Yaqtin b. Musa al-Baghdadi

Yaqtin b. Musa al-Baghdadi

Companion of	Imam al-Sadiq (a)
Teknonym	Abu l-Hasan
Place of Birth	Kufa
Place(s) of Residence	Kufa, Medina, Baghdad
Death/Martyrdom	186/802-3

Abu l-Ḥasan Yaqṭīn b. Mūsā al-Baghdādī (Arabic: أبوالحسن یقطین بن موسی البغدادي) (d. 186/802-3) was a Shi'a muhaddith and an agent of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Birth and Childhood

Yaqtin was born in Kufa and lived there. Because of his opposition to the Umayyad rulers and his support for the Abbasids, he was prosecuted by Marwan II (d. 132/749-50) and so he and his family escaped to Medina. He went to Baghdad after the fall of the Umayyad dynasty and the beginning of the Abbasid reign.

Inside the Abbasid Government

Yaqtin was intelligent and knew enough about politics and wars. Thus, he found a good position in the governments of the early Abbasid caliphs, Abu l-'Abbas al-Saffah (r. 132/749-50-136/754) and Abu Ja'far al-Mansur (r. 136/754-158/775). In 167/783-4 when the caliph, Mahdi al-'Abbasi (r. 158/775-169/785-6) ordered the reconstruction and development of Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, Yaqtin was commissioned by the caliph to execute the order. According to Ibn Athir, it occurred in 164/780-1.

Abu l-Hasan and Imam al-Sadiq (a)

Although some people have cast doubts on Abu l-Hasan's belief in Shiism, there is sufficient evidence for this. According to the majority of Shiite scholars of hadith and history, he had secret relationships with Imam al-Sadiq (a) and paid a portion of his property to the Imam (a). These relationships led to gossips behind him before al-Mansur and al-Mahdi, but he never lost his position in their governments. It is probable that although he was a Shi'a, he served in the caliphate under the instructions of Imam al-Sadiq (a) for certain political exigencies.

He died in 186/802-3 in Baghdad.