His Name and Lineage
He was Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Shihāb ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Zuhrah ibn Kilāb ibn Murrah ibn Kaʿb ibn Luʾayy ibn Ghālib al-Qurashī az-Zuhrī al-Madanī (d. 124 AH/742 CE) ؒ.
He belonged to the noble Banū Zuhrah clan of Quraysh and was among the leading scholars of Madīnah.
His Birth
According to Duhaym (d. 245 AH/859 CE), he was born in the year 50 AH (670 CE). Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ (d. 240 AH/854 CE), however, stated that he was born in 51 AH (671 CE).
His Physical Appearance
Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH/814 CE) said:
رأيت الزهري أحمر الرأس واللحية في حمرتها انكفاء، كأنه يجعل فيها كتما، وكان رجلا أعيمش، وله جمة، قدم علينا سنة ثلاث وعشرين ومائة فأقام إلى هلال المحرم سنة أربع وأنا يومئذ ابن ست عشرة سنة.
“I saw az-Zuhrī with red hair and a red beard whose colour was fading, as though he used katam. He was bleary-eyed and had long hair. He came to us in 123 AH and stayed until the new moon of Muḥarram 124 AH. I was sixteen years old at the time.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:332.)
Adh-Dhahabī later comments that Mālik apparently mistook him for a young man because of his dyed hair. (Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:344.)
al-Layth ibn Saʿd (d. 175 AH/791 CE) said:
وعليه ملحفة معصفرة.
“He wore a cloak dyed with safflower.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:341.)
This is an excerpt from al-Layth’s report; it also describes a safflower-dyed tent.
His Teachers
Az-Zuhrī narrated from many of the senior Companions and leading Successors (Tābiʿūn), including:
Sahl ibn Saʿd as-Sāʿidī (d. 91 AH/710 CE),
Anas ibn Mālik (d. 93 AH/712 CE),
as-Sāʾib ibn Yazīd (d. 91 AH/710 CE),
ʿAbd Allah ibn Thaʿlabah ibn Suʿayr,
Maḥmūd ibn Rabīʿ (d. 99 AH/718 CE),
Maḥmūd ibn Labīd (d. 96 AH/715 CE),
Sunayn Abū Jamīlah,
Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab (d. 94 AH/713 CE),
and many others.
Abū Ḥātim ar-Rāzī (d. 277 AH/890 CE) said:
“The most proficient students of Anas ibn Mālik were az-Zuhrī, Qatādah, and Thābit al-Bunānī, in this order.”
Az-Zuhrī said:
جالست ابن المسيب حتى ما كنت أسمع منه إلا الرجوع، يعني: المعاد، وجالست عبيد الله فما رأيت أغرب منه، ووجدت عروة بحرا لا تكدره الدلاء.
“I sat with Ibn al-Musayyab until all I heard from him was repetition [of what I had already learnt]. I sat with ʿUbayd Allah and found no one with rarer reports. I found ʿUrwah to be an ocean which buckets could not disturb.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:344.)
His Pursuit of Knowledge
Abū az-Zinād (d. 130 AH/748 CE) said:
كان ابن شهاب يكتب كلما سمع، فلما احتيج إليه، علمت أنه أعلم الناس، وبصر عيني به ومعه ألواح أو صحف، يكتب فيها الحديث، وهو يتعلم يومئذ.
“Ibn Shihāb would write everything he heard. When people needed his knowledge, I realised that he was the most knowledgeable of people. I saw him with slates or sheets on which he recorded ḥadīth while he was still studying.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:332.)
He also said:
كنت أطوف أنا والزهري ومعه الألواح والصحف فكنا نضحك به.
“I used to go around with az-Zuhrī, who carried slates and sheets, and we used to laugh at him.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:332.)
Az-Zuhrī said:
مست ركبتي ركبة سعيد بن المسيب ثماني سنين.
“My knee touched the knee of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab for eight years.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:332.)
