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Abu Mikhnaf
Personal Information
Full NameLut b. Yahya b. Said b. Mikhnaf b. Sulaym al-Ghamidi al-Azdi
Birthc. 80/699-700
Place of BirthKufa
Death157/774
Scholarly Information
WorksMaqtal al-Husayn (a) • Kitab al-ridda • Kitab futuh al-Sham • Other works


Lūṭ b. Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd (d. 157/774), (Arabic: لوط بن يحيي بن سعيد) known as Abū Mikhnaf and Abū Mikhnaf al-Azdī, (Arabic: أبو مخنف الأزدي) was a Shi'a historian and hadith scholar of the 2nd/8th century and the author of the book Maqtal al-Husayn. Shi'a hadith scholars have considered him a Shi'a, and al-Shaykh al-Tusi introduced him as a companion of Imam al-Sadiq (a).

Abu Mikhnaf compiled a book on the reports related to the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a). Although this book is not extant, parts of its hadiths have been cited in narrative and historical sources. He wrote other historical works regarding Saqifa, the Battle of Jamal, and the Battle of Siffin.

Biography

Lut b. Yahya b. Said b. Mikhnaf b. Sulaym al-Ghamidi al-Azdi, known as Abu Mikhnaf, was born in Kufa from the Azd tribe.[1] Mikhnaf b. Sulaym, the great-grandfather of Abu Mikhnaf,[2] was a Companion of the Prophet (s)[3] and Imam Ali (a).[4] He was appointed as the governor of Hamadan and Isfahan by Imam Ali (a).[5] Yahya b. Sa'id, Abu Mikhnaf's father, was also a companion of Imam Ali (a).[6]

Abu Mikhnaf studied in Kufa and learned from Imam al-Sadiq (a),[7] Jabir b. Yazid al-Ju'fi, Mujalid b. Sa'id, and Sa'qab b. Zubayr.[8] Fuat Sezgin (d. 1439/2018), a Muslim writer, considered his birth year to be 70/689-90.[9] Regarding his date of death, Yaqut al-Hamawi stated it was 157/774,[10] and al-Dhahabi stated it was 170/786.[11]

Sezgin considered Abu Mikhnaf a historian of the Umayyad era,[12] but al-Najashi counts him among the companions of Imam al-Sadiq (a) and in the era of Abbasid caliphs.[13]

Narrative Reliability

Abu Mikhnaf has been trusted in Shi'a narrative collections, and his name is mentioned among praised narrators. Conversely, Sunni scholars have weakened him.

Shi'a Hadith Scholars

Al-Najashi, the rijali scholar of the 5th/11th century, introduced Abu Mikhnaf as a Shi'a and a companion of hadith narrators in Kufa.[14] Al-Shaykh al-Tusi, the great Shi'a jurist and hadith scholar of the 5th/11th century, considered him a companion of Imam al-Sadiq (a).[15]

Al-Allama al-Hilli (d. 726/1325), a Shi'a jurist and theologian, considered Abu Mikhnaf to be trustworthy.[16] Ibn Dawud al-Hilli, a rijal scholar of the 7th/13th century, counted him among those who are praised and not weakened.[17] Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi (d. 1110/1699), a Shi'a jurist and hadith scholar, counted him among the praised ones in the book al-Wajiza.[18] Shaykh Abbas Qumi (d. 1359/1941), a Shi'a hadith scholar, stated that despite Abu Mikhnaf's fame as a Shi'a, Sunni scholars like al-Tabari and Ibn al-Athir trusted him and narrated his traditions.[19] Also, Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei (d. 1992), a Shi'a jurist and rijal scholar, called Abu Mikhnaf trustworthy.[20]

Sunni Hadith Scholars

Ali b. 'Umar al-Daraqutni (d. 385/995), a Shafi'i hadith scholar, considered Abu Mikhnaf's hadiths weak.[21] Ibn 'Adi al-Jurjani (d. 365/976), a Sunni rijal scholar and hadith scholar, called him an extremist Shi'a and said that narrating his reports is not permissible due to the weakness of the chain of transmission.[22]

Historiography

Abu Mikhnaf wrote reports regarding the conquests, important Arab days, caliphs, and governors.[23] Ibn al-Nadim (d. 385/995), a Sunni bibliographer, considered him the most knowledgeable person regarding the affairs of Iraq, its history, and its conquests.[24] Al-Tabari cited many reports from Abu Mikhnaf regarding important events up to 132/750 in his history book.[25]

It is said that Abu Mikhnaf selected and recorded important events in the history of Hijaz and wrote independent works about them, such as Kitab al-Saqifa,[26] Kitab al-ridda,[27] Kitab al-Jamal, and Kitab Siffin.[28]

