The tābi‘ūn ( ar, اَلتَّابِعُونَ, also accusative or genitive tābi‘īn , singular ''tābi‘'' ), "followers" or "successors", are the generation of
Muslim
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 Abrah ...
s who followed the
companions (''ṣaḥābah'') of the Islamic prophet
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 thus received their teachings secondhand.
A ''tābi‘'' knew at least one ''ṣaḥābiyy''.
As such, they played an important part in the development of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic thought and knowledge, and in the political development of the early
caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
.
The next generation of Muslims after the ''tabi‘ūn'' are called the ''
tābi‘ al-tabi‘īn'' . The first three generations of Muhammad’s followers make up the ''
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 ...
'' of Islam.
Sunni definition
Muslims from the Sunni branch of Islam define a ''tābiʻ'' as a Muslim who:
# Saw at least one of the companions of Muhammad
# Was rightly-guided
# One who died in that state. The
Khawarij
The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
are therefore not referred to as tābiʻūn even though they saw many of Muhammad's companions.
Sunni Muslims also regard the tābiʻūn as the best generation after the companions. According to
Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
, Muhammad said: "The best people are those living in my generation, then those coming after them, and then those coming after (the second generation)"
The tābiʻūn are divided by most Muslim scholars into three classes:
# The students of companions who accepted Islam before the conquest of Mecca
# The students of companions who accepted Islam after the conquest of Mecca
# The students of companions who were not yet adults at the time of Muhammad's passing
List of tābiʻūn
The first tābiʻ to die was Zayd ibn Ma'mar ibn Zayd, 30 years after the
hijra
Hijra, Hijrah, Hegira, Hejira, Hijrat or Hijri may refer to:
Islam
* Hijrah (often written as ''Hejira'' in older texts), the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE
* Migration to Abyssinia or First Hegira, of Muhammad's followers ...
, and the last to die was Khalaf ibn Khalifa, who died in 180 AH. Alternatively, since the status of Khalaf ibn Khalifa as a tābiʻ is strongly challenged by reputed scholars, the last to die from amongst them may have been Jarir bin Haazim in 170 AH. Therefore, many of the tābiʻūn were tasked with the preservation of Islamic traditions from the era of the companions to later Muslims.
*
Aban ibn Uthman
Abū Saʿīd Abān ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (; died 105 AH/723 CE) was a muhaddith, faqīh, mufassir, Muslim historian. He also served a seven-year stint as governor of Medina in 695–702, during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik.
...
*
Abbad ibn Abd Allah az-Zubair
Abbad ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr al-Asadi ( ar, عباد بن عبد الله بن الزبير الأسدي, ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr al-Asadī) was a Tabi'un and one of the narrators of the Prophet's hadith, and the judge of Mec ...
*
Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah
*
Abd al-Rahman al-Awza'i
Abū ʿAmr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAmr al-ʾAwzāʿī ( ar, أبو عمرو عبدُ الرحمٰن بن عمرو الأوزاعي) (707–774) was an Islamic scholar, traditionalist and the chief representative and eponym of the ʾAwzāʿī ...
* Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla al-Kindi (d. 701), transmitter of traditions on Ali and the companions, joined the uprising of
Ibn al-Ash'ath
Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath ( ar, عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن الأشعث, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ashʿath; died 704), commonly known as Ibn al-Ash'ath after his grandfather, was a prominent Arab nobl ...
and killed at the
Battle of Dayr al-Jamajim The Battle of Dayr al-Jamajim ("Battle of the monastery of Skulls" after a nearby Nestorian monastery), was fought in 701 CE in central Iraq between the largely Syrian Umayyad army under al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf against the mostly Iraqi followers of Abd ...
.
*
Abu Muslim al-Khawlani
*
Abu Hanifa
Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Mus ...
(80 - 150 A.H.)
[Öncü Sûfîlerden Fudayl b.‘Iyâd’ın (öl. 187/802) İlmî Şahsiyeti." Şırnak Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 11.24 (2020): 159-185. "..Tabi'un are the people who followed Sahaba, the companions of the prophet), is one of the important names in the history of Islamic science. Fudayl, who was an Arab, spent his life in three regions: Khorasan, Kufa, and Mecca. Names such as Abu Hanifa, Mansur bin Mu'temir.."]
*
Ahnaf ibn Qais
Abu Bahr Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays () was a Muslim commander who lived during the time of Muhammad. He hailed from the Arab tribe of Banu Tamim and was born of two noble parents. His father named him ad-Dhahhak, but everybody called him ''al-Ahnaf'' (the ...
*
Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin
ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ( ar, علي بن الحسين زين العابدين), also known as al-Sajjād (, ) or simply as Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (), , was an Imam in Shiʻi Islam after his father Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle Hasan ...
