The Life Of Abdullah Ibn Al-Mubarak - The Scholar Of The East And The Scholar Of The West

The pages of our Islamic history and heritage are filled with the lives of men and women whose influence on our history can only be retold by history itself. They served as beacons of light, illuminating the path set by this Ummah’s Messenger ﷺ and yet they were the heroes who protected this very path. Their interests didn’t lie in worldly gain nor were their efforts for selfish reasons, but they worked hard with sincerity and under burden to deliver this message of Islam to you and I. They strove day and night purifying their societies and correcting what had become corrupt in this Ummah. They were true ‘ubbad (slaves) of Allah who had put the Hereafter before their eyes and hence worked only towards this one goal.

Their nights were not the same as ours, nor are our days comparable to theirs – and it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that a lifetime of ours could not equal to a number of their days in virtue and achievement. For they were a people who valued time yet knew how to live fully, as well as work hard in ease and under pressure, in poverty and in health. They knew no bounds when it came to aiding the religion of Allah and they refused to acknowledge any limits to their efforts and struggles.

Rarely has history witnessed lives that were so enriched and yet enriching, so influential and inspiring, so powerful and empowering, so humble and yet so humbling.

One of these rarities lies in the very being of that scholar from Khurasan, the mujahid between the army ranks, the faqih (jurist) and muhaddith (narrator) of his time, the righteous ‘abid (worshipper) of his Lord, the successful merchant across cities, the well-known zahid (ascetic), the poet and the writer, the grammarian and the linguist, the respected and the leader of the Pious – Abdullah ibn Mubarak rahimahullah.