Medieval Sermon Studies, Vol.

50, 2006

IBN gABBAD OF RONDAS SERMON ON THE PROPHETS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: PREACHING THE SUFI AND SUNNI PATHS OF ISLAM
Linda G. Jones
University of Ramon Llull
This article focuses on the sermons and preaching method of Ibn gAbbad of Ronda (d. 1390), a Sufi mystic and chief liturgical preacher of Fez, in order to introduce the tradition of medieval Islamic preaching to specialists of its Christian counterpart. It begins with a brief description of the formal characteristics of Islamic homiletic genres and of the social milieu in which Ibn gAbbad preached. Particular attention will be given to an eyewitness account of Ibn gAbbads preaching and his own writings on the subject, the latter of which must be understood less as a preaching manual than a manifesto of the preachers social roles and responsibilities. Finally, a detailed analysis of his most famous sermon for the Prophets birthday celebration (mawlid al-nabi) will be undertaken to highlight the key characteristics of the gAbbadian homily. It is argued that the rhetorical devices that he employs, namely the citation of the canonical authorities of Sunni Islam, as well as Sufi mystics; the use of semantic condensation (talkhis al-magani), which allows for multiple interpretations of a concept; and his composition of sermons for canonical as well as para-liturgical occasions, clearly position him in the ongoing debate among jurists, theologians and Sufis over definitions of orthopraxy. Liturgical preaching (khitaba shargiyya) is but one sub-genre of a vast Arabic tradition of oratory that pre-dates Islam and was performed in a variety of public ceremonial contexts.1 Preaching was the instrument through which the Prophet Muhammad spread his message of religious and political reform. Following his death in 632 CE, Muslims integrated the khutba (sermon) into their canonical worship, converting it into a mass medium for communicating religious doctrine and ideology as well as for promoting reform and revolutionary movements. Given the historical longevity and status of Islamic preaching in the Islamic world, scholars of the medieval Christian sermon might be surprised at how
Arabic khitaba, like Greco-Roman oratory, served multiple social functions and appeared in many guises: as panegyric, proclamations of war or peace, speeches at official receptions, weddings, and gift-exchange ceremonies and public moral exhortation, to name just a few. Qur'anic references throughout the article are from The Holy Quraan, trans. and commentaries by A. Yusuf Ali (Brentwood [Maryland], 1983). 2006 International Medieval Sermon Studies Society DOI: 10.1179/136606906X119598
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little academic attention its Muslim counterpart has received.2 Studies on exhortatory preaching (wagz) are the exception; however, far more has been written about the contested authority of the so-called popular preacher vis--vis the official preacher and the authorities than about the sermons form, content or performance.3 No attempt has been made to identify systematically and catalogue individual sermons or sermon collections or to devise a typology of medieval preaching. This article focuses on the sermons and preaching method of one liturgical preacher, Ibn gAbbad of Ronda (d. 1390), in order to introduce the tradition of medieval Islamic preaching to specialists of its Christian counterpart. The first part of this essay will provide a general introduction to the Islamic homiletic tradition. The second part describes the life and thought of Ibn gAbbad of Ronda and will situate him within the social milieu of fourteenth-century Maghrebi and Andalusian Sufi mysticism and Maliki Islam.4 Particular attention will be given to an eyewitness account of Ibn gAbbads preaching and his own writings on the subject. I will conclude with an analysis of his most famous sermon, the khutba for the celebration of the Prophets birthday (mawlid al-nabi), to highlight the key characteristics of the gAbbadian homily. The choice of Ibn gAbbad of Ronda is not at all random. Ibn gAbbad of Ronda (Spain) was one of the most illustrious figures of fourteenth-century Maghreb. He was a renowned Sufi master, official prayer leader, and chief preacher (khatib) of the Qarwayyin congregational mosque in Fez. His appointment in 1375 as official prayer leader and preacher of Fezs principal mosque corroborates the thesis that by the fourteenth century Sufism had

2 There are several book-length studies on modern Islamic preaching. See especially, Richard Antoun, Muslim Preacher in the Modern World: A Jordanian Case Study in Comparative Perspective (Princeton, 1989); and Patrick Gaffney, The Prophetas Pulpit: Islamic Preaching in Contemporary Egypt (Berkeley, 1994). Conversely, scholarship on the liturgical sermon remains limited to a few journal and encyclopaedia-length articles, all written some fifty or more years ago, which provide only a general overview of the historical development and characteristics of Islamic preaching. See John Arnold, A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith (Lahore, 1961); J. Pedersen, Khatib, in Encyclopaedia of Islam, CD-ROM Edition, Volumes iix, 1999, ed. by C. E. Bosworth and others (Leiden, 1999), iv, 1109b; J. Pedersen, The Criticism of the Islamic Preacher, Die Welt des Islam, 36 (1953), 21531; and A. J. Wensinck, Khutba, Encyclopaedia of Islam, v, 74a. [Please note that the CD-ROM version of The Encylopaedia of Islam is the new edition, ed. by C. E. Bosworth and others, Volumes iix, 19541980. The CD-ROM version page numbers are always followed by either the letter a or b to indicate either the left or right column of the page, respectively, in which the original article appeared. The page numbers of the CD-ROM version correspond exactly to the hard copy edition.] My dissertation was written in part to fill in the scholarly gap on the medieval liturgical khutba. See Linda Gale Jones, The Boundaries of Sin and Communal Identity: Muslim and Christian Preaching and the Transmission of Cultural Identity in Medieval Iberia and the Maghreb (12th to 15th Centuries) (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2004). 3 The major publications on the topic are: Johannes Pedersen, The Islamic preacher, Wa`iz, Mudhakkir, Qass, in Ignace Goldziher Memorial Volume, Part I, ed. by S. Lowinger and J. Somogyz (Budapest, 1948); Merlin L. Swartz, Ibn al-Jawzias Kitab al-Qussas wa 'l-mudhakkirin (Beirut, 1986). See also his Arabic rhetoric and the art of the homily in medieval Islam, in Religion and Culture in Medieval Islam, ed. by. R. G. Hovannisian and G. Sabagh (Cambridge, 1999), 3665; Khalil `Athamina, Al-Qasas: Its Emergence, Religious Origin, and its Socio-Political Impact on Early Muslim Society, Studia Islamica, 76 (1992), 5374; and Jonathan Berkey, Popular Preaching and Religious Authority in the Medieval Islamic Near East (Seattle, 2001). 4 The prevailing school of Sunni legal interpretation for most of the history of the Maghreb and al-Andalus.

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become well-integrated into Nasrid Granada and the Maghreb.5 It was no longer uncommon to find Sufis wielding political power and holding official religious posts.6 Ibn `Abbad thus embodies the blurring of the categories between Sufi mystic and traditional religious scholar (galim), between mystical, elite and popular religious discourses. His sermons attest to the symbiosis that came to exist between the liturgical sermon (khutba shargiyya) and the non-canonical exhortatory and storytelling genres associated with Sufi religious practices. The Muslim homiletic traditions Islam developed various homiletic traditions, the khutba (liturgical sermon), the mawaiza (pious exhortation, also called wagz or tadhkir), the qissa (homiletic storytelling), and qiragat al-kursi (recitation from the chair).7 The khutba shargiyya (liturgical or canonical sermon) is the equivalent of the Christian sermo de tempore the sermon prescribed for the liturgical contexts of the Friday congregational prayer, religious feast days and other formal rituals, such as rogation processions. According to Islamic law, holding the canonical sermon is a collective duty (fard kifaai), the fulfilment of which by a sufficient number of adult, free male Muslims exempts the remaining community members from fulfilling it.8 The legal conditions governing the institution and performance of the khutba may vary slightly from one school of legal interpretation (madhhab) to another.9 In all cases, however, the khutba is a ritual encased within a larger ritual ceremony, and must conform to a set of legal or liturgical norms (ahkam) that Muslim sources invariably attribute to the Prophets own