*
Alqama ibn Qays
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Amr ibn Uthman
Abū ʿUthmān ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān () was the eldest or one of the eldest sons of Caliph Uthman and played political and military roles during the caliphates of Mu'awiya I (), Yazid I () and Marwan I ().
Life
Amr was a son of Cali ...
*
Amir al-Sha'bi
Abū ʿAmr ʿĀmir ibn Sharāḥīl ibn ʿAbd al-Kūfī al-Shaʿbī ( ar, أبو عمرو عامر بن شراحيل بن عبد الكوفي الشعبي), 641–723, commonly known as Imam al-Sha'bi or al-Sha'bi, was an Arab historian and juri ...
*
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 ...
(d. 106 A.H.)
*
Hammam ibn Munabbih
Hammam ibn Munabbih ibn Kamil al-Yamani ( ar, همام ابن منبه ابن كامل اليمني, translit=Hammām ibn Munnabih ibn Kāmil al-Yamanī) was an Islamic scholar, from among the Tabi‘in and one of the narrators of hadith.
Biogr ...
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Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafīyya (Arabic: الحسن بن محمد بن الحنفية) (died 100 AH) was one of the Salaf and a narrator of hadith.
He was the son of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya and the brother of Abd Allah ibn Muham ...
(d. 100 A.H.)
*
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 ...
(21 - 110 A.H.)
*
Ibn Jurayj
Abd al-Malik ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Jurayj ( ar, عبد الملك بن عبد العزيز بن جريج , translit=ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-Azīz ibn Jurayj, 80 AH/699 CE - 150 AH/767 CE) was an eighth-century ''faqīh'', exegete and hadith tra ...
*
Ibn Kathir al-Makki
Abū Maʿbad (or Abū Bakr) ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr al-Dārānī al-Makkī, better known as Ibn Kathir al-Makki (45-120AH), was one of the transmitters of the seven canonical Qira'at, or methods of reciting the Qur'an.Muhammad Ghoniem and MSM Sai ...
*
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 ...
(d. 124 A.H.)
*
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 t ...
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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 ...
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Malik Dinar
Malik Dinar ( ar-at, مالك دينار, Mālik b. Dīnār, Malayalam: മാലിക് ദീനാര്) (died 748 CE)Al-Hujwiri, "Kashf al-Mahjoob", 89 was a Muslim scholar and traveller. He was one of the first known Muslims to have co ...
*
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 ...
(d. 103 A.H.)
*
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ( ar, محمد بن أبي بكر, 631–658), was the youngest son of the first Islamic caliph Abu Bakr. His mother was Asma bint Umais, who was a widow of Ja'far ibn Abi Talib prior to her second marriage with Abu Bakr. ...
*
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 ...
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Mujahid ibn Jabr
Abū l-Ḥajjāj Mujāhid ibn Jabr al-Qāriʾ ( ar, مُجَاهِدُ بْنُ جَبْرٍ) (642–722 CE) was a Tabi‘ and one of the major early Islamic scholars. His tafsīr of the Qur'an (exegesis/commentary) is believed to be the earlie ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
(d. 103 A.H.)
*
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 ...
(d. 93 A.H.)
[USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts](_blank)
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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 e ...
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Salim ibn Abd-Allah
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 ...
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Shaikh Habib Al-Raee
Shaikh Habib Al-Raee ( ur, شیخ حبیب الراعی) was an elevated Sufi saint and maintains a grand status amongst all the Shaikhs. He was a companion to Salman Farsi. His father, Shaikh Saleem Al-Raee, was the founder and chief ancestor f ...
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Sulaym ibn Qays
Sulaym ibn Qays al-Hilālī al-ʿĀmirī ( ar, سليم بن قيس الهلالي العامري, died before 714, was one of the ''Tabi‘un'' and a companion of Ali towards the end of the latter's life. Sulaym was also a loyal companion of Ali ...
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Sulaiman al-Aʽmash
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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 ...
*
Ubayd-Allah ibn Abd-Allah (d. 98 A.H.)
*
Umar II
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ( ar, عمر بن عبد العزيز, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz; 2 November 680 – ), commonly known as Umar II (), was the eighth Umayyad caliph. He made various significant contributions and reforms to the society, and ...
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Urwah ibn 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 ...
(d. 94 A.H.)
*
Uwais al-Qarani
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 ...
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Wuhayb ibn al-Ward
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Yahya ibn Sa'd (d. 143 A.H.)'
*
Zayd ibn Ali (d. 740
C.E. (122 A.H. ?))
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Al-Nakhai (d.714]
Al-Nakhai
See also
*
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 ...
*
Sahaba
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 ...
*
List of Sahaba
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
Taba al-Tabi‘in
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabi'un
7th-century Islam
*
Islamic terminology