Yaḥyā Ibn Muʻādh Al-Rāzī and His Disciples: Their Influence on Early Sufism

Abstract

Yaḥyā ibn Muʻādh al-Rāzī (d. 258/872) is one of the prominent figures of early Sufism in the Jibāl region. According to later Sufi biographies and manuals, he was the primary among Sufis to preach from a pulpit, which that is why he is alluded to as ‘the Preacher’ (al-wāʻiẓ). Yaḥyā has travelled extensively throughout the Islamic world, preaching and earning a living. Some believe that Yaḥyā's followers called themselves Muʻādhiyya and refrained from making a definite statement about the punishment of the Hereafter or the forgiveness of major sins. The aim of this study is to discuss the some of the main elements of the Karrāmiyya attitude, like the issue of God's forgiveness, true trust in God, and the emphasis on hope for God's beneficence, which can be found in the preaching of Yaḥyā ibn Muʻādh. In addition, his ontological and mystical attitude to the Creation will be examined. The article then focuses on two of his famous disciples, Ibrāhīm bin Aḥmad al-Khawwāṣ (d. 291/894) and Yūsuf bin al-Ḥusayn al-Rāzī (d. 304/916-7). Al-Khawwāṣ is the best-known advocate of tawakkul, who carried the idea of self-abandonment and trust in God to the extreme. The Malāmatī orientation of Yūsuf al-Rāzī is one of the most significant points that hagiographers underline about his mystical worldview.