Baqî Ibn Makhlad was a student from Cordoba, in Andalusia. He loved religious knowledge so much that he traveled for years, often on foot, to meet the greatest scholars of his time.
Episode 1 — The Boy Who Wanted to Learn
In Cordoba, in Andalusia, lived a young man named Baqî Ibn Makhlad.
He loved to learn.
Very early on, he drew close to the scholars of his city and began to study with them.
Andalusia was a great Muslim region located in present-day Spain.
Baqî was born in Cordoba during the month of Ramadan in the year 201 AH.
Among the scholars he met was a man who had himself traveled to Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula.
It was especially thanks to him that Baqî developed a great interest in the science of hadith.
A hadith is a narrative that reports a saying, an action, or an approval of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Baqî learned.
He listened.
He memorized.
But the further he advanced in knowledge, the more he heard about men who lived very far from Cordoba.
Scholars of Egypt.
Of Shâm.
Of Iraq.
Men from whom he could learn directly.
Shâm refers to a great region that included, among others, the current territories of Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon.
And among all the names he heard, one held a special place:
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.
Baqî wanted to meet him.
Not simply hear about him.
Not only receive his words through other people.
He wanted to learn directly from him.
But Ahmad Ibn Hanbal lived in Baghdad.
Very far from Cordoba.
And Baqî did not even own a mount.
An Immense Decision
Around the age of thirty, Baqî made his decision.
He would leave Andalusia.
He would set out in search of knowledge.
At that time, undertaking such a journey was not simple.
There were no trains, no cars, no planes.
And Baqî had neither horse nor camel to carry him.
He himself narrated:
— I went on foot to all those from whom I learned knowledge.
On foot.
From one city to another.
From one country to another.
From one scholar to another.
So he left Cordoba.
And his long journey began.
Walking to Learn
Baqî crossed many regions.
He studied in Mecca.
In Medina.
In Egypt.
In Shâm.
Then in Iraq.
Whenever he heard of a scholar from whom he could learn, he sought to meet him.
But traveling so far required means.
And Baqî possessed very little.
When his money ran out, he could no longer simply continue on his way.
So he stopped.
He worked.
He earned enough to set off again.
Then, as soon as he had enough to continue his journey, he resumed walking.
His goal was not to visit countries.
He sought knowledge.
And for that, he was ready to endure difficulties that few people would have accepted.
When Almost Nothing Was Left
Baqî once told his students that a student of knowledge had sometimes been reduced to eating the cabbage leaves that people threw away.
He also narrated that this man had sold his trousers more than once to be able to buy paper.
Baqî did not clearly say that he was speaking about himself.
So we must not assert it.
But these words give an idea of the difficulties that one who sought knowledge at that time could encounter.
Paper had value.
Traveling cost money.
Eating cost money.
Finding a place to stay could also be difficult.
And yet, Baqî continued.
Because each stage could allow him to learn something that he would never have been able to hear if he had stayed home.
"The Broom"
Baqî sought knowledge wherever it was found.
He did not content himself with a single teacher.
He did not want to miss an opportunity to learn.
Over time, he was even given an astonishing nickname:
"The Broom."
Why this nickname?
Because a broom gathers what it encounters on its path.
Baqî, for his part, collected knowledge wherever he found it.
During his travels, he studied with two hundred and eighty-four scholars.
Two hundred and eighty-four men from whom he sought to learn.
But despite this immense number, he always kept a particular goal.
A name.
A man he absolutely wanted to meet.
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.
Baqî himself declared:
— My goal and my desire were to meet Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.
So he continued to advance toward Baghdad.
Thousands of Kilometers
The road between Andalusia and the great cities of the East was immense.
Passing through the different regions of his journey, Baqî covered thousands of kilometers.
On foot.
Day after day.
Stage after stage.
He walked.
Then he learned.
Then he set off again.
When money was lacking, he worked.
Then he resumed the road.
Years passed like this.
And finally, after about five years of travel, Baqî approached Baghdad.
This time, his goal seemed very close.
After all those roads…
After the fatigue…
After the lack of money…
After the forced stops to work…
After all the scholars he had already met…
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was finally in the same city as him.
Finally Baghdad
Baqî arrived in Baghdad.
He had waited so long for this moment.
He finally wanted to meet Imam Ahmad.
He wanted to sit with him.
Listen to his teachings.
Learn the hadiths he knew.
The journey seemed to have reached its goal.
But Baqî then learned news he had never imagined hearing.
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was going through a severe trial.
The authorities had forbidden him from teaching publicly.
He was forbidden from receiving students as before.
He was forbidden from freely transmitting hadiths.
Baqî had just walked for years to reach Baghdad.
And now that he was finally there…
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal could no longer teach.
After All That Road…
Baqî had left Cordoba.
He had crossed countries.
He had known poverty.
He had walked thousands of kilometers.
He had learned from hundreds of scholars.
And one of his greatest goals had always been to meet Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.
Now, he was finally in Baghdad.
The city was there.
The scholar was there.
But he could not simply enter an assembly and sit before him as he had imagined.
He had to find another solution.
Baqî could leave.
He could give up.
He could tell himself that he had already traveled enough and learned enough.
But after all those years…
was he really ready to give up now?
He had managed to reach Baghdad.
Only one thing remained for him to discover:
how to learn from a man who had been forbidden to teach?
To be continued…
