Sharh us-Sunnah of Al-Barbahari

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا رسول الله

Prayers and peace upon you, Apostle of Allah

The text Sharh us-Sunnah has been published and widely distributed by Salafis. It is attributed to al-Hasan bin Ali al-Barbahari (d. 329 H), the Shaikh of the Hanabilah in the 10th century CE, based in Baghdad, although some believe the actual author was Ghulam Khalil al-Bahili (d. 275 H). The latter was a rabid opponent and persecutor of the Sufis in addition to being a fabricator of Hadith, such that the eminent Muhaddith, Abu Dawud as-Sijistani (d. 275 H), declared him the “Dajjal of Baghdad”.

But I think that Sharh us-Sunnah was not authored by Ghulam Khalil due to the total and conspicuous absence of any anti-Sufi polemics. In fact, it is generally a very good and orthodox Sunni manual of creed and methodology which is not at all offensive to mainstream Sunni Islam.

Al-Barbahari was a highly influential scholar and preacher among the early Hanbalis of Baghdad. They had a particularly pietist strain. Al-Barbahari and his circle of students and followers were known for their praiseworthy vigilante activities against public sinful activity, such as music and drinking. Al-Barbahari was also a proponent of Taqlid and was a strict Hanbali, in stark opposition to modern-day Salafis who reject Taqlid or the necessity of following one of the four schools of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam.

That a certain trend among the Salafis—commonly referred to as Madkhalis—have latched on to this text does not necessitate that we mainstream Sunni Muslims should disavow it. 

Now let us examine some of the points mentioned by al-Barbahari, may Allah have mercy on him, in Sharh us-Sunnah, especially those which establish it as a manifestly Sunni text.

Yes, there may be some minor points of fiqh in which Sharh us-Sunnah mandates the Hanbali view, such as that a marriage is not valid except with the guardian’s approval (in opposition to the Hanafi school), and some instances in which the Hanbali theological difference with the Ash’ari school is emphasized, but overall this is a text that is quite orthodox and should be embraced by mainstream Sunni Muslims. As a matter of fact, Sharh us-Sunnah makes no negative reference to Imam al-Ash’ari (d. 324 H) or the Ash’ari school. 

Al-Barbahari describes the Saved Sect of Islam, the Jama’ah, as

السَّوَادُ الأَعْظَمُ

“The Main Body” (p.37, #4)

The term as-Sawad ul-A’zam literally means the great blackness, indicating that the Saved Sect or the Jama’ah of the Muslims is that denomination that composes its majority, like a densely packed crowd which from a distance or a bird’s eye view appears to be a large blackness. The deviant schismatics are those which have broken away from the crowd into small groups, out of the mainstream. Although the Salafis today claim al-Barbahari and the text of his Sharh us-Sunnah, they are clearly not the Sawad ul-A’zam—the Main Body of the Muslims.

The madhhab of orthodox Sunni Islam is to make Tafwid with regard to those matters attributed to Allah that are from the Mutashabbihat. Al-Barbahari says:

فَعَلَيْكَ بالتَّسْلِيم وَالتَّصْدِيقِ وَالتَّفْوِيضِ

“Upon you is to accept, affirm and perform Tafwid” (p.68, #42)

He gives examples of narrations that are subject to Tafwid; “The hearts of the servants are between the two fingers of Ar-Rahman”, “Verily, Allah descends to the lowest Heaven”, “He descends on the Day of Arafah”, “He descends on the Day of Resurrection”, “He places His foot upon it (Hell)”, “If you walk toward Me, I run toward you”, “Allah created Adam in His image”, “I saw my Lord in the best form”. Rather than interpreting and explaining these narrations and their like literally, the way of the Sunni Muslims is to perform Tafwid—to consign the true meaning to the knowledge of Allah and to refrain from making any interpretation or explanation.

In repudiation of the Khawarij, the Shi’ah, and other tendencies which encourage political revolution, anarchy or disobedience to the Muslim ruler, al-Barbahari emphasizes in Sharh us-Sunnah the necessity of obeying the ruler, “It is neither permissible to fight the ruler or to rebel against him, even if he oppresses.”

I believe it is these points in Sharh us-Sunnah which certain people find unbearable due to their Kharijite and revolutionary tendencies that they have attempted to malign this text or distance the Muslims from it. This despite the fact that the teaching against disobedience or revolt against any Muslim ruler by his subjects is manifestly established from the Quran and Sunnah, not to mention wisdom and intellect.

The Ikhwani modernist Yasir Qadhi and others wrongly claim that this text was composed by the fabricator Ghulam Khalil in order to discredit it.

I say that whether this text was written by Ghulam Khalil or al-Barbahari, the content of it is solid and true. I do not find anything controversial in it. We mainstream Sunnis should reclaim this text from the Salafis who have apparently hijacked it.

Al-Barbahari affirms the orthodox Sunni belief that the dead can hear in some instances, contrary to the heresy of the Mamatis, and says one must believe the slain polytheists whose corpses were thrown into a well in the aftermath of the Battle of Badr heard the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمwhen he addressed them.

كَانُوا يَسْمَعُونَ كَلَامَهُ

“They heard his speech” (p.77, #61)

He also refutes another heresy of the Mamatis (that the souls of the deceased are not returned to their corpses in their earthly graves) and says:

وَالإِيمَانُ بِأَنَّ المَيِّتَ يُقْعَدُ فِي قَبْرِهِ وَيُرْسِلُ اللهُ فِيهِ الرُّوحَ

“To have faith that the deceased is made to sit up in his grave and Allah sends back to it the spirit” (p.83, #70)

The Wahhabis accuse of the orthodox and mainstream Sunni Muslims of heresy because we believe Allah revealed everything that will happen till the Resurrection to His beloved, the Prophet Muhammad صلوات الله والسلام عليه who therefore has knowledge of the unseen of all that which shall occur till Judgment Day. However, al-Barbahari concurs with us and says:

وَالإِيمَانُ بِأَنَّ اللهَ تبارك وتعالى أَطْلَعَ نَبِيَّهُ عَلَى مَا يَكُونُ فِي أُمَّتِهِ إِلَى يَومِ القِيَامَةِ

“To have faith that Allah, blessed and exalted, informed His Prophet of that which will happen in his Ummah till the Day of Resurrection” (p.90, #89)

In conclusion, today the text of Sharh us-Sunnah has been made controversial by those influenced by the political Ikhwani ideology and also the neo-Kharijites of our time. Some of them seek to distance ordinary Sunni Muslims from this text and the way of the early Hanbalis who predate the likes of Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab of Najd by exploiting the fact that the text is today published and distributed by the Salafis. Yet I have highlighted several important points in Sharh us-Sunnah which illustrate the divergence of Salafism from the teaching of al-Barbahari and by extension the early Hanabilah, a teaching that is more in accordance with the mainstream Sunnis and Sufis.