Tafsīr Library
Biographies · 56 scholars, companions & prophets
تَرَاجِم
Biographies
Scholars, companions, successors, prophets, and significant figures referenced across the Tafsīr Library. Click any name to read their full biography.
☀Prophets & Messengers(11)
Prophets and Messengers of Allāh mentioned in the Qurʾān. Their narratives are the moral and theological backbone of Quranic exegesis — every tafsīr in this library draws directly on their stories.
Legacy: Theology · Quranic Narrative · Moral Exemplars for Law and Ethics
Prophet & Messenger of Allāh
Mūsā (Moses) ﷺ
مُوسَى
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Mūsā ﷺ is one of the five greatest Prophets (ulu al-ʿazm) and is mentioned more times in the Qurʾān than any other prophet. He was born in Egypt during the tyranny of Pharaoh, raised in the royal…
Prophet — the first man
Ādam (Adam) ﷺ
آدَم
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Ādam ﷺ is the first human being and the first prophet, created by Allāh with His own hand and taught the names of all things, before whom the angels were commanded to prostrate. Iblīs a…
Prophet & Messenger — of the ulū al-ʿazm
Nūḥ (Noah) ﷺ
نُوح
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Nūḥ ﷺ is among the five greatest messengers (ulū al-ʿazm). He called his people to the worship of Allāh alone for nine hundred and fifty years, by night and by day, openly and in secret…
Prophet & Messenger — Khalīl Allāh
Ibrāhīm (Abraham) ﷺ
إِبْرَاهِيم
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Ibrāhīm ﷺ, the intimate friend of Allāh (Khalīl Allāh), reasoned his people from the stars, moon, and sun to the One who does not set. He broke their idols, was cast into the fire and d…
Prophet — son of Ibrāhīm ﷺ
Ismāʿīl (Ishmael) ﷺ
إِسْمَاعِيل
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Ismāʿīl ﷺ, the elder son of Ibrāhīm by Hājar, was left as an infant in the barren valley of Makkah, where the well of Zamzam was opened for him. When shown the vision of his sacrifice,…
Prophet — also called Isrāʾīl
Yaʿqūb (Jacob) ﷺ
يَعْقُوب
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Yaʿqūb ﷺ, son of Isḥāq and grandson of Ibrāhīm, is also called Isrāʾīl; the tribes of the Children of Israel descend from his sons. On his deathbed he charged his sons, "What will you w…
Prophet — son of Yaʿqūb ﷺ
Yūsuf (Joseph) ﷺ
يُوسُف
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Yūsuf ﷺ, thrown into a well by his brothers, sold into slavery, and imprisoned though innocent, was raised by Allāh to authority in Egypt. Sūrah Yūsuf, called "the best of stories," tra…
Prophet & King — son of Dāwūd ﷺ
Sulaymān (Solomon) ﷺ
سُلَيْمَان
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Sulaymān ﷺ was granted a kingdom such as none after him would have: the wind subjected to his command, the jinn labouring for him, and the speech of birds taught to him. He judged with…
Prophet & Messenger — of the ulū al-ʿazm
ʿĪsā (Jesus) ﷺ
عِيسَى
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
ʿĪsā ﷺ was born of the virgin Maryam by the word of Allāh — "Be," and he was — and spoke from the cradle. He was supported by the Holy Spirit (Q 2:87), given the Gospel, and granted mir…
Prophet — nephew of Ibrāhīm ﷺ
Lūṭ (Lot) ﷺ
لُوط
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Lūṭ ﷺ, nephew of Ibrāhīm, was sent to a people who committed an indecency none had committed before them. He called them to fear Allāh and abandon their transgression, and they answered…
Prophet & Messenger — sent to Thamūd
Ṣāliḥ (Salih) ﷺ
صَالِح
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Ṣāliḥ ﷺ was sent to Thamūd, an Arab people who succeeded ʿĀd and carved dwellings and palaces from the rock of the valley of al-Ḥijr. He called them to worship Allāh alone and to abando…
☾Other Qurʾānic & Sīrah Figures(27)
Uncle and protector of the Prophet ﷺ
Abū Ṭālib
أَبُو طَالِب
b. Unknown · d. c. 3 BH / 619 CE, Makkah
Abū Ṭālib, a paternal uncle of the Prophet ﷺ and the father of ʿAlī, raised him after the death of his grandfather and shielded him through the hardest years of the Makkan persecution,…
Uncle and opponent of the Prophet ﷺ
Abū Lahab
أَبُو لَهَب
b. Unknown · d. 2 AH / 624 CE, Makkah
Abū Lahab's given name was ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā, but he is known by his kunya "Father of Flame," said to derive from his ruddy, glowing looks. A paternal uncle of the Prophet ﷺ and his neighbo…
Makkan opponent of the Prophet ﷺ
ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ
عُقْبَة بْن أَبِي مُعَيْط
b. Unknown · d. 2 AH / 624 CE (after Badr)
ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ was among the bitterest of the Prophet's ﷺ Makkan enemies. When Quraysh could not answer him themselves, they sent ʿUqbah and al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith to the rabbis o…
Makkan opponent — teller of Persian tales
al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith
النَّضْر بْن الْحَارِث
b. Unknown · d. 2 AH / 624 CE (after Badr)
al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith would sit after the Prophet ﷺ and recount the legends of Rustum and Isfandiyār, claiming his stories were better than the Qurʾān. With ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ he was…
Chief of the hypocrites of Medina
ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أُبَيّ
b. Unknown · d. 9 AH / 631 CE, Medina
ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl was a leader of the Khazraj whose ascendancy in Yathrib was ended by the Prophet's ﷺ arrival. He professed Islam outwardly while working against it — withd…
The refuser — chief of the devils
Iblīs
إِبْلِيس
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Iblīs was of the jinn and refused the command to prostrate before Ādam, saying "I am better than he." His refusal — rooted in arrogance and envy — is described by the mufassirūn as the…
Angel — bearer of revelation
Jibrīl (Gabriel)
جِبْرِيل
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Jibrīl is the greatest of the angels and the bearer of revelation, who brought the Qurʾān down upon the heart of the Prophet ﷺ. The Qurʾān identifies him as Rūḥ al-Qudus, the Holy Spiri…
Righteous Servant of Allāh
al-Khaḍir
الخَضِر
b. Unknown · d. Unknown (scholars differ on whether he is still living)
Scholars differ on whether al-Khaḍir was a Prophet or a righteous saint (walī). The majority hold he was a prophet. His name means 'the green one' — wherever he sat, the ground turned green with…
Righteous king of Sūrah al-Kahf
Dhū al-Qarnayn
ذُو الْقَرْنَيْن
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Dhū al-Qarnayn appears in Sūrah al-Kahf as a righteous ruler whom Allāh "established in the land" and granted the means to every end. The Qurʾān leaves his identity unnamed; Ibn ʿAbbās,…
Believing wife of Pharaoh
Āsiya bint Muzāḥim
آسِيَة
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Āsiya was the wife of Firʿawn, who believed in the Lord of Mūsā while living in the household of the very tyrant who claimed lordship. She prayed, "My Lord, build for me a house near Yo…
The wise man of Sūrah Luqmān
Luqmān
لُقْمَان
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Luqmān is the sage to whom Allāh "gave wisdom" (Q 31:12), a giving the Qurʾān mentions alongside the wisdom granted to Dāwūd (Q 2:251). The majority of the mufassirūn hold he was a righ…
King appointed for the Children of Israel
Ṭālūt (Saul)
طَالُوت
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
When the Children of Israel asked their prophet for a king, Allāh appointed Ṭālūt. They objected that he lacked wealth; the answer was that Allāh had chosen him and increased him in kno…
The man of treasures who was swallowed
Qārūn (Korah)
قَارُون
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Qārūn was of the people of Mūsā and was given such treasures that their keys weighed down a band of strong men. Counselled to seek the Hereafter with what Allāh had given him and not to…
The tyrant who claimed lordship
Firʿawn (Pharaoh)
فِرْعَوْن
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Firʿawn is the Qurʾān's archetype of tyranny (ṭughyān): he exalted himself in the land, divided its people into factions, slaughtered the sons of the Children of Israel, and finally arr…
The man made to die a hundred years
ʿUzayr
عُزَيْر
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
The Qurʾān relates the one who passed a town fallen into ruin and asked, "How will Allāh revive this after its death?" Allāh caused him to die a hundred years, then raised him and showe…
The first murder on earth
Hābīl and Qābīl (Abel & Cain)
هَابِيل وَقَابِيل
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
The two sons of Ādam each offered a sacrifice; it was accepted from one and not from the other. Told "Allāh only accepts from the God-fearing," the rejected brother answered with a thre…
The believing man of Sūrah Yā Sīn (by report)
Ḥabīb al-Najjār
حَبِيب النَّجَّار
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
In the parable of the town (Q 36:20–27) an unnamed man comes running from the farthest part of the city to support the messengers, calling his people to follow those who ask no reward a…
Wife of Abū Lahab — "the carrier of firewood"
Umm Jamīl
أُمّ جَمِيل
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
Umm Jamīl, Arwā bint Ḥarb and sister of Abū Sufyān, was the wife of Abū Lahab and his partner in hostility to the Prophet ﷺ. The Qurʾān names her ḥammālat al-ḥaṭab, "carrier of firewood…
The man who worked sorcery against the Prophet ﷺ (by report)
Labīd ibn al-Aʿṣam
لَبِيد بْن الأَعْصَم
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
The books of tafsīr and ḥadīth relate that Labīd ibn al-Aʿṣam worked a spell upon the Prophet ﷺ, tying knots in a cord, and that the Prophet ﷺ was afflicted until Allāh revealed the pla…
The eloquent hypocrite of Q 2:204–206
al-Akhnas ibn Shurayq
الأَخْنَس بْن شَرِيق
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
The mufassirūn relate āyāt 204–206 of al-Baqarah to al-Akhnas ibn Shurayq al-Thaqafī, an eloquent man whose speech about worldly life pleased the Prophet ﷺ, and who called Allāh to witn…
Wife divorced before consummation
Umayma bint Sharāḥīl
أُمَيْمَة بِنْت شَرَاحِيل
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
The Prophet ﷺ married Umayma bint Sharāḥīl and divorced her before consummation, granting her a gift (mutʿah) at parting. Her case is cited by the jurists in expounding Q 2:236–237 — th…
Makkan opponent of the Prophet ﷺ
al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil
الْعَاص بْن وَائِل
b. Unknown · d. c. 1 AH / 622 CE, Makkah
