Imām Muḥammad ibn Muslim, Ibn Shihāb az-Zuhrī (d. 124 AH)

In Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ, Imām Dhahabī mentions the full name and lineage of Imām Zuhrī as: Abū Bakr, Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn ʿUbaydillāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Shihāb Az-Zuhrī [Al-Aṣghar]. He is commonly known as Az-Zuhrī or Ibn Shihāb. His attribution is 'az-Zuhrī' because Shihāb was the son of  ʿAbdullāh who was the son of Al-Ḥārith who was the son of Zuhrah. Zuhrah had another son named  ʿAbd Manāf, and ʿAbd Manāf had a son named Wahb/Wuhayb, who was the father of Āminah, the mother of the Prophet (ﷺ).

In Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ  (5:326), Imām Dhahabī mentions that according to Duhaym and Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ, he was born in the year 50 A.H. whilst according to Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ, he was born in the year 51 A.H. There is also an opinion that he was born in the year 56 or 58 A.H., thus he was born after the era of the four khulafaʾ, during the khilāfah of Sayyidunā Muʿāwiyah (raḍī Allāhu ʿanh).

Abū Ḥātim stated, “The most proficient of Anas ibn Mālik (raḍī Allāhu ʿanh)’s students were al-Zuhrī, Qatādah and Thābit al-Bunanī, in that rank.”

Imām Al-Zuhrī related, “I sat with Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab and I did not hear anything but the matters of the Hereafter. I sat with ʿUbaydullāh and I did not hear anyone with rarer narrations than him, and I found ʿUrwah as an ocean of knowledge, who could not be disrupted by vessels.”

Imām Zuhrī was a model for the scholars, and an exemplar for the pious. He was an embodiment of generosity. When he was in a difficult situation, he did not deviate from the truth and when the bounties of this world presented to him, he did not stray. Imām Zuhrī was indeed, an epitome of seeking knowledge. Allāh endowed him with strong desire for knowledge, unrelenting determination and an unrivaled strong memory. May Allāh bestow his expensive mercy upon him.

It is mentioned in Tadhkirah and Siyar that Imām Abū Dāwūd has said that he has narrated 2200 aḥādīth, half of them are musnad. Imām ʿAlī ibn Al-Madīnī has mentioned that he has narrated around 2000 aḥādīth. His musnad narrations have been compiled by some scholar such as Imām Nasāʾ ī but it is mafqūd (lost). His narrations on maghāzī have been compiled into a book titled: Marwiyyāt Imām Zuhrī fī al-Maghāzī by Dr. Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Al-Awajī.

Layth ibn Sa ʿd said, “I do not know of a scholar who is more knowledgeable than Ibn Shihāb. If you heard him speak, you would say, ‘This is his area of perfection.’ If you heard him speaking about the Arabs and Genealogy, you would say, ‘This is the only area he specialises in,’ and if you heard him speaking about the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, his speech in these areas would be the most comprehensive.’”

Layth ibn Sa ʿd said, “I do not know of a scholar who is more knowledgeable than Ibn Shihāb. If you heard him speak, you would say, ‘This is his area of perfection.’ If you heard him speaking about the Arabs and Genealogy, you would say, ‘This is the only area he specialises in,’ and if you heard him speaking about the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, his speech in these areas would be the most comprehensive.’” He passed away on the 17th of Ramaḍān 124AH.”