Full text of "Angels In Islam (Suyuti's Arrangement Of The Traditions About Angels)"

ANGELS IN ISLAM A Commentary with Selected Translations of Jalal al-DIn al-Suyutl’s Al-Haba’ik ft akhbdr al- mala’ik ( The Arrangement of the Traditions about Angels) S. R. Burge Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh 2009 A loose-leaf from a MS of al-Qazwim’s, c Aja ’ib fi makhluqat (British Library) Source: Du Ry, Carel J., Art of Islam (New York: Abrams, 1971), p. 188 0.1 Abstract This thesis presents a commentary with selected translations of Jalal al-Dln c Abd al- Rahman al-Suyuti’s Al-Haba’ik fi akhbar al-mala’ik ( The Arrangement of the Traditions about Angels ). The work is a collection of around 750 hadlth about angels, followed by a postscript ( khatima ) that discusses theological questions regarding their status in Islam. The first section of this thesis looks at the state of the study of angels in Islam, which has tended to focus on specific issues or narratives. However, there has been little study of the angels in Islamic tradition outside studies of angels in the Qur’an and eschatological literature. This thesis hopes to present some of this more general material about angels. The following two sections of the thesis present an analysis of the whole work. The first of these two sections looks at the origin of Muslim beliefs about angels, focusing on angelic nomenclature and angelic iconography. The second attempts to understand the message of al-Suyuti’s collection and the work’s purpose, through a consideration of the roles of angels in everyday life and ritual. The translation and annotated commentary that follow focus on angels mentioned in the Qur’an itself: Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, the Angel of Death, the Bearers of the Throne, the Spirit, Ridwan, Malik, the Guardians of Heaven and Hell, al-Sijill, Harut, Marat and the Saklna. The aim of the thesis is to open up the study of the angelic world of the hadith, beyond the eschatological material and to show the vitality of Muslim beliefs about angels in Islamic tradition. 0.2 Declaration I declare that I, Stephen Russell Burge, have written this thesis and that the work is my own. The thesis has been submitted to the University of Edinburgh for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and it has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. S. R. Burge 0.3 Acknowledgements There are a number of people who have helped me enormously during my doctoral studies and whom I wish to thank. I am very grateful for the financial support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), who have provided me with a Doctoral Studentship throughout my studies, which covered my fees, maintenance and a grant for a research trip. I would not have been able to complete this work without their generous financial support. Firstly, I would like to thank Prof. Julia Bray, now of the Universite de Paris VIII, for introducing me to al-Suyuti’s AI-Haba’ik ft akhbar al-mala’ik. She also encouraged me greatly in my undergraduate studies at the University of St. Andrews. A number of colleagues and staff in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies have provided me with helpful comments on my work, but I would like to mention especially Dr. Ayman Shihadeh, Jokha Al-HarthI and Sarny Ayoub for their comments on my Arabic; Songul Mecit for helping me with my German; Margaret Graves for introducing me to Islamic Art and especially Saeko Yazaki and Alex Mallett who have both been a joy to work with and to know. Special thanks go to my parents who have been extremely encouraging and supportive throughout my studies. My interest in Arabic and Islam began when we lived in Khartoum in the mid 1980s, but I doubt that they ever anticipated one of their children would be writing a thesis as a result. I would like, especially, to thank my supervisor, Prof. Carole Hillenbrand OBE, for all her encouragement since we first met in 2003. I hope that she has been as fascinated as I have been by Al-Suyutl's Al-Haba ’ik and the weird and wonderful world of Islamic angelology. She has not only supervised my work, but encouraged me to publish and to develop as an academic, a researcher, a tutor and an individual; for that I am eternally grateful. Above all, I would like to thank my wife, Laurelin. Our family has doubled since I began my studies and she has been happy to look after two young children on her own, whilst I worked long hours. She has also been willing to listen to me talking about angels in Islam for more than most could stand and has commented on all of my ideas and random thoughts. I could not have completed this thesis without her constant and steadfast support. I also thank, although they do not yet understand, my two children, Christian and Peter, who show me constantly that play is just as important as work. 0.4 Transliteration System Arabic The transliteration used in this thesis is a modified version of the Encyclopaedia of Islam : Consonants n, Vowels Diphthongs Feminine Endings Nisba adjectives Definite article Enclitics: b, t, th, j, h, kh, d, dh, r, z, s, sh, s, d,.t, z, c , gh, f, q, k, 1, m, h, w, y a, a, T, i, u, u, ay, aw -a / at (in idaafa ) iyy al- / T- [‘sun’ letters have not been assimilated] bi-T- Case endings are only marked when necessary. Common English names (such as Michael, Gabriel and Adam) have not been transliterated. fix!! L-ilUal 1 ■Ira.Ajjjj ij\ bl£Ul! jUk! L&bb Jl for Laurelin, Christian and Peter with love CONTENTS 0. Front Matter 0.1 Abstract 5 0.2 Declaration 6 0.3 Acknowledgements 7 0.4 Transliteration System 8 0.5 Contents 13 1. Angels in Islam: Classical Islam and Previous Scholarship 19 1 . 1 The Study of Angels in Previous Scholarship 22 1 .2 Jalal al-Dln al-Suyuti’s Al-Haba ’ik fi akhbar al-mala ’ik 33 1 .3 Contextualizing al-Suyutl in the Late Mamluk Milieu 38 1.4 Jalal al-Dln al-Suyutl: Methodology and Sources 47 1.5 The Purpose of Al-Haba 'ik and its Audience 60 2. The Origin of Islamic Beliefs About Angels 65 2.1 Angelic Nomenclature 69 2.1.1 Theophoric Names 72 2.1.2 Function Names 78 2.1.3 Function Names without Malak 84 2. 1 .4 Other Miscellaneous Names 87 2.2 The Iconography of Angels 93 2.2. 1 The Physical Form of Angels 97 2.2.2 Angels of Great Size 104 2.2.3 Finer Detailing: Clothing, Jewellery and Colours 110 2.3 Conclusions 118 3. The Angelic World of al-Habd’ik fi akhbdr al-mald’ik 123 3.1 The Angels’ Roles in Human Life 127 3.1.1 The Angels of the Womb 127 3.1.2 The Scribes 131 3.1.3 The Angel of Death 136 3.1.4 The Post-Mortem Angels 146 3 . 2 Angels and Ritual 152 3.2.1 Angels as the Template of Ritual 154 3.2.2 Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong? 165 3.3 Conclusions 181 4. Al-Haba’ik fi akhbdr al-mald’ik: Text and Translation 185 4.1 A Note on the Supporting Manuscript 1 89 4.2 Translation and Commentary 1 9 1 4.2.1 Preface 193 4.2.2 The Necessity of Belief in Angels 193 4.2.3 The Origin of the Creation of the Angels 195 4.2.4 The Great Abundance of Angels 196 203 4.2.5 The Four Archangels 4.2.6 Gabriel 208 4.2.7 Michael 224 4.2.8 Israftl 227 4.2.9 The Angel of Death 235 4.2.10 The Bearers of the Throne 262 4.2.11 The Spirit 273 4.2.12 Ridwan, Malik and the Keepers of the Fire 278 4.2.13 Al-Sijill 284 4.2.14 Harut and Marat 286 4.2.15 The Saklna 296 5. Conclusions 299 6. Appendices 307 A Arabic Text 309 B Chapter Details - Leiden MS Or. 474(28) 347 C Textual Variants - Leiden MS Or 474(28) 349 D Al-Suyuti’s Sources 361 E The Authorities of the HadJth 379 F Precis of Hadith Not Translated 387 G Images of Angels in Islamic Art 43 1 7. Indexes 439 7. 1 Index of al-Suyuti’s Sources 441 7.2 Index of Qur’anic Quotations 443 7.3 Index of Authorities 444 8. Bibliography 449 8 . 1 Abbreviations_ 45 1 8.1.1 Journals, Encyclopaedia and Monographs 45 1 8.1.2 Ancient and Mediaeval Texts 453 8.2 Primary Sources (Muslim) 454 8.3 Primary Sources (Non-Muslim) 459 8.4 Secondary Sources 462 19 Introduction: Angels in Islam 20 21 1. Angels in Islam: Classical Islam and Previous Scholarship In an article published in The Muslim World in 1937, the American missionary Samuel M. Zwemer commented: ‘The angelology of Islam is very extensive and has been treated only partially by western scholars, although it holds such an important place in the belief of popular Islam...’ 1 2 3 4 There still remains a large gap in the scholarly literature on the role of angels in Islam, with only two early monographs available on the subject." Admittedly, there are a number of studies in areas that include the angels, but none devoted exclusively to them. This is quite surprising as angels are a fundamental part of Islamic belief, as Sachiko Murata notes: ‘The Islamic concepts of creation, revelation, prophecy, the events that occur in the world, worship, the spiritual life, death, resurrection, and the central position of man in the cosmos cannot be understood without reference to angels.’ In fact, belief in angels is necessary in Islam and their rejection constitutes kufr. This strong stance on angels can be seen quite clearly in the Qur’an, for example: ‘Whoever is an enemy to God and His angels and His messengers, Gabriel, and Michael - surely God is an enemy 1 Zwemer, Samuel M., ‘The Worship of Adam by Angels (With Reference to Hebrews 1.6 )’MW 27 (1937) pp. 115- 127, p. 115. 2 Eickmann, Walther, Die Angelologie und Ddmonologie des Korans im Vergleich zu der Engel- und Geisterlehre der Heiligen Schrift (New York & Leipzig: Verlag Paul Eger, 1908); Eichler, Paul Arno, Die Dschinn, Teufel und Engel im Koran (Leipzig: Klein, 1928). These are both focused on the Qur’an rather than than haditlr, there is also a short, but fairly basic, article on Jewish, Christian and Islamic angelology: Bishop, Eric F. F., ‘Angelology in Judaism, Christianity and Islam’ ATR 46 (1964) pp. 142- 154. 3 Murata, Sachiko, ‘The Angels’ in Seyyed Hossein Nasr (ed.), Islamic Spirituality’: Foundations (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987) pp. 324 - 344, p. 324. 4 Belief in angels features in many of the credal statements: cf. Al-Ash c arl §1 & 24; al-TahawI §20 & 24; al-Fiqh al-akbdr II §1; Al-QayrawanI §28 and al-NasafT §23; Watt, W. Montgomery, Islamic Creeds (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1994) pp. 41, 43, 52 - 54, 62, 72 & 83. In the contemporary world, disbelief in angels is still regarded as leading to kufr, for example, it was cited (fairly or unfairly) in the case of Nasr Abu Zayd; see Najjar, Fauzi M., ‘Islamic Fundamentalism and the Intellectuals: The Case of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd’ BJMES 27 (2000) pp. 177 - 200, p. 194. 22 to the unbelievers .’ 5 Angels, then, are an integral part of the Islamic worldview and deserve attention. Despite the lack of a single monograph exploring angels in Islamic thought, it would be inaccurate to suggest that there has been no scholarship on the subject. The roles of the angels in specific mythic events (such as the prostration of the angels to Adam) and their role in the eschatological works (including the mfraj ) have been discussed, albeit not always in much depth. Angels encompass a range of different areas of study: Qur’anic and Hadith studies, accounts of the mfraj and Islamic eschatology, notions of popular religion and discussions in systematic theology ( kalam ) and philosophy. Although not the focus of one work, Islamic angels have often been featured in all of these areas of Islamic Studies. 1.1 The Study of Angels in Previous Scholarship There has been no study on the development of Islamic angelology, but there have been a number of works on the origins of Muslim beliefs about angels. These have focused on two main areas: (i) the Jewish or Christian provenance of particular angels or narratives involving angels and (ii) the development of Islamic angelology and its relation to pre-Islamic religion, both usually relating to the study of the Qur’an. 5 Q 2:97; Arberry, A. J., The Koran Interpreted (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 12; cf. Q 2:161, 177, 285 and 4:136; see also Abdel Haleem, M. A. S., ‘Qur’an and Hadith’ in Tim Winter (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology’ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) pp. 19 - 32, p. 27 and Boubakeur, Hamza, Traite moderne de theologie islamqiue (Paris: Editions Maisonneuve & Larose, 1985) pp. 63 - 71. 