Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb

Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb Ibn Hazan Makhzoomi was one of the seven jurists of Medina and a prominent companion of Imam Ali Ibn al-Hussein (a.s.). Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb remained a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt (Peace be upon them) until the end of his life. There is some disagreement about the dates of his birth and death.

According to historians, he was born in 15 AH and died in 94 or 95 AH. The year of his death is called the Year of the Foqaha) jurists ),because many pious scholars and prominent Shia jurists passed away in this year.

He is considered one of the great “Ta’bein” and the first jurists of Medina. Rather, he is the great jurist among the jurists and the founder of the Medina jurisprudence school. In the Shiite world, he is also one of the Shiite scholars and traditionists. He is among the people who has been in the era of the four infallibles: Imam Ali, Imam Hassan, Imam Hussein and Imam Sajjad (peace be upon them):

He is considered one of the few early companions of Imam Sajjad (a.s.). He was an opponent of the Umayyads and refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid Ibn Mo’awiyyah. Ibn al-Mosayyeb was especially known after he rejected the proposal of Abdul Malek Marwan to marry his daughter for the crown prince and his son Walid.And his daughter married to a poor man for a dowry of two dirhams, therefore this matter incurring the wrath of the Caliph.

Birthday

Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb was born in the city of Medina in 15 or 17 AH during the caliphah  of Umar. He educated and studied in that city and benefited from  the knowledge of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the teachers and hadith scholars of this city. As  it can be seen from his description, he spent most of his life in Medina  and he did not leave  there  except for Hajj. But considering that he went on Hajj forty times, it can be said that he also benefited from the hadith scholars of Mecca.

Ancestry(The family)

Saeed Ibn Mosayyib is from the Bani Makhzoom tribe. His father Mosayyeb and his grandfather Hazan both have seen  the Prophet (peace be upon him) and were among those who embraced Islam at the conquest of Mecca. According to one narration, Mosayyeb was one of the emigrants and was present at the Battle of Hodaybyyah and the pledge of allegiance to Ridwan.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) suggested to Hazan Ibn Abi Wahab, who was Saeed's grandfather, that to change his name to Sahl, but he refused and said: "I want to be called by the name my parents gave me."

The Saeed family had a kind of causal relationship and kinship with the Bani Hashem: because Hazan's brother, Habyrah Ibn Abi Wahab, was the husband of Ummah  Hani, the sister of Amir Al-Mo’menin ,Ali (a.s.). Hubyrah's children, the nieces of Ali (a.s.), were good Shiites and were considered among the companions of Amir Al-Mo’menin ,Ali (a.s.).

Mosqalah Ibn Habyrah was the governor of the Ardeshir-Kharrah  region during the reign of Imam Ali (a.s.). Ja’adah  Ibn Habyrah was also the governor of Khorasan  behalf of  Ali (a.s.).

Therefore, in the Saeed family, the anti-Hashemite tendency that was prevalent among the Qoraysh was probably less pronounced. With the exception of one case reported by Zobeyr Ibn Bakar: Hazan, Saeed's grandfather, supported Khaled Ibn Walid, who had spoken against the Ansar, during the Saqifah  campaign, and composed a poem in his praise and appreciation.

Of course, this issue was more about tribalism and ethnic prejudice: because Khaled was also from the Bani Makhzoom tribe. Mosayyeb, Saeed's father, was a merchant who was buying and selling oil.

Seyyed  of Tabe’an

The Tabe’an are those who did not see the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), but saw his companions: Therefore, all those who were born after the death of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon her) are considered f Tabe’an.

This means that gradually the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed away and people turned to the jurists of the Tabe’an for religious matters. Saeed Ibn  Mosayyeb was one of the most important jurists of this era and according to Ibn Khallakan, was considered the “Seyyed  of the Tabeeyn”.

The Faqih of Medina

In the late first century AH, two schools of jurisprudence emerged among Muslims: the Iraqi School and the Medina School.

The Iraqi school was called the school of opinion and the Medina school was called the school of hadith. The Iraqi jurists relied more on opinion and rational reasoning, while the Medinan jurists relied on hadiths and jurisprudential narrations. Of the four Sunni jurists, Abu Hanifah  represented the Iraqi school and Malek Ibn Anas represented the Medina school.

Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb was considered one of the most important jurists of Medina in his time and according to Ibn Saad, he was the head of the jurists of Medina. He was even considered the founder of the Medinan school of jurisprudence.

Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb was a  piety and worship man

Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb was one of the worshippers and ascetics of his time: Ibn Khallakan says about him: He combined jurisprudence, hadith, asceticism, worship, and piety with himself.

Saeed was a constant attendant at the Prophet's Mosque and had not left the congregational prayers there for thirty years. One day his eyes ached, and he was advised to go to the climate of Wadi Aqeeq, but he refused to go there and said: "Then how can I get to the morning and evening congregational prayers at the Prophet's Mosque?"

