Religion: | Islam |
Al-Qassab | |
Birth Name: | Muhammad al-Karaji |
Birth Place: | Karaj, Iran |
Death Date: | 970 |
Era: | Islamic Golden Age |
Region: | Iranian plateau |
Denomination: | Sunni |
Jurisprudence: | Shafi'i |
Creed: | Athari |
Influenced: | Ibn Hazm |
Abu Ahmad Muhammad bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Karaji, better known as al-Qassab, was a Muslim warrior-scholar, exegete and specialist in Hadith studies.[1] [2] He has, at times, been confused with his son Abu al-Hasan Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Karaji.
Qassab lived in Karaj in Central Iran. He died in the year 360 according to the Islamic calendar, corresponding to 970 on the Gregorian calendar.[3] Having been a soldier under the Abbasid Caliphate, he received the nicknamed Qassab or "the butcher" due to his skill on the battlefield and the large number of opponents he slayed.[4]
Qassab was considered among mainstream dogmatics, and was staunchly opposed to both the Mu'tazila and the Jahmites.[5] [6] [7] In his exegesis of the Qur'an, he would often refer to linguistic arguments in order to prove his point.[1] Qassab was noted among Muslim theologians as holding the view that the testimony of a convicted criminal could later be accepted in unrelated cases if they performed a public repentance for their own crime.[8] Like Ibn Hazm who would come after him, Qassab did not accept the Hadith regarding rejection of the convict's testimony as authentically linked to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[9] The issue is a much debated one in Islamic law.
Qassab authored an exegesis of the Qur'an centered on its applications in Islamic law.[10]