Book: Methods of Verifying Lineage According to the Book Rasa'il Fi 'Ilm Al-Ansab
Book Title: Methods of Verifying Lineage According to the Book Rasa'il Fi 'Ilm Al-Ansab: A Case Study of the Ba 'Alawi Lineage by Sheikh Al-Husain ibn Haidar Al-Hashimi
Title of original version (in Indonesian): Metode Menetapkan Nasab Menurut Kitab Rasa'il Fl 'Ilm Al·Ansab Studi Kasus Nasab Ba'alwi Karya Syaikh Al-Husain Bin Haidar Al-Hasyimi
Author: K.H. Imaduddin Utsman Al-Bantani
Positions: a) Chairman of the Fatwa Commission of MUI Banten; b) Member of LBM PBNU; c) Caretaker of Pondok Pesantren Nahdlatul Ulum Banten
Publisher: Maktabah Nahdlatul Ulum Banten
Year of Publication: 2024 AD
City: Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia
Publisher of English version: Al-Khoirot Research and Publication
Location: Malang, East Java
Field of Study: History, Genealogy (Ilmu Nasab), Ba'alawi "Sadah"
Table of Content
- Introduction
- CHAPTER I: THE TEXT OF THE BOOK RASA'IL FI 'ILM AL-ANSAB
- The Verification of Lineage According to Genealogists
- The First Method: The widespread notoriety (istifadah) of a lineage and its fame (syuhrah) in one's home territory
- The Second Method: The books of substitute genealogists (abdal)
- The Third Method: The establishment of legal proof (al-bayyinah al-syar'iyyah)
- The Fourth Method: That the tribe itself acknowledges and admits, for an individual or a group, the truth and validity of their lineage
- The Fifth Method: That a sane man acknowledges and admits that a certain individual is his son
- The Sixth Method: The drawing of lots (al-qur'ah)
- The Seventh Method: Human physiognomy (qiyafat al-bashar)
- Methods Validated by Biologists
- Back to Book: An Indonesian Scholar Proves The Falsity of The Ba 'Alawi Lineage Connecting to the Prophet Muhammad
Introduction
By offering praise and adoration to Allah SWT, the author presents this short
book to the readers. This book discusses the method of authenticating lineage
(itsbat nasab) found in the book Rasa'il Fi 'Ilm al-Ansab by Sheikh Al-Husain
bin Haidar al-Hashimi. In this book, the author provides a translation and
commentary (syarah) on the true intent of the original author's statements.
Furthermore, the author references the various legal opinions (aqwal) of
scholars that pertain to the topic at hand.
The author believes
that the publication of this book is crucial regarding the discourse on the
Ba'alwi lineage, given that the Ba'alwi community frequently quotes this book,
Rasa'il, yet their understanding of it contradicts how it should actually be
understood by jurists (fuqaha) and genealogists. For instance, they argue that
if a lineage has achieved widespread recognition and notoriety (Shuhrah wa
al-Istifadah), then that lineage is valid even if it is completely unconfirmed
by genealogical text books. In reality, both jurists and genealogists have
established the rule that Syuhrah wa al-Istifadlah can only be used as a tool
to verify lineage as long as there is no conflicting evidence (mu'arid) in the
form of witnesses or records in authoritative genealogical texts.
May
this book bring benefits to us all.
