View source for Abdullah Ansari

{{Short description|11th-century Sufi scholar and saint}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| image='Abdullah Ansari with Abu Ahmad, Safavid Shiraz, Iran, second half 16th century.jpg
| caption=Abdullah Ansari (holding a book) with Abu Ahmad. Folio from [[Kamal al-Din Gazurgahi]]'s ''Majalis al-ushshaq'', created in [[Shiraz]], [[Safavid Iran]], second half 16th century
| title              = ''[[Shaykh al-Islām]]'', ''Sage of Herat''
| birth_date         = May 4, 1006
| birth_place        = [[Herat]], [[Ghaznavid Empire]]
| death_date         = 1089 (aged 82-83)
| death_place        = [[Herat]], [[Ghaznavid Empire]]
| religion           = [[Islam]]
| name               = Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī
| denomination       = [[Sunni Islam]]
| creed              = [[Athari]]<ref name="Halverson47">{{cite book|last=Halverson|first=Jeffry R.|title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam|url=https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv|url-access=limited|isbn=9781137473578|pages=[https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv/page/n55 47]|publisher=Pelgrave Macmillan|date=2010}}</ref>
| Maddhab            = [[Hanbali]]<ref name="Halverson37">{{cite book|last=Halverson|first=Jeffry R.|title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam|url=https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv|url-access=limited|isbn=9781137473578|pages=[https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv/page/n45 37]|publisher=Pelgrave Macmillan|date=2010}}</ref>
| movement           = [[Sufi]]<ref name="Halverson48">{{cite book|last=Halverson|first=Jeffry R.|title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam|url=https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv|url-access=limited|isbn=9781137473578|pages=[https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv/page/n56 48]|publisher=Pelgrave Macmillan|date=2010}}</ref>
| influenced         = [[Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Slitine|first1=Moulay|last2=Fitzgerald|first2=Michael|title=The Invocation of God|publisher=Islamic Texts Society|pages=4|isbn=0946621780|date=2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
  | author = Ovamir Anjum
  | title = Sufism without Mysticism: Ibn al-Qayyim's Objectives in Madarij al-Salikin
  | publisher = University of Toledo, Ohio
  | url =https://www.academia.edu/2248220
  | pages = 164
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
  | author = Livnat Holtzman
  | title = Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
  | journal = Essays in Arabic Literary Biography
 | date = January 2009
 | publisher = Bar Ilan University
  | url =https://www.academia.edu/1057824
  | pages = 219
 }}
</ref>
| module             = {{Infobox Arabic name|embed=yes
| ism = ʿAbd Allāh<br/>({{lang|ar|عبد الله}})
| nasab = Ibn Muḥammad ibn Maaz ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Jaʿfar ibn Manṣūr ibn Matt ibn Ayyub ibn Abu Ayyub  <br/>({{lang|ar|بن محمد بن علي بن محمد بن أحمد بن علي بن جعفر بن منصور بن مت }})
| kunya = Abū Ismāʿīl<br/>({{lang|ar|أبو إسماعيل}})
| nisba = [[Herat|al-Harawī]]<br />({{lang|ar|الهروي}})
}}
| native_name        = أبو إسماعيل الهروي
| native_name_lang   = ar
}}

'''Abu Ismaïl Abdullah al-Harawi al-Ansari''' or '''Abdullah Ansari of Herat''' (1006–1089) ({{langx|fa|خواجه عبدالله انصاری}}) also known as ''Pir-i Herat'' ({{lang|fa|پیر هرات}}) "Sage of Herat", was a [[Sufi]] saint,<ref>A. G. Ravân Farhâdi, ʻAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad Anṣārī al-Harawī, "ʻAbdullāh Anṣārī of Herāt (1006-1089 C.E.): an early Shia Ṣūfi master", Routledge, 996.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ʿABDALLĀH ANṢĀRĪ – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abdallah-al-ansari|website=www.iranicaonline.org|access-date=2020-05-31}}</ref> who lived in [[Herat]] (modern-day [[Herat Province|Afghanistan]]).  Ansari was a commentator on the [[Qur'an]], scholar of the [[Hanbali]] school of thought ([[madhhab]]), [[Ashari|traditionalist]], polemicist and spiritual master, known for his oratory and poetic talents in [[Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]].<ref name="Iranica"/>

[[Image:Herat Ansari tomb.jpg|thumb|Tomb in [[Herat]]]]
[[File: Stamps of Tajikistan, 2010-09.jpg|thumb|right|Abdullah Ansari portrayed on a stamp in Tajikistan (2010). Flags of the three Persian speaking countries displayed on top: [[Iran]], [[Afghanistan]], and [[Tajikistan]].]]