al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil al-Sahmī was a chief of Quraysh and among the persistent mockers of the Prophet ﷺ. The mufassirūn relate that when the Prophet’s ﷺ infant son died, al-ʿĀṣ called him ab…
Commander of the companions of the elephant
Abrahah
أَبْرَهَة
b. Unknown · d. c. 570 CE (the Year of the Elephant)
Abrahah was the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen who built a great church in Ṣanʿāʾ intending to turn the Arabs from pilgrimage to the Kaʿbah. When it was defiled, he marched on Makkah with…
Grandfather and guardian of the Prophet ﷺ
ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib
عَبْدُ الْمُطَّلِب
b. Unknown · d. c. 578 CE, Makkah
ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib was the leader of Banū Hāshim and custodian of the watering of the pilgrims. He rediscovered the well of Zamzam, and after the death of the Prophet's ﷺ parents he took…
Makkan opponent — persecutor of Bilāl
Umayyah ibn Khalaf
أُمَيَّة بْن خَلَف
b. Unknown · d. 2 AH / 624 CE (Badr)
Umayyah ibn Khalaf was a chief of Banū Jumaḥ and among the fiercest enemies of the Prophet ﷺ in Makkah. He is remembered chiefly for the torture of his slave Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ, who lay be…
False claimant to prophethood
Musaylimah
مُسَيْلِمَة
b. Unknown · d. 12 AH / 633 CE, al-Yamāmah
Musaylimah of Banū Ḥanīfah claimed prophethood in the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime and wrote to him proposing to share the earth between them. He was answered that the earth belongs to Allāh, w…
Makkan chief — "the Pharaoh of this ummah"
Abū Jahl
أَبُو جَهْل
b. Unknown · d. 2 AH / 624 CE (Badr)
ʿAmr ibn Hishām of Banū Makhzūm was called by his people Abū al-Ḥakam, "father of wisdom"; the Muslims named him Abū Jahl, "father of ignorance." He was among the fiercest persecutors o…
✦Companions of the Prophet (Ṣaḥābah)(36)
Those who saw the Prophet ﷺ, believed in him, and died as Muslims. Their transmission is the primary source of hadith; their understanding of the Qurʾān is the gold standard of tafsīr bi-l-maʾthūr. Among them: the compilers of the first and second Quranic codex, the transmitters of the five daily prayers, and the narrators cited on virtually every page of these tafsīrs.
Legacy: Hadith · Sunnah · Tafsīr · Qurʾān Preservation (Abū Bakr, ʿUthmān) · Foundational Fiqh
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — first commander in Islam
ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْن جَحْش
b. Unknown · d. 3 AH / 625 CE, Uḥud
ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh, a cousin of the Prophet ﷺ, led the small party sent to Nakhlah. A polytheist was slain near the end of the sacred month of Rajab, and Quraysh made an outcry over fi…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — orator of the Prophet ﷺ
Thābit ibn Qays
ثَابِت بْن قَيْس
b. Unknown · d. 12 AH / 633 CE, al-Yamāmah
Thābit ibn Qays was the eloquent spokesman of the Anṣār and the Prophet's ﷺ orator. Fearing his loud voice had violated Q 49:2, he withdrew in grief until the Prophet ﷺ gave him glad ti…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) · First Caliph
Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq
أَبُو
b. 51 BH / 573 CE, Mecca · d. 13 AH / 634 CE, Medina
Abū Bakr ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUthmān was the Prophet's ﷺ closest friend, the first adult male to accept Islam, and the only Companion to accompany him during the Hijrah. The Prophet ﷺ gave him the title…
SunnahCaliphateQurʾān Compilation
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — governor of Makkah
ʿAttāb ibn Usayd
عَتَّاب بْن أَسِيد
b. Unknown · d. 13 AH / 634 CE, Makkah
ʿAttāb ibn Usayd accepted Islam at the conquest of Makkah and, though young, was appointed by the Prophet ﷺ as its governor — a post he held with integrity until his death, reported to…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — the most learned in ḥalāl and ḥarām
Muʿādh ibn Jabal
مُعَاذ بْن جَبَل
b. Unknown · d. 18 AH / 639 CE, Syria (plague of ʿAmwās)
The Prophet ﷺ said of Muʿādh that he was the most knowledgeable of his community concerning the lawful and the unlawful, and sent him to Yemen as judge and teacher, instructing him to c…
Companion — First Muʾadhdhin of Islam
Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ
بِلَالٌ
b. Unknown (before 580 CE), Mecca · d. 20 AH (640/641 CE), Damascus
Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ was an enslaved Abyssinian owned by Umayyah ibn Khalaf. When he embraced Islam among the very first to do so, his master subjected him to severe torture: laid on burning sand with a…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb
عُمَرُ بْنُ الخَطَّاب
b. c. 584 CE, Mecca · d. 23 AH (644 CE), Medina
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was among the fiercest opponents of early Islam before his dramatic conversion in approximately the sixth year of prophethood. The Prophet ﷾ had prayed: “O Allāh, strengthen…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — chief of the reciters
Ubayy ibn Kaʿb
أُبَيّ بْن كَعْب
b. Unknown · d. c. 30 AH / 650 CE, Medina
Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, an Anṣārī scribe of revelation, was named by the Prophet ﷺ as the best reciter of his community. Allāh commanded His Messenger to recite to him directly — an honour uniq…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — the ascetic of the Ṣaḥābah
Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī
أَبُو ذَرّ الْغِفَارِي
b. Unknown · d. 32 AH / 652 CE, al-Rabadhah
Abū Dharr was among the first to accept Islam and proclaimed it openly in Makkah at great cost. He lived in austere renunciation, outspoken against the hoarding of wealth, and died alon…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — the sage of this ummah
Abū al-Dardāʾ
أَبُو الدَّرْدَاء
b. Unknown · d. 32 AH / 652 CE, Damascus
Abū al-Dardāʾ, an Anṣārī who abandoned trade for worship and learning, was called by the Companions "the sage of this ummah." He served as judge in Damascus and was renowned for his say…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — after long opposition
Abū Sufyān
أَبُو سُفْيَان
b. Unknown · d. c. 32 AH / 653 CE, Medina
Abū Sufyān was a chief of Quraysh and commander of its armies against the Muslims at Uḥud and al-Khandaq. His sister Umm Jamīl was the wife of Abū Lahab. He accepted Islam on the eve of…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Ibn Masʿūd
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مَسْعُود
b. c. 594 CE, Mecca · d. 32–33 AH, Medina
ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿud was one of the earliest converts to Islam, embracing the faith as a young shepherd working for ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ in Mecca. He became the seventh or ninth person to accept…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — "of the People of the House"
Salmān al-Fārisī
سَلْمَان الْفَارِسِي
b. Unknown · d. c. 33 AH / 654 CE, al-Madāʾin
Salmān left Persia in search of the religion of Ibrāhīm, passing through Christianity and slavery until he reached Medina and recognised the signs of prophethood in Muḥammad ﷺ. The Prop…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) · Third Caliph
ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān
عُثْمَانُ
b. 47 BH / 577 CE, Mecca · d. 35 AH / 656 CE, Medina
ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān was born in Mecca into the Umayyah clan of Quraysh. He was among the earliest converts to Islam and earned the epithet Dhū al-Nūrayn (Possessor of Two Lights) for marrying two…
Qurʾān CodificationCaliphateSunnah
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān
حُذَيْفَة بْنُ اليَمَان
b. Unknown · d. 36 AH (656 CE), al-Madāʾin
Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān was an Anṣārī Companion whose father al-Yamān was killed at Uḥud by the Muslims themselves in the confusion of battle. Ḥudhayfah forgave them and donated the blood-money to the…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) · Fourth Caliph · First Imām (Shīʿa tradition)
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib
عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِب
b. c. 23 BH (600 CE), Mecca · d. 40 AH (661 CE), Kufa
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was born in Mecca, the son of Abū Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib — the Prophet’s paternal uncle and chief protector. He was raised in the Prophet’s household from early childhood,…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — a rabbi who accepted Islam
ʿAbdullāh ibn Salām
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْن سَلَام
b. Unknown · d. 43 AH / 663 CE, Medina
ʿAbdullāh ibn Salām was a learned rabbi of Medina who accepted Islam upon the Prophet's ﷺ arrival, saying he knew him better than he knew his own son. The Prophet ﷺ gave him glad tiding…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī
أَبُو مُوسى الأَشْعَرِي
b. c. 21 BH (602 CE), Yemen · d. 44 AH (664 CE), Kufa or Mecca
Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī was born in Yemen into the Ashʿar tribe — a Yemeni Arab tribe whose members embraced Islam collectively and migrated to Medina around the time of the conquest of Khaybar (7 AH).…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah
كَعْب بْن عُجْرَة
b. Unknown · d. c. 52 AH / 672 CE, Medina
Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah was in a state of iḥrām at al-Ḥudaybiyyah when lice troubled his head. The Prophet ﷺ told him to shave and to make expiation: fast three days, feed six needy persons, or…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — host of the Prophet ﷺ
Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī
أَبُو أَيُّوب الأَنْصَارِي
b. Unknown · d. 52 AH / 672 CE, near Constantinople
Abū Ayyūb received the Prophet ﷺ into his home upon the Hijrah, where he stayed until his mosque and dwellings were built. He witnessed Badr and the later battles, and died on campaign…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ
سَعْدُ بْنُ أَبيِ وَقَّاصْ
b. c. 595 CE, Mecca · d. 55 AH (674–75 CE), Medina
Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ converted to Islam at approximately seventeen years of age — among the youngest of the early believers. He was the maternal uncle of the Prophet ﷾ and the first person to shoot an…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — the greatest narrator of ḥadīth
Abū Hurayrah
أَبُو هُرَيْرَة
b. c. 19 BH / 603 CE, Yemen · d. 57 AH / 678 CE, Medina
