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Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān

أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ هِشَامٍ الْقُرَشِيُّ الْمَخْزُومِيُّ

Savant

Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān is one of the seven jurists of Medina. From one of the noblest families of Quraysh, the Banū Makhzūm, he was so devoted to prayer that he was called "the monk of Quraysh". Blind, he combined, according to adh-Dhahabī, "knowledge, practice and nobility". He died in 94 AH, the year of the jurists. أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ هِشَامٍ الْقُرَشِيُّ الْمَخْزُومِيُّ At a glance Full name: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām ibn al-Mughīra al-Qurashī al-Makhzūmī al-Madanī. Name: "Abū Bakr" is his actual name, according to the view adh-Dhahabī considers correct; others say his name is Abū Bakr and his kunya Abū ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān. Birth: in Medina, under the caliphate of ʿUmar (13–23 AH / 634–644). Death: in Medina, in 94 AH (713). Nickname: "the monk of Quraysh" (rāhib Quraysh). Rank: one of the seven jurists of Medina; he appears in Abū az-Zinād's list. A great family of Quraysh His grandfather, al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, brother of Abū Jahl, embraced Islam at the conquest of Mecca and became a Companion; he died in Syria during the conquests. His father, ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith, born in the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ, was one of the great tābiʿūn and notables of his clan; he was among those whom ʿUthmān entrusted with copying the codices of the Qur'an. It was said that three houses of Quraysh had seen five generations succeed one another, each man among the noblest of his time; Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān's was one of them. Ibn Khirāsh said that he and his brothers were held up as an example. He was the father of ʿAbd Allāh, Salama, ʿAbd al-Malik and ʿUmar. A boy at the Battle of the Camel ʿUrwa ibn az-Zubayr relates: "Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān and I were sent back on the way on the day of the Camel: we were judged too young." That was in 36 AH. The two boys then became study companions. Qabīṣa ibn Dhuʾayb reports that under Muʿāwiya he studied at night in the mosque with ʿUrwa, Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh and others, and that by day he and Abū Bakr attended Abū Hurayra. His education He narrates from his father, ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, Abū Masʿūd al-Anṣārī, ʿĀʾisha, Umm Salama, Abū Hurayra, Nawfal ibn Muʿāwiya, Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays, Abū Rāfiʿ and Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam. He transmitted reports from ʿĀʾisha and Umm Salama that matter in the fiqh of fasting, notably on the fast of one who wakes in a state of major impurity during Ramadan. A hadith he transmitted Abū Bakr narrates from Abū Masʿūd ʿUqba ibn ʿAmr al-Anṣārī: نَهَى رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ عَنْ ثَمَنِ الْكَلْبِ، وَمَهْرِ الْبَغِيِّ، وَحُلْوَانِ الْكَاهِنِ "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the price of a dog, the earnings of a prostitute and the fee of a soothsayer." This hadith appears in all six major collections through az-Zuhrī, from Abū Bakr, from Abū Masʿūd. The four schools draw different conclusions from it on the sale of dogs: Ḥanafīs permit the sale of a useful dog (hunting, guarding) and understand the prohibition as concerning other dogs or as an early measure. Mālikīs are divided: the most widespread view in the school forbids the sale, even of a hunting or guard dog, while other Mālikīs permit it for those dogs whose keeping is allowed. Shāfiʿīs forbid the sale of any dog, and one who destroys a dog owes nothing for its value. Ḥanbalīs likewise forbid the sale of any dog, according to the view adopted in the school. The four schools agree, however, on the prohibition of earnings from prostitution and soothsaying. The monk of Quraysh Ibn Saʿd: "He was called the monk of Quraysh because of the abundance of his prayers and his merit." Al-Wāqidī: "Trustworthy, a jurist, learned, generous, rich in hadith." Az-Zubayr ibn Bakkār: "One of the seven jurists of Medina; he was called the monk, and he was one of the lords of Quraysh." Al-ʿIjlī: "A tābiʿī, trustworthy." Ibn Khirāsh: "One of the imams of the Muslims." Blind, he continued to devote himself to prayer. Abū Dāwūd reports that when prostrating he placed his hand in a basin of water because of an ailment he suffered from. His brother ʿUmar reported that he fasted almost without interruption. Abū Bakr said of knowledge: "Knowledge belongs to one of three: a man of noble lineage who adorns himself with it, a man of religion who governs his religion by it, or a man close to power who offers it to the ruler. And I know no one who fulfils these conditions better than ʿUrwa and ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz." Friend of the caliphs Abū Bakr was esteemed by the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān. Az-Zubayr ibn Bakkār reports that on his deathbed ʿAbd al-Malik enjoined his son al-Walīd: "I have two friends in Medina; look after them for my sake: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib and Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān." This closeness did not prevent him from keeping his standing as an independent scholar: his views were cited in Medina among those that carried authority. His death Al-Wāqidī reports from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar…