Who is Abu Hatem al-Sijistani (d. 322 AH) ?

[imami 19]

Salaam,

in Shi'i Islam, Origins, Faith & Practices by Mohammad A- Shomali we read, quote

There is an interesting remark made by

Abu Hatem al-Sijistani

(d. 322 AH) in his

Al-Zinah

: 'The term "Shi'a" was ...'

The footnote states, Abu Hatem, al-Sijistani, Volume 3, page. 10, Part Three: 'Terms Popular among the People of Knowledge'.

Who is Abu Hatem al-Sijistani and what madhab did he follow ?

[SpIzo 173]

(wasalam)

Seems like he was a Sunni scholar: http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/ÃÈæ_ÍÇÊã_ÇáÓÌÓÊÇäí

[SpIzo 173]

The second of Al-Asmai's pupils is Abu Hatim Sahl ibn Muhammad, who belonged to Sijistan, and died towards 864. He lived for some time at Bagdad, and towards the close of his life forswore study, becoming a bookseller instead. He is well known as the author of the Kitdb al-Milammarin y which is preserved in the Cambridge University Library and deals with men of remarkably long life. His book of the palm-trees {Kitdb al-Nakhl) has been studied by Cusa and Lagumina. He was the teacher of Ibn Duraid and of Al-Mubarrad. He was a man of piety, who spent a gold coin in alms every day, and read the whole Koran through every week. We are told he was a better poet than grammarian. One anecdote related of him shows he was acquainted with the use of sympathetic links to conceal writings. He used to say to his pupils : "If you desire to consign a secret to paper, write it in fresh milk; the words will come out when you throw hot ashes from burnt paper upon them : or else write with a solution of sulphate of iron; the writing will become legible if you pour an infusion of gall-nuts upon it. You can also write with the gall-nut infusion, and pour sulphate of iron on it."

http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofarabicl00huarrich/historyofarabicl00huarrich_djvu.txt

His work is also listed as one of the alternative sources of Nahjul Balagha:

AL-SIJISTANI, Abu Hatim Sahl ibn Muhammad (d. 255/869), *al-Mu`ammirun wa al-wasaya, ed. `Abd al-Mun`im `Amir, Dar Ihya' al-Kutub al-`Arabiyyah, Cairo.

http://www.al-islam.org/nahjul/bibg.htm

[imami 19]

The second of Al-Asmai's pupils is Abu Hatim Sahl ibn Muhammad, who belonged to Sijistan, and died towards 864. He lived for some time at Bagdad, and towards the close of his life forswore study, becoming a bookseller instead. He is well known as the author of the Kitdb al-Milammarin y which is preserved in the Cambridge University Library and deals with men of remarkably long life. His book of the palm-trees {Kitdb al-Nakhl) has been studied by Cusa and Lagumina. He was the teacher of Ibn Duraid and of Al-Mubarrad. He was a man of piety, who spent a gold coin in alms every day, and read the whole Koran through every week. We are told he was a better poet than grammarian. One anecdote related of him shows he was acquainted with the use of sympathetic links to conceal writings. He used to say to his pupils : "If you desire to consign a secret to paper, write it in fresh milk; the words will come out when you throw hot ashes from burnt paper upon them : or else write with a solution of sulphate of iron; the writing will become legible if you pour an infusion of gall-nuts upon it. You can also write with the gall-nut infusion, and pour sulphate of iron on it."

http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofarabicl00huarrich/historyofarabicl00huarrich_djvu.txt

His work is also listed as one of the alternative sources of Nahjul Balagha:

AL-SIJISTANI, Abu Hatim Sahl ibn Muhammad (d. 255/869), *al-Mu`ammirun wa al-wasaya, ed. `Abd al-Mun`im `Amir, Dar Ihya' al-Kutub al-`Arabiyyah, Cairo.

http://www.al-islam.org/nahjul/bibg.htm

Was he from the ahl al-sunnah? and what about his work, al-Zinah

[SpIzo 173]

Was he from the ahl al-sunnah?

Seems like it.

There's not much information about him in English.

[SpIzo 173]

There is an interesting remark made by Abu Hatem al-Sijistani (d. 322 AH) in his Al-Zinah: 'The term "Shi'a" was ...'

AL-SIJISTANI, Abu Hatim Sahl ibn Muhammad (d. 255/869)

Just noticed the difference in the date of death. Perhaps, they are two different entities and I got the wrong person.

Edited November 7, 2009 by SpIzo