Ibn al-Sikkit

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Ibn al-Sikkit
Full NameAbu Yusuf, Ya'qub b. Ishaq al-Dawraqi al-Ahwazi
Companion ofImam al-Jawad (a) and Imam al-Hadi (a)
TeknonymAbu Yusuf
EpithetIbn al-Sikkit
Birth186/802
Place of BirthDawruq (a city in Khuzistan), Iran
Place(s) of ResidenceBaghdad
Death/MartyrdomRajab 5th, 244/October 17, 858
Cause of
Death/Martyrdom		Martyred by al-Mutawakkil


Abū Yūsuf, Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq al-Dawraqi al-Ahwāzī, known as Ibn al-Sikkīt (b. 186/802 d. 244/858) is a Persian Shi'a Muhaddith and a great figure in Arabic lexicology and syntax. He was one of the close companions of Imam al-Jawad (a) and Imam al-Hadi (a).

He was called Ibn al-Sikkit (son of silent), because his father practiced prolonged silences. He is an important scholar of Arabic syntax and literature and his most important work is "Islah al-mantiq."

When al-Mutawakkil, the Abbasid Caliph, asked him to compare al-Mutawakkil's sons (al-Mu'taz and al-Mu'ayad) with Imam Ali's sons (Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a)) he said, "By God, Qanbar, the servant of Ali b. Abi Talib is superior to your sons and their father." Therefore, he was killed by al-Mutawakkil's order.

Birth and Teknonym

It is said that he was born in 186/802[1] in Dawraq a city in Khuzistan, Iran. Later he moved to Baghdad along with his family.[2]

His teknonym is Abu Yusuf.[3] Al-Sikkit was his father's sobriquet, which was given to him for his prolonged silences.[4]

Scholarly Status

Shi'a scholars have counted him among the close and respected companions of Imam al-Jawad (a) and Imam al-Hadi (a).[5] They said that he is Thiqa (reliable) and one of the great scholars in Arabic lexicology and syntax, and there is no dispraise about him.[6]

  • Mudarris Tabrizi writes: "Ibn al-Sikkit is an imam (great figure) in poetry, literature, syntax and lexicology. He is the standard-bearer of sciences of Arabic language and one of the eminent reliable Shi'a figures in Baghdad. His status was acknowledged and confirmed by Rijal scholars, and he was an expert in poetry and Qur'anic Sciences.[8] He has met with eloquent Arab litterateurs and has quoted what he had heard from them."

Works

Ibn al-Sikkit has many works, which are counted among the most important sources of Arabic lexicology and syntax.

  1. Islah al-mantiq that is his most famous book.
  2. Al-Aḍdad
  3. Al-Alfaz
  4. Al-Qalb wa l-ibdl
  5. commentary on Divan al-hudai'a
  6. commentary on Divan al-khunasa'
  7. Divan turfat b. 'Abd
  8. commentary on Divan of 'Urwa b. Ward
  9. commentary on Divan of Qays b. al-Khatim
  10. commentary on Divan of Al-Nabigha al-Dhubyani
  11. commentary on Divan al-muzarrad
  12. Al-Bahth
  13. Al-Maqsur wa l-mamdud
  14. Mantiq al-tayr and mantiq al-rayahin

Martyrdom

It is reported that he was martyred in Rajab 5th, 244/October 17, 858, at the age of 58.[9] There are different reports about how he was martyred. Some say that he was martyred because he was a Shi'a[10] and they narrate that al-Mutawakkil, the Abbasid Caliph, asked him to compare al-Mutawakkil's sons (al-Mu'taz and al-Mu'ayad) with Imam Ali's sons, Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a). He said, "By God, Qanbar, the servant of Ali b. Abi Talib is superior to your sons and their father"; therefore, he was killed by al-Mutawakkil's order.[11] It is also reported that al-Mutawwakil's servants threw him on ground and trampled on him, then they took him to his home where he passed away.[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Dāʾirat al-maʿārif tashayyuʿ, vol. 1, p. 326.
  2. ↑ Ṣadr, Taʾsīs al-Shīʿa, p. 155.
  3. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 449.
  4. ↑ Ṣadr, Taʾsīs al-Shīʿa, p. 155.
  5. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 449; Tafrishī, Naqd al-rijāl, vol. 5, p. 94.
  6. ↑ Ḥillī, Khulāṣat al-aqwāl, p. 299.
  7. ↑ Afandī, Riyāḍ al-ʿulamāʾ, vol. 5, p. 385.
  8. ↑ Mudarris Tabrīzī, Rayḥānat al-adab, vol. 7, p. 56-57.
  9. ↑ Dānishnāma-yi Irān wa Islām, vol. 2, p. 631.
  10. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 449.
  11. ↑ Khoeī, Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth, vol. 21, p. 139.
  12. ↑ Amīn, Aʿyān al-Shīʿa, vol. 10, p. 306.

References

  • Amīn, al-Sayyid Muḥsin al-.Aʿyān al-Shīʿa. Beirut: Dār al-Taʿāruf, [n.d].
  • Afandī Iṣfahānī, ʿAbd Allāh. Riyāḍ al-ʿulamāʾ wa ḥiyāḍ al-fuḍalāʾ. Qom: Maṭbaʿat al-Khayyām, [n.d].
  • Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Khulāṣat al-aqwāl. [n.p]. Nashr al-Fiqāha, 1417 AH.
  • Khoeī, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim al-. Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth. [n.p]. 1413 AH.
  • Mudarris Tabrīzī, Muḥammad ʿAlī. Rayḥānat al-adab fī tarājum al-maʿrūfīn bi-l-kunya wa al-laqab. Tehran: Khayyām, 1369 Sh.
  • Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Rijāl al-Najāshī. Qom: Jāmiʿat al-Mudarrisīn, 1416 AH.
  • Ṣadr, Sayyid Ḥasan al-. Taʾsīs al-Shīʿa li-ʿulūm al-Islām. Tehran: Aʿlamī, 1375 Sh.
  • Tafrishī, Muṣṭafā b. Ḥusayn al-. Naqd al-rijāl. Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt, 1418 AH.
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