==Life==
Ansari was born in the Kohandez, the old citadel of Herat, in 1006. His father, Abu Mansur Muhammad, was a shopkeeper who had spent several years of his youth at [[Balkh]].<ref name="Iranica">S. de Laugier de Beaureceuil, "Abdullah Ansari" in Encylcoapedia Iranica [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abdallah-al-ansari]</ref>

Ansari was a direct descendant of [[Abu Ayyub al-Ansari]], a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, being the eleventh in line from him. The lineage is described, and traced in the family history records,<ref>''The Ulama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic Culture in South Asia'', Francis Robinson, Ferozsons (pvt) Limited, Pakistan. 2002</ref> as follows;

Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Pir-i-Herat Al Imam Al-Zahid Shaykh Al-Islam wa Al-Khorasan Al-Kubra Al-Muhaddith Al- Kabir Mufassir wa Al-Hafiz Al-Quran Khwaja Abu Isma’il ‘Abd-Allah Al-Kandari Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 1006-89  ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar  Shaikh Khwaja Abu Mansur Muhammad Balkhi Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 966-1025 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Maaz Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 923-82  ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Abu Maaz ‘Ali Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 881-948 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar  Shaikh Khwaja Muhammad Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 837-97 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Ahmad Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 792-861 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar  Shaikh Khwaja ‘Ali Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 756-830 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Shaikh Khwaja Ja’far Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 722-89 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar  Shaikh Khwaja Mansur Al-Harawi Al-Ansari 682-748 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar  Shaikh Khwaja Murabit Abu Mansur Samit Muhammad Ghazi Al-Tabi’i Al-Harawi Ummat-Ul-Ansari 634-97 ibn Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Al-Sahaba  Shaikh Ayyub  Al-Madani Al-Ansari Al-Khazraji Al-Najjari 609-64  ibn  Za’im-i-Bani Najjar Al-Sahaba  Al-Katib wa Al-Muhaddith Emir Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah Hafiz Al-Quran Hamil Liwa Al-Islam Al-Ustyriyi Mudif-un-Nabi Mihmandar-i-Rasul-Allah  Waqif-i-Masjid Al-Nabawi Al-Tarid Al-Munafiqin Shaikh  Abu Ayyub Khalid Ghazi Al-Shaheed Al-Madani Al-Ansari Al-Khazraji Al-Najjari

In the reign of the third [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashid Caliph]], [[Uthman]], Abu Mansoor al-Taabi'i took part in the conquest of Khorasan, and subsequently settled in Herat, his descendant Khwajah Abdullah Ansari died there in Dhū al-Ḥijjah 481/February-March 1089.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Seerat Mezban e Rasool Hazrat Abu Ayub Ansari r.a by Talib Al Hashmi.pdf |url=https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-e6qHPbxSdNRnZ5Yi1IZmtSaDA/edit?resourcekey=0-GhtDna5jgRtEiPQv1OeNRQ&usp=embed_facebook |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Google Docs}}</ref>

Ansari was a disciple of [[Abu al-Hassan al-Kharaqani]].{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} He practised the [[Hanbali]] school of [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[fiqh|jurisprudence]]. The [[Shrine of Khwaja Abd Allah]], built during the [[Timurid dynasty]], is a popular pilgrimage site. He excelled in the knowledge of ''[[Hadith]]'', history and ''ʻilm al-ansāb'' ([[genealogy]]). He wrote several books on [[Islamic mysticism]] and philosophy, in [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Arabic]]. 

Abdullah Ansari had 5 children in total: Khwaja Jabir, Khwaja Abdurrahman, Khwaja Hashim Buzurg, Qazi Mohd Yusuf and Qazi Mohd Naimat.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/ANSARISOFYUSUFPUR | title=Ansaris of Yusufpur | date=November 2013 }}</ref>

==Descendants== 
The descendants of the sons of Abdullah Ansari had migrated to other regions in [[South Asia]], some remained in [[Herat]]. 
Some settlements of the descendants of Abdullah Ansari are in, [[Jais|Jais(Jayas)]], [[Gorakhpur]], [[Yusufpur]], [[Mau, Uttar Pradesh|Mau]], [[Saharanpur]], [[Punjab]], [[Kakori]] and the scholars at the famous university in [[Lucknow]], [[Firangi Mahal]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mahmud Ansari |url=http://archive.org/details/ANSARISOFYUSUFPUR |title=ANSARIS OF YUSUFPUR |date=November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-06-03 |title=Ansari's of Firangi Mahal by Abdul Kidwai - Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/abdulkidwai/docs/ansarisoffirnagimahal |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=issuu.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nevill |first=H. r |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.135388 |title=Ghazipur A Gazetteer Vol.29 |date=1909}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mohammad Inayat Ullah Ansari |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.424928 |title=Tazkira Ulmaye Firangi Mahal |date=}}</ref>

