Ibn Qutaybah

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<region> scholar Medieval era
Name:	name
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Death:	276 AH ^[1]
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ibn Qutaybah (828-889) (213 AH-276 AH) was an Islamic scholar.

His full name is Abū Muhammad Abd-Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī al-Marwazī

1 Biography
2 Legacy
- 2.1 Works
3 Views
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Biography

He was an Arab writer, born in Kufa. He was of Iranian descent; his father was from Merv. Having studied tradition and philology he became qadi in Dinawar (a town in Kurdistan), and afterwards a teacher in Baghdad, where he died. He was the first representative of the eclectic school of Baghdad philologists that succeeded the schools of Kufa and Basra.

[edit] Legacy

[edit] Works

Ibn Qutaybah wrote many books defending the Sunni school.

Although engaged also in theological polemic, his chief works were directed to the training of the ideal secretary. His Adab al-katib ("Training of the Secretary") contains instruction in writing and is a compendium of Arabic style. The most important of his works is the `Uyun al-akhbar, which deals in ten books with lordship, war, nobility, character, science and eloquence, asceticism, friendship, requests, food and women, with many illustrations from history, poetry, and proverbs.

Gharīb al-Qur’ān also known as Mushkil al-Qur’ān, on its lexical difficulties.
Al-Imama wa al-Siyasa ^[1], also known as Ta’rikh al-Khulafa’ ^[2].
The Interpretation of Conflicting Narrations (Arabic:Ta’wīl Mukhtalif al-Hadīth)
Adab al-Kitāb.
al-Akhbār al-T.iwāl.
al-Amwāl.
al-Anwā’.
al-‘Arab wa ‘Ulūmuhā on Arab intellectual history.
al-Ashriba on alcoholic beverages.
Dalā’il al-Nubuwwa or A‘lām al-Nubuwwa on the Proofs of Prophethood.
Fad.l al-‘Arab ‘alā al-‘Ajam in praise of the Arabs.
I‘rāb al-Qur’ān, a philological commentary.
al-Ikhtilāf fī al-Lafz. wa al-Radd ‘alā al-Jahmiyya wal-Mushabbiha, a refutation of both the Allegorizers and the Anthropomorphists. This slim volume received editions in Egypt.
al-Ishtiqāq.
Is.lāh. Ghalat. Abī ‘Ubayd, corrections on al-Qāsim ibn Salām’s Gharīb al-H.adīth.
Jāmi‘ al-Fiqh in jurisprudence, dispraised as unreliable by al-T.abarī and Ibn Surayj, as was Ibn Qutayba’s al-Amwāl.
Jāmi‘ al-Nah.w al-Kabīr and Jāmi‘ al-Nah.w al-S.aghīr.
al-Jarāthīm in linguistics.
al-Jawābāt al-H.ād.ira.
al-Ma‘ānī al-Kabīr.*al-Ma‘ārif, a slim volume that manages to cover topics from the beginning of creation and facts about the Jāhiliyya to the names of the Companions and famous jurists and h.adīth Masters.
al-Masā’il wal-Ajwiba.
al-Maysar wal-Qidāh. on dice and lots.
al-Na‘m wal-Bahā’im on cattle and livestock.
al-Nabāt in botany.
al-Qirā’āt in the canonical readings.
al-Radd ‘alā al-Qā’il bi Khalq al-Qur’ān, against those who assert the createdness of the Qur’an.
al-Radd ‘alā al-Shu‘aybiyya, a refutation of a sub-sect of the ‘Ajārida ‘At.awiyya, itself a sub-sect of the Khawārij.
al-Rah.l wal-Manzil.
Ta‘bīr al-Ru’yā on the interpretation of dreams.
Talqīn al-Muta‘allim min al-Nah.w in grammar.
‘Uyūn al-Akhbār in history.
‘Uyūn al-Shi‘r in poetry.
al-Shi‘r wal-Shu‘arā’

Other writings include the Kitab ash-Shi`r wa-ash-Shu`ara' ("Book of Poetry and Poets") and the Kitab al-Maarif.

[edit] Views

He was viewed by Sunnis as a hadith Master, foremost philologist, linguist, and man of letters.

Judgments on Ibn Qutayba differed. Al-Khat.īb, al-Qift.ī, al-Silafī, al-Suyūt.ī, and others declared him a trustworthy and eminent Scholar of knowledge.