23 That the Qur’an is the principal source for Muslim beliefs about angels is undeniable, but a number of scholars have attempted to analyse and find the origins of specific Qur’anic narratives. Sometimes the association of angels in Islam, such as Gabriel, with their Jewish or Christian antecedents are quite obvious and were also acknowledged in mediaeval Islamic sources. 6 Western studies of the foreign vocabulary of the Qur’an, particularly Arthur Jeffery’s study of 1938, 7 8 attempted to use these examples of non-Arabic vocabulary to locate the origins of Islam in a o particular milieu. Similar source-critical methods were also used in the study of various Qur’anic pericopes, originally as part of a broader polemic against Islam. 9 More recently, the methodology has been used to understand the shared heritage of Jewish, Christian and Muslim stories, motifs and traditions more broadly. 10 Steven 6 Cf. al-Zabldl, Muhammad ibn Muhammad Murtada’, Taj al- c arus min jawahlr al-qamus. (Kuwait: Matba c at Hukuma al-Kuwayt, 1965 - 2001) vol. 28, pp. 45 - 4; see also Reichmuth, Stefan, ‘Murtada al-Zabidl (D. 1791) in Biographical and Autobiographical Accounts. Glimpses of Islamic Scholarship in the 18 th Century’ Well 39 (1999) pp. 64 - 102. 7 Jeffery, Arthur, The Foreign Vocabulary’ of the Qur’an (Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1938). 8 cf. Noldeke, Theodor with Schwally, Friedrich, Geschichte des Qorans (Repr. Hildescheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1962) pp. 6 - 20; Torrey, C. C., The Jewish Foundation of Islam (New York: Jewish Institute of Religion Press, 1933) and Bell, Richard, The Origin of Islam in its Christian Environment (London: Macmillan, 1926); prior to these, there were a number of more polemic studies, obvious examples include Geiger, Abraham, Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen. (Repr. Leipzig: M. W. Kaufmann, 1902); Tisdal, William St. Clair, The Original Sources of the Qur’an (London: SPCK, 1905) and Speyer, Heinrich, Die Biblische Erzdhlungen im Qoran (Repr. Hildescheim: Georg Olms, 1988). 9 These polemic works often attributed ‘sources’ to the Qur’an without much analysis. They often made connections between the Qur’an and Jewish or Christian works simply on account of a similar theme. The establishment of parallels in source criticism was also popular in Old Testament Studies, where links were made between the Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern texts. For a discussion of the problems of establishing parallels between two different texts, see Sandmel, Samuel, ‘Parallelomania’ JBL 81 (1962) pp. 1 - 13. 10 E.g. Newby, Gordon D., ‘The Drowned Son: Midrash and Midrash Making in the Qur’an and Tafslr in William M. Brinner & Steven D. Ricks (eds.), Studies in Islamic and Judaic Traditions (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986) vol. 1, pp. 19 - 32; Waldman, Marilyn Robinson, ‘New Approaches to “Biblical” Materials in the Qur’an’ in Brinner & Ricks (eds.), Studies in Islamic and Judaic Traditions, vol. 1, pp. 47 - 64; Sachedina, Abdulaziz, ‘Early Muslim Traditionists and their Familiarity with Jewish Sources’ TafsTF in Brinner & Ricks (eds.), Islamic and Judaic Traditions, vol. 2, pp. 49 - 59; Halperin, David J., The Faces of the Chariot: Early Jewish Responses to Ezekiel’s Vision (Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1988) pp. 467 - 476 and Wagtendonk, Kees, ‘The Stories of David in al-ThaTabl’s Qisas al-anbiyd ” in Robert Mantran (ed.), La signification du Bas Moyen Age dans Vhistoire et la culture du monde musulman: Actes du 8 eme Congres de l ’Union 24 Wasserstrom’s work on the relationship between Islamic tradition and Jewish Pseudepigrapha is the best example of this type of approach in recent times . 11 These studies do not aim, as with the early polemicists, to establish a genetic link between the Qur’an (as well as hadith ) and earlier Jewish works, but to explore the intricate 12 relationships between Jews, Christians and Muslims in the early period of Islam. The secondary literature on narratives involving angels has tended to focus on the Qur’an and its exegetical literature (including both tafsir and qisas al-anbiya’). Taking the narrative of the angelic prostration to Adam as an example, it can be seen that some scholars look at the Qur’anic accounts specifically, whilst others look at the narrative more broadly, but always with the Qur’anic episode in mind . 14 The earliest articles and studies on this Qur’anic pericope attempt to find a ‘source’ for the story . 15 William St. Clair Tisdall comments that the story: ‘...is doubtless Europeenne des Arabisants et Islamisants, Aix-en-Provence, 1976 (Aix-en-Provence : Edisud, 1978) pp. 343 -352. 11 Wasserstorm, Steven M., Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995) and Wassertrom, Steven M., ‘Jewish Pseudepigrapha and Qisas al-Anbiya” in Benjamin H. Hary, John L. Hayes and Fred Astern (eds.), Judaism and Islam: Boundaries, Communication and Interactions: Essays in Honor of William M. Brinner (Leiden: Brill, 2000) pp. 237 - 253. 12 For example, Brannon Wheeler concludes in his study of Moses in tafsir that early scholars actively used Jewish and Christian material: ‘The Muslim exegetical use of the Torah, Gospel, and other non- Quranic sources does not appear to be a confused or haphazard “borrowing” of Jewish and Christian ideas.’ Wheeler, Brannon M., Moses in the Qur’an and Islamic Exegesis (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002) p. 123. 13 Cf. Seligsohn, M., ‘Adam’ El 1 vol. 1, p. 127; Zwemer, ‘The Worship of Adam by Angels’; Pederson, J. ‘Adam’ El 2 vol. 1, pp. 176 - 178; MacDonald, D. B., ‘Mala’ika’ 189; Husayn, Muhammad Kamil, ‘Story of Adam’ MW 54 (1964) pp. 4 - 13; Jung, Leo, ‘Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature’ JQR 15 (1925) pp. 467 - 502; 16 (1926) pp. 45 -88; 171 - 205; 287 - 336; Schimmel, Annemarie, ‘Creation and Judgement in the Koran and in Mystico- Poetical Interpretation’ from Schimmel & Falaturi (eds.), We Believe in One God (London: Burns & Oates, 1979) pp. 148 - 180; Tottoli, Roberto ‘Muslim Attitudes to Prostration ( sujiid ). 1. Arabs and Prostration at the beginning of Islam and in the Qur’an’ SI 88 (1998) 5 - 34 and Mir, Mustansir, ‘Adam in the Qur’an and Islamic Literature’ IC 62 (1998) pp. 1-11. 14 Cf. Vadet, J.-C., ‘La creation et 1 ’investiture de l’homme dans le sunnisme ou la legende d’Adam chez al-KisaTSY 42 (1975), pp. 5 - 38, pp. 27-28; Kister, M.J., ‘Adam: A study of some legends in tafsir and hadith literature’ IOS 13 (1993) pp. 113 - 174; Chipman, Leigh N. B., ‘Adam and the Angels: An Examination of Mythic Elements in Islamic Sources’ Arabica 93 (2001) pp. 5 - 25; Chipman, Leigh N. B., ‘Mythic Aspects of the Process of Adam’s creation’ Arabica 49 (2002) pp. 429 - 455 and Wassertrom, ‘Jewish Pseudepigrapha’. 15 Cf. Seligsohn, ‘Adam’ p. 127 and Pederson, ‘Adam’ p. 177. 25 borrowed from a misapprehension of Heb. i. 6...’ 16 More recent studies, however, have tended to treat the material interpretively. For example, M. J. Kister attempts to place the traditional qisas literature about the prophets in the context of the Qur’an, arguing that: ‘The rich treasure of stories and traditions relating to Adam, Hawwa’ and their progeny is closely connected to the narrative verses of the Quran which deal with their creation, temptation, vicissitudes, and fate.’ 17 Likewise, Annemarie Schimmel is less interested in the sources of the narrative, but explores Muslim responses to the story in theology and mysticism. In Sufism, it is Iblls that becomes an important subject; as Iblls refused to bow down to something other than God, he comes to be seen, by some, as a kind of proto-Sufi and strict monotheist. 19 Other commentaries have included a contextualisation of the narrative in its Arabian context, thematic analyses and comparative approaches. However there is a tendency in all of these studies to discuss events and characters other than the angels; authors are interested in what the prostration says about Adam and humans more generally (or in the case of Sufism, Iblls). There has, however, been relatively little 22 work pursued on the role of angels in Islamic tradition more widely." 16 Tisdall, Sources, p. 196; cf. Speyer, Erzdhlungen, pp. 54 - 58 and Katsh, Abraham, Judaism in Islam (New York: New York University Press, 1954) pp. 32 - 33. 17 Kister, ‘Adam’, p. 115. 18 Schimmel, ‘Creation and Judgement’ pp. 159 - 160. 19 The most notable example is al-Hallaj, Abu T-Mughlth al-Husayn ibn Mansur, Tawdslw, Massignon, Louis (tr. H. Mason), The Passion of al-Hallaj: Mystic and Martyr - Vol. 3. The Teaching of Al-Hallaj (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982) pp. 282 - 326, especially pp. 306 - 316. See also Awn, Peter, Satan’s Tragedy and Redemption: Iblls in Sufi Psychology’ (Leiden: Brill, 1983) for a full discussion of this theme. 20 Tottoli, ‘Attitudes to Prostration’. 21 E.g. Mir, ‘Adam in the Qur’an’ and Chipman, ‘Mythic aspects’. 22 Islamic eschatology will be dealt with below. 26 The second focus of the secondary literature on the origins and development of angelology in Islam focuses on its relationship with pre-Islamic paganism." The most notable studies have been by Joseph Chelhod, Jacques Waardenburg and Alford T. Welch." These studies relate the development of Qur’anic angelology to the decline of pre-Islamic paganism, with particular focus on the various verses of the Qur’an that accuse the Meccans of angel and jinn worship. ' There are a number of problems with this type of research. The idea that Arabian religion progressed from animism to monotheism, through various other stages (including polydaemonism, 26 polytheism and panentheism) is based on the concept of religious evolutionism." Religious evolutionism has been largely rejected by anthropologists of religion because of the results of anthropological research, as well as its strong imperialist overtones. Both Waardenburg and Welch approach Qur’anic angelology on evolutionist lines, but their arguments frequently encounter problems. Welch, for example, bases his thesis on the chronological ordering of the verses of the Qur’an and the historiographical and practical problems associated with this are well 77 known." 22 The Egyptologist Wallis Budge also suggests that Islamic angelology may be related to Egyptian polytheism; see Budge, Wallis E. A., The Gods of the Egyptians (repr. New York: Dover, 1969) vol. l,p. 6. 24 Chelhod, Joseph, Les Structures du Sucre chez les Arabes (Paris: G. P. Maisonneuve et Larose, 1965); Waardenburg, J., ‘Changes of Belief in Spiritual Beings, Prophethood and the Rise of Islam’ in Hans G. Kippenburg (ed.), Struggles of Gods: Papers of the Groningen Work Group for the Study of the History of Religions (Berlin: Mouton, 1984) pp. 259 - 290 and Welch, Alford T., ‘Allah and Other Supernatural Beings: The Emergence of the Qur’anic doctrine of tawhTd’ JAAR 47 (1979) pp. 733 - 758; see also Hawting, G. R., The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). 25 Cf. Q 34:40; 37:149 - 152; 43:19; 45:43 and 53:21. 26 Evolutionist views consider societies to be ‘...in a process of evolution during which they became more complex and more rational and less simple and “primitive”; but some seemed to have got stuck at lower steps of the escalator.’ Gellner, David N., ‘Anthropological Approaches’ in Peter Connolly and Ninian Smart (eds.), Approaches to the Study of Religion (London: Cassell, 1999) pp. 10-41, p. 10 . 27 Cf. ‘It should be obvious from my summary of Noldeke and Schwally’s work that, plausible as their scheme may seem, it is based on very little hard-and-fast evidence. In fact, many of the surahs are 27 For those who argue from an evolutionist perspective, the Qur’an uses angels in a larger polemic against polytheism, in which other deities become labelled ‘angels’ to prove that they have no power or authority. Their use in evolutionist arguments often leads to strange conclusions. For example, Welch states that: ‘The angels become little more than symbols and extensions of divine power. . . ’ Why is this surprising? This is exactly what angels are and what they are supposed to be. Welch believes that the Battle of Badr (or the changing of the qibla) marked a moment in which the angels moved from being conceived as humans to taking invisible forms. - Again, this is a misunderstanding of the angelology and the result of an attempt to place Qur’anic angelology in a developmental scheme. A brief survey of Judeo-Christian literature shows that angels are often conceived in different ways, with both human and divine forms. There is no reason to suggest that the use of two different iconographies marks a development in the angelology of the Qur’an. Welch and Waardenburg fundamentally misunderstand angelology and attempt to force Qur’anic angelology into a developmental scheme that does not necessarily exist . 