Abū Hurayrah embraced Islam in the year of Khaybar (7 AH) and attached himself to the Prophet ﷺ, living among the poor of the Ṣuffah so as never to miss his gatherings. He asked the Pro…
Companion (Ṣaḥābiyyah) — Mother of the Believers
ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr
عَائِشَة
b. c. 9 BH / 613 CE, Makkah · d. 58 AH / 678 CE, Medina
ʿĀʾisha, daughter of Abū Bakr and wife of the Prophet ﷺ, was the most learned woman of the ummah — a jurist, a narrator of over two thousand ḥadīth, and the foremost witness to the Prop…
Companion (Ṣaḥābiyyah) — Mother of the Believers
Umm Salamah
أُمّ سَلَمَة
b. Unknown · d. c. 62 AH / 681 CE, Medina
Umm Salamah emigrated to Abyssinia and then to Medina, enduring separation from her husband and child. After the death of Abū Salamah she became a wife of the Prophet ﷺ, and was known f…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Maʿqil ibn Yasār
مَعْقِل بْن يَسَار
b. Unknown · d. c. 65 AH / 685 CE, Basra
Maʿqil ibn Yasār had given his sister in marriage; when her husband divorced her and then wished to remarry her, Maʿqil refused out of pride. Q 2:232 was revealed forbidding guardians f…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Zayd ibn Arqam
زَيْدُ بْنُ أَرْقَم
b. Unknown · d. c. 66 AH (685 CE), Kufa
Zayd ibn Arqam was a young Anṣārī Companion from the Khazraj tribe of Medina. He participated in numerous military expeditions and is a narrator of ḥadīth preserved across the major collections.…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Ibn ʿAbbās
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبَّاس
b. 3 BH (619 CE), Mecca · d. 68 AH (687/688 CE), Ṫāʿif
ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās was born approximately three years before the Hijrah in Mecca, the son of ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib — the Prophet’s paternal uncle — and Umm al-Faḍl Lubābah bint al-Ḥārith…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — son of Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī
ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim
عَدِيّ بْن حَاتِم
b. Unknown · d. c. 68 AH / 687 CE, Kūfa
ʿAdī, son of the famously generous Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī, was a Christian chief who came to the Prophet ﷺ and accepted Islam. He remained steadfast through the wars of apostasy, holding his tri…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib
الْبَرَاء بْن عَازِب
b. Unknown · d. 72 AH / 691 CE, Kūfa
al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib was too young to fight at Badr but witnessed the later campaigns with the Prophet ﷺ. He settled afterwards in Kūfa and became a widely relied-upon narrator. He report…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — jurist of the Ṣaḥābah
Ibn ʿUmar
ابْن عُمَر
b. 10 BH / 613 CE, Makkah · d. 73 AH / 693 CE, Makkah
ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, son of the second caliph, was famed for the exactness with which he imitated the Prophet ﷺ — praying where he prayed, halting where he halted. He emigrated as a boy…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — first child born to the Muhājirūn
ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْن الزُّبَيْر
b. 1 AH / 622 CE, Medina · d. 73 AH / 692 CE, Makkah
ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr was the first child born to the Muhājirūn in Medina, son of al-Zubayr and Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr. He was known for his courage, his prayer, and his fasting, and lat…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Anas ibn Mālik
أَنَسُ بْنُ مَالِك
b. c. 10 BH (612 CE), Medina · d. 93 AH (711 CE), Basra
Anas ibn Mālik was born approximately ten years before the Hijrah in Medina, the son of Mālik ibn al-Naḍr and Umm Sulaym bint Milḥān. When the Prophet ﷺ migrated to Medina in 1 AH, Anas was…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī)
Abū al-Daḥdāḥ
أَبُو الدَّحْدَاح
b. Unknown · d. Unknown
On hearing the verse, "Who is it that will lend Allāh a goodly loan?" (Q 2:245), Abū al-Daḥdāḥ gave away his finest garden of six hundred palm trees — his family's dwelling — and the Pr…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — commander and governor
ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ
عَمْرُو بْن الْعَاص
b. Unknown · d. 43 AH / 664 CE, Egypt
ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, son of the Makkan chief al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, was among the shrewdest of Quraysh and long an opponent of the Prophet ﷺ — he was sent to Abyssinia to seek the extradition of…
Companion (Ṣaḥābiyyah) — first wife of the Prophet ﷺ
Khadījah bint Khuwaylid
خَدِيجَة
b. Unknown · d. 3 BH / 619 CE, Makkah
Khadījah bint Khuwaylid, a noble and successful merchant of Makkah, married the Prophet ﷺ before his prophethood and was the first of all people to believe in him. When he returned trem…
Companion (Ṣaḥābī) — narrator
Jundub ibn ʿAbdillāh
جُنْدُب بْن عَبْدِ اللَّه
b. Unknown · d. c. 70 AH / 690 CE
Jundub ibn ʿAbdillāh al-Bajalī was a Companion who settled in Kūfa and later Baṣra, known for the soundness of his transmission and his warnings against the innovations of his age. Al-B…
❧Successors (Tābiʿūn)(20)
The generation that followed the Companions — pillars of early Islamic scholarship.
