Ajay Kumar at 21:43, 29 August 2023

2023-08-29T21:43:29Z

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{{Short description|Islamic missionary (d. 748)}}
{{for|the 14th century Delhi Sultanate general|Zafar Khan Malik Dinar}}
{{Infobox saint
| name = Mālik b. Dīnār, مالك بن دينار
| image = Malik Dinar.JPG 
| alt =
| caption = The grave adornment (Mazar) of Malik Dinar
| titles = Preacher, Theologian, Mystic, [[Asceticism|Ascetic]]
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Kufa]], [[Iraq]]<ref>Al-Dhahabi, Siyar a`lam al-nubala', vol. 5, p. 362.</ref>
| death_date = 748 C.E.
| death_place = possibly [[Thalangara]], [[Kasaragod]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]
| major_shrine = [[Malik Dinar Mosque]], [[Thalangara]], [[Kasaragod]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]
| influences = [[Ali]], [[Hasan al-Basri]]
| influenced =
}}
{{Sufism}}
'''Malik Dinar''' ({{lang-ar-at|مالك دينار|Mālik b. Dīnār}}, [[Malayalam]]: മാലിക് ദീനാര്‍) (died 748 CE)<ref name=Hujwiri>Al-Hujwiri, "Kashf al-Mahjoob", 89</ref> was a Muslim scholar and traveller. He was one of the first known [[Muslims]] to have come to [[India]] in order to propagate [[Islam]] in the [[Indian Subcontinent]] after the departure of King [[Cheraman Perumal]].<ref name=Fihrist>Ibn Nadim, "Fihrist", 1037</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://malikdeenarmasjid.com/history.html#content| title=History| publisher=Malik Deenar Grand Juma Masjid| accessdate=18 November 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113222932/http://malikdeenarmasjid.com/history.html#content| archive-date=13 January 2012| url-status=dead}}</ref> Even though historians do not agree on the exact place of his death, it is widely accepted that he died at Kasaragod and that his relics were buried at the [[Malik Dinar Mosque]] in [[Thalangara]], [[Kasaragod]]. Belonging to the generation of the ''[[tabi'i]]'', Malik is called a reliable traditionalist in Sunni sources. He was the son of a slave from [[Kabul]] who became a disciple of [[Hasan al-Basri]].<ref name=Hujwiri/><ref name=Fihrist/> He died just before the epidemic of plague which caused considerable ravages in [[Basra]] in 748-49 CE, with various traditions placing his death either at 744-45 or 747-48 CE.<ref>Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. </ref>

==Life==
Malik, a preacher and moralist of [[Basra]], made a living as a teacher and translator of the [[Qur'an]],<ref>Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''</ref> and seems to have been interested in the question of the various [[Qira'at|readings]] of the scripture.<ref>Ibn al-D̲j̲azarī, ''Ṭabaḳāt al-ḳurrāʾ'' , ii, 36</ref> During his life, Malik had the occasion to follow more or less regularly the teaching of Basran traditionists and mystics as famous as [[Anas ibn Malik|Anas b. Mālik]], [[Ibn Sirin|Ibn Sīrīn]], [[Hasan al Basri|Hasan of Basra]] and [[Rabia Basri|Rabīʿa al-ʿAdawiyya]].<ref>Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam.''</ref> He was considered to have led an [[ascetic]] life himself, and tradition attributed to him several [[thaumaturgy|thaumaturgic]] gifts and miracles, including the ability to walk on water. He seems, moreover, to have been "a most eloquent ''[[ḳāṣṣ]]''"<ref>Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam.''</ref> or popular orator of religious sermons who admired, in particular, the eloquence of his contemporary al-Ḥaj̲j̲āj̲ "whom he naturally could see at Baṣra."<ref>Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam.''</ref>

According to [[Ibn al-Faqih|Ibn al-Faḳīh]], "he brought honour to his native town because he was accounted one of the six Baṣrans who were without equals at Kūfa."<ref>''Buldān'' , 190, tr. Massé, 231, cited in Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam.''</ref> Later scholars ranging from [[Abu Nu`aym| Abū Nuʿaym]]<ref>''Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ'' , ii, 357-89</ref> to [[Ibn al-Jawzi|Ibn al-Jawzī]]<ref>''Ṣifat al-ṣafwa'' , Ḥaydarābād 1356, iii, 197-209</ref> reproduce "whole hosts" of proverbial sayings from him,<ref>Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam.''</ref> which clearly reflect the extent to which Malik continued to influence Sunni thinkers of all types. According to Pellat, the explicit articulation of the [[Sufi]] ideal of the "inner ''jihad''" (the war against one's own soul)," also finds its original formulation in Malik, who is believed to have said ''d̲j̲āhidū ahwāʾakum kamā tud̲j̲āhidūn aʿdāʾakum'' (“fight against your desires just as you fight against your enemies”),<ref>Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam.''</ref> in a maxim that would wield considerable influence upon Islamic mystics through the medieval period. Malik also seems to have had an appreciation for the Christian religion, and may have even read parts of the [[New Testament]] for spiritual inspiration in imitating the example of [[Jesus]].<ref>Pellat, Ch., “Mālik b. Dīnār”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Malik Deenar Juma Masjid.jpg|thumb|View of the Malik Deenar Mosque from the gate]]
* [[Malik Deenar Islamic Academy]]
* [[Malik Deenar Mosque]]
* [[Malik Deenar Research Congress]]

== See also ==
* [[Islam in Kerala]]
* [[Mappila]]

==Bibliography==
* Ibn Ḳutayba, ''Maʿārif'', 470, 577
* ’Ibn Saʿd, ''Ṭabaḳāt'', vii/2, 11
* Ṭabarī, iii, 281
* Abu ’l-ʿArab, ''Ṭabaḳāt ʿulamāʾ Ifrīḳiya'', ed. and tr. M. Ben Cheneb, Algiers 1915-20, 17
* Makkī, ''Ḳūt al-ḳulūb'', iv, 187
* Nawawī, ''Tahd̲h̲īb'', 537
* Pellat, ''Milieu'', 99-100, 257.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Portal bar|Islam|Biography|Iraq|India}}
{{Sufi}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sunni Sufis]]
[[Category:Tabi‘un]]
[[Category:Islam in India]]
[[Category:Islam in Kerala]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:648 deaths]]
[[Category:Tabi‘un hadith narrators]]

Malik Dinar - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 21:43, 29 August 2023