==Sufism==
He was one of the first Sufis to write in Persian, which he wrote in a local dialect, thus indicating that he wanted to spread his teachings to the general populace instead of just to the ''[[ulama]]'', who knew Arabic.<ref>{{cite book|title=Afghanistan's Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban|author=Nile Green|publisher=University of California Press|pages=8|isbn=9780520294134|year=2017}}</ref>

Ansari's most famous work is "Munajat Namah" (literally  'Litanies or dialogues with God'), which is considered a masterpiece of [[Persian literature]]. After his death, many of his sayings recorded in his written works and transmitted by his students were included in the 10-volume Tafsir of Maybudi, "Kashf al-Asrar" (The Unveiling of Secrets). This was among the earliest complete Sufi [[Tafsir]] ([[exegeses]]) of the Quran and has been published several times.

The Hanbali jurist [[ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya]] wrote a lengthy commentary on a treatise written by Ansari entitled ''Madarij al-Salikin''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Holtzman |first=Livnat |date=2009-01-01 |title=Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah |url=https://www.academia.edu/1057824 |journal=Essays in Arabic Literary Biography}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Holtzman |first=Livnat |date=2006-01-01 |title=Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya |url=https://www.academia.edu/1070946 |journal=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia}}</ref> He expressed his love and appreciation for Ansari in this commentary with his statement, "Certainly I love the Sheikh, but I love the truth more!".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Sufism without Mysticism: Ibn al-Qayyim's Objectives in Madarij al-Salikin |url=https://www.academia.edu/2248220 |access-date=2024-05-07 |last1=Anjum |first1=Ovamir }}</ref> Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya refers to Ansari with the honorific title "''Sheikh al-Islam''" in his work ''Al-Wabil al-Sayyib min al-Kalim al-Tayyab'' <ref name=":1" />

== Works ==
===Arabic===
* Anwar al-Tahqeeq 
* Dhamm al-Kalaam
* Manāzel al-Sā'erīn
* Kitaab al-Frooq
* Kitaab al-Arba'een
* Resala Manaqib Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (Arabic: رسالة مناقب الإمام أحمد بن حنبل)
* Zad-ul Arefeen (Arabic: زاد االعارفین)
===Persian===
* Munajat Namah  (Persian: مناجات نامه)
* Nasayeh (Persian: نصایح)
* Kanz-ul Salikeen (Persian: کنز السالکین)
* Haft Hesar (Persian: هفت حصار)
* Elahi Namah (Persian: الهی نامه)
* Muhabbat Namah (Persian: محبت نامه)
* Qalandar Namah (Persian: قلندر نامه)
* Resala-é Del o Jan (Persian: رساله دل و جان)
* Resala-é Waredat (Persian: رساله واردات)
* Sad Maidan  (Persian: صد میدان)

==See also==
{{portal|Poetry}}
* [[Firangi Mahal]]
* [[Abu al-Abbas al-Nahawandi]]
*Ansaris of Saharanpur
*[[Ansari (Panipat)]]
* [[Abu Ayyub al-Ansari]]
* [[Hakim Ahmad Shuja]] 
* [[Muhammad Latif Ansari]]
* [https://archive.org/details/ANSARISOFYUSUFPUR/mode/2up Ansaris of Yusufpur] <ref>{{Cite book |last=Mahmud Ansari |url=http://archive.org/details/ANSARISOFYUSUFPUR |title=ANSARIS OF YUSUFPUR |date=November 2013}}</ref>

==Further reading==
* ''Stations of the Sufi Path, The One Hundred Fields (Sad Maydan) of Abdullah Ansari of Herat'', translated by Nahid Angha [https://web.archive.org/web/20041217082004/http://www.archetypebooks.com/ www.archetypebooks.com]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* [https://archive.org/details/TheInvocationsOfShaykhAbdullahAlAnsari The Invocations of Abdullah Al Ansari] (in English) at archive.org.

{{Persian literature}}
{{Hanbali scholars}}
{{People of Khorasan}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansari, Khwaja Abdullah}}
[[Category:People from Herat]]
[[Category:Najjarite people]]
[[Category:Hanbalis]]
[[Category:Atharis]]
[[Category:Iranian Muslim mystics]]
[[Category:Sufi mystics]]
[[Category:1006 births]]
[[Category:1088 deaths]]
[[Category:11th-century Persian-language poets]]
[[Category:11th-century writers]]
[[Category:11th-century Iranian people]]
[[Category:11th-century jurists]]