Legacy: Hadith Transmission · Four Legal Schools (Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī) · Arabic Linguistics · Quranic Commentary
Tābiʿī — worshipper of Basra
Qays ibn ʿAbbād
قَيْس بْن عَبَّاد
b. Unknown · d. c. 85 AH / 704 CE, Basra
Qays ibn ʿAbbād was among the senior Tābiʿūn of Basra, a companion of ʿAlī and of the great Companions, remembered for devotion and for the soundness of his transmission. The mufassirūn…
Tābiʿī (Successor generation) — mufassir of Basra
Abū al-ʿĀliyah
أَبُو الْعَالِيَة
b. Unknown · d. 93 AH / 712 CE, Basra
Abū al-ʿĀliyah embraced Islam two years after the death of the Prophet ﷺ and studied under Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, Ibn ʿAbbās, and other senior Companions. He became one of the leading reciters…
Tābiʿī (Successor generation)
Saʿīd ibn Jubayr
سَعِيدُ بْنُ جُبَيْر
b. 45 AH (665 CE), Kufa · d. 95 AH (714 CE), executed by al-Ḥajjāj
Saʿīd ibn Jubayr was among the most distinguished of the Tābiʿūn — the generation that followed the Companions. He was the primary student of Ibn ʿAbbās, the foremost Quranic exegete among the…
Tābiʿī (Successor generation)
Mujāhid ibn Jabr
مُجَاهِدُ بْنُ جَبْر
b. c. 21 AH (642 CE), Mecca · d. 104 AH (722 CE), Mecca
Mujāhid ibn Jabr was born in Mecca around 21 AH, a freed slave (mawlā) of the Makhzūm clan. His scholarly formation was shaped by his intimate relationship with ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās. He described his…
Tābiʿī — jurist and traditionist of Kūfa
al-Shaʿbī
الشَّعْبِي
b. c. 19 AH / 640 CE · d. c. 104 AH / 722 CE, Kūfa
al-Shaʿbī met a large number of Companions and became the leading jurist and traditionist of Kūfa, celebrated for a prodigious memory and for saying he never wrote anything down. He ser…
Tābiʿī — mufassir of Khurāsān
al-Ḍaḥḥāk
الضَّحَّاك
b. Unknown · d. c. 105 AH / 723 CE, Khurāsān
al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim was a mufassir of Khurāsān known for teaching children without charge. He transmitted tafsīr largely from Ibn ʿAbbās through intermediaries, and his views are pres…
Tābiʿī (Successor generation)
ʿIkrimah
عِكْرِمَة
b. c. 25 AH (646 CE) · d. 107 AH (725 CE), Medina or Khurāsān
ʿIkrimah was a Berber slave who became the property of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās and was subsequently freed, carrying the status of mawlā (freed slave and client) of the most important exegete in Islamic…
Tābiʿī (Successor generation)
al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī
الحَسَنُ البَصْري
b. 21 AH (642 CE), Medina · d. 110 AH (728 CE), Basra
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī was born in Medina in 21 AH, the son of Khayrah — a freed slave of Umm Salama (one of the Prophet’s wives). He grew up in the presence of senior Companions, met ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib,…
Tābiʿī — jurist and interpreter of dreams
Ibn Sīrīn
ابْن سِيرِين
b. 33 AH / 653 CE, Basra · d. 110 AH / 729 CE, Basra
Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, son of a freed slave of Anas ibn Mālik, was renowned for scrupulousness (waraʿ) in transmission and for his piety; he is a foundational figure in the discipline of d…
Tābiʿī — transmitter of reports of former nations
Wahb ibn Munabbih
وَهْب بْن مُنَبِّه
b. 34 AH / 654 CE, Ṣanʿāʾ · d. c. 114 AH / 732 CE, Ṣanʿāʾ
Wahb ibn Munabbih of Yemen was learned in the scriptures and histories of earlier peoples, and much of the isrāʾīliyyāt in the tafsīr literature is transmitted from him. He is cited wit…
Tābiʿī (Successor generation)
Qatādah ibn Diʿāmah
قَتَادَةُ بْنُ دِعَامَة
b. 60 AH (679 CE), Basra · d. 117 AH (735 CE), Wāsiṭ (plague)
Qatādah ibn Diʿāmah al-Sadūsī was born in Basra around 60 AH. He was born blind in one eye — a physical characteristic his biographers consistently note as a foil to his extraordinary memory. He is…
Tābiʿ al-Tābiʿīn — traditionist
ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb
عَمْرُو بْن شُعَيْب
b. Unknown · d. 118 AH / 736 CE, Ṭāʾif
ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb is best known through the chain "ʿAmr, from his father, from his grandfather" — the grandfather being the Companion ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ. Its status was debate…
Tābiʿ al-Tābiʿīn — Egyptian traditionist
ʿAṭāʾ ibn Dīnār
عَطَاء بْن دِينَار
b. Unknown · d. 126 AH / 744 CE, Egypt
ʿAṭāʾ ibn Dīnār transmitted the tafsīr pages of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and is cited by the exegetes for his precise readings of the Qurʾān's phrasing. He is remembered for thanking Allāh that…
Tābiʿī — mufassir of Kūfa
al-Suddī
السُّدِّي
b. Unknown · d. 127 AH / 745 CE, Kūfa
al-Suddī "the elder" compiled one of the earliest continuous tafsīrs, transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn Masʿūd, and others. His material is preserved through al-Ṭabarī and Ibn Kathīr, wh…
