The Life of Ibn anbal is a translation of the biography of Ibn Hanbal by the Baghdad preacher, scholar, and storyteller Ibn al-Jawz (d. 597/1200), newly abridged for a paperback readership by translator Michael Cooperson.

Amad ibn anbal (d. 241/855), renowned for his profound knowledge of hadithsthe reports of the Prophets sayings and deedsis a major figure in the history of Islam. He was famous for living according to his own strict interpretation of the Prophetic model and for denying himself the most basic comforts, even though his family was prominent and his city, Baghdad, was then one of the wealthiest in the world. Ibn anbals piety and austerity made him a folk hero, especially after he resisted the attempts of two caliphs to force him to accept rationalist doctrine. His subsequent imprisonment and flogging is one of the most dramatic episodes of medieval Islamic history, and his principled resistance influenced the course of Islamic law, the rise of Sunnism, and the legislative authority of the caliphate.

Set against the background of fierce debates over the role of reason and the basis of legitimate government,The Life of Ibn anbal tells the formidable life tale of one of the most influential Muslims in history.

An English-only edition.

Ibn al-Jawz (Author)
Ibn al-Jawz (d. 597/1201) was a Baghdadi storyteller, preacher, and prolific Islamic scholar associated with the Hanbali school of jurisprudential thought. He is well known for his exegeses of the Quran and Hadith, including his famous compendium,Al-Taqq.

Garth Fowden (Foreword by)
Garth Fowdenis the Sultan Qaboos Professor of Abrahamic Faiths at the University of Cambridge.

Michael Cooperson (Translator)
Michael Coopersonis Professor of Arabic in the Department of Near Eastern Languages& Cultures at UCLA. His translations includeThe Life of Ibnanbal by Ibn al-Jawz for the Library of Arabic Literature, andThe Author and His Doubles by the eminent Moroccan literary critic Abdelfattah Kilito.