Ibn ʿAbbād

▪ Islamic theologian

in full Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Isḥāq Ibrāhīm an-Nafzī al-Ḥimyarī ar-Rundī

born 1333, Ronda, Spain

died 1390, buried Bāb al-Futūḥ, Mor.

      Islamic theologian who became the leading mystical thinker of North Africa in the 14th century.

      Attracted to Morocco by the famous madrasahs (religious colleges), Ibn ʿAbbād emigrated there at an early age. He abandoned legal studies in a quest for mystical knowledge. In 1359 he settled in the town of Salé and became an adherent of the Shādhilīyah order of mystics, which emphasized a personal commitment to Sufism (Islamic mysticism) and institutionalized spiritual asceticism. The order's spread and popularity in North Africa owed much to Ibn ʿAbbād's teachings and writings. Because the order and Ibn ʿAbbād represented moderate mystical tendencies, there was no conflict between them and the traditional theologians of Morocco, and in 1375 he was appointed an imam (leader of public prayers) by the ruler of Morocco.

      As a scholar, Ibn ʿAbbād was especially noted for two collections of his correspondence, Rasāʾil kubrā (“Major Correspondence”) and Rasāʾil ṣughrā (“Minor Correspondence”), which contained spiritual directions and instructions to his followers.

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