Posts Tagged "zanji"

Muslim ibn Khalid Az-Zanji, The Shaykh of Imam Ash-Shafi'i

Posted by on Mar 24, 2010 in 150 to 250, Biographies, Featured | 1 comment

Az-Zanji: Muslim Ibn Khalid مسلم بن خالد الزنجي the Faqih of Mecca & Shaykh of Imam Ash-Shafi’i

Muslim ibn Khālid Al-Makhzūmī Al-Makkī, the Imam, the ascetic, said by Imam Adh-Dhahabi and others to be the ‘مفتي مكة Mufti of Makkah’1, is well known amongst the scholars as simply Imām Az-Zanjī. There are several reasons reported as to why he was called “Az-Zanjī”. Az-Zanjī literally means black and is used in modern Arabic to refer to one who is negro2. Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal asked Suwayd ibn Sa’id, “Why was he called ‘Az-Zanjī’?” He said, “Because he was extremely black!” Al-Hāfith Ibn Hajr also mentions that he was called Az-Zanjī because he intensely loved dates. A slave girl once said to him, ‘You are nothing but a Zanjī because of your love for dates!’ And so the nickname stuck with him.

Imam Az-Zanjī is famous amongst the Fuqahā‘ (jurisconsults) for being one of the first teachers in fiqh of Imām Ash-Shafi’ī when he was at the age of 15 or 16. Imām Ibn Kathīr writes in his Tabaqat Ash-Shafi’iyyīn the following,

“As for Ash-Shāfi’ī’s studies in fiqh then he first studied beneath Muslim Ibn Khālid Az-Zanjī in Mecca, and Az-Zanjī took fiqh from Ibn Jurayj and he took fiqh from ‘Atā ibn Abī Rabāḥ and he studied beneath Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas and Ibn uz Zubayr and other than them from amongst the Sahābah…”3

Ibn Hibbān states in his Ath-Thiqāt,

“He was from the jurists of the Hijāz, and he taught Imām Ash-Shāfi’ī before Ash-Shāfi’ī studied beneath Mālik. Muslim ibn Khālid would make mistakes on occasion [in hadīth]. He died in either in the year 179 [and some said] or 180 (A.H).”

Ibn Sa’ad mentioned that he died during the Caliphate of Hārūn Ar-Rashīd.

His Status in Hadīth

In the science of fiqh he is considered of the Imams of Hijāz and thus Mecca. Yet, in the science of hadīth he has been criticized by many scholars of hadīth. Al-Hāfith Ibn Hajr states declares in his Taqrīb, “A jurist! Sadūq (honest), many weaknesses [in reporting hadīth].”

In his Talkhīs Al-Habīr he states after reporting the following hadīth:

    “‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan said: ‘Do not oblige a slave-girl to earn money unless she has a skill. If you oblige her to do that, she will earn money by prostitution. Do not oblige a child to earn money. If he does not find it, he will steal. Pardon since Allah will pardon you, and you must feed them good food.”This is reported by Mālik in his Muwatta’4 and Imām Ash-Shāfi’ī from him from Abī Suhayl from his father that he heard Uthmān say this. Al-Bayhaqi said, ‘Some of the scholars have raised this to be from the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) but it is not authentically declared from the Prophet (marfū’). Then he reported it from the way of Muslim ibn Khālid from Al-‘Alā’ from his father from Abu Hurayrah in Marfu’ form, and Muslim was declared da’īf according to some of them.” [Vol. 5 pgs. 2596-2597 pub. By Adwa' us-Salaf edited by Dr. Muhammad Ath-Thānī]

In their gloss of the Taqrīb of Ibn Hajr, Shaykh Shu’ayb Al-Arna’ut and B.A. Ma’ruf comment upon Al-Hāfith’s declaration saying,

    “Rather he is da’īf (weak) and supporting narrations must be sought. He was declared weak by Abu Ja’far An-Nufaylī, Abu Dawud, ‘Alī ibn Al Madīnī, An Nasā’ī, Al-Bukhārī who said ‘Munkar Al-Hadīth’ Dhāhib Al-Hadīth, Abu Hātim Al-Razī, Abu Zur’ah Ar-Razī, Ibn Numayr, Al-Bazzār, and Adh-Dhahabī…And there are contradicting statements from Ibn Ma’īn and Ad-Dāraqutnī, declaring him thiqah in one place and weak in another. Ibn ‘Adī stated, ‘[He is] good in hadīth and I hope there is no harm with him.’ Ibn Sa’ad said, ‘He has many hadīth, and many aspersions and mistakes in his narrations.’”5

Imam Ad-Dāraqutnī says in his Sunan,

“Muslim ibn Khālid is thiqah (trustworthy), although he has mistakes in memorization, and in this hadīth he has mingled the narrators (idtirāb).”

Regarding the differences of reports from Ibn Ma’in then Ibn Al-Junayd reports that a man asked Yahya (ibn Ma’in) regarding Az-Zanji being thiqah and he said, ‘ He is not truly strong in hadith’.6. Yet Ibn Al-Junayd said that he asked Ibn Ma’in regarding him and he said to him, ‘There is no harm in his narrations’. Ibn Ghllabi said, ‘I only saw that he was abandoned in hadith (matruk Al-Hadith)’ to which Ibn Ma’in said, ‘No!7 Ad-Dawri reports in his Tarikh that Ibn Ma’in declared Muslim ibn Khalid thiqah. Al-Bazzar actually did not declare him outright weak as claimed by Arna’ut and Ma’ruf. What he said was, “He was not a Hafith [in hadith].”8

From what can be adduced by the statements of the doctors in the science of Hadith, Az-Zanji had errors in his memorization. He is a fine example of a master of the law not being highly proficient in the science of memorization.

Conclusion

Az-Zanji was the first faqih, in fact the Mufti of Makka, to give permission to Imam Ash-Shafi’i to give fatwa. He gave Imam Ash-Shafi’i his beginning in fiqh, fed him as much knowledge from the Makkan school as he could, and then released him to the Medinites. Allah placed this Mufti in the path of Imam Ash-Shafi’i's youth to stoke the love of Islam within his heart, allowing the young man to ask and to question, to reflect on how the proofs applied to practical life. It is then through Imam Az-Zanji, that we have Imam Ash-Shafi’i, who has  given millions of Muslims over the span of 1,200 years access to a higher understanding of the divine law, the shari’ah, and enabling them to succeed in this world and the hereafter.

May Allah bless him and grant him light in his grave Amin!

  1. Siyar Al-’Alam An-Nubala’ [↩]
  2. See Hans Wehr’s Dictionary [↩]
  3. Vol 1. Page 27 Dār Al-Wafa’ [↩]
  4. Under the chapter 54.16 The Command to be Kind to Slaves see ‘A’ishah Bewley’s translation here: http://bewley.virtualave.net/muw19.html [↩]
  5. Entry 6625 Mu’assasah Ar-Risalah 1997 [↩]
  6. Su’alaat ibn Al-Junayd li-Ibn Ma’in pg 472 [↩]
  7. ibid page 479 [↩]
  8. Kashf Al-Astaar [↩]
Read More