Hammad bin Zayd bin Dirham ( (716–795)) was an Islamic scholar and jurisprudent from

Basrah Basra () is a port city in southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq border at the north-easternmost exten ...

, Iraq. He was a blind, ''hujjah'' (proofed) and an able hadith narrator who memorized all his hadiths well. Hamad used ''tadlis'' (concealment). He was highly regarded for his knowledge and was considered to be on par with

Imam Malik Malik ibn Anas (; –795) also known as Imam Malik was an Arab Islamic scholar and traditionalist who is the eponym of the Maliki school, one of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence in Sunni Islam.Schacht, J., "Mālik b. Anas", in: ''En ...

in terms of his scholarly contributions. Hammad bin Zayd was known for his firm stance against the

Jahmiyyah Jahmism (), is a term used by Islamic scholars to refer to the followers of the doctrines of Jahm bin Safwan (d. 128/746). The Jahmiyya particularly came to be remembered for advocating for the denial or negation of God's divine attributes (known ...

, a theological group that held controversial views about the nature of

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

Mention in Abu Hurayra’s narrations

According to

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Thābit ibn Aḥmad ibn Māhdī al-Shāfiʿī, commonly known as al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī () or "the lecturer from Baghdad" (10 May 1002 – 5 September 1071; 392 AH-463 AH), was a Sunni Muslim scholar known ...

Ali ibn al-Madini Abū al-Ḥasan ʻAlī ibn ʻAbdillāh ibn Jaʻfar al-Madīnī (778 CE/161 AH – 849/234) () was a ninth-century Sunni Islamic scholar who was influential in the science of hadith. Alongside Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Abi Shaybah and Yahya ibn Ma' ...

(d. 849) considered the most authentic chain that begin with Abu Hurairah as being Abu Hurairah → Ibn Sirin → Ayyub al-Sakhtiani → Hammad ibn Zaid. According to

Ahmad Muhammad Shakir Ahmad Muhammad Shakir () (January 29, 1892, Cairo – June 14, 1958) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar of hadith. He is the son of Muḥammad Shākir ibn Aḥmad, an Islamic scholar of Al-Azhar University and elder brother of Mahmud Muhammad Sh ...

(d. 1958), a ''hadith'' scholar from

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

, the most authentic ''asnād'' that came from Abu Hurayrah, one of them was: * Abu Hurairah → Ibn Sirin → Ayyub al-Sakhtiani → Hammad ibn Zaid

Criticism

In a hadis books '' Kitâbu’l-Mecrûhîn’'', where Hammad criticized

Amr ibn Ubayd Amr Ibn Ubayd ibn Bāb (, died 761) was one of the earliest leaders in the "rationalist" theological movement of the Mu'tazilis, literally 'those who withdraw themselves' – which was founded by Wasil ibn Ata (died 749). Of Iranian descent, he ...

, stating that Amr used to lie and fabricate Hadiths.

Death and legacy

He died in Basra. There are many hadiths of him in

Sahih al-Bukhari () is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar al-Bukhari () in the format, the work is valued by Sunni Muslims, alongside , as the most authentic after the Qur'an. Al-Bukhari organized the bo ...

. Scholars of hadith generally agree that Hamad ibn Zayd was a reliable narrator. *

Al-Dhahabi Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī (), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348) was an Atharism, Athari ...

said: ''Hamad used to memorize his hadith like water.'' *

Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi Sir Sayyid Abdul Rahman al-Mahdi, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, KBE (; June 1885 – 24 March 1959) was a Sudanese politician and prominent religious leader. He was one of the leading religious and political figures duri ...

says: ''I have not seen anyone with more knowledge of

Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

and

Hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

than Hammad bin Zayd, he was the best jurist in Basra.'' *

Ibn Hibban Muḥammad ibn Hibbān al-Bustī () (c. 270–354/884–965) was a Muslim Arab scholar, polymath and a prominent Shafi'i traditionist, ḥadith critic, evaluator of rijal, compiler and interpreter of hadith. He was a prolific writer and well-ve ...

says: ''Whoever claims that the difference between Hamad bin Zayd bin Dirham and Hamad bin Salama bin Dinar is the difference between a

dirham The dirham, dirhem or drahm is a unit of currency and of mass. It is the name of the currencies of Moroccan dirham, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates dirham, United Arab Emirates and Armenian dram, Armenia, and is the name of a currency subdivisi ...

and a

dinar The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...

is delusional because Hamad bin Zayd was more knowledgeable and correct than Hamad bin Salama. However, Hamad bin Salama was more pious and pious than Hamad bin Zayd.''

References

External links

امام حماد بن زید بن درہم بصری کے حالات Circumstances of Imam Hamad bin Zayd bin Durham al-Basri
{{Authority Control 716 births 795 deaths 8th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Hadith scholars People from Basra 8th-century births