Aban b. Abi Ayyash: Difference between revisions

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'''Abū Ismaʿil Fīrūz al-Baṣrī al-Tābiʿī''' (Arabic:{{ia|أبواسماعیل فیروز البصری التابعی}}) (d. [[138]]/755) known as '''Abān b. Abī ʿAyyāsh''' was a [[hadith]] scholar in the 2nd/8th century after [[Bi'that]]. He was regarded as a true virtuous and religious man by everyone including [[Sunni]] Muslims. [[Al-Shaykh al-Tusi]] considered him a [[:Category:Companions of Imam al-Sajjad (a)|companion of Imam al-Sajjad (a)]], [[:Category:Companions of Imam al-Baqir (a)|Imam al-Baqir (a)]] and [[[[:Category:Companions of Imam al-Sadiq (a)|Imam al-Sadiq (a)]]. He is mostly famous among Shi'ite Muslims due to narrating from [[Sulaym b. Qays]].

There are not enough information on the time and pace of birth of Aban b. Abi 'Ayyash, it is only said that he was a slave of 'Abd al-Qays. He passed away about 140/757 or 128/746.

Aban b. Abi Ayyash has narrated from famous earlier hadith scholars. He has mostly narrated from [[Anas b. Malik]], companion and servant of [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]].

Neither Shi'ite nor Sunni Rijal scholars regarded Aban b. Abi 'Ayyash [[thiqa]] (reliable). However some recent Shi'ite Rijal scholars including [[Mirza Husayn Nuri]] and [['Abd Allah Mamaqani]] tried to prove that Ibn Abi 'Ayyash was thiqa which is not accepted. Generally well-known Sunni hadith scholars considered him unreliable.

There are not any decisive evidence to reject acceptance of Aban b. Abi 'Ayyash as thiqa (reliable hadith narrator). Mirza Husayn Nuri believed Abi 'Ayyash was a Shi'ite narrator, his oppositions tried to marginalize him, but such statement is not accurate according to Shi'ite [[Rijal]] books.

A number of Sunni Rijal scholars did not accept Abi 'Ayyash a reliable narrator, as he was weak at memorizing hadiths and he had a habit of forgetting the name of narrators and content of hadiths.

Aban b. Abi 'Ayyash is unanimously accepted as a virtuous and a true believer, especially among Sunnis. According to [[Ibn Habban]], Abi 'Ayyash was a devoted believer who observed fast during the days and worshiped God during the nights. He paid attention to his appearance and wore decent and pure clothes. Accordingly [[Sufyan b. 'Uyayna]] narrated that [[Malik b. Dinar]] entitled Aban b. Abi 'Ayyash as "Tawus al-Qarra'" (a magnificently attractive man).

Aban was Shi'ite without a doubt. Although some reports stated that Aban was not Shi'ite, [[Al-Shaykh Al-Tusi]] regarded him as [[companion]] of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]], [[Imam al-Baqir (a)]] and [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]]. However he was surprised to figure out that Aban did not narrate any [[hadith]] from them; even if he narrated hadiths, they are not mentioned in any Shi'ite narration books.

Aban b. Abi 'Ayyash is well-known among Shi'ites because of narrating hadiths from [[Abu Sadiq Sulaym b. Qays al-'Amiri al-Hilali al-Kufi]]. Sulaym was a [[companion]] of [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] and he lived in the time of [[Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi]] (d. 95/714). As Sulaym was a Shi'a, Hajjaj was perusing him but he fled to Fars and Aban provided shelter for him. When Sulaym was on the verge of death he gave Aban a book which included the events happened after the demise of [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]].

As stated by [[Al-Shaykh Al-Tusi]] Aban b. Abi 'Ayyash thought [[Sulaym b. Qays]] had read this book to [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] and he approved it. But as [[Allama al-Hilli]] stated, it should be taken into account that this book was narrated only by Aban b. Abi 'Ayyash which represents the harsh situation of Shi'ites in [[Iraq]] in the time of [[Hajjaj b. Yusuf]]; it must be the only original copy of the book. Disregarding the content of the book, it was the first book written by a Shi'a Muslim on Shi'ite thoughts including political thoughts of Shi'ites.