31 G. R. Hawting provides a different account of the use of angels in anti- polytheist polemic in his Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam. Hawting’s general thesis in this work is that the Qur’an is not directed towards Meccan extremely hard to date accurately.’ Robinson, Neal, Discovering the Qur’an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text (London: SCM Press Ltd., 1996) p. 80; for more on Western dating of the verses see pp. 76 - 96. 28 Welch, ‘Allah and Other Supernatural Beings’ p. 750. 29 Welch, ‘Allah and Other Supernatural Beings’ p. 748. 30 See Section 2.2 for a discussion of these themes. 31 Other accounts of the origins and development of Arabian monotheism do not force angelology into a developmental framework; Watt’s ‘High God Theory’ is the most notable; see, Watt, W. Montgomery, ‘Belief in a “High God” in pre-Islamic Arabia’ JSS 16 (1971) pp. 35 - 40, p. 40; see also Watt, W. Montgomery, ‘The Qur’an and belief in a “High God’” l si. 56 (1979) pp. 205 - 21 1 and Fahd, Toufic, Pantheon de TArabie centrale a la veille de 1'hegire (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1968). 28 polytheists, but rather, towards other monotheists. The direct reference to the Banat Allah (. A/lat , a/- c Uzza and Manat) obviously presents problems for this argument: if the Qur’an is aimed at monotheists, who are these deities? In the final chapter of the book, Hawting argues that the Banat Allah are actually angels and that the Qur’an is referring to angel- worship. Hawting argues that, like the Banat Allah, angels in Judaism are often female and associated with astral bodies. However, there are a number of problems with his argumentation. Firstly, angels are rarely gendered in Judaism and even when they are given gender, they are usually conceived as being male. Secondly, the names of the Banat Allah are clearly native Arabic names, and are not in the standard form of Jewish and Christian angelic nomenclature . 34 Thirdly, Hawting does not take into account any angel-cults that existed in the Near East prior to the expansion of Islam. ~ Lastly, there is archaeological evidence that these goddesses did exist in other religions in the surrounding areas. Hawting forces Qur’anic angelology to fit into a larger construct, the same mistake committed by Welch and Waardenburg. These examples are important to consider (albeit very briefly), as they show the ways in which angels have been treated in Islamic Studies. Angelology in Islam is often an afterthought and has not tended to be considered on 32 Hawting, Idea of Idolatry, pp. 130 - 149. 33 Hawting, Idea of Idolatry, pp. 146 - 147. 34 See section 2.1 for a longer discussion of angelic nomenclature. 35 Angelolatry was evidently a problem for the Early Church with the Council of Laodicea (343 - 381) explicitly banning the practice; see Canon §35: ‘Christians must not forsake the Church of God, and go away and invoke angels and gather assemblies, which things are forbidden. If, therefore, any one shall be found engaged in this covert idolatry, let him be anathema; for he has forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and has gone over to idolatry.’ Percival, Henry R., (tr. ), ‘Synod of Laodicea’ in Henry R. Percival (ed. & tr.), The Seven Ecumencial Councils of the Undivided Church (Repr. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), pp. 123 - 160, p. 151. 36 Cf. Healey, John F., The Religion of the Nabateans: A Conspectus (Leiden: Brill, 2001) pp. 80 - 119 and Ryckmans, Jacques, ‘Le Pantheon de l’Arabie du Sud Pre-Islamique’ RHR 206 (1989) pp. 151 - 170, pp. 155 - 156. 29 its own terms. Furthermore, angelology is frequently forced to fit within larger theses, leading scholars to come to false or contrived conclusions. Beyond Qur’anic Studies angels are most frequently discussed in the eschatological and mfrdj literature in which they play a key role. As with the study of angels in the Qur’an and its exegesis the focus is not generally on the angels themselves. There is no need to outline the vast body of scholarship on Islamic 'Xl eschatology, but it should be noted that there are three main areas of study within the field: (i) the events of the eschaton ; (ii) death and personal eschatology; and (iii) the ascent literature, including Muhammad’s mfrdj . 40 37 For a good overview, see Chittick, William C., ‘Eschatology’ in Nasr (ed.), Islamic Spirituality: Foundations , pp. 378 - 409; Hermansen, Marcia, ‘Eschatology’ in Tim Winter (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Islamic Theology’ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) pp. 308 -324 and Danner, Victor, ‘The Last Days in Judaism, Christianity and Islam’ in Arvind Sharma (ed.), Fragments of Infinity’: Essays in Religion and Philosophy - A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Huston Smith (Bridport: Prism, 1991) pp. 63 - 86; as well as various articles in encyclopaedias, e.g. Gardet, L., ‘Kiyama’ El 2 , vol. 5, pp. 235 - 238; Leemhuis, F., ‘Apocalypse’ EQ vol. 1, pp. 111-1 14; and Lewinstein, Keith, ‘Gog and Magog’ EQ, vol. 2, pp. 331 - 333. 3S Cf. Makino, Shinya, Creation and Termination: a semantic study of the Structure of the Qur’anic World View (Tokyo: The Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, 1970); Galloway, D., ‘The Resurrection and Judgment in Qur’an’ MW 12 (1922) pp. 348 - 372; Kinberg, L., ‘Interaction between this world and the after world in Islamic tradition’ Oriens 29 (1986) pp. 285 - 308 and Bashear, Suliman, ‘Muslim Apocalypses and the hour: a case-study tradition re-interpretation’ IOS 13 (1993) pp. 75-99. 39 O’Shaugnessy, Thomas, Muhammad’s Thoughts on Death (Leiden: Brill, 1964); Smith, Jane I., and Haddad, Y. Y., The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1981); Casanova, Paul, Mohammed et la Fin du Monde: Etude Critique sur I’lslam Primitif (Paris: Librairie Paul Geuthner, 1911); Gardet, Louis, Dieu et la Destinee de I’Homme (Paris: Librairie Philosophique, 1967) pp. 237 - 257; Smith, Jane I., ‘Reflection on aspects of immortality in Islam’ HTR 70 (1977) pp. 85 - 98 and eadem, ‘The understanding of nafs and riih in contemporary Muslim considerations on the nature of sleep and death’ MW 69 (1979) pp. 151 - 161 40 Cf. Vuckovic, Brooke Olson, Heavenly Journey, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mfrdj in the Formation of Islam (London: Routledge, 2005); Niinlist, Tobias, Himmelfahrt und Heiligkeit im Islam: Eine Studie unter besondere Beriicksichtigung von Ibn Sind’s Mfrdj-ndmeh (Berlin: Peter Lang, 2002); Asin Palacios, M., La Escatologia Musulmana en la Divina Comedia: Seguida de la Historia y Critica de una Polemica (Madrid: Escuelas de Estudios Arabes de Madrid y Granada, 1943) also available in translation: Sutherland, H. (tr.), Islam and the Divine Comedy (London: John Murray, 1926); El-Azma, N., “Some notes on the impact of the story of the Mi’raj on Sufi literature”, Muslim World 63 (1973) pp. 93 - 104; Morris, James Winston ‘The Spiritual Ascension of Ibn c ArabI and the Mfraj - Part I’ JAOS 107 (1987) pp. 629 - 652 & 108 (1988) pp. 63 - 77; van Ess, Josef, ‘Vision and Ascension: Surat al-Najm and Its Relationship with Muhammad’s mfrdj ’ JQS 1(1999) pp. 47 - 62 and Halperin, David J., ‘Hekhalot and Mi c raj: Observations on the Heavenly Journey in Judaism and Islam’ in John J. Collins & Michael A. Fishbane (eds.), Death, Ecstasy, and Other Worldly Journeys (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995) pp. 269 - 288. 30 In addition to the work done on Islamic eschatology, Biblical and Jewish Studies have much to offer in regard to the theoretical approaches to angelology and and beliefs about angels more broadly. These studies could be incorporated into Islamic studies with beneficial results and the discussions in Sections 2 & 3 below make much use of this material. 41 A large number of works on angels are available, ranging from studies of Biblical 42 and sectarian angelologies, 43 apocalypticism and eschatological literature. 44 To a lesser extent, angels have featured in theological and philosophical discussions in Islam. These usually focus on particular issues that were discussed in the mediaeval period, such as the status of angels in relation to humans; 45 or on the 41 Willem Bijlefeld has adapted some of these ideas; see, Biljefeld, Willem A., ‘Eschatology: Some Muslim and Christian Data’ ICMR 15 (2004) pp. 35 - 54. 42 Olyan, Saul M., A Thousand Thousands Served Him (Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1993); Tavard, Georges, with Caquot, Andre & Michl, Johann, Die Engel (Freiburg: Herder, 1968) and Mach, Michael: Entwicklungsstadien des judischen Engelglaubens in vorrabinischer Zeit (Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1992). 43 Davidson, Maxwell J., Angels at Qumran: A Comparative Study of 1 Enoch 1 - 36, 72 - 108 and Sectarian Writings from Qumran (Sheffield: JSOT, 1992); Sullivan, Kevin P., Wrestling with Angels: A Study of the Relationship Between Angels and Humans in Ancient Jewish Literature and the New Testament (Leiden: Brill, 2004); Schafer, Peter, Rivalitdt zwischen Engeln und Menschen: Untersuchungen zur rabbinischen Engelvorstellung (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1975); Tuschling, R. M. M., Angels and Orthodoxy: A Study of their Development in Syria and Palestine from the Qumran Texts to Ephrem the Syrian (Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007); Rowland, Christopher, The Open Heaven: A Study of Apocalyptic in Judaism and Early Christianity’ (London: SPCK, 1982) and Elior, Rachel, ‘Mysticism, Magic and Angelology: The Perception of Angels in Hekhalot Literature’ JSQ 1 (1993) pp. 3 - 53. 44 Gmenwald, Ithamar, Apocalyptic and Merkevah Mysticism (Leiden: Brill, 1980); Himmelfarb, Marthta, Tours of hell: An Apocalyptic Form in Jewish and Christian Literature (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983); Himmelfarb, Martha, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993); Collins, John J., The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998); there also a number of collections of articles, which are very useful, particularly, Collins & Fishbane (eds.), Other Worldly Journeys', Collins, John J. (ed.), Apocalypse: The Morphology’ of a Genre in Semeia 14 (1979) and Bauckham, Richard, The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (Leiden: Brill, 1998). From a philosophy of religion perspecitive, see Culianu, loan P., Psychanodia I: A Survey of the Evidence Concerning the Ascenion of the Soul and Its Relevance (Leiden: Brill, 1983). 45 Jadaane, Fehmi, ‘La place des Anges dans la theologie musulmane’ SI 41 (1975) pp. 23 - 62; Lupti, Ibrahim, ‘The Questions of the Superiority of Angels and Prophets between Az-Zamakhsharl and al- BaydawT' Arabica 28 (1981) pp. 65 - 75; Stern, S. M., Studies in Early IsmaJilism (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1983) and Webb, Gisela, ‘Hierarchy, Angels, and the Human Condition in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arab!’ MW 81 (1991) pp. 245 - 253. 31 use of angels by philosophers and theologians in a wider cosmology . 46 However, Islamic philosophy is not of great concern to the angelology of the hadith and will not be considered as part of this thesis. In general, the study of angels in Islam has been quite restrictive, with scholars only looking at angels as and when necessary. Angels have rarely been the primary focus of research and any discussion of them tends to be incidental to other wider issues. The study of angels has also been largely compartmentalised into specific areas: eschatology, Qur’anic studies, exegesis, the mfraj literature, theology, philosophy and so on. Surprisingly, there has been virtually no study of angels in non-eschatological material. There does not appear to be any real reason for this and it simply seems to be an area that has yet to provoke much interest. One of the aims of this thesis is to open up the study of the angelic world of the hadith beyond the eschatological material and to show the vitality of Muslim beliefs about angels in Islamic tradition. The aim of this thesis is to present material about angels directly, rather than considering their position within a larger schematic framework. The two approaches to angels in Islamic Studies mentioned above have focused on the Qur’an or its exegesis rather than Islamic tradition in general . 