Draft:Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib ibn Hazn Qurashi Makhzumi was one of the seven jurists of Medina and among the prominent companions of Imam Ali ibn Husayn (peace be upon him). Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib remained a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Infallibility until the end of his life. There is slight discrepancy regarding the date of his birth and death. According to historians, he was born in the year 15 AH and passed away in the year 94 or 95 AH. The year of his death is called Sanat al-Fuqaha (Year of the Jurists): because in this year many distinguished scholars and prominent jurists of Shia passed away. He is counted among the elders of the Tabi'un and the first jurists of Medina. Rather, he is the Jurist of Jurists and the founder of the jurisprudential school of Medina: in the Shia world, he is also among the Shia scholars and narrators: he is among the few individuals who lived during the era of the four Infallibles: Imam Ali, Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn, and Imam Sajjad (peace be upon them): he is counted among the few early Companions of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him). He was an opponent of the Umayyads and refrained from pledging allegiance to Yazid ibn Muawiya. Ibn al-Musayyib especially incurred the wrath of the Caliph after he rejected the marriage proposal of Abd al-Malik Marwan for his daughter to his crown prince and son Walid, and married his daughter to an impoverished man for a dower of two dirhams.
Birth
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib was born in the year 15 or 17 AH during the caliphate of Umar, in the city of Medina, and pursued knowledge and learning in the same city, benefiting from the presence of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) and the teachers and narrators of this city. As his biography indicates, he spent most of his life in Medina and did not leave it except for Hajj. However, considering that he performed Hajj forty times, it can be said that he also benefited from the narrators of Mecca.
Family
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib is from the Banu Makhzum tribe, and his father Musayyib and grandfather Hazn both lived during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) and are among those who embraced Islam during the Conquest of Mecca. According to one narration, Musayyib was among the Muhajirun and was present in the Battle of Hudaybiyyah and the Pledge of Ridwan. The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) suggested to Hazn ibn Abi Wahb, Sa'id's grandfather, to change his name to Sahl, but he did not accept and said: I want to be called by the name that my father and mother chose for me.
Sa'id's family had a kind of marital relationship and kinship with Banu Hashim: because Hazn's brother, Hubayra ibn Abi Wahb, was the husband of Umm Hani, the sister of Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (peace be upon him). The children of Hubayra, the nephews of Ali (peace be upon him), were good Shias and were counted among the companions of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him). Musqala ibn Hubayra was the governor of the Ardeshir Khurrah region during the era of his government. Also, Ja'da ibn Hubayra was the governor in Khorasan on behalf of Ali (peace be upon him).
Therefore, in Sa'id's family, there was likely less of the anti-Hashimi tendency that was the predominant tendency of the Quraysh. With the exception of one case that Zubayr ibn Bakkār narrated: Hazn, Sa'id's grandfather, during the Saqifah, supported Khalid ibn al-Walid who had spoken against the Ansar, and composed poetry in his praise.
Of course, this matter had more of a tribal aspect and ethnic prejudice: because Khalid was also from the Banu Makhzum tribe. Musayyib, Sa'id's father, was a merchant and traded oil.
Characteristics of Sa'id
Sayyid of the Tabi'un
The Tabi'un are those who did not live in the presence of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his progeny), but saw his Companions: therefore, all those who were born after the demise of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) are counted among the Tabi'un. This means that gradually the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) passed away and people referred to the jurists of the Tabi'un in religious matters, of whom Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib was one of the most important jurists of this era, and according to Ibn Khallikan, he was counted as Sayyid al-Tabi'in.
Jurist of Medina
In the late first century AH, two jurisprudential schools and seminaries emerged among Muslims: the School of Iraq and the School of Medina.
The School of Iraq was called the School of Opinion, and the School of Medina was called the School of Hadith. The jurists of Iraq relied more on opinion and rational reasoning, but the jurists of Medina relied on hadiths and jurisprudential narrations. Among the four jurists of Ahl al-Sunnah, Abu Hanifa was the representative of the School of Iraq and Malik ibn Anas was the representative of the School of Medina.
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib was counted as one of the most important jurists of Medina in his era, and according to Ibn Sa'd, he was the head of the jurists of Medina. Rather, he was counted as the founder of the jurisprudential school of Medina.
People of Piety and Worship
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib was among the worshippers and ascetics of his era: Ibn Khallikan says regarding him: He had combined jurisprudence, hadith, asceticism, worship, and piety. Sa'id was constantly attached to Masjid al-Nabi and did not leave the congregational prayer there for thirty years. One day his eye hurt; the climate of Wadi al-Aqiq was recommended to him, but he refused to go there and said: So how would I reach the prayer congregation of Fajr and Isha at Masjid al-Nabi?!
