Ma'ruf ibn Firuz al-Karkhi was born in the town of Karkh in Baghdad, hence his surname “Al-Karkhi”. Ma'ruf was a Persian, and he was born in a Christian family which is said to have been formerly adhering to the religion of the Sabians. Ma'ruf studied in a Christian school as well, when he was a very young child. The teacher of the Christian school would often force him to say that “God is three” but Ma'ruf was defiant and he proclaimed that God is not three, but one. Due to his defiance, Ma'ruf was eventually punished. He was given a hard blow with a wooden cane. And so, he ran away from his hometown of Karkh to the center of Baghdad.
In Baghdad, Ma'ruf met the scholar, Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha. Both of them, then had a conversation. During this conversation, Ma'ruf told Ali, that he rejected all forms of idol worship (hence rejecting polytheism). So, Ali told him to accept Islam as it was free from the things which Ma'ruf hated. Ma'ruf accepted Islam, and he returned home. His parents also accepted Islam under his influence.
When Ma'ruf got older, he became a disciple of the famous mystic, Abu Sulayman Dawood ibn Nusayr al-Ta'i, a former student of the founder of the Hanafi madhab, Imam Abu Hanifah an-Nu'man. Dawood was a strict teacher, but Ma'ruf was able to remain steadfast. Ma'ruf learned under Dawood, until Dawood passed away due to a terminal illness.
During his lifetime as a mystic, Ma'ruf became famous for his asceticism. When one of his close companions asked him, “What is the matter that has caused you to abstain from the world and from the creations of Allah, and remain in seclusion, remembering Almighty Allah? Is it the fear of Death and the grave, or the fear of Hell, or the enthusiasm of attaining Paradise?” To which Ma'ruf replied, “O my friend, you discuss such minor things. What are all these worth in front of Allah? All these are but humble subjects of Allah. Once you taste the pleasure of his closeness, then you will not think of any of the other things you have mentioned.” Ma'ruf would also spend at least twenty minutes in the congregational mosque of Baghdad, saying, “O Gawth, O Allah!” for at least a thousand times.
Ma'ruf would eventually have his own disciples as well. His disciples included the Sufi scholar Abu'l Hasan Sari ibn Mughallis al-Saqati, who was also the maternal uncle of the great mystic Junayd of Baghdad. Sari al-Saqati was also one of Ma'ruf's most famous students, and was the first to present the processes of Zuhd in a very systematic and easy-to-understand manner.
Ma'ruf al-Karkhi passed away in the year 200 Al-Hijri, or some claim it to be 201 Al-Hijri. During his last moments, he was suffering from an incurable disease. Ma'ruf told his companion at the bedside that his shirt should be given as charity after death, because he entered this world without any clothes. So, when he passed on, his companion did just that. Ma'ruf was buried in a cemetery located near Karkh, which was also where the female Abbasid ruler Umm al-Nasir was buried. In the year 459 Al-Hijri, the grave of Ma'ruf was burned. This showed the ignorant grave-worshippers, who had been frequenting his grave as a place of worship, that not even Ma'ruf, a saintly man, could protect his own grave in death.
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The Early Zuhaad
Non-FictionA collection of short biographies of early Muslim ascetics, such as Al-Hasan of Basra, Junayd of Baghdad, and Bishr ibn al-Harith al-Hafi. All of these ascetics are firm followers of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