47 This thesis hopes to move scholarship away from Qur’anic Studies, focusing instead on the role of angels in the hadith literature more generally, using Jalal al-Dln al-Suyutl’s Al-Haba’ik ji akhbar al-mala ’ik as a basis from which to begin an exploration of Islamic beliefs about 46 Cf. Netton, Ian R., Allah Transcendent: Studies in the Structure and Semiotics of Islamic Philosophy (Richmond: Curzon, 1994) and Sweetman, J. Windrow, Islam and Christian Theology’: A Study of the Interpretation of Theological Ideas in the Two Religions (London: Lutterworth Press, 1947) Part I, vol. 2, pp. 75 - 79 and Burge, Stephen R., ‘The Provenance of Suhrawardian Angelology’ ArOr 76 (2008) pp. 435 - 457. 47 To see a discussion of these two themes, see Burge, S. R., Quranic Angelology’. MSc. Dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 2004. 32 angels. Section 2 below will look at the origins and development of Islamic angelology, but without the constraints that have been placed upon it by scholars in the past. In past scholarship the study of hadith and hadith collections by non-Muslims has tended to focus on the isnad and the authenticity of prophetic hadith, but more recently scholars have turned their focus to the development of the four madhahib and the role of hadith scholarship in this process. 49 However, the actual way in which hadith collections have been put together has not really been addressed. 50 Andrew Newman’s The Formative Period of Twelver Shfism is one of the only monographs to discuss and explore the meanings behind the structure and selection of hadith in a collection. 51 An analysis of the way in which hadith are presented in a collection, and which sources the author has used will often reflect a compiler’s intentions for a work. This thesis will attempt to understand the underlying message behind al- Haba ’ik and the ideas that al-Suyutl wished to convey when he compiled it, through an analysis of the hadith, their themes and the sources of the work. 48 E.g. Goldziher, Ignaz, (tr. S. M. Stem), Muslim Studies (repr. London: Aldine Transaction, 2006); Schacht, Joseph, On the Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1950); Horovitz, Josef, ‘The Antiquity and Origin of the Isnad’ in Harald Motzki (ed.), Hadith: Origins and Development (Ashgate: Variorum, 2004), pp. 151 - 158 and Robson, James, ‘The isnad in Muslim tradition’ TGUOS 15 (1953) pp. 15 - 26. 49 Motzki, Harald, Die Anfdnge der islamischen Jurisprudenz (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1991); Melchert, Christopher, The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law (Leiden: Brill, 1997), Dickinson, Eerik, The Development of Early Sunnite Hadith Criticism (Leiden: Brill, 2002) and Dutton, Yasin, The Origins of Islamic Law (Richmond: Curzon, 1999); Brown, Jonathan, The Canonization of al- Bukhan and Muslim (Leiden: Brill, 2007). 50 There has, however, been structural analysis of narrative hadith considered independently; e.g. Speight, R. Marston, ‘Narrative Structures in the Hadith’ JNES 59 (2000) pp. 265 - 271. 51 Newman, Andrew, The Formative Period of Twelver Shi’ism: Hadith as Discourse Between Qum and Baghdad (Richmond: Curzon, 2000). Newman argues that the three main early Shi’I hadith collections (of al-Kulaynl, al-Saffar and al-Barqi) differed in content and arrangement, suggesting differing or competing statements about theological truth in Twelver Shi’ism; see pp. 193 - 201. A similar structuralist approach has been made by Hilary Kilpatrick in her study of the composition of the Kitdb al-aghani; see Kilpatrick, Hilary, Making the Great Book of Songs: Compilation and the author’s craft in Abu 1-Faraj al-I§bahani’s Kitdb al-aghani (London, 2003). 33 1.2 Jalal al-Din al-Suyutl’s Al-Haba ’ik ft akhbar al-mald ’ik The great Egyptian polymath Abu T-Fadl L Abd al -Rahman ibn AbT Bakr ibn Muhammad Jalal al-Din al-SuyutT al-Khudayrl (849/1445 - 911/1505) 52 was one of the leading scholars of his day, famous for both his wide knowledge and his contempt for contemporary scholars. His work is important, not simply because of his historical context, writing at the end of the classical period; but because his oeuvre was vast, covering many different subjects: from linguistics and philology, to history, medicine, cosmology and zoology. Al-SuyutT was well respected in his own lifetime (although to a lesser degree in Egypt and Cairo), 54 with evidence of his influence stretching from East Africa to India. 55 Al-SuyutT continues to hold an 52 For a biography of al-SuyutT (including his own autobiography Al-Tahadduth bi-nfmat Allah), see Sartain, E. M., Jalal al-DTn al-SuyutT: Biography and Background (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975) and Saleh, Marlis J., ‘Al-SuyutI and His Works: Their Place in Islamic Scholarship from Mamluk Times to the Present’ MSR 5 (2001) pp. 73 - 89. 53 The number of works of al-SuyutT (including short tracts and fatwds) is not agreed, with estimates ranging from 550 - 980; see Jackson, Roy, Fifty’ Key Figures in Islam (London: Routledge, 2006) pp. 137 - 141; Geoffroy, E., ‘Al-SuyutT’ El 2 vol. 9, pp. 913 - 916 and Goldziher, Ignaz, ‘Zur Charakteristik Gelal ud-din us-Sujuti’s und seiner literarischen Thatigkeit’ GS vol. 1, pp. 52 - 73 (available in translation, see Hunwick, J. O (ed.) and Barry, Michael (tr. ), ‘Ignaz Goldziher on Al- SuyutT’ MW 68 (1978) pp. 79 - 99). 54 Marlis Saleh comments: ‘It appears that this recognition was more readily granted by those who were separated from al-SuyutT by either time or distance.’ Saleh, ‘ Al-SuyutT’ p. 78 and Irwin, R., ‘Al- SuyutT (849 - 911 / 1445 - 1505)’ EAL vol. 2, p. 746. For a contemporary and negative assessment of his work see, al-SakhawT, Shams al-DTn Muhammad ibn c Abd al-Rahman, Al-Daw’ al-lamf li-ahl al- qarn al-tdsi c (Beirut: Dar al-Maktaba bi-T-hayat, 1966) vol. 4, pp. 65-71. 55 For example, al-SuyutT is known to have had frequent dealings with scholars in East Africa; cf. Sartain, E. M., ‘Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti’s Relations with the People of Takrur’ JSS 16 (1971) pp. 193 - 198; John Voll also comments that almost all isndds during the eighteenth century in the area around the Mediterranean were attributed to al-SuyutT, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalanl (from whom al-SuyutT received his ijaza ) and ZakarTya al-Ansari; see Voll, John O., ‘Hadith Scholars and Tariqahs: An Ulama Group in 18th Century Haramayn and their Impact on the Islamic World’ AAS 15 (1980) pp. 264 - 273, p. 265. 34 important place in both Muslim and non-Muslim studies in Islam, particularly his work on philology and exegesis. 56 Al-Suyuti’s Al-Haba’ik fi akhbar al-mala’ik is a collection that is devoted entirely to hadith about angels and complements other collections of his with similar themes. The compilation includes around 750 hadith and is followed by a relatively long postscript ( khatima ) that discusses theological issues associated with angels, particularly the status of the angels in relation to humans, a popular theme in tafsir and kalam. 57 It appears to have been a relatively popular work, with twenty-one 58 known manuscript copies still extant.' Jalal al-Dln al-Suyuti’s Al-Haba’ik fi akhbar al-mala’ik provides one of the most comprehensive catalogues of Islamic traditions about angels in Arabic literature. Whilst there are a number of works that feature a great many angels, particularly in the mfraj literature and the Qisas al-anbiya ’, none presents angelic traditions in such a logical and systematic way. For this reason, Al-Haba’ik fi akhbar al-mala’ik provides a very useful starting point from which to look at Muslim beliefs about angels. The work is not, by any means, a corpus of hadith about angels, but it does provide a significant and fairly representative sample. The hadith are organised into short to medium length chapters, each looking at a particular angel. The chapters begin logically, with hadith about the necessity of 56 Cf. Musa, Sulaiman, ‘The influence of Tafsir al-Jalalayn on Some Notable Nigerian Mufassirun in the Twentieth-Century Nigeria’ JMMA 20 (2000) pp. 323 - 328. Works of al-Suyutl are commonly cited in both Muslim and non-Muslim scholarly works on almost any subject. For an assessment of his reception in modern Islamic thought, see Saleh, ‘Al-SuyutT’ pp. 80 - 82. 57 Cf. Ibrahim, ‘The questions of the superiority of angels’ and Jadaane, ‘La place des anges’. 58 See Brockelmann, Carl, Geschichte der arabischen Literatur (Berlin: Emil Feber, 1898 - 1902 and (Supplement) Leiden: Brill, 1937 - 1942), vol. 2, p. 147, §51 and Khazinda, Ahmad & ShaybanT, Muhammad, DalTl makhtutdt al-Suyufi wa-amakin wujudihd (Kuwait: Maktabat ibn TaymTyya, 1403 / 1983) p. 144; in addition to the MSS detailed by these two catalogues, there are two other MSS held in (i) the Mingana Collection, Birmingham, MS 651 and (ii) The British Library, Or. 9026/1 fol. lr - 76v. 35 belief in angels, their great number and the most important angels (Gabriel, Michael, Israfil and the Angel of Death) appearing first (§1 - 171). Beyond the four archangels there is not any obvious pattern to the arrangement of the hadith. The last three chapters (§493 - 744) are general and do not appear to be arranged with much intent. As is al-Suyuti’s usual style, isnads do not precede each hadith (except in a few cases), but the traditions are taken from a written source with the name of the authority given. 59 Al-SuyutI typically gives an author’s name, without citing the work, except in cases where he uses more than a single text of one author. 60 This method of compilation can be seen in most of al-Suyuti’s collections, as Leon Nemoy comments, concerning al-Suyuti’s Tuhfat al-kiram ft khabar al-ahram : ‘Like most Arabic works on matters of antiquity, the treatise is predominately composed of extracts from older writers, many of whom, in their turn, depended more or less upon still older authorities, without being too anxious to indicate the source of their information.’ 61 This thesis presents a translation and commentary of a selection of the hadith included in the work, with two introductory chapters introducing the origin and development of angels in Islam, and a study of the purposes and function of al- Suyutl’s Al-Haba’ik ft akhbar al-mala’ik. The whole collection has not been translated because of the word-limit restrictions of the thesis. The hadith that have been translated are of those angels mentioned in the Qur’an, as it was felt that these 59 For the use of books in the Mamliik period, see Berkey, Jonathan, The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo: A Social History’ of Islamic Education (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992) pp. 24-30. 60 Details of the the authors and their works can be found in the Appendix. 61 Nemoy, Leon, ‘The Treatise on the Egyptian Pyramids ( Tuhfat al-kiram ft khabar al-ahram)’ Isis 30 (1939) pp. 17 - 37, pp. 17 - 18; because of his compositional style some of al-Suyutl’s contemporaries accused him of plagiarism; see Saleh, ‘Al-SuyutT’ p. 79. 36 would be the most relevant to translate, namely: Gabriel, Michael, Israftl, the Angel of Death, the Bearers of the Throne, the Spirit, Ridwan, Malik, the Guardians of Heaven and Hell, al-Sijill, Harut, Marat and the Saklna. A precis of the remaining hadith has been included in the appendices. The fairly substantial khatima has also not been included for the same reasons, but the majority of the theological discussion in the postscript is largely lifted from other authors and it serves mainly as a recapitulation of beliefs about the status of the angels and their relationship to humans. The work’s name follows the pattern of many of al-Suyuti’s works, using a rhyme, pun or metrical title. The title Al-Haba ’ik fi akhbar al-mala ’ik is difficult to translate precisely. Firstly, the most common fonn of the plural of malak is mala’ika and the plural mala’ik is, although acceptable in classical Arabic, relatively rare. Al- Haba ’ik is also another rare word. The basic meaning of the verb habaka means ‘to plait or braid (hair)’, but it is also used in connection with the courses of the planetary bodies, so there is an obvious pun linking haba 'ik to the celestial beings, rather than the celestial bodies. The word still poses a problem, especially in the context of akhbar - how can hadith have a ‘course’ or a ‘trail’? This difficulty may account for a common translation of the work as The Book of Angels, but this is not that suitable as it avoids a translation of haba’ik , 64 The best translation, although not entirely acceptable, appears to be The Arrangement of the Traditions about Angels. Just as hair is braided and arranged, and the heavenly bodies are ordered in the 62 The section on the noble watching Scribes {al-hafizdn al-kdtibdn ) could not be included because of its length. 