Kresek, Banten, September 17,
2024
Imaduddin Utsman Al-Bantanie
CHAPTER I: THE TEXT OF THE BOOK RASA'IL FI 'ILM AL-ANSAB
Before the author provides a commentary (sharah) on the methods of verifying lineage (ithbat an-nasab) found in the book Rasa'il Fi 'Ilm al-Ansab, it is highly beneficial for us to first present the specific section of the book that explains these verification methods as follows:
ثبوت النسب عند علماء النسب
ويثبت النسب بالعلامات الواضحات ،
وبالبينات الثابتات ، ولا يثبت بالشبهات ، لما يترتب عليه من حقوق ، واستحقاقات ،
ومعاملات ، وقد عد علماء النَّسَبِ خمس طرائق لثبوته :
The Verification of Lineage According to Genealogists
Lineage is verified through clear indicators and established evidence; it is never verified through ambiguities, given the legal rights, entitlements, and transactions that depend upon it. Genealogists have enumerated five methods for its verification:
الطريق الأول : اسْتِفَاضَة النسب وشهرته في بلده ، شهرة تثمر علماً ، واستفاضة
بين بين عددٍ عدد من النَّاسِ يقع العلم يخبرهم أو الفن القوي ، ويؤمن توافقهم
على الكذب ، مع عدم المعارض . والاستفاضة التسامع ، وهي مِنْ أَظْهَرِ
الْبَيِّنَاتِ ، وَتَوَفَّرِ الدَّوَاعِي إِلَى نقلها، وإنما خصوها بالتسامع ،
لأَنَّ النَّسَبَ أَمْرُ لَا مَدْخَلَ لِلرُّؤْيَةِ فيه.
The First Method: The widespread notoriety (istifadah) of a lineage and its fame (syuhrah) in one's home territory
This fame must produce certain knowledge, and the widespread notoriety must exist among a sufficient number of people such that their reports convey knowledge or strong conviction, and where collusion to fabricate a lie is safely ruled out, provided there is no conflicting evidence (mu'aridh). Widespread notoriety relies on common hearing (tasaamu'), and it is among the most manifest forms of evidence due to the strong motivations surrounding its transmission. They specifically restricted this to common hearing because lineage is a matter in which physical sight plays no part.
تعني وصورتها في في الحمل ، أَنْ يَسْمَعَ الشَّاهِدُ أَنَّ فلاناً ينتسب الى
الشخص أو القبيلة ، وأنه قد استفاض صحته بين الناسِ ، وَأَنَّ النَّاسَ
يَنْسُبُونَهُ إِلَى ذَلِكَ ، وَأَنَّ ذَلِكَ امْتَدَّ مُدَّةً يَغْلِبُ عَلَى
الظَّنِ . فَيُكْتَفَى بِالانْتِسَابِ ، وَنِسْبَةِ النَّاسِ. ويجب التنبه إلى أن
الاستفاضة يجب أن تكون في بلدته أو قبيلته، لا تلك المزعومة والتي تكون في مهجره
، بلدة أم قبيلة ، أو أن يفتعل الشهرة شخص في الأسرة دون ان تكون الشهرة لأسرته
من قبل ! ، وهذه الصورة الأخيرة شايعة في هذه الأزمان مع النسب النبوي الشريف،
حفظه الله ، فالحاصل أن للشهرة ضوابط وليس الحديث فيها مرسلاً .
وإنما
ذكروا الشهرة بالاستفاضة دون الشهرة بالتواتر ، لأنها البداية التي يثبت بها
النكاح ، والولادة والنسب ، والموت ، أما التواتر فاشتراطه عسير جداً ، وهو يعني
أن ينتشر الخبر في الأصقاع والأقاليم كافة ،
In practice—similar to the case of testifying about a pregnancy—it means that a witness hears that a certain individual traces their descent to a specific person or tribe, that the validity of this claim has become widespread among the people, that people attribute him to that lineage, and that this has continued for a duration of time that yields a strong assumption of truth. Thus, the self-ascription and the attribution by the people are deemed sufficient.
وهذا إنما يحصل مخفوراً بالإعجاز ، كمولد نبي الله المسيح عيسى بن مريم بالسلام ،
فالاستفاضة عامة ، والتواتر يكون في بعض الحالات ، ولو اشترط التواتر لما كان
بالإمكان إثبات نسب أحد ، ثم لا مانع في أن تقوى الاستفاضة حتى تصل إلى حد
التواتر ، كما تواتر أن إبراهيم قد ولد الأمتين العربية والعبرية ، وأن الحسين بن
علي ملك الحجاز ، شريف حسني والرسول محمد الله كان مولده مستفيضاً بين قومه وأهل
بلدته ، وصَاحَبَ مَوْلِدَه خوارق ، وسبقه إرهاصات ، وتواتر لدى أهل الأرض أن
أمراً عظيماً قد حصل أو مولوداً صحاب شأن قد ولد ، ولكن الله غم الناس أمره ،
حفظاً له، إلا أنه قد جعل للناس علامات في ذلك اليوم لا ينسونها ، فتذكروها لما
صدع بالرسالة.
