Amr Ibn Ubayd | |
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| Personal life | |
| Died | 761 CE / 144 Hijri |
| Era | Islamic golden age |
| Main interest(s) | Islamic theology |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Mu'tazila |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced by | |
Influenced
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Amr Ibn Ubayd ibn Bāb (Arabic:عمرو بن عبيد بن باب, died 761) was one of the earliest leaders in the "rationalist" theological movement of theMu'tazilis, literally 'those who withdraw themselves' – which was founded byWasil ibn Ata (died 749). OfIranian descent,[1] he was a student of the famous early theologianHasan al-Basri, and led the Mutazilis during the early years of theAbbasidcaliphate. He generally followed a quietist political stance toward the Abbasid political establishment.[2]
His grandfather had been captured when the Muslims conqueredKabul under Abd Allah ibn Samora in 663 and again in 665. Amr's father had served as a sergeant underal-Hajjaj, but by profession he was a weaver; Amr had learned the same craft and thus may have made an early acquaintance withWasil ibn Ata. Their close personal relations are attested by the fact that Wasil married his sister. Doctrinally, they had disagreements in the beginning; Wasil is said to have converted Amr to his Mu'tazilite opinion in a long discussion. More than Wasil, Amr had belonged to the circle of close disciples around Hasan al-Basri, whoseTafsir he transmitted.
Amr bin Ubayd was known to have been critical towardsHadith. He only accepted Mutawatir reports and denied the Ahaad narrations.
His narrations, some of which includeHasan al-Basri, are rejected and viewed as fabrications (Bid'ah). This is confirmed by the great scholars of Islam, some of them are:[3]Yahya ibn Ma'in,Al-Nasa'i,Naim ibn Hammad etc. And from the other hadis books such asKitâbu’l-Mecrûhîn’ whereHammad bin Zayd talked about how Amr ibn Ubayd used to lie,Hammad ibn Salamah said that Amr ibn Ubayd used to lie uponHasan al-Basri,Abu Dawud al-Sijistani reported that Amr ibn Ubayd used to lie and his hadiths' are fabrication.[4]
According to the Muslim heresiographers, members of the movement adhered to five principles, which were clearly enunciated for the first time byAbu al-Hudhayl. These were: (1) theunity of God; (2)divine justice; (3) the promise and the threat; (4) the intermediate position; and (5) thecommanding of good and forbidding of evil (al-amr bil ma'ruf wa al-nahy 'an al munkar). It is said that when Hasan al-Basri was questioned about the position of theMuslim who committed a gravesin, his pupil Wasil bin 'Ata' said that such a person was neither a believer nor an unbeliever, but occupied an intermediate position. Hasan was displeased and remarked, 'He has withdrawn from us (i'tazila 'anna)', at which Wasil withdrew from his circle and began to propagate his own teaching. The historicity of this story has been questioned on the ground that there are several variants: according to one version the person who withdrew was Amr ibn Ubayd, and according to another the decisive break came in the time of Hasan's successorQatada ibn De'ama. Moreover, it is noteworthy that at least one influential member of theBasra school,Abu Bakr al-Asamm, rejected the notion of an intermediate position and argued that the grave sinner remained a believer because of his testimony of faith and his previous good deeds. This was also the view of the Ash'arites.[5]
After his master's death, he seems to have contended with Qatada ibn De'ama (died 735) for the leadership of the school. The fact that he lost this competition may explain, to a certain degree, why he became a Mu'tazilte and created a circle of his own. It seems almost certain that Amr did not start playing a major role in the Mu'tazilite movement until after Wasil's death in 749. In about 759 he had to negotiate, as the doyen of the Mu'tazilities, with the caliphal-Mansur concerning the attitude of his adherents towardNafs az-Zakiya, who had begun propaganda for the cause of theAlids in Iraq. Although there were strong sympathies for Nafs al-Zakiya among the Mu'tazilities (probably not so much because the members of the movement believed in the 'Alid pretendent as the true Mahdi, but because of their frustration with Abbasid rule), Amr ibn Ubayd managed to remain neutral. He died before the outbreak ofNafs al-Zakiya's rebellion.[6]
Some of these cultural figures were of Iranian descent, including the early paragon of piety Ḥasan al-Baṣrī; Sebawayh, one of the founders of the study of Arabic grammar; the famed poets Baššār b. Bord and Abū Nowās; the Muʿtazilite theologian ʿAmr b. ʿObayd; the early Arabic prose stylist Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ; and probably some of the authors of the noted encyclopedia of the Eḵwān al-Ṣafāʾ.
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