63 E.g. Kitdb ithdf al-khasa bi-fadd’il al-masjid al-aqsa ; al-Hay’a al-samya ft '1-hay ’a al-sunriiya ; Al- c arf al-wardlfi akhbar al-Mahdr, Laqt al-marjdn ft akhbar al-jann etc. 64 Although Brockelmann’s entry for al-Habd’ik suggests that the word is not always found in the manuscripts; see Brockelmann, GAL vol. 2, p. 147, §51. 37 heavens, al-Suyutl arranges the hadith about angels in this collection. The translation has been based on a modern edition, edited by Abu Hajir Muhammad al- SaTd ibn BasyunT Zaghlul 65 and supported by manuscript evidence; namely, the copy held in the Warner Collection at the University of Leiden . 66 The commentary that accompanies the partial translation of Al-Habaik fi akhbar al-mala’ik is divided into two parts. The following two sections look at the work as a whole, including a discussion of hadith that have not been translated. The first looks at the origins and development of angelology in Islamic tradition, using al- Suyuti’s collection as a basis from which to approach the subject in a general way. It looks particularly at the nomenclature of angels in Islam and the textual iconography of angels. The second section looks at the purpose and function of the work as a whole, attempting to understand what al-Suyutl attempted to convey through this collection, particularly through the angels’ interactions with humans. Much more could be written about the work, but these two areas have been highlighted as two of the most important themes. The commentary that accompanies the translation is aimed at explaining difficult terms and vocabulary, referring readers to important concepts, making notes on the text itself and so on. The comments are often designed only to direct the reader to other literature on the subject, rather than giving detailed analyses. The principal aim of the commentary is to provide the reader with a context in which to place the hadith. Where possible, references to other Islamic works have been given. There is also frequent reference to other Jewish and Christian texts: these are not intended to imply a source for the hadith, but merely to reflect the commonalities 65 Al-Suytiti, Jalal al-Dln, (ed. Abu Hajir Muhammad al-Sa c Td ibn BasyunT Zaghlul), Al-Habaik fi akhbar al-mala’ik ( Beirut: Daral-Kutub al-Tlmiyyah, 1408/1988). 66 A note on the manuscript can be found below. 38 between Jewish, Christian and Islamic beliefs about angels, placing Islamic traditions about angels in a wider Near Eastern milieu. 1.3 Contextualizing Al-SuyutT in the Late Mamluk Milieu To understand al-Suyuti’s AI-Haba’ik fi akhbar a/-mala’ik more fully, it is important to place al-Suyuti and his works in their wider historical and social context. The work which is the focus of this thesis emerged during the waning of the Circassian ( Burji) Mamluk sultanate, and only a few years after al-Suyuti’s death, the Ottomans had gained control of the majority of the Near East and North Africa, save Iran. Mamluk society, especially the relationships between the different classes and faith-communities, has received much attention in the past and is important to consider, when placing al-Suyutl’s AI-Haba’ik fi akhbar al-mala’ik in its religious and social context. Whilst the Mamluks faced increasing political, social and economic problems during the fifteenth century , 69 the scholarly elite remained relatively strong and 67 See Holt, P. M., ‘Mamluks’ El 2 , vol. 7, pp. 321 - 331, especially pp. 323 - 325; Ayalon, David, ‘The Circassians in the Mamluk Period’ JAOS 69 (1949) pp. 135 - 147; Garcin, Jean-Claude, ‘The Regime of the Circassian Mamluks’ in C. F. Petry (ed.), The Cambridge History’ of Egypt - vol. 1: Islamic Egypt, 640 - 1517 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998) pp. 290 - 317; Lapidus, Ira M., Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967) pp. 32 - 43 and Staffa, Susan Jane, Conquest and Fusion: The Social Evolution of Cairo. A.D. 642 - 1850 (Leiden: Brill, 1977), pp. 101-226. 68 Schimmel, Annemarie, ‘Some Glimpses of the Religious Life of Egypt During the Late Mamluk Period’ IS 4 (1965) pp. 353 - 392; Little, Donald P., ‘Religion under the Mamluks’ MW 73 (1983) pp. 165 - 181; Winter, Michael, ‘Popular Religion in Egypt Since the Mamluks’ The Arabist 9-10 (1994) pp. 103 - 118 and Frenkel, Yehoshua, ‘Popular Culture (Islam, Early and Middle Periods)’ RC 2 (2008) pp. 195-225. 69 See Little, Donald P., ‘Communal Strife in Late Mamluk Jerusalem’ ILS 6 (1999) pp. 69 - 96; Shoshan, Boaz, ‘Exchange-Rate Policies in Fifteenth Century Egypt’ JESHO 29 (1986) pp. 28 - 51; idem, ‘Money Supply and Grain Prices in Fifteenth Century Egypt’ EHR 36 (1983) pp. 47 - 67; idem, ‘Grain Riots and the Moral Economy’ JIH 10 (1980) pp. 459 - 478 39 70 productive, with Cairo being the centre of academic achievement in the Near East. Most importantly, academia in late Mamluk Egypt became increasingly independent and secure through the establishment of endowments ( waqf. pi. awqaf); as Carl Petry comments: ‘The scholarly establishment owed its relative freedom of action to the autonomy of the endowed academic position, unlike either the bureaucracy or the judiciary - both of which were tied to the state .’ 71 There were a great number of colleges and institutions of higher education, and Jalal al-Dln al-Suyutl grew up in a highly literate and educated environment. As Islamic education was primarily based on the personal relationship between teacher and pupil, most scholars came from Cairene families with a long history in the scholarly world; ~ but some, like al- Suyutl’s father, were able to succeed, having come into Cairo from the provinces . 74 Whilst scholarship was relatively fruitful in this period, academics and judges were involved in a number of important controversies that have some bearing on the cultural and religious milieu of the fifteenth century . 75 The place of Christians, particularly Coptic Christians, in Mamluk society was the cause of a number of 70 Jonathan Berkey comments: ‘... the immense number of manuscripts that survive from, say, the fifteenth century, testify to the important role of the book in a highly literate academic world that .... [was] vibrant throughout the Middle Ages.’ Berkey, Transmission of Knowledge, p. 24; see also Petry, Carl F., ‘Scholastic Stasis in Medieval Islam Reconsidered: Mamluk Patronage in Cairo’ PT 14 (1993) pp. 323 -348. 71 Petry, Carl, ‘Geographical Origins of Academicians in Cairo during the fifteenth Century’ JESHO 23 (1980) pp. 119- 141, p. 140. 72 For more on Islamic higher education, see Makdisi, George, The Rise of the Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam in the West (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1981). 73 See Petry, ‘Geographic Origins of Academicians’ p. 119; Jonathan Berkey comments: ‘The person connection - the education model relying not simply on close study of a text, but on intensive, personal interaction with a shaykh - has always been central to Islamic education, not simply in Mamluk Egypt.’ Berkey, Transmission of Knowledge, p. 21. 74 Petry, Carl F., The Civilian Elite of Cairo in the Late Middle Ages (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981) p. 50; see also Waardenburg, Jacques, ‘Official and Popular Religion as a Problem in Islamic Studies’ in Pieter H. Vrijhof and Jacques Waardenburg (eds.), Official and Popular Religion: Analysis of a Theme for Religious Studies (The Hague: Mouton, 1979) pp. 340 - 346, pp. 361 - 362. 75 Maribel Fierro has used scholarly literature written against innovations ( bida ’) to attempt to understand Muslim society in medieval Spain; likewise, through the output of the Egyptian scholars, it is possible to gain an understanding of contemporary practices, as well as the preoccupations and concerns of the scholarly elite; see Fierro, Maribel, ‘The treatises against innovations ( kutub aLbida f Isl. 67 (1992) pp. 204 - 246, especially pp. 238 - 240. 40 disputes, both in Cairo and Damascus , 76 often involving accusations of blasphemy against the prophet . 77 There were particular moments when the tensions between Coptic Christians and local Muslims became particularly strong, but, generally, the relationship between each of the groups was one of mutual distrust. Earlier in the Mamluk period, the secretaries of the court (who were mainly Copts) were legislated against, largely due to resentment from the Muslim majority and subsequently no secretaries could only be Muslims. This prompted a large number of Copts to convert to Islam, as the court was their main employer. However, their conversions were not usually whole-hearted, with many still celebrating Christian festivals, being only Muslim in name. These converts to Islam, especially the second and third generations, would undoubtedly have brought some Christian material with them into popular Muslim interpretation of the Qur’an and hadith. Not only were there Christian converts to Islam, but there was frequent adoption and celebration of Coptic festivals by the Muslim population in Mamluk Egypt. The most famous of these is the Nile festival held in January (Id al-Ghitas ). 80 76 For more on these disputes, see Perlmann, M., ‘Notes on Anti-Christian Propaganda in the Mamluk Empire’ BSOAS 10 (1939 - 1942) pp. 843 - 861; Little, ‘Communal Strife’; idem., ‘Coptic Conversion to Islam Under the Bahrl Mamluks, 625 - 755 / 1293 - 1354)’ BSOAS 39 (1976) pp. 552 - 569 and idem., ‘Religion Under the Mamluks’. For the place of Jews in Mamluk society, see Cohen, Mark R., ‘Jews in the Mamluk Environment: The Crisis of 1442 (A Geniza Study)’ BSOAS 47 (1984) pp. 425-448. 77 Cf. Wiederhold, Lutz, ‘Blasphemy Against the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions (Sabb al- rasul, sabb al-sahdbah ): The Introduction of the Topic into ShafiT Legal Literature and its Relevance for Legal Practice under Mamluk Rule’ JSS 42 (1997) pp. 39 - 70. 78 Little comments: ‘In Egypt, for example, the Copts from time to time during the Mamluk period incurred the wrath of the populace and consequently the government in Egypt, either by displays of conspicuous consumption in violation of Muslim sumptuary laws, by playing too prominent a role in the financial bureaux, or by acts of blasphemy or terrorism. Because such acts disrupted the political and social stability that the Mamluks were so keen to maintain, they attracted the interest of Muslim historians, both Egyptian and Syrian.’ Little, ‘Communal Strife’ p. 70; see also Little, ‘Coptic Conversion’ and O’Sullivan, Shaun, ‘Coptic Conversion and the Islamization of Egypt’ MSR 10:2 (2006) pp. 65 - 79. 7Q Little, ‘Religion under the Mamluks’ p. 179. 80 See Hilda, Lutfi, ‘Coptic Festivals of the Nile: Aberrations of the Past?’ in Thomas Philipp and Ulrich Haarmann (eds.), The Mamluks in Egyptian Politics and Society’ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998) pp. 254 - 282. 41 At the same time, there was also a growth in the observance of other Muslim o 1 festivals, which reformers, such as Ibn Taymiyya in the previous century had strived to ‘correct’, seeing them as innovations ( bida ’) that need to be purged from Islam. The celebration of the Prophet’s Birthday ( Mawlid al-nabi) and the practice of tomb visitation ( ziyara ) are the most prominent of these innovative practices and there has been much secondary literature written on both of these topics. What is most interesting is the fact that the scholarly and legal classes did not present a united front against these ‘innovative’ festivals, and some, such as al-Suyutl, actually 85 argued that some of these practices were acceptable. Mamluk Cairo was not, then, an environment in which there was a distinct divide between ‘popular’ and ‘orthodox’ religion, but one where the divisions were much more blurred. Not all the scholars and judges believed that particular festivals were innovations {bida’), as Michael Winter has commented: ‘The dividing line between popular and nonnative Islam is sometimes unclear. As in every religion, 81 For a comprehensive list of different popular practices and brief analyses of them, see Frenkel, ‘Popular Culture’, especially pp. 198 - 204. There are articles available on specific practices such as tahriik, e.g. Gifadi, Avner, ‘Some notes on Tahnik in Medieval Islam’ JNES 47 (1988) pp. 175 - 179. 