فحاصل ضوابط هذه الطريقة هي الاستفاضة في السماع ،
استفاضة تُورِثُ عِلماً أو ظناً قوياً . انتفاء المعارضة في العموم والخصوص ، أو
في الوثائق البينات. - قدم النسبة والشهرة . هـ أن تكون الشهرة في قبيلته ، أو في
البلد الأصلي ، لا في بلد هجرته
However, care must be taken to note that this widespread notoriety must
exist within his home territory or his own tribe, not the alleged fame that
occurs in his place of migration, whether that be a town or a tribe. Likewise,
it cannot be a fame fabricated by a single individual within a family when his
family possessed no prior notoriety! This latter scenario is widespread in
these times concerning the noble prophetic lineage—may Allah protect it.
Consequently, fame has strict criteria, and speaking of it is not an
open-ended matter.
They mentioned fame by istifadhah (widespread
notoriety) rather than fame by tawatur (absolute consecutive transmission)
because istifadhah is the baseline by which marriage, birth, lineage, and
death are established. To stipulate tawatur would be exceedingly difficult, as
it requires the news to have spread across all horizons and regions.
Such
a thing only happens when accompanied by miracles, such as the birth of the
Prophet of God, the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary—peace be upon him. Thus,
istifadhah is general, whereas tawatur occurs only in specific cases. If
tawatur were made a condition, it would be impossible to prove anyone's
lineage. Furthermore, there is nothing to prevent istifadhah from growing
stronger until it reaches the level of tawatur, just as it is consecutively
transmitted (tawatur) that Abraham fathered both the Arab and Hebrew nations,
and that Al-Husain bin Ali, the ruler of the Hejaz, was a noble Hasanid
(Sharif Hasani).
The birth of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, was
widely known (mustafidh) among his people and the inhabitants of his town; his
birth was accompanied by extraordinary signs and preceded by premonitions. It
was transmitted continuously (tawatur) among the inhabitants of the earth that
a momentous event had occurred or that a child of great significance had been
born. However, Allah concealed his true matter from the people to protect him,
though He granted people signs on that day that they could not forget, which
they remembered once he openly proclaimed his mission.
In summary,
the criteria for this method are:
- Widespread notoriety through common hearing that engenders certain knowledge or a strong assumption.
- The absence of any general or specific conflicting evidence, or conflicting clear documentation.
- The antiquity of the ascription and fame.
- That the fame must exist within his own tribe or original homeland, not in the land of his migration.
الطريق الثاني : كُتُبُ النسابين الأبدال ، العلماء الثقات ، المحققين الأثبات ،
التي لم تلحقها أيدي الهواة العابثين ، والضعفاء المتروكين ، والوضاع الكاذبين ،
لا سيما إن كانت مشهورة منتشرة، أما إن كانت مخطوطة فيجب التثبت من الخطوط ،
ومقابلة النسخ المخطوطة ، ومتى عُرف خط النسابة المحقق الثقة فإنه يعمل به ،
ويكون مستنداً شرعياً ، وعليه العمل في القديم والحديث ، وكذا العَمَلُ
بِالوِجَادَاتِ . ولذا فإن شجرة النسب التي عليها تقريرات النسابين الثقات
الأثبات ، المؤرخة ، المضبوطة ، تعد وثيقة معتبرة ، ولا عبرة بتقريرات من ليس من
أهل الدراية بالنسب . قال في شرح المجلة : قَدْ أَخَذَ فِي هَذَا الزَّمَنِ
الْعَمَلُ بِالْكِتَابَةِ وَالْخَطِ أهمية عظمى، فَقَدْ قُصِرَ إثبات كثير من
الحقوق ولا سيما مَا السَّنَدَاتُ وَالْمُقَاوَلَاتُ عَلَى الخط، فلذلك . لا يجوز
عد كل خَط مَعْمُولًا بِهِ، وَمَدَارًا لِلثَّبُوتِ، كَمَا أَنَّهُ لَا يَجُوزُ
أَلَّا يَعْمَلَ بالخط، إِذْ يُؤَدِّي ذَلِكَ إِلَى إِبْطَالِ الْحَقُوقِ ،
فَلِذَلِكَ قَدْ أتخذ طَرِيق متوسط، وَبَيَانُ الْأَصْلَيْنِ الْآتِيين
The Second Method: The books of substitute genealogists (abdal)
The books of substitute genealogists (abdal), trustworthy scholars, and
verifying authorities whose works have not been tampered with by meddling
amateurs, abandoned weak links, or fabricating liars—especially if these books
are famous and widely distributed. However, if the source is a manuscript, one
must verify the handwriting and compare the manuscript copies. Whenever the
handwriting of a trustworthy, verifying genealogist is recognized, it is acted
upon and becomes a valid legal basis; this has been the practice in both
ancient and modern times, as is the practice regarding unverified but
recognized findings (wijadat).