5 Some Maliki religious jurists expressed opposition to Sufism in al-Andalus and the Maghreb well into the twelfth century, a situation that changed due to the Almohad dynastys policy of diffusing the works of al-Ghazzali and other Sufis. See Maribel Fierro, Opposition to Sufism in al-Andalus, in Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Controversies and Polemics, ed. by F. de Jong and B. Radtke (Leiden, 1999), pp. 174206. 6 Fierro, Opposition to Sufism in al-Andalus, pp. 19798. 7 George Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West (Edinburgh, 1981), p. 218. None of the sources I have examined mentions this term; however, there are several references to preachers reading to audiences from pious exhortations (kutub al-tadhkir) or the books of warnings and delights (kutub al-mawagiz wa al-raqaaiq). 8 For a brief explanation of the legal concept of a collective duty, see Th. W. Juynboll, FARD, Encyclopaedia of Islam, ii, 790a. Concerning womens attendance of the Friday communal prayer and sermon, the Maliki jurisprudent Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qairawani (d. 996), stipulated in his treatise on Maliki law that attendance of the Friday communal prayer is not obligatory for those travelling over long distances, pilgrims performing the Hajj to Mecca, women and children. He also specified that young women should not attend the Friday prayer, while older women who do attend must situate themselves behind the rows of the men. Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qairawani, La Risala: Tratado de creencia y derecho musulman trans. by `Ali Laraki (Mallorca, 2000), p. 165. By way of comparison, see Norman Calders explanation of the rite according to the Shafi`i school of law in Norman Calder, Friday prayer and the juristic theory of government: Sarakhsi, Shirazi, Mawardi, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 49 (1986), 3547. 9 For instance, according to hadith reports recorded in Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj and Ibn Hanbal, it was the Umayyad caliph Marwan (r. 68485) and not the Prophet Muhammad who first instituted the systematic celebration of the khutba in conjunction with the Friday prayer and other feast days. See Wensinck, Khutba.

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custom (sunnah), but which most likely were instituted following his death.10 According to the Prophets sunnah, the preacher (khatib) pronounces two khutbas (khutbatan), which must be brief; however, they may be longer on feast days. He must deliver the khutba standing in a pulpit while leaning on a sword or staff (symbols of power).11 He must pause briefly after the first sermon, sit down, recite a Qur'anic verse and pray before commencing the second sermon. Throughout the two khutbas the audience must sit facing the preacher in the direction of Mecca and remain completely silent. Liturgical khutbas must be performed in conjunction with the congregational prayer, immediately preceding it on Fridays and following it on feast days. The first sermon is called the exhortatory khutba (al-khutba al-wagziyya), demonstrating the central role of pious and moral exhortation. The second, qualifying sermon (al-khutba al-nagtiyya) is thematically related to the first, but emphasizes moral teachings and prayers dedicated to the Prophet, the ruler and the community. Each khutba consists of three parts: an initial doxology, comprised of two liturgical formulae of praises to God and the testament of faith that there is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger; the ritual blessings upon the Prophet and his family; and the main body of the sermon. The preachers embellishments of the two doxological formulae indicate the khutbas main theme. The preacher first addresses the audience directly saying the words Oh people, Servants of God or Now then in imitation of the Prophet Muhammad. The main part of the first khutba begins with an admonition (wasiya) that is analogous to the Christian protheme and sets the agenda of the discourse. For example, a Friday khutba for the month of Rajab, considered one of the holy months of the Islamic calendar, may begin with a general exhortation to seize the opportunity of this sacred time to repent of ones sins. The khatib may then urge specific devotional acts of repentance whose fulfilment brings eschatological rewards but whose negligence threatens the punishments of hell. The preacher may intersperse these warnings with recitations of Qur'anic verses and citations of hadith and similitudes (amthal) that affirm the eschatological rewards of repentance, the virtues of the month in question, or other related themes. The exhortations and authoritative citations form a semantic unit that builds in intensity toward its inevitable denouement in a proclamation that defines the community as one that complies with the sermons main theme. For instance, God has made us among those who seek his repentance. The second

10 See note 2 above. Pedersen explains, for instance, that the practice of standing in a pulpit and wielding a sword or staff in the hand while speaking are the signals of authority of pre-Islamic judges. The editor of al-Qairawanis treatise explains that according to Maliki law, the khatib must hold the staff or sword in his right hand, while in the Shafigi school of law, the preacher holds it in his left hand. Al-Qairawani, La Risala, 163, no. 11. 11 The following description of the performative and ritual aspects of the khutba is based on an analysis of the most common hadith and fiqh (jurisprudence) manuals that were consulted in al-Andalus and the Maghreb. The most popular hadith collections were those of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj and Muhammad al-Bukhari, collectively known as the Sahihan or two most sound collections, while Malik ibn Anass legal compendium, Kitab al-Muwatta' served as the standard resource in Maghrebi and Andalusian fiqh. See Malik ibn Anas, Al-Muwatta': The First Formulation of Islamic Law, trans. by Aisha Abdurrahman Bearley (London and New York, 1999). Al-Qairwanis treatise on Maliki law also was and continues to be widely consulted. Both the hadith and fiqh sources treat the khutba as an integral, obligatory part of the liturgical observance of the Friday congregational prayer and the two major feast days.

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khutba follows the same pattern of introductory liturgical formulae. Here, however, the main discourse relates the audience more directly to the sermons theme usually via moral exhortation and the obligatory prayers on behalf of the ruler and the community.12 The liturgical condition of brevity in the Friday khutba may not apply to sermons delivered for feast days, thematic sermons, and those exhorting jihad, which may be preached outside of a liturgical context.13 As such, the khatib has greater liberty to include extensive citations of authorities Prophetic hadith, juridical or ascetic texts and stories (qisas) drawn from the stories of the prophets genre.14 Ibn `Abbad of Rondas sermonary belongs to the category of thematic khutbas whose rhetorical elements sometimes place them closer to the genre of pious exhortation. Exhortatory preaching, interchangeably known as wagz, mawgiza or tadhkir, did not form part of the prescribed rituals for the Friday and festival celebrations nor did they conform to the same ritual norms. Nevertheless, they often were performed on these occasions. During the celebrations for the two canonical festivals, the Great Feast,15 and the Feast of the Sacrifice,16 as well as para-liturgical feasts,17 it was common practice in al-Andalus and the Maghreb for both khatibs and exhortatory preachers to preach. Exhortatory preachers obtained permission to hold preaching assemblies in the mosque, marketplace, or a public square on certain days of the week other than Friday.18 Exhortatory sermons took several forms but the evidence from the Maghreb and al-Andalus situates them most often within Sufi dhikr (litany) ceremonies. Dhikr is a method of prayer that seeks an experience of mystical union with God. Dhikr ceremonies generally consisted of Qur'anic recitation, the performance of litanies praising God and the Prophet Muhammad, the delivery of a live sermon or book readings, and a banquet.19
12 Unfortunately for students of medieval sermons, the second khutba is often not preserved since its historical and contextual immediacy are deemed irrelevant to its use as model sermons for future generations of preachers. None of the second sermons of Ibn `Abbad of Rondaks sermonary has survived. 13 Examples of thematic khutbas include sermons on the Antichrist, on the remembrance of death and on the Qur'anic injunction of commanding right and forbidding wrong, or on a specific Quranic verse. For instance, one of Ibn `Abbad of Rondas khutbas is a homily on Surat al-Qadr, the ninety-seventh chapter of the Qur'an. This chapter speaks of the Night of Power (laylat al-qadr), believed to fall between the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh night of the month of Ramadan, when the Qur'an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. 14 The qisas al-anbiya (stories of the prophets) genre evolved in the eighth century to embellish upon the laconic Qur'anic stories of the pre-Islamic prophets and of the people of Israel, and is thus closely related to Qur'anic exegesis. See Roberto Tottoli, The Qisas al-anbiya of Ibn Mutarrif al-Tarafi (d. 454/1062): Stories of the Prophets from al-Andalus, Al-Qantara, 19 (1998), 13160 (p. 136). 15 gId al-Fitr, the celebratory breaking of the fast that concludes the month of Ramadan. 16 gId al-Adha commemorates Abrahams near sacrifice of his son Ishmael and occurs at the end of the pilgrimage (Hajj) season. 17 See note 27 below. 18 Hassan gAli Hussein, Al-hadara al-Islamiyya fi al-Maghrib wa al-Andalus gasr al-Murabitin wa al-Muwahhidin (Islamic Civilization in the Maghreb and al-Andalus: the Age of the Almoravids and the Almohads) (Cairo, 1980), p. 414. The authors source is gAbbas ibn Ibrahim al-Marrakushi, al-Aglam bi man halla Marrakish wa Aghmat min al-aglam, 8 vols (Fez, 1936), i, 246. 19 Such ceremonies are described meticulously in al-Wansharishis collection of fatwas (legal edicts) because many jurists contested the legitimacy of certain ritual acts performed therein. See Ahmad al-Wansharishi, Kitab al-Migyar al-mughrib waal-jamig al-mugrib gan fatawa ahl Ifriqiya waal-Andalus waal-Maghreb, ed. by Muhammad Hajji, (Rabat, 1981), xi, 6062, 10507, 139.