82 Cf. Memon, Muhammad Umar, Ibn Taymiyya 's Struggle Against Popular Religion: with an Annotated Translation of his Kitdb iqtidd’ as-sirdt al-mustaaim mukhdlafat ashdb al-iahim (The Plague: Mouton, 1976), especially pp. 2-7. 83 The most extensive study is of the Mawlid is Kaplan, N. J., Muhammad’s Birthday Festival: Early History in the Central Muslim Lands and the Development in the Muslim West until the 10 th / 16 ,h Century (Leiden: Brill, 1993); see also Kaptein, Nico, ‘Materials for the Flistory of the Prophet’s Birthday Celebration in Mecca’ I si. 67 (1992) pp. 193 - 203 and Katz, Marion Flolmes, The Birth of the Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam (London: Routledge, 2007). On tomb visitation see Meri, Josef W., The Cult of Saints Among Muslims and Jews in Medieval Syria (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) and Taylor, Christopher S., ‘Saints, Ziyara, Qissa, and the Social Construction of Moral Imagination in Late Medieval Egypt) SI 88 (1998) pp. 103 - 120. 84 Shaun Marmon comments: ‘In opposition to Ibn Taymiyya, the vast majority of the mamluk ulama valorized the petitioning of the holy dead and the visiting of their tombs. The ulama also set forth a careful etiquette for these activities, an etiquette which, judginig (sic) by the learned complaints, ordinaiy people, especially women, often ignored.’ Marmon, Shaun E., ‘The Quality of Mercy in Mamluk Society’ SI 87 (1998) pp. 125 - 139, p. 129. 85 See al-Suyutl, Jalal al-Dln, Al-Husn al-maqsid fi c amal al-mawlid; translated in Kaplan, Muhammad’s Birthday Festival, pp. 48 - 67. 42 there are within Islam tensions between orthodox and unorthodox, or popular religion.’ 86 Despite this blurring between ‘popular’ and ‘orthodox’ religion, there was a strong divide between the academic elite and the masses. Many scholars went at great lengths to attack uneducated purveyors of religious teaching: especially the preachers ( waiz , pi. wa cc az) and the story-tellers (qass, pi. qassas ). 87 Al-SuyutI was one of many to write treatises attacking such people. Eric Geoffroy comments of this period: ‘Les c ulama\ ajoute Suyuti, ont toujours eu la role ingrate de lutter contre 1’ ignorance des qussas et de leur auditoire de has etage.’ Many of these anti- qussas works highlight the fact that the utilization of hadith required training in the religious sciences, and that without it (i.e. without an appropriate ijaza), an individual was not allowed to engage in their study or propagation. There was a strong sense that the religious scholars had a monopoly on religious knowledge, which they were keen to maintain. Scant evidence means that it is difficult to assess whether the scholarly community was simply attempting to protect its own interests, or whether it was generally concerned about the religious path along which popular preachers could lead their followers. Scholars in this period certainly include a number of more ‘popular’ materials in their works, especially their hadith collections. Is this an 86 Winter, ‘Popular Religion’ p. 115; for a more extensive discussion of these ideas, see Shoshan, Boaz, ‘High Culture and Popular Culture in Medieval Islam’ SI 73 (1991) pp. 67 - 107. 87 Pellat, Ch., ‘Ka.s.s’ EI2 vol. 4, pp. 733 - 734; Radtke, B„ and Jansen, J. J. G., ‘Wa’iz’ El 2 vol. 11, pp. 56 - 57; Berkey, Jonathan P., Popular Preaching and Religious Authority’ in the Medieval Middle East (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001), idem., ‘Tradition, Innovation and the Social Construction of Knowledge in the Medieval Islamic Near East’ PP 146 (1995) pp. 38 - 65; idem., ‘Storytelling, Preaching, and Power in Mamluk Cairo’ MSR 4 (2000) pp. 53 - 74 and Shoshan, Boaz, ‘On Popular Literature in Medieval Cairo’ PT 14 (1993) pp. 349 - 365. 88 See al-Suyutl, Tahdhir al-khawdss min akddhib al-qussds (Riyadh: al-Maktab al-Islaml, 1972). 89 Geoffroy, Eric, Le Soufisme en Egypte et en Syrie Sous les Derniers Mamelouks et les Premiers Ottomans: Orientations Spirituelles et Enjeux Culturels (Damascus: Institut Fran^ais de Damas, 1995) p. 49. 43 attempt to appeal to the masses, or is it indicative of the absorption of popular material into nonnative religion? Is the influence from ‘popular religion’ to ‘nonnative’ Islam, or are fifteenth century academics writing works for their target audience and deliberately including popular elements to appeal to them? Jacques Waardenburg has argued that popular elements of religion can become absorbed into ‘nonnative’ religion ; 90 but there is also likely to be a conscious effort by scholars of the day to appeal to the masses and weaken the influence of the preachers and story- tellers. There is some evidence to suggest that scholars in Mamluk Egypt responded to the needs of the ordinary Cairene public; for example, after a series of plagues in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries , 91 the genre of ‘books of consolation’ emerged in response to an emotional need of ordinary people. “ There are also a wide number of other hadlth collections written by noted academics that would appear to have a more ‘popular’ audience. Al-SuyutI wrote many of these more popular works: encompassing short collections of hadlth, such as his compilation on the merits of c AlT, Al-qawl al-jaliyy fi fada’il c AlT; 93 religious rulings favouring popular expressions of religion, such as his al-Husn seen above; and works of a devotional 90 Waardenburg, ‘Official and Popular Religion’ pp. 363 - 371. 91 See Dols, Michael W., ‘The Second Plague Pandemic and its Recurrences in the Middle East: 1347 - 1894’ JESHO 22 (1979) pp. 162- 189. 92 See various articles by Avner GiPadi; ‘Islamic Consolation Treatises for Bereaved Parents: Some Bibliographical Notes’ SI 81 (1995) pp. 197 - 202; ‘Sabr (Steadfastness) of Bereaved Parents: A Motif in Medieval Muslim Consolation Treatises and Some Parallels in Jewish Writings’ JQR 80 (1989) pp. 35 - 48 and ‘ “The Child was small... Not so the Grief for Him”: Sources, Structure and Content of al-Sakhawi’s Consolation Treatise for Bereaved Parents’ PT 14 (1993) pp. 367 - 386. Al- Suyutl wrote in this genre, e.g Bushra al-ka ’ib bi-liqd’ al-habib (al-Zarqa’: Maktabat al-Manar, 1988) and al-Ta c allul wa ’l-itfd’ li-ndr al-tutfd’ (al-Zarqa’: Maktabat al-Manar, 1987). 93 Al-SuyutI, Al-qawl al-jaliyy fi fadd’il C A1T (Beirut: Mu’ssasat Nadir, 1990); the brevity of the work implies that it was for popular consumption, cf. al-NawawI, Yahya ibn Sharaf, Matn al-arba'Jn; Abdassamad Clarke (tr.), The Complete Forty Hadith (London: Ta-Ha, 1998). 44 nature, like his c Amal al-yawm wa-‘l-layla . 94 This suggests that Mamluk academics were engaging with the non-academic community, composing and compiling scholarly works for a wider audience. The leading scholars of the fifteenth century, such as al-SakhawI and al- Suyutl were all involved in the compilation of what are normally referred to as ‘encyclopaedic’ works (i.e. non-canonical hadith collections ), 95 and the subject of this thesis, al-Suyuti’s Al-Haba’ik ft akhbar al-mala’ik, falls into this category. Evidence shows that the Cairene libraries were extensive , 96 and these non-canonical hadith collections tend to draw on and develop a wide range of earlier works. Scholars, such as al-SakhawI and al-Suyutl, were very adept at drawing hadith from a number of different texts into new compilations on new subjects. A. J. Arberry comments: ‘It must have been a very elaborate card-index of traditions and traditionists that al-SakhawI kept, with such excellent cross-references that he was obviously able at very short notice to compile a new treatise on the subject to satisfy one or other of the eccentric demands made of him by his friends and pupils.’ As will be seen below, al-Suyutl also makes use of a comprehensive range of sources in his hadith collections. These encyclopaedic works were common in this period and cover a wide range of topics. They tend to avoid technical, scholarly subjects, instead pursuing a 94 Al-Suyutl, c Amal al-yawm wa-‘l-layla (Cairo: Mustafa al-Babl HalabT, 1946); this is a collection of prayers and devotions. 95 For al-SakhawI, see Petry, C. F., ‘al-SakhawI’ El 2 vol. 8, pp. 881 - 882. 96 See Eche, Youssef, Les Bibliotheques Arabes: Publiques et Semi-Publiques en Mesopotamie, En Syrie et en Egypte an Moyen Age (Damas: Institut Franfais de Damas, 1967) pp. 249 - 264; and Arberry, A. J., Sakhawiana: A Study Based on the Chester Beatty Ms. Arab. 773 (London: Emery Walker Ltd., 1951). 97 Jonathan Berkey comments: ‘Intellectual activity in the civilizations on both sides of the Mediterranean... consisted largely of replicated, and commenting upon, the literary productions of previous generations.’ Berkey, Transmission of Knowledge, p. 25 98 Arberry, Sakhawiana, p. 32. 45 more general approach to a subject, and they frequently serve as summaries of more complex material. The lack of more ‘scholarly’ material would seem to suggest that they are aimed at a literate, but uneducated audience, i.e. the Egyptian middle classes." Similarly, their themes also seem to address more popular devotional and theological ideas. It is always difficult to suggest a definitive reason behind the compilation of these works, but they do seem to be both aimed at the general public and to act as educational tools for the spiritual life of ordinary people. As it has been argued above, it is also difficult to say whether this was driven by an attempt by the c ulama’ to correct or reform the beliefs of the general public on pure theological grounds, or whether there was a political motivation, notably the curbing of the growing power of popular preachers and story-tellers: it is likely to be a mixture. Late mediaeval authors also seem keen to involve themselves in self-promotion: writing popular pamphlets and short encyclopaedic works would, undoubtedly, have played a key role in this. 100 Whilst the scholarly elite were a well defined and relatively insular section of Cairene society, the scholars do appear to be actively engaged with those outside its circle, particularly in the spiritual education of the middle classes. Al-SuyutT’s Al-Haba’ik ft akhbar al-mala’ik should, therefore, be seen as emerging in this complex social and religious environment. Firstly, al-Suyutl was an important scholar in his day, producing a number of important works in the fields of 99 AI-SuyutT’s Al-Haba ’ik does include a ‘postscript’ ( khatima ) concerning angels in Islamic theology (, kalam ), and the function and purpose of this will be discussed below. 100 Not achieving wide acknowledgement in Cairo itself, al-Suyutl became extremely well known outside Egypt; Nehemia Levtzion comments: ‘Al-SuyutT’s eminence was not universally acknowledged by the ulama of Cairo, with some of those he was in conflict. He must have been gratified by his reputation in Takrur.’ Levtzion, Nehemia, ‘Mamluk Egypt and Takrur (West Africa)’ in M. Sharon (ed.), Studies in Islamic History’ and Civilization (Jerusalem: Cana & Leiden: Brill, 1986) pp. 183 -207, p. 200. 46 Qur’anic commentary , 101 philology , 102 history 103 and philosophy . 104 Secondly, as part of the scholarly elite, he was concerned with protecting the scholarly monopoly on religious teaching and wrote works that explicitly argue for this, such as his, Tahdhir al-khawass min akadhib al-qussas. But, al-Suyutl was also engaged in compiling hadlth collections, with an educative motivation, encouraging the people of Cairo to return to proper ‘Islamic’ beliefs. Al-Suyutl was not, by any means, similar to figures such as Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Hazm, yet there are similarities: all of these authors (including al-Suyutl’ s contemporaries, like al-SakhawI) were attempting to promote a renewed Islam. Al-Suyuti took his ‘reformist’ credentials to their limit, portraying himself as the mujaddid of the fifteenth century . 