Name: Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd Al-Salām Ibn Ḥabīb Ibn Ḥasan Ibn Ḥilāl Ibn Bakkār Ibn Rabīʿah Ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Tanūkhī, originally al-Himsī known as Saḥnūn.
His Death: The Month of Rajab, 240 Hijrī (854 CE).
His teachers and those he heard from: Sufyān Ibn ʿUyaynah, al-Walīd Ibn Muslim, ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Qāsim, ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Wahb, ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Qāsim, Wakīʿ Ibn Jarrah, and Ashhab, among many others.
His students and those who took from him: His son Muḥammad, the Faqīh of al-Qayrawān, Aṣbagh Ibn Khalīl al-Qurṭubī, Baqī Ibn Mikhlad, Saʿīd Ibn Namir al-Ghāfiqī al-Ilbīrī, the Faqīh, ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Ghafiq al-Tunusī, Muḥammad Ibn ʿAbd Allāh Ibn ʿAbdūs al-Maghribī, Wahb Ibn Nāfiʿ—the Faqīh of Cordoba, Yaḥyá Ibn al-Qāsim Ibn Hilāl—the ascetic, Mutarrif Ibn ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān al-Marwanī, Yaḥyá Ibn ʿUmar al-Kinanī al-Andalusī, ʿĪsá Ibn Miskīn, Hamdīs, Ibn Mughīth, Ibn al-Haddād, and many of the Fuqahāʾ.
The praise of the Scholars for him: Ashhab said: “We have not come across anyone like Saḥnūn.” Yūnus Ibn ʿAbd Al-Aʿlá said: “Saḥnūn is the Sayyid (Master) of the People of al-Maghrib (the West).” It is reported from Ibn ʿAjlān al-Andalusī that he said: “No one after the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has been blessed with regards to his companions like Saḥnūn has been blessed in regards to his companions, as they are Imāms in every land.”
About him: He was a Judge and a Faqīh (Jurist). He reached the highest level of knowledge in the West (al-Maghrib). He was originally from the Levant, from Homs. He was born in Qayrawān. He became a judge in the year 234H and remained one until he died. He was clever and was highly capable. He is credited with spreading the Mālikī Madhhab in al-Maghrib.
His Beliefs and Methodology: It was reported from Yaḥyá Ibn ʿAwn that he said: “I entered with Saḥnūn upon Ibn al-Qaṣṣār while he was sick, and he (Saḥnūn) said: ‘What is this anxiety about?’ He replied: ‘Death and standing in front of Allāh.’ Saḥnūn said to him: ‘Don’t you believe in the Messengers, the Resurrection, accountability of your deeds, Heaven and Hell; and that the best of this Ummah is Abū Bakr then ʿUmar; and that the Qurʾān is the Speech of Allāh—not created; and that Allāh will be seen on the Day of Resurrection; and that He is over His Throne; and that you do not rebel against the rulers with the sword—even if they transgress?’ He replied: ‘Yes, by Allāh.’ So he said: ‘Then die (upon this) if you can; die (upon this) if you can.’”
Saḥnūn was asked: “Is it allowed for a scholar to say, ‘I don’t know’ in affairs that he knows of?” He replied: “If it is of an issue where there is an affirmed text from the Qurʾān and Sunnah, then no. However, if it is something from his opinion, then it is allowed as he does not know whether he is correct or mistaken.”
(Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ of al-Dhahabī 12/64-66; Siyar al-Salaf al-Ṣāliḥīn of al-Aṣbahānī 1117; Al-Aʿlām of al-Zirkilī 4/5)
Translated by: Akram Abdul Qadir
