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IMAM AL-RAWWASI ( ); THERESULTOFRESPECT

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Imam Umar ibn Abdil Karim Al-Rawwasi (rahimahullah) was born in the year 428 A.H, inDihistan and he passed away in 503 A.H.

What they said about him

Imam Abu Jafar al-Hamazhani ( ) says: I never saw in those countries anyone likehim, instead not in the entire world! He was a mobile book. He travelled the world in

search of the knowledge of Hadith. I met him in Makkah and I saw the Ulama praising and

speaking good about him. Thereafter I met him in Jurjan and befriended him.

He was an expert in this field, to such an extent that his teacher Khatib Al-Baghdadi ( ) as well as other great Ulama and Muhaddithun acquired hadith from him. ImamGhazali ( ) corrected his copy of the saheehain[1] from him.Imam Al- Samani ( ) mentions regarding him in his book: Al-Ansab :He was one of the leading scholars of his time. He had traveled extensively and gathered

knowledge from places such as : Khurasan, Iraq, Syria, Hijaz , Egypt and Al-Jazeerah.

He was called Al-Rawwasi (head-seller) because his father use to sell animal-heads in

Dihistan.

The Product of Respect for a Scholar

Once Shaykh Abu Masood Ahmad Al-Bajali ( ) came to Dihistan. Whilehe was there, he needed to to purchase a head from the father of Imam Umar (The

fathers name was:Abul Hasan). The father said : I recognize you to be a person ofknowledge and it doesnt befit you that you sit in my shop, so go to the masjid and I will

deliver it to you. When he went to the masjid, Abul Hasan (the father of Imam Umar Al-

Rawwasi ( ) sent his son Umar to the Shaykh, with well roasted head with cleanbread, vinegar and herbs. Imam Umar ( ) at the time was a very young boy.Shaykh Abu Masood ( ) was very pleased by this deed of the head-seller.So when he completed his meal, he thanked the head-seller and said: you have done

good to me but I have nothing with which I could recompense you. Is it possible that you

send your son to me so that I may teach him some of the noble Ahadith of Rasulullah

(sallallahualaihi wasallam) ?

The father was delighted with the idea and sent him along.

Thereafter Shaykh Abu Masood ( ) took Imam Umar Al-Rawwasi ( ) with himto the Ulama of Dihistan and he also taught him personally. In this manner the knowledge

of Hadith opened up to him as he traveled long distances on his own thereafter collecting

Ahadith that no other person from his contemporaries did and in doing so he mastered the

field.

Imaam Ibn Nuqtah ( ) says: I heard from numerous Scholars that Sheikh Umar Al-Rawwasi ( ) had approximately 3600 teachers!!!His Unimaginable Sacrifice

Imam Khuzaimah ibn Ali Al-Marwazi ( ) says: Once Imam Umar Al-Rawwasis (

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7/27/2019 Imam Al-Rawwasi ( ); the result of Respect

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) fingers fell off while on sojourn due to the extreme cold!!Subhanallah!!

On one occasion Imam Abu Bakr Al-Samani ( ) asked Imam Umar ( ) tocome to Marw so that he may benefit from him. He remarked to his students: Iintend to

go to Marw but Sarakhs is on the way and it has became famous to be the graveyard of

knowledge so I dont know if I will make it to Marw. It is said that he passed away in

Sarakhs before he reached Marw in Rabee u thani, in the year 503 A.H.

.May Allah shower his abundant mercy upon him, and grant him Jannah. May Allah grant us the ability

to follow in the footsteps of such Ulama. Ameen.

Extracted from the book: Incidents of the sacrifices of theUlama in their quest for knowledgeBy Shaykh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah (rahimahullah)

Note: He probably referred to Sarakhs as the graveyard of knowledge due to the large

number of scholars who may have passed away there. Allah knows best.

Morals

Among the many lessons to be learnt from the life of Imam Umar Al-

Rawwasi (rahimahullah) are :

The way in which Allah accepted him for the knowledge of deen. i.e, The generosity

and kindness of his father. This enlightens us on the great reward that Allah bestows

those who honour the Ulama of deen.

His sacrifice to such an extent that his fingers fell off but he still refused to rest and

continued to travel for the sake of knowledge until his death.

His courage and zeal for traveling so extensively. Like a bee moving about to the

different flowers extracting nutritious pollen. Imagine his patience in traversing on all

types of terrain just to meet the various Ulama that the number of his tutors added

upto 3600!

When one studies the life of the earlier scholars, one realises how far off we are from even

trying to emulate them.

May Allah guide us all to the correct path. Ameen.

[1] Sahih Al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim, the two most celebrated books of Hadith.

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