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Unlike the khutba, the exhortatory sermons structure and content seem not to adhere to a strict pattern. The samples I have examined from a late twelfth- or early thirteenthcentury Andalusian sermon collection begin with an opening litany, a Qur'anic recitation, and a hadith that form a single thematic unit and the organizing theme of the entire sermon.20 The exhortatory preacher employs scholastic-style divisions to develop his argument. For instance, in a sermon on patience in adversity, he begins his explanation of the meaning by classifying patience in three domains, which he subsequently enumerates. Authorities are then cited to alert of the punishments or blessings that ensue from failure or steadfastness of patience in adversity. The climax of the sermon is an exhortation to recite specific Qur'anic and hadith verses related to the principal theme as talismans. The preacher then narrates proverbs (amthal) and stories of the prophets that exemplify the sermons theme and each narrative concludes with an exhortation to imitate the prophetic hero and supplications (du`a) for divine assistance. Muslim preachers incorporated stories into the khutba and the exhortatory preaching sessions to edify, instruct, warn, and entertain their audiences, which function in a similar way to the exemplum and similitude in Christian preaching. They might recite directly from the Qur'an, the primary source and inspiration of these stories, and embellish them with citations from the stories of the prophets narratives. Live homiletic storytelling (qisas) and readings from the chair were practised in the Maghreb and al-Andalus as independent activities, the principal difference between the two being that the latter would read stories and pious exhortations to his audience. Storytellers could be found plying their trade on public roads, in cemeteries, or mosques. There is ample evidence that jurisprudents (fuqaha) and guardians of public morality (muhtasibun) sought to censure or at least closely monitor their activities, considering them to be a threat to public morality for transmitting false hadith to an unsuspecting public.21 Such disputes between storytellers and the `ulamaa (religious scholars), as Berkey convincingly argues, formed part of political struggles over who had the power to control and define religious orthopraxy.22 The differences between the genres of preaching are reflected in the organization of sermon manuscripts. Collections of Friday sermons (khutab jum`iyya), such as those of the famous Iraqi preacher Ibn Nubata or the Moroccan court preacher Ibn Marzuq, are assembled according to the Islamic lunar calendar.23 Such collections also include sermons for the two canonical holidays, often jointly denoted as sermons for the two festivals
20 Madrid, Biblioteca de la Junta del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientficas (CSIC), MS C/3, fols 1r19v. 21 See, for instance, the censorious comments about storytellers by the twelfth-century muhtasib `Abdun of Seville and the fourteenth-century jurisprudent of Jativa, al-Shatibi in Ibn `Abdun, Seville musulmane au debut du XII sicle: le trait dIbn `Abdun sur la vie urbaine et les corps de mtiers, trans. and ed. by E. Levi-Provenal (Paris, 1947), pp. 2728; and al-Wanshirishi, Kitab al-Mi`yar, xi, 11314, respectively. 22 Berkey, Popular Preaching, pp. 2235. 23 The original date of the migration to Medina, September 622, was pushed back during the caliphate of `Umar (r. 634644) to the first day of the first month of that year, 1 Muharram or 16 July 622 CE. See F. E. Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, (New York, 1994), p. 253. The remaining months are Safar, Rabi` l-'Awwal (I), Rabi` l-Akhir (II), Jumada l-'Ula (I), Jumada 'l-'Ukhra (II), Rajab, Ramadan, Sha`ban, Shawwal, Dhu l-Qa`da, and Dhu l-Hijja. For the sermon collections that conform to this model, see Ibn Nubata, Diwan khutab minbariyya (Anthology of Minbar Sermons) (Bombay, n.d.); Ibn Nubata, Khutab Ibn Nubata, Rabat, al-Khizana al-Malikiyya, MS 4039; Ibn Marzuq, Khutab Ibn Marzuq, Rabat, al-Khizana al-Malikiyya, MS 4070; and Anonymous, Khutba jum`iyya, Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, MS 18609 (2) and MS 18612.

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(khutbat al-`idayn). Anthologies and individual specimens of thematic khutbas and those delivered for para-liturgical occasions are preserved or grouped separately from the Friday khutbas.24 The distinctive nomenclature of exhortatory sermons (mawa`iz) and homiletic stories (qisas) clearly distinguishes them from khutba collections.25 It must be noted that some Maliki religious scholars objected to the regular observation of supererogatory feasts as innovations (bida`) that departed from the Shari`a and the practices of the Prophet and the earliest Islamic community. Juridical opinions were divided about the propriety of fostering the observation of innovations such as celebrating the Prophets birthday (mawlid) 26 or spending the fourteenth night of Sha`ban, Laylat al-Bara'a (the night of forgiveness),27 in fasting and prayer as recommendable practices meritorious of a divine recompense. Medieval khutbas reveal the ambiguities of these para-liturgical observances; many preachers limited themselves to brief allusions to these sacred times in their canonical Friday sermons in order to avoid the appearance of conferring them with obligatory status, while others, such as Ibn `Abbad of Ronda, composed khutbas especially for such occasions. Thus it is not surprising that most sermons for supererogatory feasts belong to the category of non-canonical exhortatory preaching and storytelling. Ibn `Abbad of Rondas composition of khutbas for both the obligatory liturgical Friday and feast day celebrations as well as para-liturgical occasions could be interpreted as an attempt to mainstream the latter. Ibn `Abbad of Ronda: homiletic tradition and social context Ibn `Abbad of Ronda was one of the Maghrebs most illustrious figures of the Sufi tradition.28 He was born in 1332 in Ronda, a town in south east al-Andalus, then under the
24 Most of the collections organized according to the liturgical calendar also contain khutbas for the two major feast days, although one also finds manuscripts of individual festival sermons, e.g., Anonymous, Khutba li 'id al-fitr hasana, Madrid, Biblioteca de la Junta, MS XX. Specimens of individual khutbas written especially for para-liturgical occasions include Anonymous, Khutba fiha mawlid al-nabi, Madrid, Biblioteca de la Junta, MS XVII, no. III. Ibn Nubatas sermonary contains sermons written for `Ashura', the tenth day of the Islamic month of Muharram, considered holy because the Prophet Muhammad used to fast on that day. 25 For instance, Anonymous, Maw`iza li dhikr Allahu Akbar, Madrid, Biblioteca de la Junta, MS C/3. 26 By far the most popular new festival was Muhammads birthday celebration (Mawlid al-Nabi), introduced into the Maghreb and al-Andalus in the thirteenth century in response to internal political strife, alarm over the loss of Iberian Muslim territory to Christian rule, and as a deterrent to the Muslim observation of Christian festivals. Even still, the Andalusian jurist al-Shatibi (d. 1388), a contemporary of Ibn `Abbad, objected to the mawlid as an example of a despicable innovation. On this and the history of the mawlids emergence, see N. J. G. Kaptein, Muhammads Birthday Festival: Early History in the Central Muslim Lands and Development in the Muslim West until the 10th/16th Century (Leiden, 1993), pp. 97140. 27 Tradition holds that on this night God descends to the lowest heaven [. . .] in order to grant the forgiveness of sins. See A. J. Wensinck, SHA`BAN, Encyclopaedia of Islam, xi, 154a, where he cites al-Tirmidhi, Sunan, chapter 39. A sub-genre of devotional literature developed to explain and encourage the observation of the so-called meritorious times (al-awqat al-fadila), which included particular dates in the Islamic calendar, e.g., the twenty-seventh of Rajab or the tenth of Muharram (`Ashura'), and particular days of the week (Thursday, Friday, etc.). 28 The biographical details of Ibn `Abbads life are drawn from Paul Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur a la Qarawayin de Fes: Ibn `Abbad de Ronda (13321390) (Beirut, 1958), pp. xi80; and John Renard, Ibn `Abbad of Ronda: Letters on the Sufi Path (Toronto and New York, 1986), pp. xv54.