Abu Mikhnaf's first historical reports are narrations regarding the illness of the Prophet (s).[29] Abu Mikhnaf paid attention to recording reports regarding Imam Ali (a).[30] Ibn Abi l-Hadid considered the reports of the Maqtal of Imam 'Ali (a) in the book Maqatil al-talibiyyin, which Abu l-Faraj al-Isfahani narrated from Abu Mikhnaf, to be among the most reliable reports regarding the Martyrdom of Imam Ali (a).[31]

Works

Main article: List of Works by Abu Mikhnaf

Abu Mikhnaf authored works on many important historical events and subjects, and his works are mostly about Shi'a,[32] including the Fadakiyya Sermon, the Battle of Jamal, Ṣiffīn, the killing of al-Ḥasan (a), the story of the martyrdom of Muhammad b. Abi Bakr, the Uprising of Imam al-Husayn (a), and the Uprising of al-Mukhtar, which are mentioned in detail in rijal books.[33]

Maqtal of Abu Mikhnaf

Main article: Maqtal al-Husayn (Abu Mikhnaf)

Abu Mikhnaf was the author of the Maqtal of Imam al-Ḥusayn (a), one of the most famous and oldest works about Imam al-Husayn (a), which was compiled in the 2nd/8th century using the method of hadith scholars (transmission-based).[34] Al-Dinawari in the book al-Akhbar al-tiwal[35] and al-Shaykh al-Mufid in al-Irshad[36] followed it.

It is said that the Maqtal of Abu Mikhnaf was narrated by Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi, but it was lost over time, and the Maqtal currently attributed to him does not belong to him.[37] However, parts of the content of Abu Mikhnaf's Maqtal have been narrated in other works: Tarikh al-Tabari, Ansab al-ashraf, al-Futuh, Muruj al-dhahab, Maqatil al-talibiyyin, al-Irshad by al-Shaykh al-Mufid, and Tadhkirat al-khawass by Sibt b. al-Jawzi.[38]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, p. 105.
  2. ↑ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Tahdhīb al-tahdhīb, vol. 10, p. 70.
  3. ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 6, p. 109.
  4. ↑ Ṭūsī, Rijāl al-Ṭūsī, p. 81.
  5. ↑ Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, Dhikr akhbār Iṣfahān, p. 189.
  6. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Maʿālim al-ʿulamāʾ, p. 93.
  7. ↑ Dhahabī, Mīzān al-iʿtidāl, vol. 3, p. 42.
  8. ↑ Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, vol. 7, p. 310.
  9. ↑ Sezgin, Tārīkh al-turāth al-ʿarabī, vol. 2, p. 127.
  10. ↑ Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-udabāʾ, vol. 7, p. 41.
  11. ↑ Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 3, p. 420.
  12. ↑ Sezgin, Tārīkh al-turāth al-ʿarabī, vol. 2, p. 127.
  13. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 320.
  14. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 320.
  15. ↑ Ṭūsī, Rijāl al-Ṭūsī, p. 275.
  16. ↑ Al-Ḥillī, Khulāṣat al-aqwāl, vol. 1, p. 309.
  17. ↑ Ibn Dāwūd al-Ḥillī, al-Rijāl, p. 282.
  18. ↑ Majlisī, al-Wajīza fī l-rijāl, p. 145.
  19. ↑ Qummī, al-Kunā wa l-alqāb, vol. 1, p. 155.
  20. ↑ Khoei, Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth, vol. 15, p. 140.
  21. ↑ Dāraquṭnī, Kitāb al-ḍuʿafāʾ wa l-matrūkīn, p. 333.
  22. ↑ Ibn ʿAdī, al-Kāmil fī ḍuʿafāʾ al-rijāl, vol. 8, p. 93.
  23. ↑ Brockelmann, Tārīkh al-adab al-ʿarabī, vol. 1, p. 253.
  24. ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, p. 106.
  25. ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, vol. 4, p. 342.
  26. ↑ Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 585.
  27. ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, vol. 2, p. 261.
  28. ↑ Abū Mikhnaf, Maqtal al-Imām al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī, p. 9.
  29. ↑ Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 568.
  30. ↑ Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 2, pp. 206-208; Ibn Aʿtham, al-Futūḥ, vol. 2, p. 286; Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, Maqātil al-ṭālibiyyīn, pp. 22-28, 33-45.
  31. ↑ Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 6, p. 113.
  32. ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, pp. 105-106; Al-Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 320.
  33. ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, p. 105; Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 320; Ṭūsī, al-Fihrist, p. 155.
  34. ↑ Ṣadr, Taʾsīs al-Shīʿa, p. 236.
  35. ↑ Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl, pp. 230-280.
  36. ↑ al-Shaykh al-Mufīd, al-Irshād, p. 231.
  37. ↑ Abū Mikhnaf, Maqtal al-Imām al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī, p. 30; Qummī, al-Kunā wa l-alqāb, vol. 1, p. 155.
  38. ↑ Jābirī, Uṣūl al-maqtal al-Ḥusaynī, p. 217.

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