Al-Qassab
Muslim warrior-scholar, exegete and Hadith specialist
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Abu Ahmad Muhammad bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Karaji, better known as al-Qassab, was a Muslim warrior-scholar, exegete and specialist in Hadith studies.[1][2] He has, at times, been confused with his son Abu al-Hasan Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Karaji.
Al-Qassab | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | Muhammad al-Karaji |
| Died | 970 |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age |
| Region | Iranian plateau |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced | |
Life
Qassab lived in Karaj in Central Iran. He died in the year 360 according to the Islamic calendar, corresponding to 970 on the Gregorian calendar.[3] Having been a soldier under the Abbasid Caliphate, he received the nicknamed Qassab or "the butcher" due to his skill on the battlefield and the large number of opponents he slayed.[4]
In his exegesis of the Qur'an, he would often refer to linguistic arguments in order to prove his point.[1] Qassab was noted among Muslim theologians as holding the view that the testimony of a convicted criminal could later be accepted in unrelated cases if they performed a public repentance for their own crime.[5] Like Ibn Hazm who would come after him, Qassab did not accept the Hadith regarding rejection of the convict's testimony as authentically linked to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[6] The issue is a much debated one in Islamic law.