Ibn Baskuwal (m. 578/1183): Kitab al-Mustagitin bi-llah (En busco del socorro divino).

• Author: Bellamy, James A.

Abu l-Qasim Khalaf b. Abd al-Malik al-Khazraji (494-578/1101-83), known as Ibn Bashkuwal (Son of Pascual) was a well-known religious scholar who spent most of his life in Cordoba. After a few years of public service during his youth he retired and devoted himself for the remainder of his long life to study and teaching. In her study of his life Manuela Marin lists 26 works which he authored. He was particularly fond of anecdotal biography and history, and among his works there are several akhbar-collections on individual famous scholars, collective works on the qadis of Cordoba, his own sheikhs, and others. He is most famous for his K. al-Silah, which is a continuation of the Ta rikh al-Andalus by Ibn al-Faradi.

The full title of this work is K. al-Mustaghithin billah inda l-muhimmat wal-hajat (Those who cry to God for help when in distress and need). It contains 154 anecdotes about people who, suffering from some kind of affliction or threat, prayed to God and were miraculously preserved. Material of this sort is also found in books entitled al-faraj bad al-shiddah (Release after being in difficult straits) and mujabi l-dawah (Those whose prayers are answered).

The mujabu l-dawah are a special class of people who are known for their effectiveness in eliciting favorable responses from God to their prayers, so they are often sought out by the unfortunate and importuned to solicit His help. Sometimes two persons participate: one does the praying and the other says Amen. Some of the mujabu l-dawah are people famous for other reasons, such as the imams, prominent scholars, and the like, but many of them are simple people known only for their piety and this singular gift.

In this work we find anecdotes illustrating rescue from all sorts of afflictions: illness, danger of death, grief, debt, and many others. The texts of the prayers by which these miracles were accomplished are usually given, so the reader can use them for himself in case of need.

In her preliminary study, Marin, after discussing the life of Ibn Bashkuwal, deals with the K. al-Mustaghithin in detail, including authors and books cited in the text, both from Spain and the East, with a wealth of biographical information. Next follows an analysis of the contents of the book, and then a description of the two MSS used in the edition, an extensive bibliography, and notes on the text, all in Spanish. The Arabic text is followed by indices of proper names, groups and tribes, men in the...