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Abu al-Sha'tha' Jabir b. Zaid
al-'Azdi al-Jawfi of Banu 'Amr b. al-Yahmad, a branch of al-'Azd
tribe. He comes from Farq, a village between Manah and Nazwa in
'Oman1 where he was probably born and where he moved with his
family to settle in Darb al-Jawf in Basrah, a place which took
its name from the area in which the tribe of Jabir was living in
'Oman2. Yaqut mentioned a place in Oman which was inhabited by
the Azdis known as Jawf al-Hamilah.3 It is possible that
Jabir's family came to Basrah with the army formed by 'Uthman b.
Abi al-'As to fight against the Persians; this army included a
large number of Azdis. According to Salimi, after defeating the
Persians and killing their leader Shah-rak or Ibn al-Hamra', the
army headed towards Fars and settled in Tawwaj, then it moved to
Basrah during the rule of 'Abdullah b. Amir, who was the
governor of Basrah for 'Uthman b. Affan.4 It is reported that
the man who killed the Persian leader was Jabir b. Hadid
al-Yahmadi,5 of the same family as Jabir b. Zaid; a fact which
suggests that the members of the family of Jabir b. Zaid were
among the army and they settled in Basrah during the caliphate
of 'Uthman. Salimi suggests that Jabir was born in Farq in
'Oman and traveled to Basrah to acquire learning;6 but this idea
can be rejected, for, if Jabir traveled to Basrah for learning
only he would have returned to Oman afterwards to rejoin his
family, but he lived in Basrah all his life. The following
dates are given for Jabir's birth; 18 A.H. (639 A.D.)7 and 21
A.H. (639 A.D.)8. Some sources aver that Jabir was present in
Medina on the day on which the first Caliph Abu Bakr was
elected.9 there is no information about Jabir's childhood or
early life; and nothing is known about his parents. Therefore
we have to proceed in this study to discuss his learning and
education.
Islamic studies had not been
established yet in the time of Jabir; apart from reading and
writing, there was the Qur'an which was to be memorised (by
heart) by Muslim students, the Traditions of the Prophet, and
the Futya, legal opinions formulated by the first Caliphs and
outstanding Companions. The teachers from whom this knowledge
of Islam could be obtained were the Companions of the Prophet.
Jabir was fortunate enough to be a contemporary of a large
number of the veteran Companions. He met seventy of the
Companions who were present at the greater battle of Badr and
learned from them all the history (akhbar) and Traditions they
knew.10 He also met 'A'ishah, the favourite wife of the Prophet
and asked her about the private life of the Prophet,11 and
discussed with her the political problems of the Muslim
community in which she played a major part.12 Apart from
Abdullah b. 'Umar, 'Aisha, Abdullah b. Mas'ud, and Anas b. Malik,
his principal teacher was 'Abdullah b. 'Abbas,13 the most
learned man among the younger Companions and known as Habr al-'Ummah
(the learned man of the Muslim community and as al-Bahr (the
sea) because of his vast knowledge both of the Qur'an, its
interpretation, and of the Sunnah. Jabir was a close friend of
Ibn 'Abbas and his favourite pupil.14
Jabir learned the Traditions of
the Prophet from all the Companions he met in Basrah, Medina,
and Mecca. He took advantage of the Hajj to meet the Companions
who came to Mecca at that time for the Hajj from other parts of
the Muslim countries. It is reported that Jabir traveled
between Basrah and Mecca no less than forty times on the
Hajj.15 His avidity for acquiring the Traditions of the Prophet
made him go to any lengths to collect them. He traveled
especially to Medina and went to the Banu 'Amr b. Hazm al-'Ansari
and asked them to show him the letter which the Prophet sent
with their father 'Amr b. Hazm to the people of Yemen concerning
zakat, which they did.16 Jabir acquired a wide knowledge of the
Qur'an, Traditions, and Futya. His teacher Ibn 'Abbas was
completely satisfied with him. It is reported that Ibn 'Abbas
said, "If the people of Basrah turned to the knowledge ('ilm) of
Abu al-Sha'tha', he would enrich them with the knowledge of the
Book of God."17 He also described Jabir as one of the learned
men, and believed that Jabir had attained such a high standard
of knowledge that no-one, even Ibn 'Abbas himself, need be
resorted to in order to formulate legal decisions if Jabir had
already expressed his opinion. When al-Rabi, a man from Basrah,
asked Ibn 'Abbas for his legal decision concerning certain
problems, Ibn; Abbas said, "How can you ask us when you have
Jabir b. Zaid among you?"18 Other Companions, viz., 'Abdullah b
'Umar, Jabir b. 'Abdullah al-'Ansari, hold the same opinion of
Jabir as Ibn 'Abbas; al-Bukhari reported from Jabir b. Zaid that
he said, Ibn 'Umar came across me while I was performing the
tawaf (circumambulation of Ka'bah) and said to me, 'Jabir, you
are one of the learned men of Basrah, people will come to you
asking for fatwas, so do not give any legal decision unless it
is clearly stated in the Qur'an or a genuine Sunnah, otherwise
you will go astray and lead the people astray."19 It is also
reported that Zaid b. Jubair consulted the Companion Jabir b.
'Abdullah al-'Ansari about a certain case. After he had given
his opinion, he said, "Why do you ask me when Abu Al-Sha'tha is
among you?"20 So then Jabir was one of the outstanding learned
men of Basrah - according to Muhammad b. Mahbub, Jabir had more
knowledge ('ilm) than al-Hasan al-Basri.21 Jabir became the
Mufti of Basrah22 and spent his life delivering legal opinions,
teaching the Traditions of the Prophet, and transmitting his
vast knowledge of Islam to his students. Since Jabir was a
prominent Tabi'i (follower), his contribution to the growing
Muslim community can be understood within the context of the
part played by the class of al-Tabi'un (followers of the
Companions), heritors of the Companions' direct knowledge and
practice of Islam, which they transmitted to their students.
Being a student closely associated with Ibn 'Abbas, who
participated in most political activities of the Muslim
community from his youth, Jabir was able to learn about the
conflicting attitudes in the political activities which started
with the civil strife during the Caliphate of 'Uthman, and ended
with the ascendancy of Mu'awiyah. |
