Zurarah ibn A'yun (about 690-768 AD) ( ar, زُرارة بن أعیُن) was a famous companion of
Imam 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 Imamate in Twelver doctrine ...
, Imam
Sadiq
Sadiq is a male name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Ja'far al-Sadiq, the 8th-century Muslim scholar and scientist, considered as an Imam and founder of the Ja'fari school of jurisprudence by Twelver and Isma'ili Shi’as, and a major f ...
, and Imam
Kazim.
He evolved the theory that the knowledge of God is an obligation on every believer and cannot be attained without an
Imam designated by God, and thus complete obedience to the Imam is a religious duty.
He was a
Muhaddith
Hadith studies ( ar, علم الحديث ''ʻilm al-ḥadīth'' "science of hadith", also science of hadith, or science of hadith criticism or hadith criticism)
consists of several religious scholarly disciplines used by Muslim scholars in th ...
and
Islamic scholar
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
with great knowledge in religion, and was also one of the companions known as the
companions of consensus whose
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
are given extra credence by
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
scholars. Muhaddith Qummi in his book ''Tuhfah al-Ahbab'' said that "his excellence and status are too great to mention here".
Zurarah was a disciple of al-Hakam ibn Utayba before joining al-Baqir. As a prominent traditionist and theologian, Zurarah played an important role in developing the Shia thought. Zurarah lived long enough to also become a close disciple of Ja'far al-Sadiq.
Al-Baqir praised him (along with
Abu Basir al-Moradi,
Muhammad ibn Muslim, and
Burayd ibn Mu'awiya al-'Ijli) as worthy of the paradise.
Also al-Sadiq lauded him (along with the other three mentioned above) for upholding and promoting the
Imami Madhhab, Al-Sadiq also said that the prophetic
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
s would have been lost without them.
The origin of his family
Some say that his real name was 'Abdu Rabbihi ( ar, عبد ربه), and Zurarah was a nickname. He was also known as Abu al-Hasan (lit. "the father of Hasan"). Some reports say that his father was a Byzantine monk who was captured and sold into slavery in a Muslim territory to someone from the Shaybani clan, which Zurarah remained affixed to.
Contributions
Zurara’s intellectual activities in the field of scholastic theology greatly strengthened the cause of
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 ...
and later that of
Musa al-Kazim
Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after ...
. Together with other theological and scholastic problems, Zurara and his disciples evolved the theory that the knowledge of God is an obligation on every believer and cannot be attained without an Imam designated by God, and thus complete obedience to the Imam is a religious duty. The Imams by necessity are endowed with special knowledge. Therefore, what other men can attain by discursive reason ( nazar ), an Imam always knows owing to his special knowledge and his superior and unequalled power of reasoning.
Zurara and his circle promulgated their views on almost every question of what we now call scholastic philosophy, such as the attributes of God, His Essence and His Actions, His Intention or Will, and the human capacity. The impression we get of Zurara from the sources, especially from Kashshi, is that he played a very important role in the development of legitimist Shi'i thought and contributed a great deal to the formation of the
Imamiyya creed. He is one of the most frequently quoted authorities in all the major books of the Shi'is.
His students
Among Zurara's pupils, who were all devoted followers of Ja'far, were his own sons Hasan, Husayn, and 'Ubayd Allah; his brother Hurman, the grammarian and one of the foremost companions of Al-Baqir. Hamza, the son of Hurman; Bukayr ibn A'yun and his son Abd Allah; Muhammad ibn al-Hakam; Humayd ibn Rabbah; Muhammad ibn an-Nu'man al-Ahwal, and Hisham ibn Salim al-Jawaliqi.
Authenticity of Zurarah
More than 2,000 hadith are attributed him. He is described in biographical literature as "respected" and trustworthy". It was narrated that: "Were it not for Zurarah, the sayings of my father would vanish soon".
[اختيار معرفة الرجال، ج1، ص345.](_blank)
تاریخ بازیابی: 2 دی ماه 1391.
Death
He died between 766 and 777 AD/149-150 AH in Kufa, Iraq.
References
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{{Authority control
8th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
Shia hadith scholars
Jurists
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...