Salaf ( ar, سلف, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of "al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ" (, "the pious predecessors") are often taken to be the first three generations of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

. This comprises

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

and his companions (the ), their followers (the ), and the followers of the followers (the ). Their religious significance lay in the statement attributed to Muhammad: "The best of my community are my generation, the ones who follow them and the ones who follow them", a period believed to exemplify the pure form of Islam.

Second generation

The

Tabi‘un The tābi‘ūn ( ar, اَلتَّابِعُونَ, also accusative or genitive tābi‘īn , singular ''tābi‘'' ), "followers" or "successors", are the generation of Muslims who followed the companions (''ṣaḥābah'') of the Islamic proph ...

, the successors of

Sahabah The Companions of the Prophet ( ar, اَلصَّحَابَةُ; ''aṣ-ṣaḥāba'' meaning "the companions", from the verb meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or m ...

. * Abu Hanifah Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān * Abu Muslim Al-Khawlani * Abu Suhail an-Nafi' ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman * Al-Rabi Ibn Khuthaym * Ali Akbar * Ali ibn Husayn (Zain-ul-'Abidin) * Alqama ibn Qays al-Nakha'i *

Ata Ibn Abi Rabah Ata ibn Abi Rabah ( ar, عطاء بن أبي رباح, translit=ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ) was a prominent early Muslim jurist and hadith transmitter who served as the ''mufti'' of Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonl ...

* Atiyya bin Saad *

Hasan al-Basri Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as Hasan of Basra (Arabic: الحسن البصري, romanized: ''Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī''; 642 - 15 October 728) for short, or as Hasan al-Basri, was an early Muslim preacher, asceti ...

Iyas Ibn Muawiyah Al-Muzani Iyas ibn Mu'awiya al-Muzani () (full name, Abu Wathila Iyas ibn Mu'awiya ibn Qurra) was a ''tabi'i'' ''Qadi'' (judge) in the 2nd century AH who lived in Basra (modern day Iraq). He was renowned for possessing immense cleverness which became a fav ...

Masruq ibn al-Ajda' Masruq ibn al-Ajda' (Arabic , died 682) was a well-known and respected ''tabi'i'' (from '' taba'een''), jurist and ''muĥaddith'' (transmitter of Prophetic traditions or ''hadith''). Chiefly a resident of Kufa (Iraq) he was among the many studen ...

Muhammad al-Baqir Muḥammad al-Bāqir ( ar, مُحَمَّد ٱلْبَاقِر), with the full name Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, also known as Abū Jaʿfar or simply al-Bāqir () was the fifth Imam in Shia Islam, succee ...

Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib () also known as Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafīyya () (15 AH – 81 AH; AD 637 – 700) and surnamed Abū al-Qāsim. He was the third son of Ali ibn Abi Talib (the fourth rightly-guided caliph and the first ...

Muhammad Ibn Wasi' Al-Azdi Muhammad Ibn Wasi' Al-Azdi (d.ca.744 or 751) was a ''taba'een, tabi'i'' Islamic scholar of ''hadith'', judge, and soldier who was noted for his asceticism (''zuhd''). His statement, 'I never saw anything without seeing Allah therein' was much discus ...

Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab al-Zuhri Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Shihab al-Zuhri ( ar, محمد بن مسلم بن عبید الله بن عبد الله بن شهاب الزهری, translit=Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh b. S̲h̲i ...

* Muhammad ibn Munkadir *

Nafi Mawla Ibn Umar Nafi bin Sarjis Abu Abdullah ad-Dailami ( ar, نافع بن سارجيس أبو عبد الله الديلمي), also known as Nafi` Mawla ibn `Umar ( ar, نافع مولى بن عمر), was a scholar of Fiqh jurisprudence and muhaddith from the T ...

Muhammad ibn Sirin Muhammad Ibn Sirin ( ar, محمد بن سيرين) (born in Basra) was a Muslim tabi' who lived in the 8th century CE. He was a contemporary of Anas ibn Malik. He is claimed by some to have been an interpreter of dreams, though others regard ...

, son of a slave of

Khalid ibn al-Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially headed campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career in ...

Musa ibn Nusayr Musa ibn Nusayr ( ar, موسى بن نصير ''Mūsá bin Nuṣayr''; 640 – c. 716) served as a Umayyad governor and an Arab general under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim provinces of North Africa (Ifriqiya), and direct ...

Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ( ar, قاسم بن محمد) (born 36 or 38 AH and died 106 AH or 108 AH; corresponding to 660/662 and 728/730) The Four Imams by Muhammad Abu Zahrahchapter on Imam Malik was a jurist in early Isla ...

Raja ibn Haywa Rajaʾ ibn Ḥaywa ibn Khanzal al-Kindī () was a prominent Muslim theological and political adviser of the Umayyad caliphs Abd al-Malik (), al-Walid I (), Sulayman () and Umar II (). He was a staunch defender of the religious conduct of the cali ...

Sa'id ibn Jubayr Sa'id ibn Jubayr (665–714) ( ar, سعيد بن جبير), also known as Abū Muhammad, was originally from Kufa, in modern-day Iraq. He was regarded as one of the leading members of the Tabi'in (d. ca. 712). Sa'īd is held in the highest es ...

Said ibn al-Musayyib Abu Muhammad Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib ibn Hazn al-Makhzumi ( ar, سعید بن المسیب, Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib; 642–715) was one of the foremost authorities of jurisprudence (''fiqh'') among the ''taba'een'' (generation succeeding the compan ...

Salamah ibn Dinar Salamah Ibn Dinar al-Madani (died c. 757 or 781), also known as Abu Hazim Al-A'raj, was a Persian Muslim ascetic, jurist and narrator of hadith from the ''taba'een'' generation who became an important figure for the early Sufis. He is often mentio ...

* Salih Ibn Ashyam Al-Adawi *

Salim Ibn Abdullah Ibn Umar Ibn al-Khattab Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was a well known narrator of hadith (sayings of Muhammad), many of which he related first hand from either his father, Abd Allah ibn Umar (died 693), or his grandfather, the caliph Umar (r ...

* Shuraih Al-Qadhi *

Tariq Ibn Ziyad Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād ( ar, طارق بن زياد), also known simply as Tarik in English, was a Berber commander who served the Umayyad Caliphate and initiated the Muslim Umayyad conquest of Visigothic Hispania (present-day Spain and Portugal) ...

Tawus Ibn Kaysan Tawus Ibn Kaysan ( ar, طاووس بن كيسان; died 723) was one of the ''Tabi‘in'', one of the narrators of hadith and scholars of fiqh. He is also known as Tawoos ibn Kaysaan, "Tawoos" or "al-Taus,". Biography He was one of the scholars of ...

* Umar Ibn Abdul-Aziz * Umm Kulthum bint Abu Bakr *

Urwah Ibn Al-Zubayr ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām al-Asadī ( ar , عروة بن الزبير بن العوام الأسدي, ) was among the seven '' fuqaha'' (jurists) who formulated the fiqh of Medina in the time of the Tabi‘in and one of the Muslim ...

Uwais al-Qarni Awais bin Bashir ( ar, أُوَيْس ٱبْن عَامِر ٱبْن جَزْء ٱبْن مَالِك ٱلْقَرَنِيّ, ), also spelled Uways or Owais, was a Muslim from Yemen who lived during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.B ...

Third generation

The Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in, the successors of the

. *

Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah Al-Ghafiqi ( ar, عبدالرحمن بن عبداللّه الغافقي, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ghāfiqī; died 732), was an Arab Umayyad commander of Andalusian Muslims. He unsuccessfully led into ...

Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Dhuhli ( ar, أَحْمَد بْن حَنْبَل الذهلي, translit=Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal al-Dhuhlī; November 780 – 2 August 855 CE/164–241 AH), was a Muslim jurist, theologian, ascetic, hadith traditionist, and ...

, student of

Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim al-Ansari () better known as Abu Yusuf ( ar, أبو يوسف, Abū Yūsuf) (d.798) was a student of jurist Abu Hanifa (d.767) who helped spread the influence of the Hanafi school of Sharia, Islamic law through his writings and ...

Ja'far al-Sadiq Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765 CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian.. He was the founder of th ...

, grandson of Ali ibn Hussain *

Malik ibn Anas Malik ibn Anas ( ar, مَالِك بن أَنَس, ‎ 711–795 CE / 93–179 AH), whose full name is Mālik bin Anas bin Mālik bin Abī ʿĀmir bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith bin Ghaymān bin Khuthayn bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith al-Aṣbaḥī ...

Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al- Ḥasan al-Muthannā ibn al- Ḥasan al-Mujtabā ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib or Muḥammad al-Nafs al-Zakīyya ( ar, محمد بن عبد الله بن الحسن بن الحسن بن علي الملقَّب ...

Muhammad bin Qasim Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqāfī ( ar, محمد بن القاسم الثقفي; –) was an Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (part of modern Pakistan), inaugurating the Umayya ...

Al bidaya wan Nahaya,

Ibn Kathir Abū al-Fiḍā’ ‘Imād ad-Dīn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Qurashī al-Damishqī (Arabic: إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير القرشي الدمشقي أبو الفداء عماد; – 1373), known as Ibn Kathīr (, was ...

* Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya al-Qaysiyya * Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i * Zayd ibn Ali * Ishaq ibn Rahwayh *

Al-Layth ibn Sa'd Al-Layth ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Fahmī al-Qalqashandī ( ar, الليث بن سعد بن عبد الرحمن الفهمي القلقشندي) was the chief representative, imam, and eponym of the Laythi school of Islamic Jurisprude ...

References

{{reflist

Salaf Salaf ( ar, سلف, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of "al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ" (, "the pious predecessors") are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises Muhamm ...

Islamic terminology

Second generation

Third generation

See also

References