Muhammad b. Muslim al-Thaqafi

Priority: b, Quality: b
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Muhammad b. Muslim al-Thaqafi
Companion ofImam al-Baqir (a), Imam al-Sadiq (a), Imam al-Kazim (a)
TeknonymAbu Ja'far
Epithetal-Awqas • al-A'war • al-Haddaj • al-Kufi ...
Place of BirthKufa
Place(s) of ResidenceKufa, Medina
Worksal-Arba'mi'a mas'ala fi abwab al-halal wa l-haram


Muḥammad b. Muslim al-Thaqafī al-Kūfī (Arabic: محمد بن مسلم الثقفي الکوفي) (d. 150/767-8) was a prominent companion of Imam al-Baqir (a) and Imam al-Sadiq (a) and one of the People of Consensus (Ashab al-ijma'). The scholars of rijal regard him as the most learned jurist among Shi'a hadith transmitters. According to a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a), Muhammad b. Muslim was one of the revivers of the teachings of Imam al-Baqir (a).

Biography

People of Consensus

Comapnions of Imam al-Baqir (a)
Zurara b. A'yan
Ma'ruf b. Kharrabudh
Burayd b. Mu'awiya
Abu Basir
al-Fudayl b. Yasar
Muhammad b. Muslim


Companions of Imam al-Sadiq (a)
Jamil b. Darraj
Abd Allah b. Muskan
Abd Allah b. Bukayr
Hammad b. 'Uthman
Hammad b. 'Isa
Aban b. 'Uthman


Companions of Imam al-Kazim (a) and Imam al-Rida (a)
Yunus b. 'Abd al-Rahman
Safwan b. Yahya
Muhammad b. Abi 'Umayr
Abd Allah b. al-Mughira
Hasan b. Mahbub
Ahmad b. Abi Nasr al-Bazanti

Muhammad b. Muslim was born in Kufa.[1] He was a mawla of the tribe of Thaqif and his teknonym was Abu Ja'far.

In rijal sources, several epithets has been attributed to him, including al-Awqas, al-A'war, al-Haddaj, al-Qasir, al-Tahhan, al-Samman, al-Ta'ifi, and al-Thaqafi.[2]

Scholarly Status

Muhammad b. Muslim studied under Imam al-Baqir (a) in Medina for four years.[3] According to a report, Imam al-Sadiq (a) counted Muhammad b. Muslim among the trustees of his father, Imam al-Baqir (a), in matters of religion and a protector of Shiism.[4] Imam al-Sadiq (a) would refer the people who were not able to stay in contact with himself to Muhammad b. Muslim.[5]

According to a hadith, the Imam (a) said about Muhammad that "None of the Shi'a were more knowledgeable in jurisprudence than Muhammad b. Muslim."[6]

It is reported that great Sunni figures such as Abu Hanifa would refer to him in scholarly issues.[7]

He heard thirty-thousand hadiths from Imam al-Baqir (a) and sixteen thousand hadiths from Imam al-Sadiq (a).[8]

In the Viewpoint of Scholars

Scholars of rijal have regarded Muhammad b. Muslim as one of the People of Consensus.[9]

Al-Najashi describes Muhammad as "the noblest companion," the "most trustworthy person," and "a righteous jurist."[10]

Al-Shaykh al-Tusi counts him among the companion of Imam al-Baqir (a), , and companion of Imam al-Kazim (a).[11] Al-Barqi mentions that Sunnis also quoted hadith from Muhammad, and al-Shaykh al-Mufid regards him as a leading jurist from whom the Shi'a learned jurisprudence and about whose integrity there is no disagreement.[12]

Teachers and Students

Muhammad b. Muslim quoted hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a) and Imam al-Sadiq (a) directly. He also quoted hadith from the prominent companions of the Infallibles (a) such as

Many hadith transmitters quoted hadith from Muhammad, such as the following:

Works

Muhammad b. Muslim produced a work, entitled al-Arba'mi'a mas'ala fi abwab al-halal wa l-haram, in which four-hundred fiqh problems were discussed.[14]

Demise

Muhammad b. Muslim passed away in 150/767-8.[15]

Notes

  1. Najāshī, Rijāl, p. 323.
  2. Ṭūsī, Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl, vol. 1, p. 383.
  3. Mufīd, al-Ikhtiṣāṣ, p. 203.
  4. Khoei, Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth, vol. 17, p. 254.
  5. Ṭūsī, Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl, vol. 1, p. 383.
  6. Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 47, p. 394.
  7. Ṭūsī, Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl, vol. 1, p. 386.
  8. Ṭūsī, Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl, vol. 1, p. 386.
  9. Ṭūsī, Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl, vol. 2, p. 507.
  10. Najāshī, Rijāl, p. 325-326.
  11. Ṭūsī, al-Rijāl, p. 144, 294, 342.
  12. Mamaqānī, Tanqīḥ al-maqāl, vol. 3, p. 184.
  13. Subḥānī, Mawsūʿat ṭabaqāt al-fuqahā, vol. 2, p. 522.
  14. Najāshī, Rijāl, p. 324.
  15. Mamaqānī, Tanqīḥ al-maqāl, vol. 3, p. 184.

References

  • Khoei, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim al-. Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth. Beirut: Dār al-Zahrā, 1409 AH.
  • Mamaqānī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥasan. Tanqīḥ al-maqāl fī ʿilm al-rijāl. Najaf: Maṭbaʿat al-Murtaḍawīyya, 1352 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Wafāʾ, 1403 AH.
  • Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Ikhtiṣāṣ. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1413 AH.
  • Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Rijāl al-Najāshī. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1424 AH.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Mawsūʿat ṭabaqāt al-rijāl. Qom: Muʾassisat Imām al-Ṣādiq (a), 1418 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl, known as Rijāl Kashshī. Qom: Āl-i al-Bayt li Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, [n.d].