Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri

Arab jurist and scholar (677/78 741/42)

Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Shihab az Zuhri (محمد بن مسلم بن عبید الله بن عبد الله بن شهاب الزهري; died 124 AH/741 2 CE), also referred to as Ibn Shihab or az Zuhri, was a tabi'i Arab jurist and traditionist credited with pioneering the development of sīra maghazi and hadith literature. Raised in Medina, he studied hadith and maghazi under Medinese traditionists before rising to prominence at the Umayyad court, where he served in a number of religious and administrative positions. He transmitted several thousand hadith included in the six canonical Sunni hadith collections and his work on maghazi forms the basis of the extant biographies of Muhammad. Despite hailing from the Banu Zuhrah — a clan of Quraysh — Zuhri's early life was characterised by poverty, and he served as the breadwinner for his family. As a youth, Zuhri enjoyed studying poetry and genealogy, and possessed an excellent memory which enabled him in this pursuit. He consumed honey syrup in a bid to sharpen it further, and wrote voluminous notes on slates and parchment to aid with memory recall. Dedicating himself to the study of hadith and maghazi narrations in his twenties, he studied under the Medinese scholars Said ibn al Musayyib, Urwah ibn Zubayr, Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah and Abu Salamah, the son of Abd al Rahman ibn Awf. He referred to them as four "oceans of knowledge". He may have been the first to combine multiple maghazi reports into one to produce a single, coherent narrative with collective chains of narration a technique later used by Ishaq and Al Waqidi.

In the account of the 9th century Shia historian Ya'qubi, a teenage Zuhri was taken to caliph Abd al Malik while visiting Damascus in The caliph sought to prevent the Syrians from performing the Hajj in Mecca, which was controlled by the Zubayrids. Adducing a hadith from Zuhri that permitted pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Abd al Malik ordered the construction of the Dome of the Rock to serve as a site for a substitute pilgrimage. Ignác Goldziher states that Zuhri fabricated the hadith at the behest of the caliph. However, the historicity of the encounter has been disputed by Muhammad Mustafa al Azami, Nabia Abbott and Harald Motzki, as Zuhri was then a young and unknown figure, others also transmitted the hadith and his source Said ibn al Musayyib would not consent to his name being used in a forgery.

As his stature as a scholar grew, Zuhri came to the attention of the Umayyads. He enjoyed the patronage of Abd al Malik after being introduced to him in and of his successor al Walid I

Zuhri's study circle was praised by the deeply religious Umar II , who was engaged in scholarly pursuits in Medina. Upon his accession, he ordered prominent traditionists to commit their hadith to writing as part of his vision to codify the sunnah. Zuhri was tasked with compiling their manuscripts into books, copies of which were sent to cities throughout the caliphate. During the reign of Yazid II , Zuhri accepted an offer of judgeship from the caliph. He also served the Umayyads as a tax collector and as a member of the shurta. Hisham employed Zuhri as a tutor for his sons, permitting him to live at the court in Resafa. There, Hisham compelled Zuhri to write down hadith for the young Umayyad princes a move that troubled the scholar, who was opposed to the practice. He later complained about the coercion, adding "Now that the rulers have written it [hadith], I am ashamed I do not write it for anyone else but them." Zuhri remained at Resafa for the next two decades, where he continued to teach new students and hold lectures in which he transmitted hadith.

Zuhri's attachment to the Umayyad court was negatively perceived by a number of his contemporaries. A statement attributed to Malik ibn Anas criticises Zuhri for using his religious knowledge for worldly gain, while Yaḥya ibn Maʻin forbade comparisons of him with al A’mash as he "served in the administration of the Umayyads". Others defended his integrity: Amr ibn Dinar implied Zuhri had no desire to forge traditions for the Umayyads, even in exchange for bribes. In addition, Ma'mar ibn Rashid quotes Zuhri as laughing at the Umayyads' claim that Uthman, a member of the Banu Umayya, signed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah rather than Ali.

The exact nature of Zuhri's relationship with the Umayyads has been debated by modern scholars. In Goldziher's view, Zuhri was a pious scholar who was nonetheless compelled, if not willing, to forge traditions for them. In contrast, Muhammad Mustafa al Azami and Abd al Aziz Duri argue for the independence of Zuhri. They cite instances where he refused to falsely answer religious questions in a manner that would benefit the Umayyads, and an incident where he threatened to kill a young al Walid II, who he tutored, for his bad manners. Michael Lecker argues against attempts to dissociate him from the Umayyads, but suggests he earned a degree of freedom within the court.

Zuhri's traditions and fiqh opinions were transmitted by his students and are included in Sunni hadith corpus. Zuhri is cited as an informant for approximately 3,500 narrations in the six canonical Sunni hadith collections. Malik ibn Anas refers to Zuhri for 21% of the traditions in his Muwatta, while Ma'mar ibn Rashid and Ibn Jurayj refer to Zuhri for 28% and 6% of the traditions in their respective corpora in the Musannaf of Abd al Razzaq. Ma'mar and Ibn Ishaq, both students of Zuhri, rely heavily on their teacher's traditions in their respective prophetic biographies. Ma'mar's Kitab al Maghazi relies heavily on maghazi traditions transmitted during Zuhri's lectures, as does Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, although the latter also includes large amounts of material from popular storytellers and Biblical accounts.

Shia scholars specialising in biographical evaluation hold differing assessments of Zuhri. Due to his service for the Umayyads, Shaykh Tusi, Allamah Al Hilli and Muhammad Baqir al Majlisi considered him a Sunni and an enemy of the Ahl al Bayt; the latter grading him as a da'if transmitter. Despite this, Tusi includes traditions from Zuhri in his collections Tahdhib al Ahkam and Al Istibsar. Abu al Qasim al Khoei and Muhammad Taqi Shushtari view Zuhri as a pro Alid Sunni based on an account of him seeking the counsel of Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al Abidin after accidentally killing a person. For the same reason, a third group, including Muhammad Taqi Majlisi, maintains Zuhri was a Shia and that his traditions are authentic (sahih).