Therefore, a family tree (shajarat
al-nasab) that bears the signed verifications of trustworthy, verifying
genealogists, and is dated and meticulously recorded, is considered an
authoritative document. No weight is given to the verifications of those who
are not experts in the science of lineage.
It is stated in the
Sharh al-Majallah:
"In this era, reliance upon writing and
handwriting has assumed immense importance. The proof of many
rights—especially those concerning titles and contracts—has been restricted to
writing. For this reason, not every piece of writing can be treated as
actionable or as a pivot for verification; conversely, it is impermissible to
completely disregard handwriting, as that would lead to the nullification of
rights. Therefore, a middle path has been taken, as clarified by the following
two principles..."
الطريق الثالث : قيام البينة الشرعية ، والبينة هي الشهادة ، فيشهد رجلان عدلان
معروفان بعدالتهما على صدق الدعوى ، أما الأعمى ففي شهادته اختلاف ، وقيل يشهد في
ما شأنه الاستفاضة كالموت والنسب ، فيقولون في الشهادة : أشهد أني لم أزل أسمع
مِن التّقَاتِ وَغَيْرِهِمْ ، أَنَّ فُلاناً يكون نسبه كذا ، أو أن نسبته تكون
كذا.
The Third Method: The establishment of legal proof (al-bayyinah al-syar'iyyah)
The establishment of legal proof (al-bayyinah al-syar'iyyah), which consists of testimony. Two upright men ('adlan), well-known for their integrity, must testify to the truth of the claim. As for a blind man, there is a scholarly disagreement regarding his testimony; it is said that he may testify in matters that depend on widespread notoriety, such as death and lineage. In their testimony, they state: "I testify that I have continuously heard from trustworthy individuals and others that the lineage of so-and-so is such, or that his ascription is such."
الطريق الرابع : أن تعترف القبيلة وتقر ، لفرد أو جماعة ، بصدق النسب وصحته ،
ومقصودنا بالجماعة أي إحدى طبقات النسب ، واعتراف القبيلة وإقرارها يكون كذلك
لأجل الاستفاضة فيها ، ولا قيمة للشهادات الشاذة ، كما لا قيمة لشهادة زعيم
القبيلة منفرداً لا سيما إن كان جاهلاً بالأنساب والأخبار .
The Fourth Method: That the tribe itself acknowledges and admits, for an individual or a group, the truth and validity of their lineage.
By a group, we mean one of the generational tiers of lineage. The tribe's acknowledgment and admission likewise stem from the widespread notoriety within it. No value is given to anomalous (syadz) testimonies, just as no value is given to the isolated testimony of a tribal chieftain, especially if he is ignorant of lineages and historical reports.
