Sufyan b. Uyayna

Sufyan b. Uyayna

Personal Information
Full Name	Abu Muhammad Sufyan b. 'Uyayna b. Maymun al-Hilali
Religious Affiliation	Zaydi
Birth	107/725-6
Residence	Kufa
Death	198/813-4
Burial Place	al-Ma'la cemetery, Mecca
Scholarly Information
Professors	More than 80 of Tabi'un

ʾAbū Muḥammad Sufyān b. ʿUyayna b. Maymūn al-Hilālī (Arabic: ابومحمد سفيان بن عيينة بن ميمون الهلالي), (b. 107/725-6 – d. 198/813-4) was a scholar in hadith and fiqh. He met more than 80 of the Followers and heard hadiths from them. Ibn 'Uyayna was trusted by the scholars of Rijal and hadith and hadiths he narrated are mentioned in al-Sihah al-Sitta and elsewhere. Regarding religion, Ibn Nadim regarded him Zaydi.

Birth

Sufyan was born in Kufa and began acquiring knowledge from childhood. Following dismissal of al-Khalid b. 'Abd Allah al-Qasri, Ibn 'Uyayna went to Mecca together with his father who was an agent of al-Khalid. In 126/743-4, he returned to Kufa. He also had a trip to Baghdad and went to Yemen in 150/767-8 and 152/769-70.

Position Regarding Hadith

Ibn 'Uyayna is regarded one of the most knowledgeable people in hadith in Hijaz, especially regarding the hadiths in tafsir. He was trusted by the scholars of rijal and hadith and hadiths he narrated are mentioned in al-Sihah al-Sitta and elsewhere. However, sometimes in sources, carelessness narrations such as confusion in reference and concision in texts are attributed to him.

In making modifications to the narrators of hadith, he has an authority and Ibn Abi Hatam regarded him a critic and mentioned some of his ideas in that regard. He is known as a wise ascetic and many wise quotes have been quoted from him.

Sources

Ibn 'Uyayna met more than 80 of the Followers and heard hadiths from them, some of whom can be listed below:

• Malik b. Anas
• Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani
• Aban b. Taghlib
• Thawr b. Yazid al-Humsi
• Jabir b. Yazid al-Ju'fi
• Hamid b. Qays al-A'raj
• 'Abd Allah b. Kathir al-Makki
• 'Asim b. Bahdala
• Abu al-Zinad
• 'Abd Allah b. Shuburma
• 'Abd al-Malik b. 'Abd al-'Aziz b. Jurayj
• Muhammad b. Sahib al-Kalbi
• Ibn Abi Layla
• Muhammad b. Muslim al-Zuhri

He is considered among students of Imam al-Sadiq (a).

Narrators of Hadiths from Him

Many people heard hadith from him, most famous among whom can be listed as below:

• Sufyan al-Thawri
• 'Abd Allah b. Mubarak
• Muhammad b. Idris al-Shafi'i
• Ahmad b. Hanbal
• Yahya b. Ma'in
• Sa'id b. Mansur
• Al-Hasan b. Salih b. Hayy
• Hammad b. Zayd
• Abu Bakr b. Abi Shayba
• 'Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani

Works

Al-'Ijli and Ibn Nadim have said that he had no works known; therefore, works such as Jawabat al-Qur'an attributed to him, must have been written by others. Also, Ibn Nadim mentioned a commentary attributed to him and al-Suyuti in al-Durr al-mansur, and according to Sirgin, al-Tha'labi in al-Kashf wa al-bayan have referred to his commentary. Al-Najashi also wrote that Ibn 'Uyayna narrated a prescribed instruction from Imam al-Sadiq (a).

Ibn 'Uyayna's separate collections of hadiths are available in manuscript in the library of Zahiriyya.

Religion

Ibn Nadim regarded him Zaidi.

Death

In the last year of his life, Ibn 'Uyayna went to Mecca and passed away there at the age of 91. He was buried in the mount of Hajun (al-Ma'la cemetery). There is also a tomb in his name in Istanbul, for the authenticity of its attribution, there is no evidence.

References

• The material for this article was mainly taken from سفیان بن عیینه in Farsi wikishia.