He also said:
اختلفت من الحجاز إلى الشام خمسا وأربعين سنة، فما استطرفت حديثا واحدا، ولا وجدت من يطرفني حديثا.
“I travelled between the Ḥijāz and ash-Shām for forty-five years. I did not encounter a single ḥadīth new to me, nor did I find anyone who could relate one new to me.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:335.)
His Manners in Seeking Knowledge
ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar al-ʿUmarī (d. 171 AH/787 CE) reported that az-Zuhrī said:
حدثت علي بن الحسين بحديث، فلما فرغت منه، قال: أحسنت، بارك الله فيك، هكذا حدثناه.
“I narrated a ḥadīth to ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn. When I finished, he said: ‘You have done well. May Allah bless you. That is how it was narrated to us.’” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:344–345.)
Mālik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH/795 CE) said:
قلت: كنت تكتب؟ قال: لا. قلت: أما كنت تستعيد؟ قال: لا.
“I asked: ‘Did you use to write?’ He replied: ‘No.’ I asked: ‘Did you use to ask for repetition?’ He replied: ‘No.’” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:333.)
Saʿd ibn Ibrāhīm (d. 125 AH/742 CE) said:
ما سبقنا ابن شهاب من العلم بشيء، إلا أنه كان يشد ثوبه عند صدره ويسأل عما يريد، وكنا تمنعنا الحداثة.
“Ibn Shihāb did not surpass us in knowledge except that he would fasten his garment at his chest and ask whatever he wished, while our youth held us back.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:332.)
Az-Zuhrī said:
ما استفهمت عالما قط، ولا رددت شيئا على عالم قط.
“I have never asked a scholar to explain again, nor asked him to repeat anything.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:333.)
Mālik also said:
قرأت على الزهري سبعين حديثا فلحنت في حديث فحرك دابته وقال: أف أف ذهب فهم الناس.
“I recited seventy ḥadīths to az-Zuhrī and made a grammatical error in one of them. He moved his mount and said: ‘Uff, uff! People’s understanding has gone.’” (Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh Dimashq, 55:351.)
Az-Zuhrī used to revise his knowledge. After seeking knowledge from ʿUrwah and others, he would wake one of his female servants. The account relates:
فيأتي جارية له وهي نائمة فيوقظها يقول لها: حدثني فلان بكذا، وحدثني فلان بكذا، فتقول: مالي ولهذا؟ فيقول: قد علمت أنك لا تنتفعي به، ولكن سمعت الآن فأردت أن أستذكره.
“He would go to a servant of his while she was asleep, wake her and say: ‘So-and-so narrated such-and-such to me, and so-and-so narrated such-and-such.’ She would say: ‘What has that to do with me?’ He would reply: ‘I know that you will not benefit from it, but I have just heard it and wanted to revise it.’” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:334.)
Adh-Dhahabī (d. 748 AH/1348 CE) mentioned that az-Zuhrī disliked eating apples and preferred to drink honey, saying that it strengthened his memory.
Az-Zuhrī used to say:
من سره أن يحفظ الحديث فليأكل الزبيب.
“Whoever wishes to memorise ḥadīth should eat raisins.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:346–347.)
Scholarly Praise for az-Zuhrī
ʿAmr ibn Dīnār (d. 126 AH/744 CE) said:
ما رأيت أحدا أنص للحديث من الزهري.
“I have not seen anyone more precise in relating ḥadīth than az-Zuhrī.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:334.)
Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (d. 167 AH/783 CE) said:
“When knowledge reached us from az-Zuhrī in the Ḥijāz, we accepted it.”
Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 AH/855 CE) said:
الزهري أحسن الناس حديثا، وأجود الناس إسنادا.
“Az-Zuhrī was the best of people in ḥadīth and the finest in chains of transmission.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:335.)
Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, as named in the report transmitted by al-Layth, said:
ما بقي عند أحد من العلم ما بقي عند ابن شهاب.