105 The main difference is that the earlier reformist figures of Ibn Hazm, Ibn al- Hajj, Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyya were more forceful in their attacks on ‘popular’ religion and innovations (bida’), 106 whilst the authors in the fifteenth century are, in most cases, more muted in their objections and are seen to engage with popular religion, rather than to attack it openly and directly. Their aims may have been largely similar (i.e. the ‘reform’ of Islam), but al-Suyutl and Ibn Taymiyya went 101 E.g. Al-Suyutl, al-Durr al-manthiirji ‘1-tafsTr bi- ‘l-ma ’thilr (Beirut: Dar al-ma c rifa, s. d.); Kitdb al- Itqdn fi jdum al-Qur’an (Cairo: Maktabat wa-Matba c at al-Mashhad al-Husaym, s.d.); Asrdr tartib al- Qur’dn (Cairo: Dar al-Ftisam, 1396 / 1976); Lubbb al-taqul fi asbdb al-nuziil (Tunis: Dar al- Tunisiyya, 1981); as well as exegeses of specific verses, such as his Ay at al-kursi mafdnihd wa- fadd’iluhb (Cairo: Dar al-Ttisad, s.d.). 102 al-Mutawakkilv, Bell, William Y. (ed & tr.), The Mutawakkili of as-Suyuti (Cairo: Nile Mission Press, 1924) and al-Iqtirdhfi c ilm usul al-nahw (Istanbul: Jami c at Istanbul, 1975). 103 His most famous work is his Tarikh al-khulaja’ (Cairo: Maktabat al-Tajariyya al-Kubra, 1389 / 1969). 104 Most of his works on philosophy were concerned with logic, e.g. Sawn al-mantiq wa- ‘l-kaldm c an farm al-mantiq wa- ‘l-kaldm (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Tlmiyya, s.d.). 105 Landau-Tasseron, Ella, ‘The “Cyclical Reform”: A Study of the Mujaddid Tradition’ SI (1989) pp. 79 - 117, especially pp. 87 - 88; Jansen, J. J. G., ‘Tadjdld’ El 2 vol. 10, pp. 61 - 62 and Van Donzel, E., ‘Mudjaddid’ El 2 vol. 7, p. 290. 106 Ibn Taymiyya frequently found himself in prison for his beliefs; cf Laoust, H., ‘Ibn Taymiyya, TakT al-Dln Ahmad ibn Taymiyya’ El 2 vol. 3, pp. 951 - 955; Little, Donald P., ‘Did Ibn Taymiyya Have a Screw Loose?’ SI 41 (1975) pp. 93 - 111 and Little, Donald P., ‘The Historical and Historiographical Significance of the Detention of Ibn Taymiyya’ IJMES 4 (1973) pp. 3 1 1 - 327. 47 about it in very different ways. Furthermore, Ibn Taymiyya typically attacks specific non-Islamic practices, whereas al-Suyutl and his contemporaries seem more interested in encouraging the religious education of the wider public. Why does al-Suyutl approach ‘popular’ religion in this way? Firstly, the fact that al-Suyutl was a sufi may be crucial to understanding his interaction with popular religion . 107 This aspect of al-Suyuti’s life is one that has received very little attention, but a number of his works, such as his exegetical Aval al-kursT ma amhd wa- fada ’iluha, do have distinct sufi characteristics. Secondly, al-Suyutl was a ShafiT, rather than a HanbalT, which may account for his less vitriolic attacks on popular religion. His more popular works definitely seek to encourage religious belief and ‘proper’ practice, rather than criticising specific actions. Al-Suyuti, as well as many of his contemporaries, appears to have been more willing to accept and interact with popular religion. 1.4 Jalal al-Din al-Suyutl: Methodology and Sources There has been relatively little study of al-Suyutl and his approach to hadith, despite his popularity. Furthennore, the sheer quantity of his output makes it difficult to suggest any firm conclusions about his methods of hadith compilation. However, it is feasible to analyse al-Suyutl’ s methods in al-Haba’ik fi akhbar al-mala’ik and 107 Al-Suyutl was a member of the Shadhili order; cf. Ibn al-Sabbagh, Durrat al-asrdr wa-tuhfat al- abrdr; Elmer H. Douglas (tr.), The Mystical Teachings of al-Shadhili (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993) and Lory comments that it was successful because its ‘...strictly orthodox Sunnism and the respect for all exoteric tradition which it professed, its social discreetness (absence of distinctive garb or of spectacular public festivals or of begging), all of these aroused confidence and fervour.’ Lory, P., ‘ Shadhiliyya ’ El 2 vol. 9, pp. 172 - 174, p. 173. For an analysis of al-Suyutl as a sufi, see Sartain, Jalal al-Din al-Suyufi, pp. 33 - 37 and Geoffroy, Soufisme en Egy’pte, p. 49. 48 through a heuristic approach come to some conclusions about al-Suyuti’s methodology. It is also hoped that it will be possible to come to some understanding of the intended audience of al-Suyuti’s al-Haba ’ik, placing it within the more general religious and social context of Mamluk Egypt seen above. Al-SuyutT’s Al-Haba ’ik is divided into two sections: (i) the collection of around 750 hadith and (ii) a fairly substantial postscript ( khatima ) on theological issues regarding angels. The sources of these two sections need to be treated separately, as they draw on different scholarly disciplines. The relationship between the hadith and the postscript also needs to be explored. Lastly, the actual content of hadith and the khatima will also indicate what issues al-Suyutl was engaging with, which, in turn, will aid understanding of al-Suyuti’s target audience. Al-Haba 'ik fi akhbar al-mala ’ik looks at the angelic world, but it is not the only compilation to focus on the mysteries of the supernatural. There are, for example, works on jinn, Islamic cosmology, the Mahdi and the events in the grave. 108 His Al-Haba ’ik fi akhbar al-mala ’ik seems to complement these other works, although it is difficult, if not impossible, to know whether al-Suyutl intended these works to be read in conjunction with each other. What these works do show is that al-Suyutl was clearly interested in exploring the divine world and that he devoted a number of hadith compilations to the topic. With a large number of works in a similar area, it might be expected that al- Suyutl used material he had included in other works. However, there is remarkably 108 viz. Heinen, Anton M., Islamic Cosmology >: A Study of as-Suyuti’s al-Hav’a as-saniva fi l-hav’a as- sunniva (Beirut: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1982); the MS of Al-Haba ik held in the British Library is bound with his Al-arf al-wardi fi akhbar al-Mahdi and al-Suyuti’s abridgment of a compilation by Muhammad ibn c Abd Allah al-Shibll, entitled, Laqt al-marjdn fi akhbar al-jdnn ; see Vassie, R. (ed.), A Classified Handlist of Arabic Manuscripts Acquired Since 1912: Volume 2 - Qur’dnic Sciences and Hadith (London: The British Library, 1995) §416 - 418, p. 63. 49 little cross-over between some of these collections. For example, both his Al-Haba ’ik and his AI-Hay ’ a al-saniyya fi ‘l-hay ’a al-sunniyya contain hadith stating that angels accompany raindrops as they fall from heaven and record where they land and which humans benefited from them. However, there is not a single hadith that is repeated verbatim in both collections. Take, for example, the two hadith below, which are very similar, taken from the same source (Abu T-Shaykh’s Kitcib al- c azama ), yet are quite different: ‘There is no year more abounding in rain than another year; but God directs it wherever He wishes. And with the rain He sends down such and such of the angels in order to note down where that rain falls, whom it provides with sustenance, and what results from every drop .’ 109 ‘He sends down with the rain [such and such] from the angels, more numerous than the sons of Adam and the sons of Iblis. [The angels] record every raindrop, where it falls and who is sustained by that plant .’ 110 Each of the hadith includes the same basic matn (‘...He sends down with the rain [such and such] from the angels... [The angels] record every raindrop, where it falls and who is sustained by that plant. . . ’), but the hadith included in each of the works is slightly different and are suited to their respective works. The hadith in al-Hay’a focuses on the physical phenomenon of rain, and the hadith in al-Haba ’ik, which is in the chapter entitled ‘The Great Abundance of Angels’, emphasises the quantity of angels, using raindrops as a comparison. 109 Al-SuyutI, al-Hay’a VII:27; see Heinen, Islamic Cosmology’, p. 163. 110 Al-SuyutI, al-Haba ’ik §19. 50 Although this is just one example, it is a very revealing one. It shows that al- Suyutl employed hadith very carefully, using the most appropriate version of a hadith for a particular work. This would also seem to suggest that al-Suyutl was conscious of which hadith had been included in his other collections and may indicate that these two works were compiled at the same time, or at the very least, relatively closely together. Al-Suyutl often gave different sections of larger works individual titles , 111 so it is possible that Al-Haba’ik may be li nk ed to other works or be part of a larger one. Above all, it shows that there can be great subtlety in al- Suyutfs method of hadith compilation. It is a great help that al-Suyutl provides details of the authors and works from which he has taken his hadith, making it possible to gain some insight into the way in which he worked and engaged with primary sources. In al-Haba’ik al-Suyutl draws on eighty-three different authors for his hadith, which gives an average of one author for every nine hadith, and he mentions thirty-two theologians in the khatima. This shows how knowledgeable al-Suyutl was in these fields, and the wide variety of sources that he utilized. As a writer of the ninth / fifteenth century, it might have been expected that al-Suyutl would have drawn on collections of hadith compiled in later periods, but the table below shows that the majority of the authors that al-Suyutl cites, died in the third and fourth centuries A.H. This is important to note, as it shows that al-Suyutl turned to works written in the ‘golden’ period of Islamic literature and hadith science, shunning later hadith compilations. A similar use of sources can be seen in al- 111 Saleh, ‘Al-Suyutl’ p. 85. 1 12 This does not include the authors and hadith found in the khatima ; this is because it is difficult to ascertain whether al-Suyutl or another author is making the citation. 113 This is the number of authors mentioned, rather than the number of works explicitly cited. 51 Suyuti’s Al-Hay’a. Al-Suyuti’s sources are, however, quite different in the khatima. Here al-Suyutl makes much more use of later sources, predominantly from the seventh and eighth centuries A.H, with no sources at all coming from the first to third centuries. This change in the types of sources in the hadith and the khatima reflects the different genres, audiences and milieu of each of the sections. Author Date of Death [Century (A.H.)] Al-Haba ’ik ( Hadith ) Al-Haba ’ik (Khatima) Al-Hay’a No. % No. % No. % First 1 1.2 0 0 0 0 Second 2 2.4 0 0 0 0 Third 25 30.2 0 0 18 43.9 Fourth 29 34.9 2 6.2 13 31.7 Fifth 11 13.3 7 21.9 5 12.2 Sixth 6 7.2 3 9.4 2 4.9 Seventh 3 3.6 9 28.1 0 0 Eighth 0 0 8 25.0 0 0 Ninth 2 2.4 2 6.3 0 0 Unknown 4 4.8 1 3.1 3 7.3 Fig (i) Table of al-Suyuti’s Sources in his Al-Haba ’ik and al-Hay ’a Fig. (ii) Graph of al-Suyuti’s sources in al-Haba ’ik 52 The most important period in hadith collection was in the third to fourth centuries A.H, when the collections of authentic hadith were compiled and the hadith sciences were developed . 114 The majority of hadith compilations after this period were commentaries on established works , 115 or musannaf works, which took hadith from various collections on a specific theme, as al-Suyutl does in al-Haba ’ik. As a result of this intense period of studying hadith , Islamic scholarship produced a vast corpus of (authentic) hadith from which figures like al-Suyutl could draw. Al- Suyutl’ s Al-Haba ’ik fi akhbar al-mald’ik is a representation or reorganisation of hadith, from earlier, respected and reputable scholars on a ‘new’, more focused, subject area. Al-Suyutl is not including ‘new’ hadith, but arranging old hadith in a new way. In the khatima, however, al-Suyutl places his discussion of the angels in Islamic theology in the wider context of past theological debate. Theology, unlike the hadith, is not static. Al-Suyutl was not attempting to reflect the theological opinions of a specific period, but engages instead with various theological opinions about the angels. It is also a possibility that the authors cited in the khatima reflect those studied in the madrasas. Whilst al-Suyutl cites a great many authors in al-Haba ’ik, 1 16 there is a tendency to focus on a few authors in particular. For example, in the hadith section the authors Abu T-Shaykh and al-Bayhaql are key sources, with Abu T-Shaykh being 114 See Burton, John, An Introduction to the Hadith (repr. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005) pp. 119- 147. 