الطريق الخامس : أن يعترف رجل عاقل ويُقر ، أن فلاناً يكون ابنه، ويكون المدعي
ممن يولد مثله لمثل الدعي ، وانتفت الموانع ، والموانع كثيرة ، نحو ألا يكون
التفاوت في بينهما نحو عشر سنين، بل لابد أن يكون أكثر، ونحو كونهما من أهل بلد
واحد... لأَنَّ ثُبُوتَ النَّسَبِ يَعْتَمِدُ التَّصَورَ. وأقر الفقهاء طرائق
النسابين ، وزادوا عليها
The Fifth Method: That a sane man acknowledges and admits that a certain individual is his son.
The claimant must be of an age where someone like him could father someone
like the child claimed, and all impediments must be absent. Impediments are
many, such as the age gap between them being less than about ten years—rather,
it must be more—or the condition that they are from the same town... because
the verification of lineage relies upon rational conception.
The
jurists (fuqaha) have validated the methods of the genealogists and added to
them:
الطريق السادس : القرعة .
The Sixth Method: The drawing of lots (al-qur'ah).
الطريق السابع : قيافة البشر ، وهي : إلحاق الابن بالأب بالصفات المتماثلة،
والحكم بثبوت النسب بدلائل الأعضاء ، شأنها في ذلك شأن البينة العادلة . والقيافة
قيافتان ، قيافة البشر ، وقيافة الأثر ، ولا بد من أن يكون القائف مجرباً ممتحناً
، والفقهاء يثبتون بها النسب إلا فقهاء الأحناف. والحديث في هذا واسع ومبسوط في
كتب الفقه والأقضية والقوانين ، كما أن القصص كثيرة ، فمن ذلك:
The Seventh Method: Human physiognomy (qiyafat al-bashar).
This is the practice of tracing a son to a father based on matching physical characteristics, and ruling on the verification of lineage through the evidence of bodily limbs; in this regard, it functions like upright testimony. Physiognomy is of two types: human physiognomy (qiyafat al-bashar) and track-reading physiognomy (qiyafat al-atsar). The physiognomist (qa'if) must be experienced and tested. Jurists verify lineage through it, with the exception of the Hanafi jurists. Discourse on this topic is expansive and detailed in books of jurisprudence, judicature, and law, and historical anecdotes regarding it are numerous. Among them:
أن أرطأة بن سهية هجا شبيب ابن البرصاء فقال: من مبلغ فتيان مرة ، انه هجانی این
برضاء العجان شبيب فلوكنت عرفيا عميت فأسهلت كذاك ولكن المريب عريب.
Arthah bin Suhaiyah lampooned Shabib ibn al-Barsha, saying: Who will convey to the youths of Murrah that I have been lampooned by the son of the dark-skinned woman, Shabib? If you were truly a Murrite, you would have gone blind and found it easy, just like them; but a doubtful person remains an outsider.
روى بعضهم الشعر : (فلو كنت مريا) ، وهذا غلط ، لأن أرطأة وشبيباً جميعاً مريان ، وإنما العمى فاش في بني عوف منهم ، ولو كان الشعر بهذا اللفظ ، لكان هو أيضاً قد انتفى من نسبه ، لأنه مري ولم يكن أعمى ، وبنو عوف هم قوم شبيب ، كان إذا أسن الرجل فيهم عمى ، قل من يفلت فيهم من ذلك . كان ابوه أعمى، وجده أعمى ، وجد أبيه أعمى ، يقول : فلو لم تكن مدخول النسب كنت أعمى كآبائك .
Some have narrated the line as: (If you were a Murrite), but this is an error, because both Arthah and Shabib are Murrites. Blindness was only rampant among the clan of Bani Auf from among them. If the poetry had used those exact words, Arthah would have also excluded himself from his own lineage, because he was a Murrite and was not blind. The Bani Auf were the people of Shabib; when a man among them grew old, he went blind—very few among them escaped it. Shabib's father was blind, his grandfather was blind, and his father's grandfather was blind. Arthah was saying: If your lineage were not corrupted, you would be blind like your forefathers.
