Said ibn al-Musayyib | |
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| Personal life | |
| Born | 637 CE |
| Died | 715 (aged 77–78) |
| Parent | Al-Musayyib ibn Hazn al-Makhzumi (father) |
| Era | Rashidun Era, Umayyad Era |
| Region | Medina |
| Main interest(s) | Fiqh;tafsir, hadith (his students) |
| Notable work(s) | oral only |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Jurisprudence | His fiqh transmitted by the Syrian and Medinan schools |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced
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| The Seven Fuqaha of Medina |
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Abu Muhammad Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib ibn Hazn al-Makhzumi (Arabic:سعید بن المسیب,romanized: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib; 637–715) was one of the foremost authorities of jurisprudence (fiqh) among thetaba'een (generation succeeding thecompanions of Muhammad who are referred to as thesahaba). He was based inMedina. He is the only tabi whose all hadith narration are acceptionally trustworthy despite beingmursal. In Shia sources, he is counted among the close companions ofAli al-Sajjad,[1] and was reportedly praised by the latter.[2]
Sa'id was born in 637, the son of al-Musayyib ibn Hazn of theBanu Makhzum clan of theQuraysh tribe.[3] He was born during thecaliphate ofUmar (r. 634–644) and met most of the sahaba, including Umar's successorsUthman (r. 644–656) andAli (r. 656–661).[4] Sa'id was well known for his piety, righteousness and profound devotion toAllah; as for his stature amongSunni Muslims, he is renowned as the most eminent ofThe Seven Fuqaha of Medina.[5] He began, as didHasan al-Basri inBasra, to give opinions and deliver verdicts on legal matters when he was around twenty years of age. The Companions admired him greatly. On one occasion,Abdullah ibn Umar remarked, "If [Muhammad] had seen that young man, he would have been very pleased with him."[6]
Sa'id married the daughter ofAbu Hurayrah in order to be closer to him and to learn better thehadiths (traditions of the Islamic prophetMuhammad and his companions) that he narrated. The two had a daughter. Sa'id had her play not with dolls, but with drums;[7] later she learnt to cook.[8]
During theBattle of al-Harra and the subsequent takeover of Medina by theSyrian troops of theUmayyad caliphYazid I in 683, Sa'id was the one Medinese who prayed in the Prophet's mosque.[9] After Yazid died, he refused to take theoath of allegiance to theMecca-based, anti-Umayyad caliphAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.[10] After the UmayyadAbd al-Malik had reconquered the Caliphate, including Medina, he requested Sa'id marry his daughter (born of his marriage to Abu Hurayra's daughter) to Abd al-Malik's son and future caliphHisham. Sa'id refused and, in the face of increasing pressures and threats, he offered her to Ibn Abi Wada', who stayed in themadrasa.[11] In 705, Abd al-Malik commanded his governors to enforce the oath of allegiance to his sonal-Walid I as his successor. Sa'id refused.Hisham ibn Isma'il al-Makhzumi, the governor of Medina, gaoled him and had him beaten daily until the stick was broken, but he did not yield. When his friends, such asMasruq ibn al-Ajda' and Tawus, advised him to consent to al-Walid's caliphate to spare himself further torture, he answered: "People follow us in acting. If we consent, how will we be able to explain this to them?"[12] Hisham's successorUmar II (a maternal grandson of Umar), who governed Medina in 706–712, on the other hand consulted Sa'id in all of his executive decisions.[13]
Those who received Islamic rulings and Traditions from Sa'id include Umar II,Qatadah,al-Zuhri andYahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari, among others.[14]
Sa'id was from Ahle Hadith School of thoughtQur'an. He did not treat the hadith as a science withisnads (chains of transmission) in the way of those after him (especially al-Zuhri). As a result, many of his rulings have been equipped with spuriousisnads and converted into hadiths.[15] It is similar withtafsir (Qur'anic interpretation): Sa'id argued his points from the Qur'an,[16] but refused to expound on verses for their own context or meaning.[17] To the extent a "tafsir of Ibn al-Musayyib" ever existed it was compiled by his students based on his rulings.
The leading jurisprudentsMalik ibn Anas andal-Shafi'i took as unquestionably authentic thehadiths that Sa'id narrated from Umar or Muhammad as authentic, without mentioning from whom he received them.[18] In their view, Sa'id was of the same rank as the sahaba in knowledge and narration ofhadiths.
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