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rule of the Merinid Sultan Abu 'l-Hasan (r. 13311348). In the wake of Christian conquests of Muslim territories, his family emigrated to Fez in 1347, where Ibn `Abbad pursued a traditional Islamic education in Qur'anic and Hadith studies, Maliki law, and `Ash`arite 29 theology at the madrasa of Halfawiyin. Ibn `Abbad initiated his study of the esoteric Sufi traditions under the tutelage of his Maliki law teachers, many of whom were Sufis and with whom he read the writings of al-Makki,30 al-Qushayri,31 and al-Ghazzali,32 among others. In 1358 he moved to Sal on the Atlantic coast of Morocco to continue his studies in Sufism as a disciple of the charismatic Sufi master Ibn `Ashir (d. 1362). Having explored the various branches of Sufism, Ibn `Abbad resolved to follow the Shadhiliyya order. He distinguished himself as Ibn `Ashirs best pupil but owed his own fame to his Tanbih (The Counsel), a meditative commentary on the Kitab al-Hikam (The Book of Wisdom), the breviary-cum-Sufi manual written by another prominent Shadili Sufi Ibn `Ata' Allah (d. 1309). The tremendous success of the Tanbih and his personal reputation as a pious, charismatic leader prompted the Sultan Abu 'l-`Abbas Ahmad (1st r. 13731384) to appoint him official prayer leader and preacher of the Qarawiyyin mosque in 1375 positions that he occupied until his death in 1390. Ibn `Abbad of Rondas tenure as spiritual leader of the Shadhiliyya order in Fez, imam, and khatib of the Qarawiyyin mosque coincided with what he described as a period of political upheaval and religious turmoil in which injustice, oppression, irreligiousness and superstition were rampant in Moroccan society.33 The power and legitimacy of the ruling Merinid dynasty had continued to decline following decades of internal strife. Yet Ibn `Abbad of Ronda placed the blame for societys woes squarely on a stagnant Maliki religious leadership. He sharply criticized the laziness and torpor of the jurists for their failure to reform the disorders and deficiencies of the world they live in and their inability to make religious instruction accessible and comprehensible to ordinary people.34 Significantly, he lambasted the preachers for their vanity and greed and for preaching banalities instead of instructing and exhorting the community. Ibn `Abbad did not write a preaching manual; however, in his correspondence to his spiritual disciples one reads some rather caustic critiques of his contemporary preachers.35 For instance, I myself personally think that at this moment [the pulpits of today] have been conferred upon asses and men who do not have any sense whatsoever of the spiritual and

29 The doctrine of Sunni theology based on the writings of the Iraqi theologian Abu 'l-Hasan `Ali ibn Isma'il al-'Ash'ari (d. 935). 30 Abu Talib al-Makki (d. 998) of Bagdad was a hadith transmitter (muhaddith) and Sufi mystic. The author of several books, he is best known for his treatise of the Sufi text Qut al-qulub (The Food for the Heart). 31 Al-Qushayri (d. 1072) author of al-Risala (The Epistle on Sufism). 32 Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali (d. 1111), acclaimed author of the monumental Ihya `ulum al-din (Revival of the Religious Sciences), among other theological, ethical and Sufi works. 33 Renard, Ibn `Abbad of Ronda, p. 10. 34 Renard, Ibn `Abbad of Ronda, p. 11. 35 The khutbas institutionalization as a legally prescribed act of worship with a well-established set of ritual norms of performance mitigated the need to develop preaching manuals analogous to the Christian ars praedicandi. One notable exception is Ibn al-`Attars Adab al-Khatib (The Manners of the Preacher), ed. by M. ibn Hussayn al-Sulaymani (Beirut, 1996), which combines an outline of the legal norms with excerpts of famous sermons.

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temporal needs of their contemporaries.36 He denounced their misunderstanding of the institutional function of the khutba, which is to furnish moral and religious guidance that is in tune with the immediate spiritual and temporal needs of the people. He complained that certain preachers fill their sermons with stories of battles or public calamities. These, nevertheless, are the least objectionable, because at least their listeners might learn something from them. But there are others who, not even knowing how to narrate stories, believe that the khutba is a devotion without any practical aims; thus they ascend the pulpit and spew forth some claptrap like schoolchildren who recite a lesson learned by heart. All of them, he concludes, are lepers who want to cure other lepers; their attempts are in vain.37 The reference to leprosy reminds us of Ibn `Abbads conviction that society is sick and decadent and that its preachers, who should be its spiritual and moral physicians, are themselves afflicted with the same disease. He went on to outline a typology of the five kinds of preachers who fail in their office. The five include any preacher who preaches the same sermon every Friday, without changing anything. The preacher who changes certain things some Fridays, but not others. The preacher who, though varying his sermon somewhat, does not take into consideration the exigencies of the moment. The preacher who, having taken into consideration these needs, does not know how to speak about them adequately and convincingly. Lastly, the preacher who, although having realized all of these favourable qualities, lacks piety and does not orient his thoughts toward God, because he is tempted by vanity or hypocrisy. All of these preachers fight outside of the arena.38 What is needed instead is someone capable of exhorting the people and to rouse them by all sorts of oratorical means.39 One must assume that Ibn `Abbad of Ronda endeavoured to put his typology of the ideal preacher into practice in his own sermons,
The only one who fights inside of the arena is the sincere preacher who is cognisant of the causes of corruption and reform and who understands the meaning of the institution of the Friday khutba. He does everything in his power to transmit to the people his good counsel and admonition, taking care to instruct those in need of knowledge and practice in the here and now. And he instructs them in the manner most straightforward and most appropriate, making a special effort to do this with the intonations of his voice and with the structure of his discourse. He varies all of these things according to the theme adopted. He lowers the voice when it is advantageous for him to lower it, and he raises it when the subject demands that he raise the tone. In this way he will also avoid monotony by complying with the needs of the circumstances.40

The ideal preacher is sincere, meaning he practises what he preaches. He adapts the theme of his sermon to the exigencies of the moment. He marshals every oratorical means at his disposal and here his comments on manipulating the voice and varying the structure of the sermon are insightful to balance his discourse between good counsel and admonition, between the need for doctrinal knowledge and ritual practice. He
36 See Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. 74 where the author has translated and summarizes from Ibn `Abbads Risala al-Kubra, p. 232. 37 See Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. 74 where the author summarizes from Ibn `Abbads Risala al-Kubra, pp. 23738. 38 See Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. 74. 39 See Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. 165. 40 See Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. 74.

