MUHASIBI, AL-

( (Arabic: He Who Examines His Conscience), ) born c. 781, , Basra, Iraq died 857, Baghdad in full Abu 'abd Allah Al-harith Ibn Asad Al-'anazi Al-muhasibi eminent Muslim mystic (Sufi) and theologian renowned for his psychological refinement of pietistic devotion and his role as a precursor of the doctrine of later Muslim orthodoxy. His main work was ar-Ri ' ayah li-huquq Allah, in which he acknowledges asceticism to be valuable as an act of supererogation but always to be tempered by inner and outer duties toward God. There is little historical information about al-Muhasibi's life. His parents apparently left for Baghdad shortly after his birth, perhaps attracted by the many opportunities afforded by the newly founded capital. His father had acquired some wealth, but al-Muhasibi is said to have refused it because of doctrinal differences. He led a normal life, owned a beautiful house, and liked sumptuous clothes. This image of the ordinary bourgeois, however, is qualified by a trait that al-Muhasibi imported from Basra: the otherworldly spirituality propagated by the famous Sufi theologian al-Hasan al-Basri (died 728). Muslim asceticism had developed some specific features: nightly recitals of the Qur'an (the Muslim sacred scriptures), restrictions concerning the kind and quantity of food one should eat, and a special attire consisting of woollen clothing. These habits had been adapted from the life-style of Christian monks. But whereas Christian monks used to live in seclusion, a Muslim ascetic felt obliged to remain an active member of his community. Additional reading Margaret Smith, An Early Mystic of Baghdad (1935), a biography of al-Muhasibi and an analysis of his mystical ideas; Josef van Ess, Ibn Kullab und die Mihna, Oriens, 1819:92142 (196566), an article about al-Muhasibi's importance for the theology of his time.