Scholarly Status
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib was among the unique scholars of his era and was considered the absolute scholar of Medina, and was among the early seven jurists of Medina, who are: Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, Abu Bakr ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Makhzumi, Sulayman ibn Yasar, Ubaydallah ibn Utbah, Kharijah ibn Zayd, Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, and Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, the last two of whom have been considered followers of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) and students of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him).
Regarding the scholarly status of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, it suffices that Imam Zain al-Abidin (peace be upon him) said about him:
"Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib is the most knowledgeable of people regarding the traditions of the predecessors and is the strongest of all in terms of understanding and comprehending issues."
Teachers
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib had exerted significant effort and endured much hardship in acquiring knowledge and collecting hadith: as he himself says: "I spent nights and days in search of a single hadith."
In this path, he had benefited from all narrators of news and traditionists of his era and the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny), even sometimes attending upon the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) and taking hadith from them. Persons from the great Companions such as Jabir ibn Abdullah Ansari and Salman al-Farsi, were among his teachers. He had benefited the most from the presence of Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (peace be upon him) and according to the narration of Kashshi, he was considered to be educated by him.
After the martyrdom of Ali (peace be upon him), he benefited from the presence of his children, and according to the narration of Kulayni, in the era of the Imamate of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him), he was counted among the Hawariyun and close students of that Imam, and he constantly benefited from his presence and has narrated hadiths from him.
Students
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib was the professor and head of the Medinan jurisprudence school, and most knowledge seekers who came to Medina would sit at his lesson and benefit from his juridical opinions and scientific views, and he was the people's reference in juridical complexities and problems. Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, when he was the governor of Medina, would not judge in any matter unless he sought a fatwa from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib regarding it.
Persons from the companions of the Imams (peace be upon them) such as Abu Hamza, Abu Ghalib Asadi, Thamali, and Aban ibn Taghlib were among the students of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib and through him narrated traditions from Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him).
Shi'ism
Sheikh Tusi listed Sa'id ibn Musayyib among the companions of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him). The late Kulayni has narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that Sa'id ibn Musayyib, Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, and Abu Khalid Kabuli were among the trusted individuals of Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him).
One of the other proofs of Sa'id ibn Musayyib's Shi'ism is his completely anti-Umayyad political stances. He considered the Umayyad government invalid and its rulers usurpers, and his words regarding Yazid are famous, where he introduced the years of Yazid's government as ominous years.
Due to such stances, Sa'id was continuously subjected to harassment and persecution by the Umayyads. At one time, due to opposition to Abdulmalik and refusal to recognize his sons, Walid and Sulayman, as crown princes, he was whipped and imprisoned. At another time, he was placed under surveillance and deprived of socializing with people.
In addition to opposition to the Umayyads, Sa'id ibn Musayyib was aligned with the Infallible Imams (peace be upon them) in other political stances as well. Just as in the sedition of Ibn Zubayr, he did not pledge allegiance to him and was subjected to harassment by his agents.
Some have objected to Sa'id's Shi'ism, saying: His fatwas are more compatible with the jurisprudence of the Sunni than the method of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them). The second objection raised against him is his absence from the funeral procession of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him). The author of Muntaha al-Maqal has responded to these two objections as follows: "His method's contradiction with the method of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) does not contradict his Shi'ism, because many of the companions of the Infallible Imams (peace be upon them) and their great Shi'as agree with the Sunnis in most jurisprudential matters and religious fatwas.
Rather, some opinions that some Shi'a scholars like Ibn Junayd held, such as qiyas, are invalid by the necessity of the sect: especially the companions of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) who, due to the intensity of taqiyya, were unable to express the principles and branches of the Shi'a school, except for very few matters, and that too for a few people: just as Shi'as who did not accept the Imamate of Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) (such as the Zaydis) followed the jurists of the public in the branches of religion. A person like Ibn Abbas, whose Shi'ism is certain, most of his views and opinions are contrary to Shi'a principles, but Sa'id ibn Musayyib's absence from the funeral procession of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) was most likely due to taqiyya and avoiding accusation."
Death
Finally, this honorable jurist and high-ranking traditionist, after a life of servitude, obedience, study, teaching, and spreading the Muhammadan culture (peace be upon him and his progeny), died in the year 94 AH in the city of Medina and was buried in the Baqi Cemetery. This year was named Year of the Jurists due to the death of several jurists in it. Of course, regarding the date of Sa'id's death, the years 92, 93, 95, and 105 AH have also been narrated.
See also
References
- Adapted from the Hawzah Information Center website, publication date: 8 Aban 1390 SH, view date: 10 Azar 1400 SH.