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considered corruption to derive from ignorance and instruction to be the pillar of reform, for as he explains in another letter, my method is more didactic, since the need of our contemporaries to be instructed surpasses their need to be exhorted to action.41 Ibn `Abbad of Rondas conception of the ideal preacher as moral reformer cannot be separated from his dual identity as official khatib and Sufi spiritual leader and we shall see that this duality punctuates his homiletic discourse. Curing society of its diseases begins with the moral and spiritual reform of each individual. He embodied a multifaceted Islamic spirituality that centred upon cultivating the appropriate human relationship or husn al-adab (proper demeanour) vis--vis God. This relationship, as John Renard describes, is based upon the discernment of the presence of God, the realization of activities that help one respond to that presence, the cultivation of methods of attentiveness to God, culminating in an authentic worshipfulness (`ubudiyya) of God shorn of hypocrisy and self-centredness.42 The cornerstones of authentic worshipfulness are the perpetual acknowledgement of Gods oneness (tawhid) and gratitude (shukr) for Gods blessings. For Ibn `Abbad, Sufi doctrine and ritual practice complement the scrupulous adherence to the divine law (Shari`a) and both are indispensable to attaining the goal of authentic worshipfulness.43 Just as the five daily prayers, fasting during the month of Ramadan, almsgiving and other legal prescriptions are incumbent upon all Muslims, so too are Sufi doctrine and practice accessible to all. Renard is correct to highlight the non-elitist character of Shadhiliyya Sufism as practised by Ibn `Abbad.44 The Sufi master insisted, in more than one letter written to his disciples, that Sufi Islam is wholly compatible with working an ordinary occupation and leading a life fully integrated into ones community in other words, with the experience of the majority of the people who would have attended his sermons.45 It is important to bear this in mind in the following analysis of Ibn `Abbads preaching. For while Ibn `Abbad did not consider preaching to be the appropriate venue for explaining esoteric mystical doctrine, it was his chosen forum for providing religious and moral instruction and imparting practical Sufi strategies designed to enable the individual to draw nearer to God. Exhortations of spiritual renewal through supererogatory devotions such as the ritual invocation of God (dhikr) and the blessings on Muhammad (tasliya) are stock features of the `Abbadian homily. We are fortunate to have an eyewitness account of Ibn `Abbads homiletic style from a Sufi contemporary, Ibn Qunfudh. As a Maliki jurist, Ibn Qunfudh (d. 1407), like Ibn `Abbad, was himself a living testimony to the mainstreaming of Sufism in al-Andalus and the Maghreb. Ibn Qunfudhs description of Ibn `Abbad is located in a book that records his pilgrimages to the sanctuaries of various Sufi saints in Morocco.46 His account is replete

See Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. 75. See also al-Wansharishi, Kitab al-Mi`yar, xi, 138. Renard, Ibn `Abbad of Ronda, pp. 1418. 43 Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. 52. 44 Renard, Ibn `Abbad of Ronda, pp. 28, 29. 45 Renard, Ibn `Abbad of Ronda, p. 21, where Renard notes that Ibn `Abbad devoted three letters to the topic. 46 Ibn al-`Abbas Ahmad ibn Qunfudh al-Qunstantini, Uns al-faqir wa `izz al-haqir. Enqute sur la vie, les matres et les disciples de Sidi bu Madyan, ed. by Muhammad al-Fasi and Adolphe Faures (Rabat, 1965).
42

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with cultural codes that identify Ibn `Abbad as the ideal preacher. He begins by noting that his father was among the eloquent and outstanding preachers, which is culturally significant in a society in which knowledge was often transmitted personally (rather than institutionally) from parent to child or master to disciple.47 We should infer that Ibn `Abbads preaching is likewise eloquent and outstanding. The personal attributes with which Ibn Qunfudh characterizes Ibn `Abbad of Ronda a great intellect, serenity, and asceticism combined with probity and righteousness, and that his greatest enjoyment from the mundane world was perfume and much frankincense48 encode (in Turnerian terminology) the root paradigms49 of Muhammads personality and praxis. It is in the hagiographic sense of a life as a reflection or imitation of an exemplary model that we must understand Ibn Qunfudhs portrait of Ibn `Abbad of Ronda. The Qur'an qualifies Muhammad as a beautiful model (Q 33. 21) for humanity to emulate and descriptions or root paradigms of his character are ubiquitous in scripture, hadith and in the hagiography genre known as the shama'il al-nubuwwa (lofty qualities of prophethood).50 These hagiographies devote entire chapters to describing Muhammads humility, dignity, asceticism, righteousness, probity and other virtues. Ibn `Abbad possesses all of these Muhammadan qualities and, like the Prophet, is also blessed with spiritual grace (baraka) that he has transmitted to his disciples.51 These mimetic details are important because the cultural perception of the khatib as a charismatic and therefore persuasive preacher ensues mainly from his strict imitation of Muhammads external acts (the canonical norms of preaching) and his internal qualities dignity, sobriety, eloquence, probity, righteousness, etc. Ibn Qunfudh particularly draws attention to Ibn `Abbads humility and asceticism, since these virtues exemplify the Sufi understanding of the ideal human Muhammadan response to God. In a passage describing Ibn `Abbads regular attendance of the assembly of a Sufi master we read, Whenever I would ask him to invoke a prayer, his face would become red and he would get very embarrassed and ask me (to do it).52 This reticence to invoke a prayer is surely hyperbolic, considering Ibn `Abbads occupation as chief prayer leader and preacher of the Qarawiyyin mosque. Moreover, Ibn Qunfudh suggests that Ibn `Abbad would often speak during these assemblies: he has a wondrous way of speaking about Sufism and he embellished [his speech] with what is now read to the people along with the books of the remembrance of God and pious exhortation (kutub al-tadhkir).53 He further notes that Ibn `Abbad did not marry and did not have a maid and that at home he wore rags and tatters, but if he went out would cover them over with a green or a white burnoose.54
Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir, p. 79. Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir, p. 79. 49 See Victor Turner, Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society (Ithaca, 1974) for an explanation of root paradigms and symbolic action. 50 See Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhammad is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety (Chapel Hill, 1985), p. 33 for a brief discussion of the genre. 51 Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir, p. 79. 52 Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir. 53 Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir. 54 Ibn `Abbads choice of colours, white and green, also imitate the Prophets custom.
48 47

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One sign of this Muhammadan humility that directly relates to preaching style is the observation about Ibn `Abbads attitude toward exhortation. He would say in his khutbas that one must not preach warnings to the people unless he has first preached warnings to himself.55 The passage deliberately recalls the myth of origins of Muhammads public ministry, when the angel Gabriel tells him to arise and warn the people and he begins by first warning himself .56 Finally, Ibn Qunfudh implies that Ibn `Abbad modelled the content of his sermons upon the example of the Prophet, since his most frequent recitation during the Friday congregational prayer was [Q 110. 13]57 and the majority of his sermons were exhortations (wa`z).58 Ibn `Abbad and the sermon for the Prophets birthday Paul Nwyia mentioned two sermon collections attributed to Ibn `Abbad of Ronda.59 One collection, which has not survived, allegedly contained some fifteen sermons on a specific topic, possibly referring to the festive seasons (mawsim) of the year.60 The uncertainly lies in that one of Nwyias sources, the Sufi al-Manali al-Zabadi, who claimed to have held the manuscript in his hands, says that each sermon was devoted to a specific subject, while a slightly later source, Ahmad al-Zarruq, specifies that each sermon covered a festive season of the year. The second and larger collection is a unique manuscript comprised of 124 Friday khutbas that Ibn `Abbad delivered as head khatib of the Qarawiyyin mosque.61 The manuscript that forms the basis of the following discussion is a facsimile of MS 2688 of the Royal Archives of Rabat. This collection appears to be complete since the scribes name and the date appear at the end, but it contains only seven sermons presented in the following order: `Ashura', the tenth day of the first Muslim month of Muharram (fols 13); Mawlid al-Nabi or the Prophets birthday, celebrated in the third month Rabi` I, (fols 35); on the merits of the month of Rajab the Unique (Fadl Shahr Rajab al-fard) (fols 57); the [merits of the] month of Sha`ban ([Fadl] Shahr Sha`ban (fols 78); the merits of the
Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir, p. 80. Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir which recalls the Qur'anic account (Q 74. 27) of when God ordered Muhammad to undertake his public ministry as a prophet saying, Oh Muhammad, arise and deliver thy warning! And thy Lord do thou magnify! And thy garment, keep free from stain! And all abomination shun! Nor expect, in giving, any increase (for thyself). But, for thy Lords (cause) be patient and constant! The passage also shows Ibn `Abbad deliberately polemicizing against Christianity by citing a divine saying (hadith qudsi) in which God rebukes Jesus for failing to warn himself first before warning others. See Tarif Khalidi, The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature (Cambridge and London, 2001), pp. 6768. For an explanation of a divine saying, see note 71 below. The repetition of this narrative in several Andalusian manuscripts of exhortatory sermons demonstrates its status as an exemplary homiletic leitmotif. 57 When comes the help of God, and victory, and thou dost see the people enter Gods religion in crowds, celebrate the praises of thy Lord, and pray for his forgiveness; for he is Oft-Returning (in grace and mercy). There are hadiths stating that Muhammad recited this Qur'anic verse every Friday in his sermons. 58 Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir, p. 80. 59 Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, pp. 8788. 60 Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. 87. 61 An unnumbered manuscript belonging to the private Ibn Suda Library of Fez, Morocco, which I was unable to consult.
56 55

