Bensalem Himmich - The Polymath

‘Abd al-Rahman glanced at his amanuensis and gestured to him not to write down any more.

“There’s something else,” he went on, “something that mars the picture. I might just as well talk about it in the hope of improving my mood.”

“Go ahead, Master. My heart is still open to your words, if not my papers. My only hope is that I may be able to offer some comfort and alleviate your feelings somewhat. As regards what you’ve said already and may still say about the Mamluks, rest assured that the contents will find inside my heart a tomb and impenetrable veil against those forces that are so swift to commit murder.”

‘Abd al-Rahman’s expression revealed signs of trust and reassurance. “As you know, Hammu,” he went on, “I have taught at the most illustrious universities and colleges, al-Zaytuna, al-Qarawiyin, al-‘Ubbad, al-Hamra’, al-Azhar, al-Qamhiya, and today in al-Barquqiya. I have never finished a class without ‘eyes watching me with deference and respect and hearts appreciating my qualification for high office; elite and populace were both alike in their reception.’

“But in the middle of this past week two strange men showed up; I’ve never seen them in my class before. They took turns bombarding me with provocative questions and biased objections. As I recollect, it followed my presentation on The Smooth Path of Malik ibn Anas.

“‘Master,’ one of them asked, ‘if there is just one truth regarding God’s word and that of His Prophet, then how does it make sense for the imams of the four schools of law each to follow their own path and to give varied and contradictory interpretations of their tenets?’

‘“What you’re doing,’ I responded, ‘is to rehash what you’ve memorized. With a greater degree of profundity you would be able to appreciate that the differences between the leaders of the schools of Sunni doctrine only occur in tangential matters, not in the basic tenets of the faith. Such differences are in and of themselves a sign of mercy, a reflection of the ways in which people differ in the various regions of the Islamic world with regard to their livelihood and lifestyles.’

“‘Professor,’ the second of them asked, ‘you have justified the success of the Maliki rite in the Maghrib as being based on two factors. Firstly, that the pilgrimage to Mecca and the additional visit to Medina, Malik’s birthplace and the cradle of his particular school, permitted the people of the Maghrib and Spain, in your view at least, to have direct contact with Maliki jurisprudence and as a consequence to ward off any influence from the schools of Iraq. Secondly, you pointed to the similarities in lifestyle between the Hijaz in Arabia and the Maghrib, something that makes people here more receptive to the Maliki school with its greater lenience. My question: is there some other factor involved, one that is more profound and genuine?’

‘“In a previous class,’ I replied, ‘one where I didn’t see either you or your companion, I discussed yet another factor that is just as valid as the two already mentioned. It resides in the important status that Malik accords in his juridical writings to the twin concepts of action and custom, also and more precisely in the way in which he expresses his frank objections to the sale of dates on a barter system, since the entire process involves unacceptable levels of loss and deceit. .’

‘“There are any number of claims,’ the first man interrupted, ‘and all sorts of false stories extolling Malik. The truth of the matter is, however, that the prevalence of the Maliki rite in the Maghrib is entirely and exclusively due to the sultan’s authority, something that has been pointed out by the great master of that region, someone who knows the region well, namely Ibn Hazm of Cordoba — may God give us all the benefit of his learning!’

“‘What Ibn Hazm has to say is far more complicated than what you’ve just pointed out. But if it’s the truth of the matter you’re after and you already know it, then why ask?’

‘“We can indeed see that truth,’ the second interrupted, ‘and we can also see another one yet more lofty and all-encompassing. Muhammad, the Lord of Mankind, was the seal of the prophets and transcriber of faiths. Ahmad ibn Hanbal — God be pleased with him — is the one who has put all other preachers and claimants out of business. He is the seal of the schools of orthodoxy, the one who has incorporated their tenets in whole and in detail. Such is the import of the teachings of the revered and pious scholar of the faith, Imam Taqi al-Din ibn Taymiya — may God bless his spirit!’

“At this point he took a piece of paper out of his sleeve and started reading from it in a sarcastic tone. It was an extract from my Introduction to History :

The judge, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, composed his Book of Songs as a collection of historical accounts of the Arabs, their poetry, the genealogies, their great battles, and their dynasties. The system of organization was based on one hundred tunes that singers had selected for Harun al-Rashid. In my view, he was completely successful in his project. By my life, it can serve as a record of the Arabs, an anthology of the very best passages culled from their poetry, history, singing, and other crafts. I know of no other work to rival it, since it represents the very acme to which the littérateur may hope to aspire.

‘“That concludes what you have to say, Professor,’ the reader continued. ‘You’re extolling to the heavens a text which is full of debauchery and fornication. Such opinions render you unworthy of the trappings of scholarship; indeed of judicial office, too. God preserve us from evil words that should be suppressed rather than recited out loud and acted on.’

“With that the two men stood up suddenly. One of them threw a piece of paper at me, but, when my students started threatening them, they rushed out. I sent the students on their way, advising them to show all necessary restraint, but not before I had promised to give them a class on The Book of Songs so that they could see for themselves what I was writing about. Then I took a look at the piece of paper. Never before in my entire life have I read the kind of abusive language that it contained; you can gauge the level of slander and sheer stupidity from the following short extract: ‘Stripped naked of all legal competence, that’s you. You lounge there in your house down by the river and spend too much time listening to songstresses and entertaining young people.”‘

That made al-Hihi cringe. He prayed earnestly to God to offer His protection against the calumnies of the rabble.

“Time has become so corrupt,” he said, “that professional character assassins and purveyors of errant falsehoods have taken control. But my master, a scholar who stands far above such mundane matters, is not someone to be bothered by the wagging of evil, contentious tongues.”

“Those tongues have managed to get me dismissed from my post as judge. Even as we speak, they’re trying to get me fired from my teaching position as well. Even so, God be praised in the face of every conceivable misfortune. The good news is that before too long I will be united with the Lord of the Universe.”

‘Abd al-Rahman took a deep breath and remained silent for a moment while he once again adopted his normal smiling visage.

“The incident I recounted to you a moment ago had the same impact on me as another incident that happened a while back with some students in Fez. Rather than write anything down, I would ask you simply to listen to the story of what happened.

“No doubt you recall, Hammu, what I wrote in the Introduction to History about people selling fancies and charms, and traders in all kinds of magic and mumbo-jumbo. I’ve always given two classes on the subject. The first has been on alchemy, where I’ve shown that it consists of a series of procedures and routines which, its practitioners claim, can turn material extracted from base metals into gold and silver. To do so, they make use of animal remains and bits of egg, blood, and hair, all in order to manufacture the necessary mixture that, when converted into a potion (at least according to their bogus claims), can turn heated silver into gold and heated brass into silver. The second class has always been devoted to treasure seekers, those stupid idiots among whom we find lots of Berber students in the Maghrib who are incapable of making a normal living.