ʿAbd Allāh bin ʿAwn bin Arṭabān al-Muzanī al-Ḥāfiẓ ( Arabic: عَبْد الَّلَه بِن عَوْن بِن أَرْطَبَان المُزَنِي الحَافِظ) was a

ḥadīth 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 approval ...

transmitter from Baṣra who was a part of a core group of proto-Sunnī intellectuals. He is alleged to have studied with the likes of Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Makḥūl, and Ibn Sīrīn, among others, and many later ḥadīth transmitters narrated from him.

Biography

ʿAbd Allāh bin ʿAwn was a

mawla Mawlā ( ar, مَوْلَى, plural ''mawālī'' ()), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet ...

of Ibn Barza al-Mazanī, hence the nisba al-Muzanī, and early sources state that his mother is Khurāsānī. He studied in Kūfa and Baṣra and was said to have collected upwards of 7,000 ḥadīth after travelling throughout Greater Syria and the

Hijaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provi ...

.Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, al-Maʿārif, v. 1, 488. From his home base in Baṣra, ʿAbd Allāh bin ʿAwn supported the Umayyads after the death of ʿUthmān, and strongly condemned the stances of both the Muʿtazila and the

Qadariyya Qadariyyah ( ar, قدرية, Qadariyya), also Qadarites or Kadarites, from (), meaning "power"); was originally a derogatory term designating early Islamic theologians who rejected the concept of predestination in Islam, ''qadr'', and asserted t ...

(not to be confused with the

Qadiriyya The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri ta ...

).Ibn Saʿd al-Baghdādī, Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrá, v. 7, 195. Aside from his status as an early intellectual, ʿAbd Allāh bin ʿAwn was regarded as a devote Muslim, known for his humility and rejection of wealth. There are many anecdotes that highlight his use of lamentation, abstinence from careless speech, fasting, refraining from joking around, and avoidance of doing harm, be it to a king or to a chicken.Abu al-Faraj al-Jawzī, Al-Muntaẓim fi Tārīkh al-Mulūk wa al-Umam, v. 8, 152–4. In addition, he is said to have gone out to Greater Syria (al-Shām) in order to fight against non-Muslims on the Byzantine frontier. This point is notable as it represents the multifaceted nature of the devotion of early Muslims, which contains elements of learning, humility, and warfare. In this regard is similar to the likes ʿAbd Allāh bin Mubārak and Haywa bin Shurayḥ.

References

Hadith compilers Hadith scholars Hadith narrators People from Basra 760s deaths 8th-century Islamic religious leaders Scholars from the Umayyad Caliphate {{islam-scholar-stub