L. F. Brakel, The Story of Muhammad Hanafiyyah, Bibliotheca Indonesica No. 16, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1977, viii + 131 pp. Softcover, n.p.g.

Writing a review of a work over a decade after its publication is a challenging task, particularly if the work attracted considerable attention and was a cause for controversy. Such was the case with the late Professor L.F. Brakel's three volume treatment of the tale of Muhammad Hanafiyyah. This present review concerns only the second volume; i.e. the abridged translation into English of the Malay text which was edited earlier in Bibliotheca Indonesica No 12. The controversy mentioned above chiefly concerned Brakel's methodology in the first volume, and can be found in Russell Jones' review article and Brakel's response in Archipel 20.

Brakel's rendering into English of the tale represents the latest stage in a process which began over one millennium ago with the original composition of the story of Muhammad Hanafiyyah. This personality was a son of ‘Ali, the fourth Caliph, and he died at the age of 68 in 700 AD. Though Muhammad Hanafiyyah never attained the degree of veneration accorded to his martyred half-brothers Hasan and Husain, nevertheless the story carrying his name was originally rendered in Arabic and Persian, and it subsequently spread to Southeast Asia via a rendering in Malay, of which there are over 30 MSS extant. Thus Brakel's abridged English translation may well represent a rendering of a rendering of a rendering of the original.

In the preface, Brakel accounts for his decision to provide an abridged translation of the Malay text because of "the rather repetitious and cliché-ridden character of the latter". An examination of the earlier volume containing the Malay text quickly shows that this was a wise decision on his part, as the Malay version is frequently stylistically tortuous due to the widespread use of a type of "translationese", evidently based on its Persian predecessor. Such was the approach to translation in the medieval Islamic world.

The overall structure of this volume is based upon four main components: the English translation of the Malay account of the story, divided into short chapters; notes to the translation, which enable a reconciliation with the Persian version on which the Malay text is based, and with the Malay text itself; a commentary following each chapter of Part I, which relates the chapter's contents to accounts of the same events from other sources, including Muslim tradition; and notes to these commentaries, which list the sources for each commentary. This four-element approach provides ample testimony to the breadth of Brakel’s scholarship. It also ensures that this work is of interest to Islamicists outside the fold of Malay studies. Moreover, it enables those scholars of Malay studies who are not able to read the Persian version to nevertheless gain an insight into that version via the notes.

The reader should begin by reading Appendix I, which is an English rendering of an introduction in Malay to the story found in several of the Malay MSS. Brakel considered this to be a later addition to the original work, and thus does not include it in his Malay text edition. However, its inclusion in this present volume is useful, as it provides the reader with an account of the birth of the Prophet, his childhood, marriage with Khadijah, and the beginning of his mission. Accompanying commentaries reconcile this account with other accounts of these same events drawn from the broader Islamic tradition. If Brakel is correct and this introduction does not belong with the original story, nevertheless many Malay readers must have been familiar with it over the course of several centuries, and this amply justifies its inclusion as an appendix in this volume.

The story itself is divided into two parts. The first is a kind of lengthy overture, which is presented in 26 short chapters, beginning where Appendix I leaves off - i.e. with the end of the Prophet's life - and proceeding by summarising in turn the caliphates of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, Ali, and Mu‘awiyah. The first part finishes with the murders of Hasan and Husain by Yazid, the son of Mu‘awiyah. The bridge to part II is provided by the call to Muhammad Hanafiyyah by his family to avenge the murders of his two half-brothers.

The second part contains the core of the work; though entitled "The Story of Muhammad Hanafiyyah", as per the Malay original, it is actually an account of the military campaign led by Muhammad Hanafiyyah against the forces of Yazid to avenge the murders of Hasan and Husain. The account is full of the fantastic, with descriptions of armies so vast that it makes Tolstoy's "War and Peace" seem a mere trivial encounter by comparison. The heroic depiction of the battle exploits of the sons of ‘Ali under Muhammad Hanafiyyah's command is reminiscent of the idealisation of heroes and rulers in Malay historiography, and it is not difficult to see why this story was evidently so popular in the Malay world.

Brakel's translation into English is eminently readable, much more so than the Malay original. In fact, the skill which Brakel demonstrates in holding the reader's attention to a story which is in itself somewhat tedious deserves acclaim. At no time did this reviewer have difficulty devoting his attention to the reading process, though the story is based on battle after battle with little dynamic variety.

This work's greatest value lies in two features touched upon earlier: firstly, the fact that it can stand alone without its Malay original and thus opens the world of Malay studies up to Islamicists from other areas, and secondly and conversely, the fact that it enables the scholar of Malay studies to come to grips with the Persian account of this story, as well as with classics of mainstream Islam, such as al-Ya‘qubi, al-Nisaburi, and al-Baydawi. This results from Brakel's decision to publish his treatment of this story in separate volumes for the Malay text and English translation, and it is to be hoped that future editors of Malay manuscripts might also consider this option. Because when the Malay text and English translations are published in one volume, the work tends to be identified as a Malay study alone, and thus scholars from other areas of Islamic Studies often do not come across research into Malay studies which is of potential interest to them.

The criticisms of this work are mostly of a cosmetic nature. The reader would have been greatly assisted to gain a quick overview of the work by a more detailed table of contents, specifying titles of parts and appendices. Moreover, a fuller bibliography should have been included to reinforce the fact that this volume can stand alone. In fact, there are generally insufficient props to facilitate the job of the reader; a list of abbreviations would have been helpful, as would a short explanation as to the method of interpreting the system of endnotes. Another minor irritant is the author's over-liberal use of the term "Indonesian" when "Malay" would have been more appropriate to refer to the pre-20th century Malay world (e.g. Commentary p. 24)

Such criticisms in no way detract from the value of this volume. Reading it once again reminded this reviewer just how great was the loss to both Malay and Islamic Studies with Brakel's premature passing in 1981.

Peter Riddell

Jerusalem, 1989