Abstract
In this article we will focus on a famous rawī, named Ibn Lahīʿa. It is possible to find Ibn Lahīʿa, whose lineage is mentioned as ʿAbd Allah ibn Lahīʿa b. ʿUqba al-Miṣrī, frequently in early jarḥ-taʿdīl sources and muṣannaf works. But, especially from the view of ḥāadīth narrations and rijāl criticism, he is often mentioned negatively. For example, among the statements about his jarḥ-taʿdīl status, we find such expressions as “He is ḍaʻīf (weak).”, “He is ḍaʻīf al-ḥadīth.”, “His ḥadīths do not qualify to be used as evidence.”, “He is not qawī.” or similar expressions which have become widespread, and he is mostly considered majrūḥ. Also, we can see that some prominent scholars who are considered experts in this field said about him, “Do not even take a letter from him!”, and “More or less, I never take ḥadīths from him!” and they have warned us to stay away from him and his ḥadīths. However, we can learn from the rijāl sources of the first period and the recent academic studies about him that there are also scholars who say laudatory words about him. For instance, the addressee of these laudatory words is the same person: “Ibn Lahîʻa has first-hand sources.”; “There are even those who go on pilgrimages many times just to meet him.”; “His memory was solid.”; “When someone says the muḥaddith of Egypt, he comes to mind.” These two different approaches about him show that it would be useful to re-establish Ibn Lahīʿa’s situation in all aspects and with an unbiased eye. We think that the way to get to know him in a way that is free from prejudice and impartial is to take a closer look at him and focus on the environment in which he grew up. Therefore, in this article, the geography of Ibn Lahīʿa’s life, the widespread madrasas, and the scholarly life in that region have been briefly discussed. Our aim in doing this is to try to get clues about whether the provisions given about Ibn Lahīʿa, who grew up in an environment where Sunni-Shiite differences of opinion reigned, where fanaticism of faith occurred quite a lot in the geography and century where he lived, where there were sectarian bigotries and mostly there was no calm scholarly environment. From the earliest periods, the region of Egypt, the geography in which he lived, attracted attention as a place where the ṣahaba often visited, especially in terms of ḥadīth, fiqh, and history of Islam, where there is an intensive scholarly working environment. It is safe to say that the following names are at the forefront among ṣahaba who were residents in Egypt or passed through it at any time:
ʿUthmān, Abū Ayyūb al-Ansārī, Abū Hurayra, Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿAmmār b. Yāsir, ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ, al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām, Saʿd b. Abū Waqqāṣ, ʿUbāda b. al-Ṣāmit, Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, Khāṯīb b. Abū Baltaʿa, Abū al-Dardā, Abū Ḏar al-Ghifārī, Diḥyah b. Khalīfa al-Kalbī, Muʿāwiya b. Abū Sufyān, Mughīra b. Shuʿba, Miqdād b. al-Aswad, ʿAbd Allāh b. Khuzāfa, ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām, Rāfiʿ b. Mālik, Salama b. al-Akwaʿ, Sahl b. Saʿd al-Sāʿidī, Shuraḥbil b. Ḥasana, Sila b. al-Haris al-Ghifari, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥārith b. Caz’ al-Zubaydī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Saʿd b. Abū Sarh, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, ʿUqba b. ʿAmir al-Juhanī, Muḥammad b. Maslama.
Among these names, it appears that ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ mainly directs the scholarly activities of Egypt. Here, an investigation of the effects of Egyptian geography on Ibn Lahīʿa, which has been the scene of mobility in scientific, intellectual, religious, political, and social aspects since the time of the ṣahaba, will be able to help us to get to know him more closely. The fact that there are not enough studies in the Turkish literature that deals with the scholarly environment in the second century of the Hijra in which Ibn Lahīʿa lived and the idea that new research to be done will lead to better recognition of him have led to the emergence of the present article. Unlike other studies conducted on him, this article mainly examines the scientific district and somewhat influential madrasas in Egypt during Ibn Lahīʿa’s upbringing. The present study shows that Egypt was very dynamic city politically, culturally, and scientifically in the age of Ibn Lahīʿa; especially that madrasas of history, fiqh, and story/preaching carried out an intensive activity.