermon in order to assess its authenticity. Because this sermon is one of those sermons that only the infallible can deliver.[12] This sermon was one of the famous sermons of Imam Ali (a) and was also famous before Sharif al-Radi.[13] This sermon has been narrated in Shi'a sources (such as Kitab al-tawhid by Shaykh al-Saduq[14] and the book of Taysir al-Matalib by Yahya b. Husayn Haruni, a Zaydi scholar[15]) and also in Sunni books (such as al-'Iqd al-Farid and Rabi' al-abrar).

According to Sayyid 'Abd al-Zahra al-Husayni al-Khatib, author of the book Masadir Nahjul-balagha, Sharif al-Radi narrated this sermon from the book Khutab Amir al-Mu'minin (a) written by Mas'ada b. Sadaqah. Because, on the one hand, Sharif al-Radi explained at the beginning of the sermon that he was narrating this sermon from Imam al-Sadiq (a) through Mas'ada b. Sadaqa, and on the other hand, Mas'ada had a famous book called Khutab Amir al-Mu'minin (a) which existed until the time of Sayyid Hashim Bahrani, the author of the book al-Burhan.[16]

For the full text, see text:al-Ashbah Sermon.

Notes

  1. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Imām Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 4, p. 16.
  2. ↑ Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 6, p. 425.
  3. ↑ Nahj al-balāgha, edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣaliḥ, sermon no. 91, p. 124.
  4. ↑ Khoeī, Minhāj al-barāʿa, vol. 6, p. 287.
  5. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Imām Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 4, p. 19.
  6. ↑ Dashtī and Muḥammadī, al-Muʿjam al-mufahras li-alfāẓ Nahj al-balāgha, p. 509.
  7. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Imām Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 4, p. 18.
  8. ↑ See: Ṣadūq, al-Tawḥīd, p. 79.
  9. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Imām Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 4, p. 18.
  10. ↑ Shahīdī, Tarjuma-yi Nahj al-balāgha, p. 471.
  11. ↑ See: Nahj al-balāgha, edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣaliḥ, sermon no. 91, p. 124-136.
  12. ↑ Ibn Ṭāwūs, Faraj al-mahmūm, p. 56.
  13. ↑ Ḥusaynī al-Khaṭīb, Maṣādir Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 2, p. 164.
  14. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Tawḥīd, p. 48-56.
  15. ↑ Zamakhsharī, Rabīʿ al-abrār, vol. 1, p. 310-312.
  16. ↑ Ḥusaynī al-Khaṭīb, Maṣādir Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 2, p. 164.

References

  • Dashtī, Muḥammad and Kāẓim Muḥammadī. Al-Muʿjam al-mufahras li-alfāẓ Nahj al-balāgha. Qom: Muʾassisa Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), 1375 Sh.
  • Hārūnī, Yaḥya b. Ḥusayn. Taysīr al-maṭālib fī Amālī Abī Ṭālib. Sanaa: Muʾassisat al-Imām Zayd b. ʿAlī al-Thiqāfīyya, 1422 AH.
  • Ḥusaynī al-Khaṭīb, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Zahrāʾ al-. Maṣādir Nahj al-balāgha wa asāniduh. Beirut: Dār al-Zahrāʾ, 1409 AH.
  • Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, Aḥmad Muḥammad. Al-ʿIqd al-farīd. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1407 AH.
  • Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Faraj al-mahmūm fī tārīkh al-ʿulamā al-nujūm. Najaf: 1368 Sh.
  • Khoeī, Mīrzā Ḥabīb Allāh l-. Minhāj al-barāʿa fī Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha. Tehran: Maktaba al-Islāmīyya, 1400 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Payām-i Imām Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a). Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1386 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Tawḥīd. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1398 AH.
  • Siturgī, Muḥsin. Ṭābīʿat dar khuṭba-yi Ashbāḥ. Rasht: Dihsarā, 1392 Sh.
  • Sayyid Raḍī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Nahj al-balāgha. Edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣaliḥ. Qom: Hijrat, 1414 AH.
  • Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd b. ʿUmar al-. Rabīʿ al-abrār wa nuṣūṣ al-khbār. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī, 1412 AH.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikishia.net/w/index.php?title=Al-Ashbah_Sermon&oldid=195680"