Islam in Ukraine - manuscripts

Is Mohammed bin Ali Al-Jandi the First Crimean Islamic Scholar?

Mykhaylo Yakubovych — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 12:27:09 +0000

Many scientists have tried to answer the question: when the first Muslims appeared on the territory of the Crimean Island. This question is not about individual faithful, who certainly could live in the Crimea already in the early Middle Ages, but it is about the larger Muslim communities that disposed of Islamic justice, mosques, cultural traditions. The famous legend says that it happened in the time of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And the documentary evidences indicated the first half of the XIII century, when the first mosque considered to be built in Kaffa (now Feodosia) that was captured by the Seljuks in 1221. Already in the second half of the same century, in 1288, a mosque was built in Solhat (now Staryi Krym), according to the order of Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Zahir ad-Din Baibars, who supposedly was the Crimean by descent. But the "mass" Islamization, it means when Islam became the official religion, began only after enthronement of Golden Horde Khan, Muhammad Uzbek (1313/1314 years). As we know from the story of Arab traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited the Crimea in May 1334, there already were sharia judge (according to madhhabs of Abu Hanifa and al-Shāfiʿī), mosques, a lot of Sufi sheikhs’ "monasteries", and madrassas. It means that there was the extensive religious infrastructure in the Crimea.

However, we know not so much about the previous XIII century. According to the number of Crimean Tatar researchers, a Turkic poem "Kyssa i-Yusuf," was written by local author, Mahmoud Kırımlı, in 1220's. The first religious work (which described the Islamic doctrine) is the well-known "Kalandar-name"by Abu Bakr Kalandar written in Persian in 1320's. However, Abu Bakr Kalandar wasn’t from the Crimea, but from Anatolia; the only copy of work was found in 1966 in Namangan (Uzbekistan), but its thorough research has been started just recently, due to the facsimile edition (Kazan, 2015). Available and partial translations have been published in “Golden Horde Rewiev”.

In the same XIV century also lived two authors: Diya ad-Din al-Qirimi (d. 1379) and Rukn ad-Din al-Qirimi (d. 1382). The first came from Qazvin (now Iran), lived in the Crimea, and later moved to Egypt. At least one of his works has remained. It is his compendium of work by theologian and lawyer Al Baydavi "Method of understanding the fundamentals of law" that is available for study in the library of Al Halidiya in the Israeli part of Jerusalem. The second author, Rukn ad-Din al-Qirimi, is a Crimean by descent and supposedly was working there as a judge; later he moved to Egypt, and left behind several works, among those is the extant interpretation of verse "Yusuf" (the only known copy is kept in the library of King Abd al-Aziz in Medina, Saudi Arabia).

There is also one more very interesting manuscript that has remained to nowadays. According to precise date and documented author’s relation to the Crimea, this document is considered to be the first Arabic religious text, rewritten by inhabitant of the Crimea. It is a manuscript, which is a copy of a famous hadith collection “Dzamiy as-Sahih” by Muslim al-Qushayrī. It is kept in the National Library of Israel (Jerusalem) under the designation Ms. Yah. Ar. 103. This work along with a collection of al-Bukhari is the most significant text of Sunnah. There are thousands of manuscripts of this work. It was printed and translated for 10 times, but this copy is interesting because it was rewritten by the Crimean author. The last page of the manuscript has the inscription: "The book has been completed... by the hand of the weakest and the neediest servant of Almighty Allah, Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd ar-Rahman al-Jandi by birth, Al Qirimi by origin, on the fourth day ...of the blessed month Shaaban of 711 A.H., near the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus in the Andalusian monastery ". So we have the clearly stated date that is 4 Shaaban 711 year, ie December 15, 1311 according to the Gregorian calendar. Even these few lines let us track author’s way of life.