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month of Ramadan (Fadl Shahr Ramadan) (fols 813); on the merits of the Night of Power and a commentary on Surat al-Qadr (Fadl laylat al-qadr wa tafsir surat al-Qadr) (fols 1317); and on bidding farewell to the month of Ramadan (Fi wida shahr Ramadan) (fols 1722).62 The organization and titles of the sermons correspond to the thematic festival sermons that al-Manali reportedly handled. If so, only seven of the original fifteen sermons have survived. The final sermon bidding farewell to the month of Ramadan is in fact a khutba for the canonical festival of `Id al-Fitr or the Day of Breaking the Fast. One suspects that a khutba for the other canonical holiday, the Feast of the Sacrifice that closes the Hajj pilgrimage, is missing. The khutbas themes manifest the influence of the meritorious times (fadail al-awqat) genre of devotional literature that describes the excellent qualities of the holy months.63 The chief characteristic of this genre is the ascribing to each sacred time specific supererogatory acts believed to merit some spiritual reward the pardon of sins, the answer to a prayer, or deliverance from eschatological trials. The rationale behind the meritorious times and their attendant supererogatory acts were contested, given the lack of consensus, even within a single Islamic school of law, regarding the reliance of the sources from which such pronouncements were derived. The exact year that Ibn `Abbad of Ronda delivered his khutba for Muhammads birthday (mawlid) is unknown. Yet it almost certainly was performed during an official celebration patronized by the Sultan, which is significant considering that in the same period some Maliki jurists continued to question the legal basis of observing the event.64 That Ibn `Abbad composed khutbas especially for the mawlid and the other supererogatory festivals clearly positions him in the ongoing debate over definitions of orthopraxy. Ibn `Abbad began his sermon on the mawlid with the required liturgical formulae of praises to God, the testament of faith and the invocation of blessings on the Prophet.65 His elaboration on the liturgical praises to God establishes the main theme of the khutba, gratitude to God for the greatest divine blessing, the Prophet Muhammad. His embellishments on the meaning and purpose of the testament of faith perform the same function in other sermons,
Praise belongs to God, the worshipped king, the compassionate, the beloved, the everlasting, who does not resemble anything in existence and whom nothing existing resembles, the sustainer who is knowledgeable of everything and who decides every fate. We worship him and give him thanks for the blessings that he has granted us and for his continual protection out of the magnanimity of his existence. We ask for his help in any
62 Rabat, al-Khizana al-Malikiyya, MS 2688, fol. 22. The scribe, Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-`Arabi ibn Muhammad al-Andalusi, states that he completed the manuscript in the first ten days of the month of Sha`ban, the blessed, in the year 1110 A. H., which corresponds to early February 1699 CE. 63 In fact, the meritorious times literature is a sub-genre of the larger genre of fadail literature that lauds the excellent qualities of things, places, people, or acts. Sunni Islamic law classifies all human activity according to five qualifications: obligatory, recommended, indifferent, reprehensible, and forbidden. Recommended acts are those that are not obligatory but whose fulfillment merits a divine recompense, hence the adjective meritorious, while their neglect does not carry punishment, in contrast to the obligations. See R. Sellheim, Fadila, Encyclopaedia of Islam, ii, 728b; and Wael ibn Hallaq, A History of Islamic Legal Theories (Cambridge, 1997), pp. 41, 176. 64 See Kaptein, Muhammads Birthday Festival, pp. 11117, where the author provides examples from the period that overlap with Ibn `Abbads tenure as preacher, between 1375 and 1390. 65 Rabat, al-Khizana al-Malikiyya, MS 2688, fols 35.

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work that we accomplish for him, out of his compassion [. . .] We beseech him to forgive our error, which to us is forgotten but to him is recorded and counted. We bear witness that there is no god but God, the one who has no partner: a testament of faith redemptive (in its mere) pronunciation, a salvation [. . .] of those destined for the convulsions of death and the terrors of the Appointed Day. We bear witness that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, the most virtuous of those sent (the prophets) and the most noble, the one singled out, especially associated with the revered place (maqam) and the pool (hawd).66 May God grant blessings and salvation to him and to his Companions, our luminous full moons and our extended shadows a prayer we shall find as guiding lights in the pitch darkness of the graves and whose baraka (spiritual blessings) we shall savour in the gardens of paradise everlasting (fol. 3).

Several themes could be extracted from the introductory liturgical formulae, but I believe that the controlling motif is the parallelism between gratitude to God for his blessings and the maximum manifestation of this gratitude in the blessing and praise of Muhammad. In his praises of God, Ibn `Abbad conjoins the affirmation of the absolute oneness and uniqueness of the divine central tenets of the revealed law and the mystical path with the devotional means of articulating this response through acts of worship and gratitude. This symbiosis between doctrine and devotional practice is manifested in a testament of faith whose ritual utterance has the soteriological power to save believers from the terrors of Judgement Day. When Ibn `Abbad addresses the congregation directly delivering the counsel (wasiya) (the functional equivalent of the Christian protheme), he reintroduces the main theme of showing gratitude for Gods blessings by acknowledging and venerating His greatest and most perfect gift, the creation of Muhammad,
Oh people! Surely a (sign of) gratitude for a blessing is the acknowledgement of it to the benefactor, and surely a realization (ma`rifa) of its origin and its utmost limit is worthy of every Muslim. God Almighty said, If you were to count the blessings of God, you could not number them, for God is surely All-forgiving, compassionate (Q 14. 34). And know may God have mercy upon you that the source of blessings upon us, the very first one of them and the greatest of them in power and authority, the most perfect of them and the strongest as a source of refuge (and) the most radiant [. . .] was the creation of the Messenger, the Prophet, the Hashemite, the Arab [. . .] (fol. 3).

Ibn `Abbad immediately follows with the list of litanies of the Prophets attributes, each of which is presented as a blessing for which the audience should be grateful. He praises Muhammad as the radiant lamp, the greatest creation, the one for whose sake God created the whole of creation, the prophet of compassion and the righteous guide of the community, the greatest of all intercessors, the most virtuous, the very essence of noble descent, the immaculate, among others. This litany of praises culminates in a triumphant assertion of communal identity that rhetorically identifies the preacher and his audience with Muhammad and his lofty qualities,
(It is he) who has saved us from the hellfire and has made us greater than the insignificant people. He has called us into the best community (Q 3. 110). (fol. 3).67
66 Arabic hawd. In Islamic eschatology the hawd is the site in paradise where Muhammad will be reunited with Muslims on Judgement Day and intercede on their behalf. See Muhammd ibn Ahmad al-Qurtubi, Al-Tadhkira fi ahwal al-mawta wa umur al-akhira (A Reminder of Death and the Hereafter), ed. by Ahmad Hijazi al-Saqa, (Cairo, 1980), i, 343. 67 The text is damaged at this point.

