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Chapter 3

From the Tabi’in to the Atba’ al Tabi’in (Successors of the Tabi’in)

 

In this chapter, I present several issues. I begin by discussing the paths of transmission of the narration from the Tabi’in to the Atba’ al Tabi’in. I present two essential paths. Then I present the most prominent scholarly event of their era—i.e. the beginning of Tasnif (systematic compilation of Hadith)—and then I focus on one book, i.e. the Muwatta’ of Imam Malik. I present it, its method, and its system. I conclude with the critical community of that era and represent it with the leader of critics: Shu’bah ibn al Hajjaj (82-160 AH).

By the Atba’ al Tabi’in here, I refer to the likes of Imam Malik ibn Anas (93-179 AH) in Madinah, Shu’bah ibn al Hajjaj in Basrah (82-160 AH), and Sufyan al Thawri (97-97) in Kufah, as they were among those who expanded the narrations and collected the knowledge of their cities.

 

The paths of the narrations from the Tabi’in to the Atba’ al Tabi’in

Ahadith were transmitted from the Tabi’in to the Atba’ al Tabi’in through several paths, the most important of which are two famous paths:

First: The transmission of Hadith from the Companions radiya Llahu ‘anhum to the Tabi’in, then to the junior Tabi’in, thereafter to the Atba’ al Tabi’in.

Second: The transmission of Hadith from the Companions radiya Llahu ‘anhum to the Tabi’in, then to the Atba’ al Tabi’in directly without passing through the junior Tabi’in.

The first path is widespread in narrations of the Companions radiya Llahu ‘anhum who passed away before the year 60 AH, such as Aisha (d. 57 AH) and Abu Hurairah (d. 57 AH). Narrations from them usually come through Tabi’in such as Ibn al Musayyab (d. 94 AH) and ‘Urwah ibn al Zubair (d. 94 AH). It is then transmitted to the junior Tabi’in, such as al Zuhri (d. 124 AH). Thereafter, the Atba’ al Tabi’in received it from them.

The second path is widespread among the junior Companions radiya Llahu ‘anhum such as Ibn ‘Umar (d. 73 AH) and Anas (d. 93 AH) radiya Llahu ‘anhum. The Tabi’in, such as Nafi’ and Qatadah, narrated from them, and the Atba’ al Tabi’in narrated directly from them, without the intermediary of the junior Tabi’in.

Sometimes, Isnad (chain of transmission) may be lengthy in narrations from the senior Companions. In Kufah, for example, the Tabi’in learnt from Ibn Mas’ud radiya Llahu ‘anhu, and he passed away early (d. 32 AH). Most of those who learnt from him also passed away early, such as ‘Alqamah (d. 62 AH) and al Aswad (d. 75 AH). Ibrahim al Nakha’i (d. 96 AH) learnt from them. Then the junior Tabi’in such as Mansur ibn al Mu’tamir (d. 132 AH) and al A’mash (d. 148 AH) learnt from him. Thereafter, the Atba’ al Tabi’in learnt from them.

The most well-known Tabi’in who gathered the knowledge of their cities were: Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH) in Madinah, Sufyan al Thawri (d. 161 Ah) in Kufah, and Shu’bah ibn al Hajjaj (d. 160 AH), Ma’mar ibn Rashid (d. 154 AH), Sa’id ibn Abi ‘Arubah (d. 156 AH) and Hammad ibn Abi Salamah (d. 167 AH) in Basrah.

Below are the transmission trees that reach the authors of the books.

Transmission tree of Abu Hurairah radiya Llahu ‘anhu, reaching the compiled books

 

This tree shows the importance of Imam Ibn Shihab al Zuhri when narrating from the students of Abu Hurairah radiya Llahu ‘anhu and that the junior Tabi’in were an important intermediary between the Tabi’in and the Atba’ al Tabi’in in narrating from Abu Hurairah radiya Llahu ‘anhu.

 

Transmission tree of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhuma, reaching the compiled books

From this tree, it is evident that Imam Malik managed to reach Ibn ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhuma through one Tabi’i, i.e. Nafi’ and ‘Abdullah ibn Dinar; however, due to Salim passing away earlier, he could not reach Ibn ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhuma except through al Zuhri.

 

Transmission tree of Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anha, reaching the compiled books

This tree shows, just as the tree of Abu Hurairah, that Imam Malik could not reach Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anha except through her students, the junior Tabi’in, the most prominent being al Zuhri.

 

Transmission tree of Anas ibn Malik radiya Llahu ‘anhu, reaching the compiled books

It appears here, that reaching Anas radiya Llahu ‘anhu through one Tabi’i was easy for the books’ authors from Basrah, because Anas radiya Llahu ‘anhu passed away at a later stage, and those who passed away in the second quarter of the second century learnt from him. Thus, reaching him was easy.

 

Transmission tree of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud radiya Llahu ‘anhu

 

 

It is evident from the above tree that Sufyan al Thawri and Shu’bah ibn al Hajjaj—who, although is from Basrah, narrated frequently from the people of Kufah—reached the narrations of Ibn Mas’ud radiya Llahu ‘anhu through three or only two classes of Tabi’in. This is consistent with the early death of Ibn Mas’ud radiya Llahu ‘anhu. This isnad also shows the centrality of Ibrahim al Nakha’i, Mansur ibn al Mu’tamir, and al A’mash.^[1]

 

NEXT⇒ The great cognitive transformation and the beginnings of the Tasnif of books in the era of the Atba’ al Tabi’in

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^[1]  Kufah has been researched in the first century in several studies, but the centrality of Ibrahim and Mansur in Kufah has not been researched until now.