So, this Ali bin Muhammad bin Abd ar-Rahman came from the city of Jand (Jend). This city is mentioned by many Arab geographers (eg “mu'jam al-buldān” written by Yaqut al-Hamawi in 1220's, contains the article about it) and it was located in the southern part of modern Kazakhstan. Formerly, it was the center of Kipchak association; even the Aral Sea was called "Sea of Jend". According to the historian Rashid ad-Din, Mongols captured, looted and devastated Jend in April 1220. However, the city was easily reborn as not political but commercial centre. The city had long-standing scientific and religious traditions: For example, a scholar and a poet Yakub bin Shirin Al Jandi (XII century) and Sufi Muyid al-Din al-Jandi (d. 1292), a student and commentator of Ibn Arabi’s works, were born there.

Probably, the invasion of Genghis Khan forced many scientists to leave Jend and somehow Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd ar-Rahman came to the Crimea. A clear indication of “Al Qirimi al-Mansha-an” ("Al Qirim by origin") proves that the author grew and developed as a scientist in the Crimea. It is significant that, despite living in Damascus, Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd ar-Rahman didn’t add toponomic surname Al-Dimashki ("from Damascus") to his name, so he considered the Crimea to be his native country, by which other scientists could recognize him. At the turn of XIII-XIV centuries, Crimea became a refuge for scientists from Central Asia, Persia and other regions. They fled from military actions, epidemics of plague and due to other reasons. Such situation favoured the emerging of scientific links. In the second half of the XIII century, an Islamic education already existed in the Crimea that was long before well-known madrassas. Unfortunately, we do not expose any information about teachers or other details of life of Ali bin Muhammad bin Abd ar-Rahman in the Crimea but there is no doubt that he had been living there for a very long time before he moved to Damascus.

For some reasons, Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd al-Rahman moved to Damascus, perhaps in order to continue his education. The "Andalusian monastery", mentioned by him, was not far from the famous Damascus Umayyad mosque. It was built about 1242 by order of Abu Abdullah Muhammad Al-Andalus, but unfortunately, it has not survived. This Sufi institution served as madrasa, place for public prayers and residence for scholars. It was famous for its sheikhs. According to the historian Ibn Kasira, Shafi'i hadith expert Amin ad-Din al-Ashtar al-Halabbi (d. 1282) taught there and he was highly appreciated by Muhi ad-Din al-Navavi, the author of "The Gardens of the Righteous ". Iraqi Sufi Muammar ibn al Fahir Al Wasiti (d. 1299) also lived there. In the following XIV century, according to Ibn Qadi Shuhba, "Sheikh of Damascus grammarians" Shihab ad- Din al-Utabi (d. 1375) spent the last years of his life at the "Andalusian monastery". He was a pupil of the famous interpreter of the Koran, Hayan Abu al-Andalus. We can suppose that Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd ar-Rahman al-Qirimi, like his contemporaries, also was not just a copyist. Most likely, some sheikh of the monastery was his teacher, perhaps, the same Amin ad-Din al-Halabbi.

The copying of the whole Sunnah was a very responsible work, obviously, only a person, who had special background of hadith studies, was able to do that. Unfortunately, Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd al-Rahman al-Qirimi was not mentioned in the known biographical sources. Although there were scientists, who had the toponymic name Al Qirimi, in Damascus in the next IX century AH (XV AD), according to known historian Shams ad-Din as-Sahawi, who lived at those times. Some of them could be descendants of Muhammad bin Ali bin Abd al-Rahman.

It is hardly to track where the manuscript were during these centuries, but the inscription on the margins shows that a certain Nur ad-Din was reading this book during some meeting (Majlis) in 1007 AH (1599 AD). Also there is an Ottoman illegible stamp on the page, which only indicates a year — 111(?), it means the time between 1698 and 1708 years. Probably, it had been keeping in Damascus before the famous linguist and collector Abraham Yehuda (1877-1951) found it. He left behind a huge collection of Arabic manuscripts. Part of this collection is kept in the National Library of Israel now, another part is in the library at Princeton University (USA).

