`Aabidal Haramayn

'Haramain' is the dual form of the noun 'haram'. This is not haram as in impermissable but haram as in 'sacred', i.e. masjid al haram (mekkah) masjid al-haramain (mekkah and madina)

I heard that this is based on a letter written by 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak to his friend. Is this true?

lol, sister don't get me wrong I know it means the harems [the sacred masjidain i.e. Masjid ul harem and Masjidun Nabawi]...And not the other haraam

'Afwan

Yes. It was written to Fudail bin Ayyaz in 177 hijrah.

It was Fudail ibn 'Iyyaad

But who is 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak?

He was a great scholar from Kufa, a companion/student of imam Abu Hanifa. He however, left the madhab of Abu Hanifa and joined in studies with Imam Malik of Madina.

Barak Allahu Feekum

Sister hidaayah is right. A sister linked me to this:

"Yaa `aabid al-haramayni, law abSartanaa; la`llimta annaka bi-l `ibaadati tal`abu; Man yakhdubu khaddahu bi dumu'ihi; Fa nuhuruna bi l-dima'i tatakhaddabu ..."

This Nasheed is mentioned in Imaam ath-Thahabi's "Siyar al-A`laam al-Nubalaa'":

"Narrated by al-KhaaTib ibn `Asaakir, on the authority of Muhammad bin Ibraaheem bin Abee Sakeenah who said: 'Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak recited these couplets to us in Tarsus and recited them to FuDayl bin `EeyaaD.' This was in the year 170 (Hijri)."

Tarsus is "Tarsoos" in Arabic. Back then it was Byzantine Anatolia, or Greece, which the Muslims called "ar-Room". Today it is in modern day Turkey.

This is also found in Tafseer ibn Katheer at the end of the interpretation of Surah Aal `Imraan from ibn `Asaakir instead of Abdullaah bin Muhammad QaaDee.

`Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak (raHimahumullaah) was a Tabi`ee originally from what was called Khorasan in the time of the Prophet (Sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam). Today it includes parts of Iran and Afghanistan. He was of mixed Turkic and Persian background. He was considered the greatest of the Taabi`een in his time and Imaam ath-Thahabi as well as Imaam ibn Hajar have called him "The Master of the Scholars and Imaams of his time". He was, like all the great examples of the Salaf and those on their creed such as ibn Taymiyyah, a "Warrior Scholar". A man of knowledge who never ceased from the battlefield and traveled all over the world for the sake of Allaah.

In Imam ath-Thahabi's Siyar al-A`laam an-Nubalaa' it is said about Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak: "FuDayl, Sufyaan and the Mashaykh were sitting in the Masjid al-Haraam then approached ibn al-Mubaarak. Upon that Sufyaan said, 'There is a man (of knowledge) from the People of the East'. To that FuDayl replied, 'There is a man from the People of the East, and the West, and everything in between!'"

When he died, Haroon ar-Rasheed the Abbasid Caliph remarked, "The Master of the Scholars has died!" (Siyar al-A`laam)

The Nasheed is also found in the Tareekh Damashq (History of Damascus) of Ibn `Asaakir.

[snip]

From the tafseer of Ibn Katheer:
Al-Hafiz ibn `Asakir mentioned in the biography of `Abdullah bin al-Mubarak, that Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Abi Sakinah said,
"While in the area of Tarsus, `Abdullah bin al-Mubarak dictated this poem to me when I was greeting him goodbye. He sent the poem with me to al-FuDayl bin`Iyad in the year 170, 'O ye who worships in the vicinity of the Two Holy Masjids! If you but see us, you will realise that you are only jesting in worship. He who brings wetness to his cheek with his tears should know that our necks are being wet by our blood. He who tires his horses without purpose, now that our horses are getting tired in battle. Scent of perfume is yours, while ours is the glimmer of spears and the stench of dust [in battle]. We were narrated about in the speech of our Prophet, an authentic statement that never lies. That the dust that erupts by Allah's horses and which fills the nostrils of a man shall never be combined with the smoke of a raging Fire. This, the Book of Allah speaks among us that the martyr is not dead, and the truth in Allah's book cannot be denied.'

http://iman.tblog.com/archive/2003/11/

format_quote Originally Posted by IbnRuwahah

JazakAllah^

But who is 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak?

'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak?
http://www.islamicboard.com/islamic-...horasanee.html



About Al Fudayl ibn Iyaad, he masha Allaah has an amazing story to why he became practising and a sincere worshipper of Allaah. He became so pious that he was known for his well known title of 'Aabidal Haramayn (the worshipper of the two Harams.) But how was he like before he was pious?

HE BROUGHT ME TO THEM SO THAT I CAN REFORM MY CHARACTER..


Al-Fudayl bin Iyaad was famous for his piety and worship, but he was not always a practicing Muslim. In his early years, al-Fudayl was an infamous highway robber; he would prowl in the night for victims on the road from Abiward to Sarakhs. Between these two cities was a small village in which lived a girl that al-Fudayl was in love with. One night, out of desperation to be with her, al-Fudayl climbed the wall of her home. As he was climbing over it, he heard a voice recite:


أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ

Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe to be affected by Allah's Reminder?

[al-Hadeed : 16]


At that moment, al-Fudayl answered, "O my Lord, the time has indeed come." He returned from where he came and sought refuge near a traveling party on the main road. They were busy engaging in a serious discussion. al-Fudayl heard one of them say, "Let us continue our journey now." Another answered, "No, not until the morning, for al-Fudayl is lurking on the road somewhere out there, just waiting to rob us."

Having heard the entire conversation, al-Fudayl thought to himself, "I go around in the night to sin, while a group of Muslims remain here because they fear me. Indeed i feel that Allah has brought me here to them only so that I can reform my character. O Allah, I indeed repent to you.."

http://www.islamicboard.com/599073-post25.html

Jazaak Allaah khayr for this.