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Such inclusive statements are a common rhetorical device in khutbas and exhortatory sermons. The aim here is to overcome the duality between the past and present by directly identifying the audience with the mythic narrative of Muhammads divine election and his role in salvation history. These affirmations transform the mawlid from solely an occasion for venerating the Prophet, the best creation, into a venue for also reaffirming Muslim collective identity as the best community that God has created, in accordance with the Qur'anic proclamation. The duality of Ibn `Abbads homiletic appeal to a traditional or orthodox audience of laity and religious experts (`ulama) as well as to Sufis is deliberate and is reinforced by aesthetic norms of oratory that praise the condensation of multiple meanings into a single word.68 This quality is evident in his treatment of the concept of gratitude. Showing gratitude (shukr) to God for his blessings is a Qur'anic injunction, (for example, Q 14. 7 and Q 2. 152), and hence defines Muslim identity. Gratitude, Ibn `Abbad remarks, is worthy of every Muslim and as every Muslim also knows, its theological opposites ingratitude (kufr) and polytheism (shirk) are the Qur'anic terms most often used to designate infidels. Gratitude is a mainstay of Islamic discourse;69 liturgical preachers and orators typically recite the prayer formula we give Him thanks in the introductory litanies of their speeches, as do authors in their prologues. The ubiquitous expression praise be to God is recited in every act of ritual prayer and is an articulation of gratitude toward God. Showing gratitude to a human benefactor is moral virtue that maintains harmony in social relations. In Sufi discourse gratitude is one of the states of grace (ahwal) to which the mystical adept aspires, manifested in a perpetual thankfulness to God in blessings and adversity. If gratitude is a moral force that foments social cohesion, it is also an inner force that combats greed, selfishness, and other vices inhibiting the individuals journey toward God. This Sufi interpretation is suggested in the insertion of a lengthy litany (dhikr) that praises the Prophets seemingly countless virtues and that mirrors the preceding Qur'anic injunction to count Gods blessings. Such litanies are common in Sufi ritual practice but are unusual in a khutba where one would expect to find a hadith citation following closely after the recitation of the divine exhortation to enumerate Gods blessings. Hadiths do indeed succeed the litany, but the placement of this litany between the citation of the two authorities, divine and prophetic, essentially transfers the Sufi practice from a mystical venue to a liturgical homiletic setting. The inclusion of the litanies of praise to Muhammad in this sermon echoes the meticulous descriptions of Sufi ritual gatherings, recorded in al-Wansharishis juridical pronouncements (fatwas), which were often held on paraliturgical occasions like the Prophets birthday. These ceremonies typically included the collective recitation of verses from the Qur'an, the performance of litanies, the delivery of

The Andalusian polyglot Ibn `Abd Rabbihi cites semantic condensation (talkhis al-ma`ani) as one of the praiseworthy qualities of oratory. See Ibn `Abd Rabbihi, al-`Iqd al-farid (The Unique Necklace), ed. by Ahmad Amin and others (Cairo, 1944), iv, 55. 69 On the notion of gratitude in Islamic discourse, see A. K. Reinhart, Before Revelation (Albany, 1995); A. K. Reinhart, Thanking the Benefactor, in Spoken and Unspoken Thanks: Some Comparative Soundings, ed. by J. Carman and F. J. Streng (Cambridge and Dallas, 1989), pp. 11533; and A. Giese and A.K. Reinhart, Shukr, Encyclopaedia of Islam, ix, 496a.

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a live sermon or readings from a book of pious exhortations, followed by the recitation of mystical poetry or the performance of Sufi music, a banquet and communal prayers.70 A key difference, however, is that whereas in the dhikr assemblies that al-Wansharishi records the exhortatory sermon is delivered apart from the litany performance, in Ibn `Abbad of Rondas khutba the litany appears to form an integral part of the sermon. The remainder of the sermon consists of three lengthy blocks of hadith sayings that structurally divide the khutba and through which Ibn `Abbad develops the central theme of showing gratitude to God by venerating the Prophet. Each hadith block contains two or more sayings from several, sometimes anonymous sources, that offer variations on the same saying. Each unit is also thematically divided. The first group of hadiths portrays Muhammad as the efficient cause of Gods creation of the universe and extols his miraculous powers. Attributed to the Prophet, this group serves as the authoritative, mythic source of the litanies extolling Muhammads unique role in the Islamic cosmology. The centrepiece is the embellishment of the famous divine saying (hadith qudsi)71 to Muhammad that if it were not for him, God would not have created the rest of creation,
It was reported from the prophet of God blessings and peace be upon him that he said, when God Almighty created Adam and He breathed into him his spirit he (Adam) looked at the foot of the celestial throne and saw written upon it, there is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God. Adam said, [. . .] My Lord, who is the owner of this name? Then one of the prophets of your progeny said, the first of the prophets to enter into Paradise and the last one of them to be sent. Oh Adam, by all my might and glory! If it were not for [Muhammad] I would not have created you, nor would I have created Paradise or the Inferno, nor the sun or the moon (fol. 3) [. . .]

The second group of hadiths focuses on the talismanic role and soteriological power of ritually blessing the Prophet. Those who do so even once will be rewarded with Muhammads intercession at Judgement Day and elevated in their proximity to God,
It was also reported from him may God bless him and grant him salvation that he said, whoever prays for me one prayer, God shall bless him with ten blessings, he shall take away from him ten sins and elevate him ten steps (in the levels reaching up to the throne of Paradise). In another hadith (it was reported) that Gabriel encountered him peace be upon them both and he said, verily do I bring you good news. For indeed, God Almighty says, whoever wishes you peace, I will grant him peace and whoever blesses you, I will bless him (fol. 4).

The final group emphasizes Muhammads role as eschatological intercessor and the need to repent of ones sins in the here and now. Ibn `Abbad begins this segment with a personal

70 Al-Wansharishis fatwas preserve the juridical responsa of a number of Sufi ceremonies in which both dhikr litanies and preaching are performed. See al-Wansharishi, Kitab al-Mi`yar, xi, 6062, 105107, 139. The events are meticulously described so that the judge may determine whether the activities fall within legally acceptable practice or should be condemned as bid`a, meaning innovative deviations from scriptural and/or hadith-based traditions. 71 A sacred tradition, independent of the Qur'an, which records Gods own utterances, spoken through the mouth of the Prophet, as opposed to a prophetic saying. For a full explanation of the hadith qudsi, see William A. Graham, Divine Word and Prophetic Word in Early Islam (The Hague, 1977).

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plea to his audience to seek repentance in anticipation of the Last Judgement before going on to cite his authoritative texts,
The prayer of blessings upon him (the prophet Muhammad) is a restorative cure of souls and an effacer of sins. Through it pious deeds are accepted (by God), hopes are realized, the inside and the outside are purified and salvation is anticipated on the Last Day. So seek intercession through it to your Lord, Almighty and All Powerful, just as your father Adam, peace be upon him, sought intercession! And ask God Almighty, by the righteousness of [Muhammad], that he forgive you for the sins and crimes that you have committed [. . .] Muhammad Makki, Abu al-Laith al-Samarkandi and others, may the satisfaction of God be granted to them, related that Adam, blessings and peace be upon him, when what befell him had happened, he said, by God by the righteousness of Muhammad, forgive me my sin. And it was reported, and accept my repentance. God Almighty and Sublime said to him, where did you learn about Muhammad? He said, I saw it written in every place in Paradise: there is no god but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God and thus I learned that he is the best of your creation. And so God restored him to his grace and forgave him. And so you too must do as he has done, Oh people of the Umma, and follow the examples of your father Adam in his repentance. By God! We beg of you, by [Muhammads] truth, [. . .] we beg you not to place us in this grave of ours with (a single) sin unless you have forgiven it, no shameful thing that you have not covered up, no grief that you have not comforted, no debt that you have not remitted, no sickness that you have not cured, and no enemy from whom you have not protected us. (fol. 4)

