The Battle of the Pen between

Imam As-Sakhawi [902H] & Imam

As-Suyuti [911H]

The Battle of the Pen

Between Imam As-Sakhawi [902H] & Imam As-Suyuti [911H]

‫ﺑﺴﻢ اﻟﻠﻪ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﻴﻢ‬

As-Sakhawi and As-Suyuti were both students of Al-Hafith Ibn

Hajr [852H] and both prominent scholars of the Sha’fi
Jurisprudence; However ,As-Sakhawi actually studied with Ibn
Hajr and As-Suytui learned from Ibn Hajr’s books. Imam As-
Suyuti’s father used to take him Al-Hafith’s classes in Cairo
when he was only 3 years old.

Imam As-Sakhawi was a historian with a great mastery in the

science of Hadith, while As-Suyuti was a linguist, a
historian, an erudite in Tafsir and a Muhaddith; nonetheless
both of these scholars were considered then what we call today
“Senior Scholars.”

These two scholars had many grievances between themselves, as

most contemporaries do. The dispute between these two Imans is
often referred to as “The Battle of the Pen”.

These two Imams disputed about various subjects which lead

them write essay after essay ,back and forth, criticizing each
other. Imam As-Sahkhawi used to criticize Imam As-Suyuti in a
manner unbefitting of an Alim. He condemned As-Suyuti in the
harshest manner possible in his history book attacking his
honor . Therefore, Imam As-Suyuti replied back with an essay
titled: “Torching As-Sakhawi’s history book”. Imam As-
Sakhawi’s history book “The Radiant light “caused a lot of
people to split up in partisanship; thus dividing the students
of these two Imans into two sides of followers. i.e the
followers of As-Sakhawi and the followers of As-Suyuti.[May
Allah have mercy and forgive them both]

Imam As-Sakhawi wrote that Imam As-Suyuti was ill-mannered

towards his mother; he used to hit her, and was weak in math.
Imam As-Sakhawi went as far as to accuse Imam As-Suyuti of
stealing the works of their teacher, Ibn Hajr and then passing
them around as his writings. Unfortunately, this dispute kept
a lot of their students occupied in things that weren’t
beneficial and instead each group went around defending the
honor of their teacher.

After this attack Imam As-Suyuti fired back at As-Sakhawi

writing that he wrongfully slandered others, was ignorant in
the verdicts of the Shariah, was weak in Hadith and in Tafsir
and was deprived from being an actual student.

In fact during that time in Egypt there were many scholars

going at each other’s neck in issues, and the ironic thing
that about of all this is they were all contemporaries. For
example there were issues between As-Sakhawi and Al-Baq’ee
,other arguments between Al-Baq’ee and Al-Qastallani[923H].
And Allah’s aide is sought.

Nevertheless, the dispute between As-Sahkhawi and As-Suyuti is

built on five issues; apart from them both being peers, who
shared the arena dawah. The issues were;

1-Seeing the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬while awake.

Imam As-Suyuti said his book Tanwir Al-Halik, that it was

possible see the Prophet and Angels while awake. As-Sakhawi
denied this possibility and wrote an entire book refuting As-
Suyuti for his view.
In Suyuti’s response to As-Sakhawi’s he included a poem
mentioning that the person, who denies that ability to see the
Prophet while awake is a Kafir, and this topic goes back to
Allah’s ability, similar to how Allah can resurrect the dead;
as mentioned in the Quran.

Seeing the Prophet after death

This is included in possibilities

Say to the one who says impossible

don’t argue in the issues which are deep

You don’t know what’s possible or impossible

and the like and so on in knowledge

Imam As-Suyuti took this position from a clear wording of the

hadith found in Sahih Al-Bukhari. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be
pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (‫ )ﷺ‬said,
“He who sees me in his dream will see me in his wakefulness
(or he (‫ )ﷺ‬may have said it is as though he has seen me in a
state of wakefulness), for Satan does not appear in my
form.”[1]

Imam As-Sakhawi refuted this stating that no one from the

Salaf ever narrated they saw the Prophet [‫ ]ﷺ‬in that state and
if anyone would have seen him while awake, then it would have
been Fatimah. She went through a severe saddness after his [‫]ﷺ‬
death for six months. Therefore As-Sakhawi’s argument was if
it’s possible, how come none of his companions narrated to us
they saw the Prophet [while awake]?