The value of the manuscript, written by Ali bin Muhammad bin Abd ar-Rahman al-Qirimi, is hard to overstate. This is the first known Arabic text, rewritten by the author, who related directly to the Crimea. Although this is just a copy of another work, the age of the document allows us to revise established views on Islam in Crimea, confirming the significant level of science before the Golden Horde Islamization, namely in the second half of XIIII century. We hope the new findings will give us a deeper insight into this exciting time.

15/08/2016

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Crimea

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Islamic scholars

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Crimean Manuscripts In Lviv: The New Discoveries

Михайло Якубович — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 10:58:46 +0000

Curiously enough, far West of Ukraine is interesting for Islamic researchers not less than the South-East. For instance, there’s Lviv, whose Muslim community increased dramatically due to the latest events, and a new Muhammad Asad Islamic Cultural Centre was opened last July. Many important dates of Islamic history of Ukraine are somehow related to Lviv: interpreter of Qur’an Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) was born here in 1900, first Ukrainian translation of the verses of Qur’an was made here in 1913-1914 (by Lviv University graduate Mr.Olexandr Lysenetsky), Lviv Orientalist Mr.Yarema Plotniuk translated the Meccan Chapters of the Qur’an to Ukrainian directly from Arabic in 1990ies.

However, those aren’t the only treasures of Lviv’s “Islamic History”, as proved by materials of local Museum of History of Religions, that are really important for studying Islam in Ukraine. In 1970ies, scriptures from Zincirli Medrese (the oldest Crimean Muslim educational institution founded in 1500 and working until 1920ies when it was closed by Bolshevik occupants) were transferred here. The scriptures still have the stamps indicating they belonged to “Zincirli Medrese in Bakhchisaray”.

Although several years ago most of the scriptures were, unfortunately, returned to Crimea, several important texts still remain in Lviv. Taking into account the complexity of those scriptures (with their long history, pastings, annexes, and restorations in the ancient times), formal description in terms of canonical science can be made for only separate studies, by close examination of paper and ink and other material characteristics. Due to this, only their context will be examined in terms of this article, for the purpose of a better and more accessible.

The first and very interesting work (accession code number 6494) is a manuscript of an Arabic-written piece with a long title “Majalis al-Arar wa Masalik al-Ahyar wa Maha’ik al-Bidaa ws Makami al-Ashrar” (“The Assembly of the Righteous, The Paths of the Best, The Destructors of Modifications in Religion and the Rivals of the Most Unrighteous”) by an Ottoman author Ahmad Ar-Rumee al-Hanafee (died in 1632). It is written by a disciple of so called Qadizadelizm (named after a preacher Mehmet Qadizade), directed against deviations from Sunnah and to revival of genuine Islam. The author describes religious beliefs and practises in 100 chapters, constantly stressing that there can be no “good modifications” in religion, for if some new practises are in terms of Sharian, it becomes Sunnah, not “modification”. In general, there are dozens of copies of this manuscript in the libraries all over the world; there’s even a printed critical version published in 2007 at Islamic University of Madinah (Saudi Arabia).

In general, the Lviv manuscript matches the other copies, and it’s been rewritten by a man named ‘Abd al-Gaffar bin Bagadirshag in 1216 hijri (1801), as indicated in the signature on the last page. Despite the fact we have no information about the place where the manuscript was written, it’s probably Crimea, for, as told by Mr.Refat Abdujemilev, Bagadirshag was a common name in Crimea.

It’s also remarkable that the manuscript contains so-called glossos (Arab. “khashiat”), notes of the latter times in the margin, signed by the word “Qady”, which can mean “a Judge”. All in all, this manuscript, directly related to Crimea, indicates that Qadizadelizm spread over the Ottoman Empire in early XVII and was popular on Southern territories of Ukraine even after Crimea was occupied by the Russian Empire. At least two authors who were adepts of Qadizadelizm originated from Crimea in XVII, namely Muhammad al-Qafawee (died in 1754) and Kutb ad-Deen al-Qirimee (died after 1970). They opposed the modifications associated with popular forms of Sufizm and called first of all for moral revival of the Muslim community. Clearly, the manuscript of Ahmad ar-Rumee was read in late XIX and even early XX, during the period of Islamic reformism in Crimea and Muslim world in general.

