al-Imam al-Mansur 'Abdullah b. Hamzah b. Sulayman (d. 614/1217): a biography by his disciple Al ...

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al-Imam al-Mansur ‘Abdullah b. Hamzah b. Sulayman (d. 614/1217): a
biography by his disciple Al-Faqih Humayd b. Ahmad al Muhalli (d.
652/1254) in his work Al-Had’iq al-Wardiyyah fi Manaqib A’immah al-
Zaydiyyah, v. 2: a critical edition. PhD thesis.

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The University of Glasgow
Faculty of Arts
AI-Imam al-Man~flr 'Abdullah b. I:Iamzah b. Sulayman
(d. 614/1217)
A biography by his disciple
AI-FaqTh I:Iumayd b. Ahmad al-Mu}:tallI
(d. 65211254)
in his work
Al-lfadii'iq al-Wardiyyahfi Maniiqib A 'immah al-Zaydiyyah, v.2
A Critical Edition Submitted by
Abdulla al-Shamahi
As a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
Arabic and Islamic Studies
September 2003
(Section A)
Contents
Table of Contents
Dedication 1
Acknowledgements 2
Abstract 3
Transliteration Table 4
Methodology 5
SECTION A
CHAPTER ONE: The Introductory Chapter 10
1.1. Essential Background to the Text 11
1.1.1. Arabia and its People 11
1.1.2. History and Society in Pre-Islamic Yemen 13
1.1.3. Conflict Over Winning Control 15
1.1.4. Islam and the Extension of Conflict 17
1.1.5. Divine Right as a New Ideology Tool in the Conflict 20
1.1.6. Yemen and the Expansion of the New Ideology Conflict 22
Notes 30
1.2. The Zaydiyyah 46
1.2.1. The Post of Imamate 47
1.2.2. The Zaydis and the Divine Right Theory 50
1.2.3. The Zaydis and Extremism 52
1.2.4. The Zaydis and the Companions of the Prophet CSa1;tabah) 53
1.2.5. The Mutarrafiyyah 54
1.2.6. The Zaydiyyah and the Mu'tazilah 56
Notes 59
CHAPTER TWO: The Author and his Era 70
2.1. Yemen Approaching and During the Sixth-Seventh Century HijrI 71
2.2. The ZaydI Imams 71
2.3. Imam 'Abdullah b. Ijamzah 72
2.4. Imam AJ:.nnad b. al-Ijusayn and the Conflict over the Post ofImamate 73
2.5. The Author: Ijumayd al-Mul;tam 74
Notes 77
CHAPTER THREE: The Manuscript 80
3.1. AI-Ijada'iq al-Wardiyyah 81
3.1.1. Copies ofal-Ijada'iq 82
3.1.2. Abbreviations 82
3.1.3. AI-Ijada'iq Titles 84
3.2. Description of the Manuscripts used 86
3.2.1. TheViennaManuscript(w) 86
3.2.2. The Chester Beatty Manuscript (Ji) 86
3.2.3. The San'a' Manuscript (~) 87
3.2.4. The British Library Manuscript (J) 88
3.2.5. The British Library Manuscript ('i) 89
Notes 91
CHAPTER FOUR: The Text Translated 92
Notes 240
Conclusion 243
Some Manuscript Images 245
Bibliography 259
11
Dedication
This work is dedicated to
the memory of
my parents
and to my family for their help and patience.
1
Acknowledgements
I wish to express my deep appreciation to my original supervisor the late Professor
John Mattock, The head of The Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, for the
long hours that I spent with him discussing the primary material of this thesis.
I also wish to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr. M. Siddiqui, the head
of Theology and Religious Studies and the Director of the Centre for the Study of
Islam, for her constant guidance, patience and encouragement during the final part
of my writing up this thesis. I also seize this opportunity to thank Ms. Eileen
O'Neil, The Clerk of the Faculty of Arts for her support during this crucial time.
The list of acknowledgements is far too long to mention. To aU those prominent
scholars, individuals and institutions all around the world; the UK, Europe, USA,
Yemen and a number of Arab countries, who were all of tremendous help in the
preparation of this thesis, to them all, I convey my greatest respect and gratitude.
2
Abstract
This is the biography of the Zaydi Imam, 'Abdullah b. I:Iamzah, who stood against
the Ayyfibid's rule in Yemen, of his time. The biography covers the Imam's life,
family background and relations with other sects. These include the Shi'ah and the
Zaydis, particularly those of the Mutarrafis.