In this issue Imam As-Sakhawi went with the position of his

teacher Ibn Hajr who clarified the misconceptions around the
hadith in Fathul Bari.[2]
2- Al-Ijtihad.

Imam As-Suyuti wrote his own biography stating that he had

mastered seven branches of knowledge and therefore he
considered himself a Mujtahid. Imam As-Suyuti said that if he
wanted to write about any issue, then he could do so, and
mention all of their differences between the scholars, along
with their evidences, and include the views of the four
schools of jurisprudence. Imam As-Suyuti saw himself as the
ONLY mujtahid in his era, and Al-Qasatallani said, “He’s
conceited and looks down on his peers.”

3- Imam As-Sakhawi’s abusive language in his history book.

Imam As-Suyuti mentioned that Imam As-Sakhawi acted rudely and

hurled predatory slurs at his contemporaries in his history
book. Imam As-Sakhawi wrote that Imam As-Suyuti stole other
scholars’ writings and went around passing them out like they
were his books. Moreover he said that As-Suyuti used to attack
the scholars, while he was fool who was ignorant of
Mathematics.

Imam As-Suyuti responded with 2 books saying that As-Sakhawi

used to misspell hadith. Also, in those books he called Imam
As-Sakhawi stupid, ignorant, a liar and added that his hadith
books were taken from the leftovers of Ibn Hajr’s.
Furthermore, As-Suyuti rejected the belief that Jarh wa Ta’dil
could be used in their lifetime. Imam As-Suyuti decided that
it was ONLY applicable for the earlier era of scholars, who
were narrating hadith at the beginning stages, whereas in his
era Jarh wa Ta’dil was only restricted to accepting and
rejecting Hadith.

Imam As-Sakhawi answered this by saying that mentioning the

faults and errors of people wasn’t backbiting and that Jarh wa
Ta’dil mustn’t ONLY be applied to the narrators of hadith.
Jarh wa Ta’dil is advice for the Ummah. A scholar can either
be a righteous person who follows falsehood, or a scholar who
is a sinner and too lenient in his Fatawa, or one who
knowledge can’t be taken from. Therefore, Jarh wa Ta’dil is
needed to advise the Muslim community at large.

As-Sakhawi’s history book has some conflicting messages inside

of it as it relates to the scholars who were his peers. He

mainly concentrated on those who lived during the 9th century.

Imam As-Shawkani [1250H] said: As-Sakhawi’s biography book
wrongfully exceeded the rights of people and the honor of
senior scholars who were his contemporaries .

If a person reads some of the biographies As-Sakhawi wrote

he’d find that he also criticized some of As-Suyuti’s students
as well at times. For instance he wrote that Abul Jabbar ibn
Ali Al-Aktabi lost his head like his Shaykh. In some other
biographies he would accuse people of seeking fame, loving the
life of this world ,and even seeking positions of power.

As-Sakhawi defended himself saying that he wrote and spoke

about those people in that way, so that others could know
their true reality. And As-Sakhawi’s supporters said he never
used to back-bite anyone and what he wrote is what he held to
be correct after he observed them.

4- Muhyadeen Ibn Arabi As-Soofee (638H)

As-Sakhawi criticized Ibn Al-Arabi and As-Suyuti was one of

his staunch supporters; however he didn’t refute As-Sakhawi
for his criticism of Ibn Arabi,but instead he went after Al-
Baqa’I because he dishonored Ibn Arabi using the As-Sakhawi’s
remarks. Al-Baqa’I’s book was called, “Enlightening the fool
about the Kufr of Ibn Arabi”, so As-Suyuti’s reply was titled,
“ Enlightening the fool that Ibn Arabi is free from those
claims.”

