Tahkik Journal of Critical Editions of Islamic Manuscripts

Abstract

There are a number of hagiographical works on the Ḥanafī School, Abū Ḥanīfa, and his associates. These works provide us with rich information about them and their time. One of such works is Bakr al-Zaranjarī’s (d. 512/1118) Manāqib Abū Ḥanīfa. This particular hagiography on the Ḥanafī school is significant owing to its quotations from an early biographical work on Abū Ḥanīfa written by Abū Ḥafṣ al-Ṣaghīr (d. 264/878), and also in light of it being referenced by later works. This study aims to offer a critique of the entire text of Bakr al-Zaranjarī’s work by comparing two of its surviving copies. Alongside a critical edition of the text, the study will also include an extensive introduction on the life of Zaranjarī and his hagiographical work. There are important indications in Zaranjarī’s Manāqib concerning the ongoing state of development of Ḥanafism. In fact, in a similar way, Saymarī (d. 436/1045) and his work Akhbār Abī Ḥanīfa wa aṣhābih, alongside many similar books of Ḥanafī biographies belonging to the literature of manāqib, are indicative of this. Such works contain salient details that allow for vital interpretations with regards to the historical process of Ḥanafism, regional differences, educational systems and the way they were perceived in subsequent periods. Insofar that the Akhbār of Saymarī is a majorly important source for ‛Iraqī scholars, the Manāqib is relatively significant as it carries considerable information about the Māwarāunnahr. On that account, our objective is to fill this gap.
The general purpose of this research, therefore, aims to fill the above-mentioned void to some extent, and to likewise prepare for publication Zaranjarī’s Manāqib which includes the biographies of Abū Ḥanīfa, his student, and his followers,. Another aim is to bring to light information on the Bukharan and Samarkandian Ḥanafī schools of thought.
Bakr al-Zaranjarī was born in 427/1035 in Zaranj, and famously became known simply as al-Zaranjarī. He had journeyed to Bukhara in order to study the Islamic sciences. Al-Zaranjarī was known as the Muftī of Māwarāunnahr and Faqīh of the land of Bukhara. He knew Abū Ḥanīfa’s views and the texts of the school from memory. He also possessed knowledge in genealogy and history. It was also recorded that he had busied himself with Hadith. The Zaranjarians are the renowned Ḥanafī families who settled in Bukhara. Zaranj is located on the right bank of the Hilmand River, which crosses the Afghan border to the east of Iran today. It is said that his ancestors depended on the famous companion Jābir b. ‛Abdullāh. In the Ḥanafī chain of scholars, three people with Zaranjarian relatives are mentioned, including father, son, and grandchild. Bakr al-Zaranjarī acquired knowledge both from his father Abū Bakr Muḥammad and from Ḥalwānī (d. 452/1060). His students included his son ‛Imād al-Dīn ‛Umar (d. 584/1188), Abū al-Riḍā al-Tarazī (d. 570/1175), and Imām Zādah (d. 573/1177). Al-Zaranjarī had died in Bukhara in the year 512/1118.
Bakr al-Zaranjarī’s only extant work is his Manāqib. The Manāqib is one of the most important hagiographical works on Abū Ḥanīfa today. Al-Zaranjarī’s has been referenced in many a literature. Hagiographic writers such as Makkī and Bazzāzī, for instance, have made numerous references in their works to al-Zaranjarī. He notes that the purpose of copyright of the work is based on the Ḥanafī-Shāfi‛ī debate. He lists the names of 133 teachers of Abū Ḥanīfa. Later, he cites the names of the 94 students who had studied under Abū Ḥanīfa. Al-Zaranjarī’s Manāqib is a relatively early hagiographic work. Although it shows a later period than Saymarī, the quotations and citations made by him reveal essential information with regards to the early Ḥanafī school. It is also crucial to point out that Ḥanafism in the region of Khorasan and Māwarāunnahr was evidently different from the representative ‛Iraqī Ḥanafism of Saymarī.Al-Zaranjarī states that the source of his work which he cites as belonging to Abū ‛Abdullah b. Abū Ḥafṣ was narrated by Abū Muḥammed ‛Abdullah b. Manṣūr al-Bukhārī in 451 H. For all the narrations he provides in his work, al-Zaranjarī uses the following narration series, stating “the same chain of transmission/wa bi hādhā al-isnād”. The chain of transmission is as follows:

Abū al-Faḍl Bakr b. Muḥammad b. ‛Alī al-Zaranjarī
→ Abū Muḥammad ‛Abdullah b. Manṣūr al-Bukhārī
→ Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Aḥmad al-Sarakhsī
→ Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. Sa‘d
→ Abū Sahl Muḥammad b. ‛Abdullah b. Sahl b. Ḥafṣ al-‘Ijlī
→ Abū Abdullah Muḥammad b. Abū Ḥafṣ al-‘Ijlī (d. 264/878)
→ Abū Ḥafṣ al-Kabīr (d. 216/831)
→ ‛Abd al-Ḥamīd b. ‛Abd al-Raḥmān al-Himmānī
→ Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767)

The narrations quoted in the work can be perceived as a defense of Abū Ḥanīfa, and can furthermore be seen as one of the first traces of a group forming around him. The information above is likewise important when it comes to the formation of schools of thought and the connection of which the majority of people had had with Abū Ḥanīfa during the first period.
Two copies of manuscripts were used in this critical edition. The first one is located in the Süleymaniye Library, Kasīdecizādah collection 674, folios 344-366. The second manuscript, the Konya copy, is in the form of a treatise, which is registered as number 6862, with 23 folios in total. Kasīdecizādah is abbreviated with a س and Konya with a ق.