وكل من كان منهم أعمى ، فهو صحيح النسب . فقيل : إن أرطاة لما قال هذا الهجو ، كان كل شيخ من بني عوف يتمنى أن يعمى. قال : إن جده الأكبر لقي علي بن أبي طالب ، فأساء مخاطبته ، فدعا عليه وعلى ولده بالعمى . أما غواية الشعراء فلا يعتد بها النسابون ، إلا ما صح عندهم أنه ليس غواية ، فمن ذلك قول مروان بن أبي الجيوب في علي بن الجهم ، وقد عرض في نسبه تعريضاً قبيحاً إلى الغاية :
Any among them who was blind was considered of valid lineage. It is said that when Arthah uttered this lampoon, every elder of the Bani Auf wished to go blind. The narrator added: His great-grandfather met Ali bin Abi Talib and addressed him insolently, so Ali prayed against him and his descendants to be afflicted with blindness. As for the poetic license or deviations of poets, genealogists give them no weight, except what is proven to them to be free from delusion. An example of this is the saying of Marwan bin Abi al-Jayub regarding Ali bin al-Jahm, wherein he insinuated a highly repulsive slur against his lineage:
لعمرك ما جهم بن بدر بشاعر * وهذا على ابنه يدعي الشعرا
By your life, Jahm bin Badr was no poet * yet this son of his claims poetry for himself.
ولكن ابى قد كان جارا لامه* فلما ادعى الاشعار افهمني الامرا
But my father used to be a neighbor to his mother * so when he claimed poetry, he made the matter clear to me.
ومن غوايتهم ما يسمونه ظرافة أدبية ، ويحسبونه هيناً ، وهو عند الله عظيم
،
Among their poetic caprices is what they call literary wit, and they deem it light, though before Allah it is monstrous.
فمن ذلك قول أحدهم:
An example is the saying of one of them:
انت عندي عربي الاصل ما فيك كلام * شغر ساقيك وفخديك خزامي وثمام
To me, you are of Arab origin, there is no doubt about you * the hair on your shins and thighs is like lavender and panic grass.
وضلوع السلو من صدرك نبع وبشام * وقذي عينيك صمغ ونواصيك ثغام
The ribs of a saluki hound in your chest are like wild tree-wood and balsam and the rheum of your eyes is gum-resin, and your forelocks are gray-white shrubs.
وظباء خاضبات ويرابيع عظام * انا ما ذنبي اذ كذبني فيك الانام
You are like dyed gazelles and large desert gerboas * what is my sin if mankind calls me a liar concerning you?
وبدت منك سجايا نبطيات لئام * وقفا يخلف ما ان عرفت فيه الكرام
Traits of the mean Nabataeans have manifested from you and a nape that betrays what I ever recognized of noble men.
وكذبوا ما أنت إلا عربي ترام * بيته في وسط سلمي وحواليه السلام
They lied; you are nothing but an Arab to be aimed * at his tent is pitched in the middle of Salma, and around him is safety.
عربي ، عربي عربي والسلام.
An Arab, an Arab, an Arab, and that is all.
طريق أقرها البيولوجيون
Methods Validated by Biologists
ما أقر البيولوجيون الطرائق الآنفة ، وزادوا عليها التحاليل المخبرية الجينية ، وتبعهم في ذلك النسابون ، والذي يعتد به قطعاً بلا خلاف إنما هي تلك التحاليل المخبرية التي تثبت أن فلاناً ينتسب إلى أبيه القريب أو إلى أجداده القريبين .
Biologists have validated the aforementioned methods and added to them laboratory genetic testing, and genealogists have followed them in this. What is definitively counted without dispute are those laboratory analyses that prove a person belongs to his immediate father or his close ancestors.
وأما تلك التي مردها للأنساب البعيدة الموغلة في القدم ، فلا يقطعون بها ، وإنما يستأنسون بها ، نظراً لكون الأبحاث في هذا المجال في بداية طريقها ، فليس هناك قانون منضبط تماماً – حتى الآن – فيمكن اعتمادها.
As for those tests whose results are applied to distant lineages buried deep
in antiquity, they do not view them as definitive. Rather, they use them
merely for familiarization and reassurance, given that research in this field
is still in its infancy. Thus, there is no completely disciplined law—up to
this point—by which they can be absolute.
(Rasail Fi Ilm al-Ansab,
Pages 101-107)