Following this As-Sakhawi mentioned that As-Suyuti was

deceived and leaned towards Ibn Arabi’s principles; since As-
Suyuti said: Whoever curses Ibn Arabi or harms him has set
himself up for a war with Allah.

As-Sakhawi had the position that there was no way interpret

Ibn Arabi’s speech other than what he mentioned. On the other
hand As-Suyuti defended Ibn Arabi saying that Sufis use words
in way that really isn’t known to many people.

Imam As-Sakhawi said without a doubt the statements of

pantheism are statements of Kufur. Ibn Arabi’s statements
meant: Allah is with the universe, or everything in the
universe is a manifestation of Allah.

Afterwards Imam As-Suyuti mentioned Ibn Arabi’s statements

and As-Sakhawi’s side by side in an essay and mentioned the
dangers of pantheism by considering Allah a part of
everything that exists, but he didn’t mention any names. Later
As-Sakhawi placed in the end of his book that the speech of
Ibn Arabi was disbelief ,but he didn’t consider Ibn Arabi a
Kafir; since he could have repented and refrained from
continuing with that belief until his death.

5- As-Suyuti was a student of As-Sakhawi but debated him.

Another reason for the fallout between these two scholars was
the fact that As-Suyuti debated As-Sakhawi in a manner
exposing his faults to the public, and for that reason As-
Sakhawi added in the bio of As-Suyuti the words “He studied
with me for a very long time.”

In the end Imam As-Suyuti got older and wiser at the age of
40, and this was when he just stopped responding to those who
were attacking him and focused on writing books. He completely
stopped giving verdicts and teaching, but he would still
intermingle with the people from time to time. In one book As-
Suyuti explained that he faced a lot of heartache and pain
from his peers after he was allowed to issue edicts ,so for
that reason, he decided that he wouldn’t be answering any
questions from there on.

One remarkable response As-Suyuti wrote about his trials was.

“ Isn’t this the era of patience, where the patient person
long-suffering is like the one holding on to hot coal? I
prefer to live by the advice of the Prophet [‫ …]ﷺ‬He [‫]ﷺ‬
ordered the scholars to concentrate on themselves, remain
indoors quietly and avoid the common-folk.”

A Few practical Life Lessons from this account

One thing for certain is people are people even though

they become scholars and this doesn’t mean that they
won’t act out of character at times. For this reason, we
have the Prophet [‫]ﷺ‬to look at for our number 1 role
model.

Competition between contemporaries is an age-old crisis

that causes division among the Muslims and the common
folk. The layman gets carried away and wastes his time
trying to defend his teacher or caught up in following
the conflict.

Sometimes the scholars get upset and use vulgar language

when they criticize their peers and their students, who
they will consider are supporters of falsehood; however
this mustn’t diminish the ranks of the critic or the
criticized if they are both peers.

It’s better to avoid supporting a scholar just because

your heart leans towards him. Instead it’s always
correct to support the truth.

The older we get the wiser we should become! Imam As-

Suyuti just grew older and saw that the bickering back
and forth was taking too much of his energy and wasting
his time, so began only writing. At the time of As-
Suyuti’s death it’s said that had authored around 600
books. And for that reason his nickname was “ Abu Books”

40 years old is the age of wisdom and reflection for

your life and a gauge for you to reflect on your future
ending which draws nearer every day.
 Father’s should take their children to the classes of
their teachers and this will allow that child to grow up
with love for the people of knowledge.

The Prophet’s advice affected As-Suyuti and other

scholars before him in regards to people who split up
the ranks of Muslims due to their affection with their
sheikh’s opinions.

Abu Umayyah ash-Sha’bani said:I asked AbuTha’labah al-

Khushani: What is your opinion about the verse “Care for
yourselves”.He said: I swear by Allah, I asked the one who was
well-informed about it; I asked the Messenger of Allah (‫)ﷺ‬
about it.He said: No, enjoin one another to do what is good
and forbid one another to do what is evil. But when you see
niggardliness being obeyed, passion being followed, worldly
interests being preferred, everyone being charmed with his
opinion, then care for yourself, and leave alone what people
in general are doing; for ahead of you are days which will
require endurance, in which showing endurance will be like
grasping live coals. The one who acts rightly during that
period will have the reward of fifty men who act as he does.
Another version has: He said (The hearers asked:) Messenger of
Allah, the reward of fifty of them?He replied: The reward of
fifty of you.[3]

Scholars can become conceited and fall into self

–amazement. Imam As-Suyuti used praise himself and
considered himself to be the most knowledgeable of his
era.

