Download or read book 'Abd Allah B. Al-mubarak Between Hadith, Jihad, and Zuhd: An Expression of Early Sunni Identity in the Formative Period written by and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the figure of 'Abd Allah b. al-Mubarak (118/736-181/797), we find a paragon of the fields of hadith, zuhd, and jihad, as attested to by the contents of the large number of references to him in the classical Islamic texts. His superior rank as a hadith transmitter earned him the title of "commander of the faithful" in hadith among many later critics. He also contributed to Islamic law at its early phases of development, was a practitioner of jihad, composed poetry, and participated in various theological discussions during his time period. In addition, Ibn al-Mubarak was a pioneer in writing on piety and he was later regarded by many mystics to be one of the earliest figures of Sufism. Ibn al-Mubarak's chronological position during the formative period of Islamic thought creates an illustration of a unique history of the evolution of zuhd, hadith, and jihad which forms a junction in the biography Ibn al-Mubarak in a way that distinctively illuminates the 2nd/8th century dynamics of nascent Sunnism. Furthermore, Ibn al-Mubarak's status as a fighter and pious figure of the Late Antique period reveals a great deal about the complex relationship between the early Muslim community and the religiously diverse setting which they inhabited. The following monograph on the figure of 'Abd Allah b. al-Mubarak examines his life both critically and comprehensively while situating him within the larger context of the social and religious milieu of Late Antiquity.