The biography also gives a detailed picture of the Imam's relations and conflicts
with the local Ayyfibids in Yemen.
As the author considered the Imam a great authority in the field of religion and
thinking, we find a large amount of quotations from the Imam's works, both poetry
and prose. The author, as the Imam did, gave special attention to the authority of the
Fatimi 'Alawid's descendants in the field of religion, and in particular how the post
of Imamate should be aquired only by them.
The importance of this work comes from the fact that it is the only surviving
complete biography of this Imam, written by one of his well known and
distinguished contemporaries.
The highly classical Arabic which the author used to write the biography, increased
the prestige of the work, and added importance to it. This reflects AI-Mu1;lalli's
authority in the fields of Arabic language, literature and history.
The thesis consists of two main parts; Section A (or 1) is a short introduction and
study to the text and its author, followed by the English translation of the Arabic
text, while Section B (or 2) is the edited Arabic text (the biography). Finally the
conclusion, will illustrate the main points in the whole work.
I hope the work I produce can represent a valuable addition to Yemeni history,
literature and beliefs.
3
Transliteration
,
D
~ ~
T .h B y
Z j; T w
,
t TR I..:.... J
-
GR t J
~
F '--lI I:I e::
Q '-' KH e::
K ~ D ..:l
L J DR ..:l
-
M R .J
~
N U Z .J
R '" S (,,).I.l
W j SR (,,).:I..l
y S
r..? ~
a \
I r..?
U j
4
The Methodology Used in Verifying the Text
As the text in the second volume of al-lfada'iq (that dealing with Imam Ibn
I:Iarnzah), is the only surviving complete biography of this Imam, written by one of
his well known and distinguished contemporaries, it is very important from an
academic view point to verify the authenticity of it's contents. Also the text contains
an extensive amount of highly classical Arabic in poetry and prose, along with a
substantial amount of material dealing with history and beliefs, making it essential
to make this work available to readers, in a modem academic style, in both the
Arabic and English languages. In order to fulfil these aims I focused on the
following:
1. Comparing the part of the text that deals with the Imam by use of the Vienna
Manuscript (as the Principle Copy), along with the other copies to be
described later, and with use of the Diwan's copies if necessary.
2. Describing in the footnotes all significant differences between the Principle
Copy and the other copies.
3. Recopying the manuscript, usmg modem standard spelling in place of
obsolete spelling practices, without indicating so in the notes. For example;
scripto deflective of alif in words like "Hamn", "al-Qasim", "salam",
"thalathmi'a"; substitution ofya' for hamza, etc.
4. As the script in most of the manuscripts is only sparsely provided with
diacritical dots, variants of pointing have been fully indicated in the notes,
especially where the correct reading seems doubtful.
5. All glosses in the manuscript are quoted in the footnotes, if they are
contributing further historical or linguistic information.
5
6. Explaining the meanings of some words in the footnotes, particularly those
in verse, and clarifying some phrases, with reference in some cases to their
origins in dictionaries and language books. The following references and
dictionaries were consulted for this purpose, and often no note of them was
made, as they were extensively used:
Lisan al-'Arab, Ibn MaI@ir
Taj al-'Aros, al-Zabidi
Mujamal al-Lugh.ah, Ibn Faris
Asas al-Balagh.ah, al-Zamakhshari
al-Kamil fi al-Lugh.ah, al-Mubarrid
al-Qamiis al-MuQlt, al-Fayruzabadi
Shams al-'Uliim, Nashwan al-I:Iimyari
7. Mentioning both the Slims of the Quaranic verses and the numbers of these
verses.
8. Noting the transmission of I:Iadiths and traditions, usmg the I:Iadith's
indexed dictionaries and computer programmes and referring to both Sunni
and Shi'i sources.
9. Exploring the meanings of the proverbs and aphorisms mentioned in the text
and referring them to their 0rigins in the different collections, such as
Majma' al-Amthal by al-Maydani and al-Mustaq$afi Amthal al-'Arab by al
Zamakhshari.
10. Attributing the verses of poetry in the text to their poets, and to the sources
in which they were cited, as much as possible. All the qa~idas said by the
Imam Ibn I:Iamzah, were referred to their places in his poetry collection
(Diwan), in both copies (P) and (2~). On some occasions I also referred
them to the Imam's other two Diwan copies, (San'a') and (London).
6