Scholar’s aren’t always people of Tamyee’[ watering down

the Minhaj] when they support another scholar who errs,
it could just be that the scholar understands the speech
of the one he supports in way others don’t . The example
of Ibn Arabi’s words between As-Suyuti and As-Sakhawi
understandings show this.

Sometimes scholars refute each other in correspondences

that people pay attention to during that era, and
afterwards the generations who follow them don’t even
know why these books were written or give them
importance. The back and forth refutations between As-
Sahkawi and As-Suyuti were numerous and today many of
the books aren’t even read, not mentioned ,or published.

Scholars will accuse their peers of being stupid,

ignorant, fame seekers, and much more. Imam As-Sakhawi
even accused As-Suyuti of being a thief. He said that
As-Suyuti stole the books of Ibn Hajr and put his name
on them. As-Sakhawi said: “All of those books are my
Shaykh’s. It would have been better if he only stole
them without coping them.”[4]

Sometimes scholars will criticize the intentions of

others.

Criticisms between peers aren’t given attention as

mentioned by many scholars of the past in Jarh wa
Ta’dil. Imam Ad-Daraqutni was asked about Abu Musa and
Bundar and he replied ” take from both except the speech
they say about each other.” NOTE: if this is the case
for scholars who criticize each other, then how about
young du’at and translators who speak about their
peers?!

Students will sometimes follow the criticisms of their

teachers. For example As-Sakhawi criticized Ash-shaykh
Zakiriyah Al-Ansari as being liar. Then his student Al-
Baqa’I described Shaykh Zakiriyah as being a chatterbox,
who loves fame and boasting about his achievements.

A person can be an Imam in Jarh wa Ta’dil and wrongfully

evaluate and even oppress others. Imam Ash-Shawkani
said: As-Sakhawi was an Imam but he frequently
maltreated the senior scholars who were his peers.”[5]

Scholars have written their own biographies in the past.

Imam As-Suyuti wrote his bio.
Ash-Shaykh Abdul Wahhab ibn Abdil Lateef wrote that As-
Suyuti was a grandmaster in many areas of the religion.
In fact he surpassed As-Sakhawi in deriving verdicts,
understanding the texts, the mastery of Arabic, and
Tafsir. And As-Sakhawi was grandmaster in Hadith, isnad,
narrators, Ilal, and history. Imam As-Sakhawi between
two was considered the inheritor of Ibn Hajr’s knowledge
and for that reason in Hadith As-Sakhawi is giving
precedence over As-Suyuti and returned to for
understanding.[6]

Imam Ash-Shawkani said: The dispute and criticisms

between As-Sakhawi and As-Suyuti mustn’t be used as a
proof for any side. This is based on the principle that
Jarh wa Ta’dil isn’t accepted between peers when it
appears there is some competition

As-Sakhawi: was Muhammad ibn Abdir Rahman [831- 902H]

His nickname was the traveler since he used to travel a
lot in pursuit of knowledge. He had about 200 plus
teachers and out of all them he stayed close to Al-
Hafith Ibn Hajr [852H] .He died in Madinah and is buried
next to Ibn Malik ibn Anas. He wrote a large number of
books and many of them deal with the subject of
history,and his explanation for Alfeeyah of Iraqi widely
read and respected.
 As-Suyuti: Abdur Rahman ibn Al-Kamal[849-911H] He is
often referred to as Jalal Ad-deen As-Suyuti. Born in
Cairo and buried there next to his father. Some of As-
Suyuti’s teachers were, Muhyideen Al-Kafeegi, Zakiriyah
Al-Ansari, Al-Bulqeene,who was the first that gave him
Ijazah to teach and issue fatwa. This took place in 866
H.