“No one retained as much knowledge as Ibn Shihāb retained.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:336.)
Ayyūb as-Sakhtiyānī (d. 131 AH/749 CE) said:
ما رأيت أحدا أعلم من الزهري.
“I have not seen anyone more knowledgeable than az-Zuhrī.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:336–337.)
His Students
Among his most prominent students were:
ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ (d. 114 AH/732 CE),
ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (d. 101 AH/720 CE),
Ayyūb as-Sakhtiyānī (d. 131 AH/749 CE),
Mālik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH/795 CE),
Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH/814 CE),
ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Ibn Jurayj (d. 150 AH/767 CE),
Jaʿfar ibn Burqān (d. 154 AH/771 CE),
and many others.
His narrations were later included in the collections of Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (d. 261 AH/875 CE) and Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī (d. 256 AH/870 CE), who were later compilers, not his direct students.
Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn (d. 233 AH/848 CE) said:
“The most reliable transmitters from him were Mālik ibn Anas, Maʿmar, Yūnus, ʿAqīl, Shuʿayb, and Ibn ʿUyaynah.”
Al-Awzāʿī (d. 157 AH/774 CE) reported:
“Az-Zuhrī gave me a manuscript and said, ‘Narrate its contents with my permission.’”
Some scholars refrained from narrating from him due to certain practices they observed. Abū Jaʿfar ar-Rāzī (d. 160 AH/776 CE) said:
لم أكتب عن الزهري؛ لأنه كان يخضب بالسواد.
“I did not write from az-Zuhrī because he used to dye his hair black.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, biography of Abū Jaʿfar ar-Rāzī.)
His Character and Conduct
Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
كنا نأتي الزهري بالراهب وهي محلة قبلي دمشق، فيقدم لنا كذا وكذا لونا.
“We used to visit az-Zuhrī at ar-Rāhib, a locality south of Damascus, and he would serve us various kinds of food.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:341.)
Adh-Dhahabī said:
كان رحمه الله محتشما جليلا بزي الأجناد له صورة كبيرة في دولة بني أمية.
“He was dignified and distinguished, dressed in military attire, and held a prominent position in the Umayyad state.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:337.)
His Death
Ibn Saʿd (d. 230 AH/845 CE), Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ (d. 240 AH/854 CE), and az-Zubayr ibn Bakkār (d. 256 AH/870 CE) stated:
مات لسبع عشرة خلت من رمضان سنة أربع وعشرين.
“He died on the seventeenth of Ramaḍān in 124 AH.” (Adh-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:350.)
References
Adh-Dhahabī, Shams ad-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān (d. 748 AH/1348 CE). Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, biography of az-Zuhrī, 5:326–350, as paginated in the Islamweb transcription; also the biography of Abū Jaʿfar ar-Rāzī.
Ibn Abī Ḥātim, ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad (d. 327 AH/938 CE). Al-Jarḥ wa-t-Taʿdīl. Dār Iḥyāʾ at-Turāth al-ʿArabī, Beirut, 1952, 7:176–180.
Ibn ʿAsākir, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan (d. 571 AH/1176 CE). Tārīkh Dimashq, 55:351, in the electronic Arabic text, PDF p. 207.
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī (d. 852 AH/1449 CE). Tahdhīb at-Tahdhīb. Dār al-Fikr, Beirut, 1995, 9:445–452.
Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad (d. 230 AH/845 CE). Aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā edited by ʿAlī Muḥammad ʿUmar, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, Beirut, 1990, 5:193–210.
Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ (d. 240 AH/854 CE). Aṭ-Ṭabaqāt edited by Akram Ḍiyāʾ al-ʿUmarī, Dār al-Qalam, Damascus, 1985, pp. 237–240.
Al-Mizzī, Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān (d. 742 AH/1341 CE). Tahdhīb al-Kamāl fī Asmāʾ ar-Rijāl, biography of Jaʿfar ibn Burqān, reporting his death in 154 AH.