Another manuscript, equally interesting, is about the Qur’anic studies (accession code number 6495). Despite the first chapters are lost, more than two thirds of the remaining sheets contain the interpretations of Qur’an “Anwar at-Tanzeel” (The Lanterns of Sending) by Abdullah al-Baidauwee (died in 1286/1310). This text, which by no doubt had been the source No.1 in learning the interpretations of the Qur’an in the Ottoman Empire, has glossos in the margin by Muhiddin Sheikh-Zade (died in 1544). Supposedly, due to the state of paper, this interpretation was also re-written in Crimea, not in early XIX, but in XVIII or even in XVII century. There’s also a printed version of this source (in 8 volumes, by Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 1999). Same as the previous text, Khashya be Sheikh-Zade contains annexes written, most likely, by one of the Crimean readers.

It’s worth mentioning that it were Crimean-born scholars who promoted that interpretation by Abdullah al-Baidauwee in their times.For example, one of the first Ottoman glossos, similar to Khashia by Sheikh-Zade, was written in the middle of XIV by Ahmad al-Qirimee, who moved to Anatolia after being educated in his Homeland by a Hanafi scholar Ibn al-Bazzazee. It’s worth recalling that there were also several interpretations of Qur’an by by Abdullah al-Baidauwee, all of others, that were transferred to Bakhchisaray Historical and Cultural Conservancy Area several years ago.

Finally, the third manuscript in Arabic (with it’s beginning and ending are likely missing) relates to Philology (accession code number 6493). As specified after a long researсh and comparative analysis, this is an unknown authors glosso to the anonymous interpretation of Yakub bin ‘Ali al-Burusawee’s (died in 1524) work “Irab Dibbajatu-l-Misbah”. The manuscript is dated by 1080 (1669) and rewritten by Mustapha ben Bakhee, and the very anonymous interpretation was written no later than in 1643, for this is the dating of another copy of the same work that now is in the Manuscript Department of King Abd-al-Azeez er-Riyyadee Public Library (Saudi Arabia, access code 298). The glossos to this anonymous interpretation could be written in Crimea or re-written from some Ottoman source. Unfortunately, ex libris stamps of the owners that can be found on the pages are almost impossible to read, so tracking the full story of each manuscript needs more research.

Besides the listed above, there are other things that are directly related to the intellectual history of Crimean Khanate, namely handwritten Qur’ans (mushafs), on which research of Crimean Tatar tradition of re-writing Qur’an can be done. There are also some Muslim printed editions in Arab and Tatar languages (mostly published in Kazan, except for an old print of theological work by Adud ad-Deed al-Ijee “Kitab al-Mawakif”, published in Istanbul in late XIX).

The above mentioned manuscripts aren’t all the Crimean heritage still remaining in Ukraine: several manuscripts rewritten in Crimean medrese are kept at the National Vernadskii Library. Such things are also found from time to time in regional museums and private collections, for no one really cared about that heritage during XX, especially after the Crimean Tatars were deported; moreover, it was dangerous to do this openly. Even more manuscripts are now beyond Crimea and Ukraine, including those written in Bujak and Edisan (which is, on the territory of modern Odessa and Mykolaiv regions).

Of course, it’s hardly possible to collect all those manuscripts in one place (in terms of one Musleum or exhibition). Anyway, a catalogue can be made to estimate the real input of the Crimean Khanate to Islamic intellectual tradition, and this task is bearable for Ukrainian researchers. Another problem is, this needs a serious amount of investments, but without this work the Crimean heritage will be, step by step, pocketed by the aggressor, as they “pocketed” the Crimean peninsula and many pages of the Ukrainian history.

The author’s tributes to the Lviv Museum of History of Religions staff who kindly allowed to examine the manuscripts.

Mr.Mykhailo Yakubovych, Orientalist
special for “Islam in Ukraine”

04/01/2016

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