Arranged, Compiled and Prepared by;

Abu Aaliyah Abdullah ibn Dwight Lamont Battle Sr.

Doha,Qatar 1438H ©

Disclaimer: This paper mustn’t be used to attack the honor of

any scholar today or from the past. It is merely a history
lesson that shares some beneficial reflections and minhaj
lessons for 1438/2016

References :

22‫ ص‬/1 ‫اﻟﺒﺪر اﻟﻄﺎﻟﻊ ﻓﻲ‬

‫ ﻓﺘﺢ اﻟﻤﻐﻴﺚ ﺑﺸﺮح أﻟﻔﻴﺔ اﻟﺤﺪﻳﺚ ﻟﻠﺤﺎﻓﻆ اﻟﺴﺨﺎوي‬.

‫ دراﺳﺔ وﺗﺤﻘﻴﻖ‬.

‫ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻜﺮﻳﻢ اﻟﺨﻀﻴﺮ‬/‫ د‬.

‫ ﻓﻬﻴﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻠﻪ آل ﻓﻬﻴﺪ‬/‫ د‬.

‫ ﻣﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻟﻤﻨﻬﺎج ﻟﻠﻨﺸﺮ و اﻟﺘﻮزﻳﻊ‬.

 ‫اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻌﺔ اﻻوﻟﻰ ‪142 :‬‬

‫ﺗﻨﺎﻓﺲ اﻟﺴﺨﺎوي واﻟﺴﻴﻮﻃﻲ ﻣﻊ ﺑﻌﺾ ﻣﻮاﺿﻊ اﻟﺘﻨﺎﻓﺲ‬

‫اﻟﺤﺎﻓﻆ اﻟﺴﺨﺎوي وﺗﻨﺎﻓﺴﻪ ﻣﻊ اﻟﺠﻼل اﻟﺴﻴﻮﻃﻲ‬

‫ﺑﺤﺚ ﻣﻘﺪم ﻓﻲ ﻣﺎدة ﻃﺮق ﻓﻬﻢ اﻟﺤﺪﻳﺚ‬

‫اﻟﻤﺪرس‪ :‬أ‪.‬د‪ .‬ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺼﻄﻔﻲ ﻳﻌﻘﻮب‬

‫‪:‬إﻋﺪاد‬

‫إﻋﺪاد اﻟﻄﺎﻟﺐ‪ :‬ﺳﻠﻄﺎن ﻓﻄﺎﻧﻲ ﺑﻦ رﺿﻮان ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﻴﺪ‬

‫اﻻﻛﻠﻴﻞ ﻓﻲ اﺳﺘﻨﺒﺎط اﻟﺘﻨﺰﻳﻞ ﻟﻼﻣﺎم اﻟﺴﻴﺒﻮﻃﻲ‬

‫و ﺗﺤﻘﻴﻖ‬ ‫دراﺳﺔ‬

‫د ﻋﺎﻣﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻋﻠﻲ اﻟﻌﺮاﺑﻲ‬

‫‪[1] Sahih Muslim 2266‬‬

‫‪[2] In this era Imam Abdul Aziz bin Baz rejected this and‬‬
‫‪refuted in detail in his discussion about seeing the Prophet‬‬
‫‪while celebrating his birthday.‬‬

‫]‪[3‬‬ ‫‪Refer to Fathul Bari for the above mentioned Hadith.‬‬

‫اﻟﻀﻮء اﻻﻣﻊ ‪[4] 4/66‬‬

‫]‪[5] 1/333‬‬ ‫]اﻟﺒﺪر اﻟﻄﺎﻟﻊ‬

‫ﻓﺘﺢ اﻟﻤﻐﻴﺚ ﺑﺸﺮح أﻟﻔﻴﺔ اﻟﺤﺪﻳﺚ ﻟﻠﺤﺎﻓﻆ اﻟﺴﺨﺎوي ]‪[6‬‬

‫?‪Have you read part 1 of this collection‬‬

Available on the Gazette.

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