115 Al-Suyutl made many such commentaries on earlier works: Jalal al-Dln al-Suyutl, Muwqttd’ al- Imdm Malik wa-sharhuhu tanwTr al-hawdlik (Cairo: Matba c at al-Akhlra, 1370/1951); idem, Sunan al- Nasd’T bi-sharh al-hdfiz Jalal al-DTn al-Suyutl wa-hdshiyyat al-imdm al-Sindi (Cairo: al-Matba c at al- Misriyya, 1348/1930); idem, al-Dibdj c ald Sahih Muslim ibn Hajjdj (al-Khubar: Dar ibn c Affan, 1996). For more on commentaries, see Cf. Tokatly, Vardit, ‘The A’ldm al-hadith of al-Khattabl: A Commentary on al-BukhaiTs Sahih or a polemical treatise?’ SI 92 (2001) pp. 53 - 91, pp. 53 - 55. 116 123 in total: 83 in the hadith and 32 in the khatima, with two featuring in both sections (al-Bayhaql and al-Haklm). 53 the source of 185 hadith (24.6%) and al-Bayhaql 103 hadith (13. 7%). 117 A similar trend can be seen in al-Suyutl’s Itqan, although a direct comparison cannot be made, as the text integrates both hadith and usul al-din material. A comparison can, however, be made with al-Hay ’a: Name in Text Al-Haba’ik Al-Hay ’a No. % No. % Abu ‘1-Shaykh 185 24.6 191 73.2 BayhaqI, al- 103 13.7 4 1.5 TabaranI, al- 87 11.6 14 5.4 Ibn Abl Hatim 72 9.6 68 26.1 Ibn Jarir [al-Tabari] 62 8.3 18 6.9 Ibn al-Mundhir 55 7.3 16 6.1 Ahmad 49 6.5 6 2.3 Ibn Abl Shayba 41 5.5 3 1.1 Ibn c Asakir 40 5.3 6 2.3 Ibn Abl ‘1-Dunya 37 4.9 10 3.8 Ibn Mardawayh 30 4.0 12 4.6 Hakim, al- 29 3.9 9 2.3 Abu Nu c aym 28 3.7 2 0.8 c Abd ibn Hamid 27 3.6 4 1.5 Muslim 27 3.6 1 0.4 DaylamT, al- 25 3.3 1 0.4 TirmidhI, al- 22 2.9 3 1.1 c Abd al-Razzaq 21 2.8 4 1.5 Bukhari, al- 19 2.5 8 3.1 Ibn Majah 17 2.3 1 0.4 Sa c Id ibn Mansur 16 2.1 3 1.1 Abu Da’ud 14 1.9 1 0.4 Dinawarl, al- 13 1.7 0 0 Nasa’I, al- 12 1.6 1 0.4 Bazzar, al- 11 1.5 3 1.1 Fig. (Hi) Authors cited as a source in al-Haba 'ik (more than 10 times) and in al-Hay ’a 117 However, it should be noted that the two authors are not responsible for 38.3% of the hadith, as some hadith cite both authors as sources. 54 Bazznr, al- Nasa’T, al- Dinawarl, al- AbuDa'ud SaTcl ibn Mansur IbnMajah Bukhari, al- Abd al-Razzaq TinmdhT, al- DaylamT, al- Muslim Abd ibn Hamid Abu Nu'aym Hakim, al- Ibn Mardawayli Ibn AbT T-Dunya Ibn 'Asakir IbnAbIShayba Ahmad Ibn al-Miuidhir Ibn Jarir [al-Tabari] IbnAbI Halim Tabaranl. al- Bayhaql. al- Abu T-Shaykh ■ Hay 'a ■ Habai'k 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Fig (iv) Chart of al-Suyuti’s sources in al-Haba ’ik and al-Hay 'a The data reveal some interesting trends. Firstly, Abu T-Shaykh is the most cited author in both al-Hay ’a and al-Haba ’ik, but especially so in al-Hay ’a, where Abu T- Shaykh dominates the work. K. E. Nolin’s study of al-Suyuti’s sources for his Itqan shows that he adapted and enlarged al-Zarkashl’s Burhan; the data above seem to reveal a similar relationship between his al-Hay ’a and Abu T-Shaykh’ s Kitab al- c azama. The same relationship is not so evident in al-Suyuti’s Al-Haba ’ik, although the work does also feature prominently. There are also a great number of common 55 authors, with only four out of forty-one authors appearing in al-Hay’a that do not appear in al-Haba ’ik. Despite this, the frequency of the authors being used in each of the works shows only a weak correlation. This evidence suggests that al-Suyutl had a core set of works which he consulted for his hadlth collections, but the frequency of their use depends on the hadlth that they contain, and their usefulness to a particular work. It also suggests that al-Suyutl, as Nolin has shown, uses one or two particular works as a basis from which to compile a larger collection: in the case of al-Hay’a, it appears to be based exclusively on Abu T-Shaykh, whereas al-Haba’ik focuses on the works of Abu T-Shaykh and al-Bayhaql . 1 19 The khatima shows a slightly different relationship between al-Suyutl and his sources, which is more difficult to analyse empirically. As it has been seen above, the khatima draws on a wide range of sources, collecting and presenting various mediaeval materials on angels in kalam. Al-Suyutl makes extensive citations throughout the khatima with little personal comment, from both brief statements of doctrine, such as al-Kalabadhl’s Kitcib al-ta‘ arruf li-madhhab ahl al-tasawwuf, in which al-Kalabadhl’s thoughts are not reproduced in full , 120 to the citations of entire chapters, such as the thirty-third chapter of Fakhr al-Dln al-RazI’s Kitcib al-arba c Tn : FI an al-mala’ika afdal aw al-anbiya’ . 121 Such extensive quotation suggests that the khatima was written to act as a primer, presenting the views of past scholars on the issue of the precedence of angels and prophets. A number of such works were composed in this period, and it was 118 Ibn al-Harith, Ibn Abl Zamll, al-Qurtubl and Abu TJbayd. 1 19 A future area of research would be an analysis of al-Suyutl’ s sources in a much larger sample. 120 Cf Al-Suyutl, Al-Haba’ik, p. 240 and Arberry, A. J. (tr.), The Doctrine of the Sufis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977) p. 53. 121 Cf. Al-Suyutl, Al-Haba’ik, pp. 207 - 226; al-RazI, Fakhr al-DTn Muhammad ibn TJmar, Kitdb al- ar bain ft usiil al-din (Hyderabad: Matba c at Majlis Da’irat al-Ma c arif al- L Uthmaniyyah, 1353 / 1934) pp. 368 - 384. 56 common to include such a large amount of cited material: ‘By the later medieval period, scholars in institutions of higher learning established in several cities and towns of the Mamluk empire had generated myriad texts, treatises, commentaries, handbooks, and primers for curricular use.’ “ Furthermore, the relative lack of analysis or ideas on al-Suyuti’s part would seem to suggest that it was not necessarily aimed at the scholarly community. It is true that extensive quotation is common in later theological works; yet, there is a tendency to engage with the material and challenge it significantly at some juncture in the work. Al-SuyutI does include some personal comment towards the end of the khatima, but it is much more limited than in other kalam works of the period. Despite the high consideration of his own abilities, al-Suyutl never really considered himself to be a mutakallim. Muhammad Jalal Abu ‘1-Futuh Sharaf provides an extremely useful portrayal of al-Suyuti’s relationship with kalam, He states: ‘There is no doubt that al-Suyuti’s position on the discipline of kalam was one of suspicion and mistrust of its influence on the doctrines of Islam and its capability to mislead and cause deviant [views]. But it will be seen that al-Suyutl distinguishes between the disciplines of kalam that are founded on pure senseless debate, which can be seen in the mutakallimun of the innovators and between kalam that is based on the Book, the Sunna and defence of Islamic doctrines and the refutation of 124 the innovators and those that have deviated [from Islam].’ 122 Petry, ‘Scholastic Stasis’ p. 324; see also Berkey, Transmission of Knowledge, pp. 24 - 25. 123 In his autobiography, al-Suyutl highlights eighteen of his works as being particularly important, none of these are in the field of kalam ; see Sartain, Jalal al-DTn al-Suyufi, vol. 2, p. 105 and Saleh, ‘al-Suyutl’ pp. 86 - 87. 124 Sharaf, Muhammad Jalal Abu ‘1-Futuh, Jalal al-DTn al-Suyutl: manhajuhu wa-ara’uhu al- kaldmiyya (Beirut: Dar al-Nahda al- c Arabiyya, 1981) p. 73 [tr. Burge]. 57 For al-Suyuti kalam did have its benefits for the study of Islam, but he distanced himself from speculative theology. Kalam was acceptable, as long as it sought to support the Qur’an, the Sunna and the creeds. " In the khatima in al-Haba ’ik, al- Suyuti engages with elements of kalam that support the sunna, but not necessarily kalam as a discipline in its entirety. The khatima presents a summary of kalam arguments that support orthodox beliefs, rather than advancing new ideas into the field. However, the khatima is not the only section that deals with philosophical and theological issues. The presence of an early chapter in al-Haba ’ik with the title: ‘The Origin of the Creation of the Angels and the Proof that their Substance is in Contradiction to the Philosophers’ " suggests an engagement with Islamic peripatetic philosophy in the hadith section as well. Although only three hadlth (0.4%) are included in this chapter, it clearly shows that it was an issue of concern. The opposition of Islam to Greek philosophy in some quarters is well known, 127 and al-Suyuti wrote a number of works against the use of Greek logic himself. 128 The issue at stake in al-Haba’ik concerns the physical substance of angels: in Islamic philosophy some held that angels were intellects and were incorporeal. ~ The most famous philosopher to deny angels bodies was Ibn Slna, who in his al-Shifa’ 125 Cf. Sharaf, al-Suyuti, pp. 113-116. 126 Mabda’ khalq al-mald’ik wa-l-daldla c ald anhum ajsdm khaldfan li-’l-faldsifa’; al-Suyuti, al- Haba ’ik, pp. 10 - 1 1, §2 - 4. 127 See Goldziher, Ignaz, ‘Die Stellung der alten Orthodoxie zu den antiken Wissenschaften’ GS vol. 5, pp. 357 - 400 and Watt, W. M., Islamic Philosophy and Theology (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1985) pp. 133 - 148. 128 See Ali, Mufti, ‘A Statistical Portrait of the Resistance to Logic by Sunni Muslim Scholars Based on the Works of Jalal al-Dln al-Suyuti (849-909/1448-1505)’ ILS 15 (2008) pp. 250 - 267 and Ali, Mufti, Muslim Opposition to Logic and Theology’ in the Light of the Works of Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505), PhD. Thesis, University of Leiden, 2008. 129 See Corbin, Henry (tr. W. R. Trask), Avicenna and the Visionary’ Recital (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961) pp. 46 - 122 and Netton, Allah Transcendent, pp. 162 - 172. 58 130 explicitly refers to angels as incorporeal intellects. Al-Suyuti’s chapter stresses that the angels are corporeal and that they are made of fire or light, the tradition 131 understanding of angelic substance. There is little to suggest that al-Suyutl is responding to a specific text that propounds the belief in the incorporeality of angels, and he simply appears to be reiterating the case against Islamic peripatetic philosophy. However, interest in MutazilT theology was revived from the thirteenth century onwards, 132 Naslr al-Dln al-TusI (d. 672 / 1274) ~ being a notable example. This synthesis became the basis of the Isfahan School, which came to dominate Twelver philosophy a century after al-Suyuti’s death. 134 In the intervening period, a number of scholars advanced such theological thinking, including Jamal al-Dln al-Hill! 135 (d. 726 / 1325) and Ibn Abl Jumhur al-Ahsa’T (d. 906 / 1501). Likewise, the angels were held to be incorporeal in Jewish kabbalah, but it would seem unlikely that al-Suyutl is engaging with medieval Jewish philosophy in al-Haba’ik specifically. There is no doubt that speculative theology was being pursued in al-Suyutl’ s lifetime. 130 Ibn SIna refers to ‘ al-mala’ika al-ruhaniyya al-mujarrada allatT tasmiyya c a iqulcin ’ [‘...spiritual angels denuded [of matter] that are called “intellects”...’ Michael E. Marmura (ed. & tr.), Avicenna: The Metaphysics of The Healins (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2005) p. 358. 131 Shihab al-Dln al-Suhrawardl combines Islamic peripateticism and traditional notions of angels in Islam in his illuminationist philosophy; see Burge, ‘ Suhrawardian Angeology’ for a discussion of these ideas. 132 See Cooper, John, ‘From al-TusI to the School of Isfahan’ in Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman (eds.), History of Islamic Philosophy (London: Routledge, 1996) pp. 585 - 596. 133 Daiber, H., and Ragep, F. J., ‘Al-TusT, Naslr al-Dln, Abu Dja c far Muhammad’ El 2 vol. 10 pp. 746 - 752. 134 For more on the Isfahan School, see Dabashi, Hamad, ‘Mir Damad and the founding of the “School of Isfahan’” in Nasr and Leaman (eds.), History > of Islamic Philosophy , pp. 597 - 634. 135 Jafri, S. H. M., ‘al-Hilll, (1) Djamal al-Dln’ El 2 vol. 3, p. 390; see also Schmidtke, Sabine, The Theology’ of al- Alldma al-HillT (d. 726 / 1325) (Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1991). 136 See Madelung, W., ‘Ibn Abl Djumhur al-Ahsa’T’ El 2 vol. 12, p. 380; Madelung, W., ‘Ibn Abl Gumhur al-Ahsa’is synthesis of kaldm, philosophy and Shi’ism’ in Mantran (ed.), La signification du Bas Moyen Age, pp. 147 - 156 and Schmidtke, Sabine, Theologie, Philosophie und Mystik in zwolferschiitischen Islam des 9. 715/ Jahrhunderts: Die Gedankenwelten des Ibn AbT Gumhur al- Ahsd’T (urn 838-1434-35 - nach 906/1501) (Leiden: Brill, 2000). 137 See Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava, ‘Philosophy and Kabbalah: 1200 - 1600’ in Daniel H. Frank and Oliver Leaman (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003) pp. 218 - 257, p. 227. 5