This is a narrative attributed to the authority of two renowned Sufis that relates how Adam repented by appealing to the truth or the righteousness of Muhammad and thereby gained Gods pardon. Structurally each hadith unit is bounded by the insertion of Ibn `Abbads own words, mostly in the form of second person exhortations to the audience, to imitate the exemplary heroes or carry out the acts alluded to in the hadith discourse. For instance, So give praise to God Almighty may he have Mercy upon you for the blessings that He has bestowed upon you through His prophet. Give thanks to Him for saving you, on [Muhammads] account, from the Inferno. Or, And so you too must do as he has done, Oh people of the Umma (Muslim community), and follow the example of your father Adam in his repentance. Overall the structure and content of this khutba accord with the conditions that Ibn `Abbad outlined in his typology of the ideal preacher. The thematic exhortation to show gratitude for Gods blessings by venerating the Prophet, the unusually lengthy litany in praise of Muhammad, and specific admonitions to seize the opportunities of this day identify this as a sermon composed for the occasion of the mawlid. The structure of authoritative-mythic discourse followed by exhortations to action accords with Ibn `Abbads penchant for what could be called a pragmatic approach to Sufism. In his letters to his Sufi disciples and peers, Ibn `Abbad often advocated the utterance of litanies and other supererogatory acts, together with the fulfillment of canonical obligations, as strategies of achieving the proper demeanor of worshipfulness and gratitude that characterizes the ideal human response to God. The same goal motivates and underlies his sermon on the mawlid, and indeed all the sermons in the collection, which he has tailored to the needs of an audience that by legal necessity is mixed, since the attendance of festival khutbas is a collective duty. Finally, Ibn `Abbad of Rondas liberal recourse to the Sahihan or two most sound hadith compilations of Muslim and al-Bukhari as well as to later Sufi sources also exhibits his appeal to a mixed audience. Though not reflected in the passages cited above, many of the hadiths, stories and sayings that he cites are related on the authority of some of

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the closest Companions of the Prophet, including `Ali ibn Abi Talib72, Ibn `Abbas73 and Abu Darda'74, and of Malik ibn Anas, the founder of the Maliki school of law. Their knowledge of the traditions about the Prophet was considered decisive. Yet in the same sermon Ibn `Abbad will also cite authors that enjoyed enormous popularity and authority within Sufi circles, for instance, the ascetic Abu Talib al-Makki and the Shafi`i theologian al-Ghazzali, even though many Maliki jurists might have rejected the authenticity of their dicta.75 Indeed, al-Ghazzali was doubly suspect for his Shafi`i leanings and for citing spurious hadiths. One cannot know what precise steps Ibn `Abbad took to relate the sermons theme directly to the particular realities of his audience because none of the obligatory second sermons has been preserved. It is safe to say that he would have invoked prayers on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad, the ruler and the audience, in accordance with the liturgical norms (ahkam) governing the content of the second khutba. Judging from other contemporary sermons, such as those composed by Ibn Marzuq, one would also expect him to have applied a moralistic interpretation to the main theme or emphasized the moral impulse behind the exhortation.76 Contemporary descriptions of mawlid celebrations in the Maghreb and al-Andalus depict celebrants engaging in ritual invocations of Muhammads name following the sermon. One can credibly imagine an immediate response of the audience performing the supererogatory prayers on behalf of Muhammad and similar practices as part of the ritual observance. The sources are silent about direct audience response to Ibn `Abbad of Rondas sermons beyond the preaching event, except for an important reference, repeated in two Maghrebi sources, attesting that this sermon continued to enjoy popularity well into the seventeenth century.77 Ibn Qunfudhs remark that Ibn `Abbads speeches given during Sufi assemblies were now being read to the people may also apply to his sermons.78 It is certain that the observation of para-liturgical festivals by carrying out supererogatory and Sufi devotions continued to characterize Islamic practice both in the Maghreb and al-Andalus even into

`Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661) was the Prophet Muhammads nephew and son-in-law. He was the fourth caliph or successor to the Prophet and the first leader (imam) of the Shi`a (party) of `Ali, referring to those who supported the claim that the Prophet had appointed `Ali to succeed him. Despite the sectarian divisions between Shi`is and the majority of Sunni Muslims, it is not uncommon to find Sunni authors such as Ibn `Abbad of Ronda citing hadith reported from `Ali, given his close familial relationship to Muhammad. 73 Ibn `Abbas `Abdallah (d. 687), a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, one of the most celebrated of his Companions and the transmitter of numerous hadith traditions about him. 74 Abu al-Darda' (d. 652), one of the Prophets Companions, a noted authority on the Qur'an and one of the first to assemble Muhammads revelations during his lifetime, also revered by Sufis for his asceticism and piety. 75 See notes 30 and 32 above. Ibn `Abbad of Ronda may have read Makkis Qut al-Qulub (Food for the Hearts) directly or the extensive portions cited in the Shafii theologian al-Ghazalis treatise Ihya `Ulum al-Din (Revival of the Religious Sciences), which was diffused widely in the Maghreb and al-Andalus. See Louis Massignon, Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane, 2nd edn (Paris, 1954). 76 Ibn Marzuq, Khutab Ibn Marzuq, Rabat, al-Khizana al-Malikiyya, MS 4070. 77 Kaptein, Muhammads Birthday Festival, p. 121. The two sources are Ibn al-Qadi (d. 1616), Al-Muntaqa al-maqsur, and al-Maqqari (d. 1632), Nafh al-tib. 78 Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir, p. 79.

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the Morisco period.79 Preachers such as Ibn `Abbad of Ronda played a role in normalizing these non-canonical devotions. Ibn `Abbads khutba for the mawlid, and the other occasional sermons challenge the theory of the two Sufisms based upon Ibn Qunfudh, the biographer of Ibn `Abbad. Ibn Qunfudh differentiated the rural Sufism of the confraternities from an urban Sufism characterized by its intellectualism and a greater tendency to eschew formal groupings.80 He counted Ibn `Abbad of Ronda among the latter, whose adepts practised a more personal ascetic brand of Sufism while remaining professionals who occupied positions of authority in their communities. Yet his account of Ibn `Abbad describes an urban Sufism in which the adepts habitually meet in assemblies to pray and perform ritual invocations. Moreover, he specifically mentions that Ibn `Abbad used to attend the spiritual concerts (sama`) at the [Sultans palace] on the night of the Prophets birthday.81 It is naive to accept at face value Ibn Qunfudhs criticism that the confraternities scorned the interior struggles of Sufism and retained only the external practices, especially the famous litany ceremonies (dhikr) and spiritual concerts (sama`), which become in all epochs of decadence the refuge of Sufis devoid of any real spiritual life.82 Scholars of religious and ritual studies have learned to regard with suspicion the philosophical schism that pits the spiritual and intellectual against the corporeal and material, true thought and belief against empty ceremonies and superstitious ritual, interiority against exteriority.83 The implication of such dichotomies, as J. Z. Smith observes, is to deny ritual and ceremony any content or meaning.84 I insist on this issue because Ibn Abbad of Rondas sermons typically harmonize orthodox Sunni and Sufi spiritual doctrine through the exhortation to perform obligatory and supererogatory rituals. The real contribution of Ibn `Abbad of Ronda, in my opinion, is his ability to tap into and direct a spirituality that appealed to Maliki religious experts, Sufis and a laity not necessarily affiliated to any Sufi order but clearly seeking a more intense and demanding religious experience. His sermons helped make Sufism complementary to the traditional Islamic exoteric sciences and practices of both elites and lay audiences.85

79 Kaptein, Muhammads Birthday Festival, pp. 104105, 133134, where the author describes the celebration in the Maghreb and al-Andalus, respectively, drawn from contemporary historical chronicles of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 80 Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. xxx, where the author is citing Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir, p. 80. 81 Ibn Qunfudh, Uns al-faqir, p. 80. 82 Nwyia, Un mystique prdicateur, p. xxxi, notamment ces fameuse sances de dikr et de concerts spirituels (sam`) qui deviennent toutes les poques de dcadence le refuge des soufis dmunis de toute vraie vie spirituelle. 83 For a sharp critique of how this schism has conditioned the history of the study of religion, see J. Z. Smith, To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual (Chicago, 1987), pp. 96103. 84 Ibid., p. 101. 85 Fierro, Opposition to Sufism in al-Andalus, p. 169.

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