Scientific position

Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb was one of the unparalleled scholars of his time and was considered the foremost scholar of Medina. He was among the seven early jurists of Medina, including: Urwah Ibn  Zobeyr, Abu Bakr Ibn Abd Al- Rahman Makhzoomi, Soleyman Ibn  Yasar, Ubeydullah Ibn  Utabah, Kharejah  Ibn  Zeyd, Qaem Ibn Mohammad Ibn Abi Bakr and Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb, the latter two of whom were considered followers of the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.) and students of Imam Sajjad (a.s.).Regarding the scholarly position of Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb, it is enough that Imam Zein al-Abedeen (a.s.) said about him:

"Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb is the most knowledgeable of the people about the works of the past and is the strongest in terms of understanding and grasping issues."

His Teachers

Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb had made great efforts and suffered greatly in acquiring knowledge and collecting hadith: as he himself said: "I would spend nights and days searching for a single hadith."

In this way, he benefited from all the narrators of hadiths and traditionists of his time and the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Sometimes he even visited the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and obtained hadiths from them.

Some of the great companions, such as Jaber Ibn Abdullah Ansari and Salman al-Farsi, were considered his teachers. He had benefited the most from Amir Al-Momenin Ali (a.s.) and was reportedly trained by him.

After the martyrdom of Ali (peace be upon him), he enjoyed training by his sons, and according to Koleyni, during the era of Imamate of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him), he was considered one of the close disciples and students of that Imam, and he constantly enjoyed  training  by this Imam and narrated hadiths from him.

His Students

Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb was a professor and head of the jurisprudential school in Medina, and most of the scholars who came to Medina would attend his classes and benefit from his jurisprudential opinions and scientific views, and he was  in the position where people would turn to in their jurisprudential dilemmas and problems. When Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz was the governor of Medina, he would not judge in any matter unless he consulted Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb about it.

Some of the companions of the Imams (a.s.) such as Abu Hamzah, Abu Ghaleb Asadi, Thomali, and Aban Ibn Taghlab were students of Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb, and through him, they narrated Ahadith from Imam Sajjad (a.s.).

Shi'ism

Sheikh Toosi mentioned Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb among the companions of Imam Sajjad (a.s.). And the late Koleyni narrated from Imam Sadeq (a.s.) that Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb, Qasem Ibn Mohammad Ibn Abi Bakr, and Abu Khaled Kaboli were among the trusted individuals of Ali Ibn Husseyn (a.s.).

Another reason for Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb's Shiism is his completely anti-Umayyad political stances. He considered the Umayyad government to be invalid and its rulers to be usurpers, and his famous statement about Yazeed is that he described the years of Yazeed's rule as ominous.

Saeed was constantly persecuted by the Umayyads for such positions. At one time, he was flogged and imprisoned for opposing Abdul Malek and did not  recognize of his sons, Walid and Soleyman, as crown princes. At another time, he was kept under surveillance and deprived of social contacts.

In addition to opposing the Umayyads, Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb also aligned himself with the Imams (a.s.) in other political positions. For example, during the sedition of Ibn Zobayr, he did not pledge allegiance to him and was persecuted by his agents.Some have criticized Saeed's Shiism and said: His fatwas are more in line with Sunni jurisprudence than the path of the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.). The second criticism they have leveled against him is his absence from the funeral of Imam Sajjad (a.s.).

The author of the” Montahal Maqal” has responded to these two objections as follows: "The fact that his method is different from the method of the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.) does not contradict his Shiism, because many of the companions of the Imams (a.s.) and their greatest Shiites agree with the Sunnis in most jurisprudential issues and religious fatwas."

Rather, some of the theories that some Shiite scholars, such as Ibn Jonayd, held, such as analogy, are necessarily false doctrines: especially the companions of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him), who, due to their extreme taqiyyah, were unable to state the principles and branches of the Shiite doctrine, except for very few issues, and even then for a small number of people:

"Just as the Shiites who did not accept the Imamate of Imam Baqir (a.s.) (such as the Zeydiyyah) followed the sunnis  jurists in the branches of religion. A person like Ibn Abbas, whose Shiism is certain, most of his opinions and theories are against the principles of Shiism, but Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb's absent in the funeral of Imam Sajjad (a.s.) was most likely due to taqiyyah and to ward off slander."

Death of Saeed Ibn Mosayyeb

Finally, this great jurist and high-ranking traditionist, after a lifetime of servitude, obedience, education, teaching, and dissemination of the islamic culture passed away in the year 94 AH in the city of Medina and was buried in the Baqi cemetery.

This year was called the year of the jurists because a number of jurists died in this year. Of course, the years 92, 93, 95, and 105 AH have also been cited as the dates of Saeed's death.

References

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