Tābiʿī — mufassir
al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas
الرَّبِيع بْن أَنَس
b. Unknown · d. c. 139 AH / 756 CE, Khurāsān
al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas transmitted tafsīr from Abū al-ʿĀliyah and is a recurring authority in al-Ṭabarī's Jāmiʿ al-Bayān, particularly on the verses of the Children of Israel. He is cited wi…
Tābiʿī
Abū Ḥanīfah
أَبُو
b. 80 AH / 699 CE, Kufa, Iraq · d. 150 AH / 767 CE, Baghdad
Abū Ḥanīfah al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit was born in Kufa in 80 AH into a family of Persian merchants. In his youth he was drawn to theology before turning to jurisprudence under Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān —…
Tābiʿ al-Tābiʿīn (Third generation)
Sufyān al-Thawrī
سُفْيَانُ الثَوْري
b. 97 AH (716 CE), Kufa · d. 161 AH (778 CE), Basra
Sufyān ibn Saʿīd al-Thawrī was born in Kufa in 97 AH, the son of Saʿīd ibn Masrūq — himself a ḥadīth transmitter. He achieved a mastery in ḥadīth that earned him the extraordinary title Amīr…
Tābiʿ al-Tābiʿīn
Ibn al-Mubārak
عَبْدُ
b. 118 AH / 736 CE, Marw (Merv), Khurasan · d. 181 AH / 797 CE, Hit, Iraq
ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak was born in Marw in 118 AH and became among the most remarkable polymaths of classical Islam: simultaneously a master of hadith, a jurist, a Sufi, a merchant, a poet, and a…
Tābiʿ al-Tābiʿīn (Third generation)
Ibn Zayd
ابْنُ زَيْد
b. c. 112 AH (730 CE), Medina · d. 182 AH (798 CE), Medina
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam is known in the tafsīr literature as “Ibn Zayd” — the son of the distinguished Tābiʿī scholar Zayd ibn Aslam (d. 136 AH), who was a freed slave (mawlā) of ʿUmar ibn…
Tābiʿ al-Tābiʿīn — the ascetic of the Ḥaram
al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ
الْفُضَيْل بْن عِيَاض
b. 105 AH / 723 CE, Khurāsān · d. 187 AH / 803 CE, Makkah
al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ, once a highwayman, repented on hearing the verse, "Has the time not come for those who believe that their hearts should be humbled to the remembrance of Allāh?" He…
◈Classical Scholars(33)
Imams of tafsīr, ḥadīth, and fiqh whose works remain foundational references.
Legacy: Hadith Authentication (Bukhārī, Muslim, Nasāʾī…) · Narrator Criticism (Ibn Maʿīn, Ibn al-Madīnī) · Tafsīr (Ibn Kathīr, al-Jalālayn, Ibn Abī Ḥātim) · Uṣūl al-Fiqh (al-Shāfiʿī) · Hadith Methodology (Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, Ibn Ḥajar) · Jarḥ wa Taʿdīl (al-Dāraquṭnī)
Tābiʿ al-Tābiʿīn (Third generation)
Muqātil ibn Sulaymān
مُقَاتِلُ بْنُ سُلَيْمَان
b. c. 80 AH (699 CE), Balkh (Khorasan) · d. 150 AH (767 CE), Basra
Muqātil ibn Sulaymān was born in Balkh (present-day Afghanistan) around 80 AH and became one of the most prolific and controversial exegetes of his generation. He settled eventually in Basra, where…
Classical
Mālik ibn Anas
مَالِكُ
b. 93 AH / 711 CE, Medina · d. 179 AH / 795 CE, Medina
Mālik ibn Anas was born in Medina in 93 AH and never left except for the Ḥajj. He studied under the leading scholars of Medina — including Nāfiʿ (the reliable transmitter of Ibn ʿUmar's hadith), Zayd…
Classical
al-Shāfiʿī
الإمَامُ
b. 150 AH / 767 CE, Gaza (raised in Mecca) · d. 204 AH / 820 CE, Cairo, Egypt
Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī was born in Gaza in 150 AH — the year Abū Ḥanīfah died. Of Qurashī descent, he was orphaned and poor; he memorised the Qurʾān at seven and the Muwaṭṭāʾ at ten. He…
Classical — editor of the Prophetic biography
Ibn Hishām
ابْن هِشَام
b. Unknown · d. 218 AH / 833 CE, Egypt
Ibn Hishām is known for his recension of the Sīrah of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, which he edited, abridged, and purged of material he judged unsound or irrelevant. It is the earliest surviving…
Classical
Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn
يَحْيَى
b. 158 AH / 775 CE, Baghdad · d. 233 AH / 848 CE, Medina
Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn was born in Baghdad in 158 AH and became the undisputed supreme authority in evaluating hadith narrators. He spent an inheritance of 1,000,000 dirhams entirely in pursuit of hadith.…
Jarḥ wa TaʿdīlNarrator CriticismHadith
Classical
ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī
عَلِيُّ
b. 161 AH / 778 CE, Basra · d. 234 AH / 849 CE, Basra
ʿAlī ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Madīnī was born in Basra in 161 AH. He became the pre-eminent authority on ʿilal al-ḥadīth — the subtle hidden defects in hadith chains that appear sound on the surface.…
Hidden Defects (ʿIlal)Narrator CriticismHadith
Classical
Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
الإمَامُ
b. 164 AH / 780 CE, Baghdad · d. 241 AH / 855 CE, Baghdad
Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was born in Baghdad in 164 AH. He studied under Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān, Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ, and al-Shāfiʿī. He travelled extensively throughout the Muslim…
Classical
al-Bukhārī
الإمَامُ
b. 194 AH / 810 CE, Bukhara (modern Uzbekistan) · d. 256 AH / 870 CE, Khartank, near Samarkand
Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī was born in Bukhara in 194 AH. He reportedly memorised 70,000 narrations with full chains before the age of sixteen, and eventually collected around 600,000. He…
Classical
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj
الإمَامُ
b. 204 AH / 820 CE, Nishapur (modern Iran) · d. 261 AH / 875 CE, Nishapur
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj was born in Nishapur in 204 AH. He studied under the greatest hadith scholars of his era, including Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and al-Bukhārī himself. He travelled to Iraq, the Ḥijāz,…
Classical
Ibn Mājah
ابنُ
b. 209 AH / 824 CE, Qazvin (modern Iran) · d. 273 AH / 887 CE, Qazvin
Muḥammad ibn Yazīd ibn Mājah was born in Qazvin in 209 AH. He travelled to Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, Mecca, Medina, Syria, and Egypt in pursuit of hadith. His acceptance into the canonical six was not…
Classical
Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī
أَبُو
b. 202 AH / 817 CE, Sijistan · d. 275 AH / 889 CE, Basra
Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān ibn al-Ashʿath was born in Sijistan around 202 AH. He studied under Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal — who reportedly considered his Sunan sufficient for jurisprudence — and collected narrations…
Classical
al-Tirmidhī
الإمَامُ
b. 209 AH / 824 CE, Tirmidh (modern Uzbekistan) · d. 279 AH / 892 CE, Tirmidh
Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī was born near Tirmidh on the Oxus River in 209 AH. He studied under al-Bukhārī, who reportedly held him in high regard, and Abū Dāwūd. Though reported to have lost his…
Classical
al-Nasāʾī
الإمَامُ
b. 215 AH / 830 CE, Nasā, Khurasan · d. 303 AH / 915 CE, Mecca (or Ramla, Palestine)
Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb al-Nasāʾī was born in Nasā, Khurasan around 215 AH. He is considered the strictest compiler among the four Sunan authors, applying conditions closer to those of the two Ṣaḥīḥs.…
HadithNarrator CriticismSunan
Classical mufassir & historian (3rd–4th century AH)
al-Ṭabarī
الطَّبَرِي
b. 224 AH (839 CE), Āmul, Ṭabaristān · d. 310 AH (923 CE), Baghdad
Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī was born in 224 AH (839 CE) in Āmul, in the Caspian province of Ṭabaristān. A prodigy who was said to have memorised the Qurʾān by seven, he travelled…
Classical
Ibn Khuzaymah
ابنُ
b. 223 AH / 838 CE, Nishapur · d. 311 AH / 924 CE, Nishapur
Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Khuzaymah was born in Nishapur in 223 AH. His title Imām al-Aʾimmah reflects the esteem of later scholars. He studied under Imam Muslim, among many others, and trained scholars…
Classical
Ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Rāzī
ابنُ
b. 240 AH / 854 CE, Ray (near Tehran) · d. 327 AH / 938 CE, Ray
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Rāzī was born in Ray around 240 AH, the son of the famous Abū Ḥātim Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Rāzī — one of the strictest hadith critics of his era. Raised surrounded by…
Classical
Ibn Ḥibbān
ابنُ
b. 270 AH / 884 CE, Bust (modern Afghanistan) · d. 354 AH / 965 CE, Samarkand
Muḥammad ibn Ḥibbān was born in Bust around 270 AH and sat with Ibn Khuzaymah as his principal teacher, absorbing his methodology of rigorous chain verification. He also studied with al-Nasāʾī and…
Classical — ḥadīth master and compiler
al-Ṭabarānī
الطَّبَرَانِي
b. 260 AH / 873 CE, Tiberias · d. 360 AH / 971 CE, Iṣfahān
al-Ṭabarānī travelled for over thirty years gathering ḥadīth and compiled three great dictionaries — al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr, al-Awsaṭ, and al-Ṣaghīr — which preserve a vast body of narratio…
Classical
al-Dāraquṭnī
الدَّارَقُطْنِي
b. 306 AH / 919 CE, Baghdad · d. 385 AH / 995 CE, Baghdad
ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar al-Dāraquṭnī was born in Baghdad in 306 AH and became the supreme hadith authority of his age, earning the same title Amīr al-Muʾminīn fī al-Ḥadīth given to al-Bukhārī a century…
HadithJarḥ wa TaʿdīlʿIlalQurʾān Readings
Classical — mufassir and author of Asbāb al-Nuzūl
al-Wāḥidī
الْوَاحِدِي
b. Unknown · d. 468 AH / 1076 CE, Nishapur
al-Wāḥidī of Nishapur was a leading exegete and philologist whose Asbāb al-Nuzūl is the earliest systematic collection of the occasions of revelation, and remains a standard reference f…
Classical Shāfiʿī mufassir & muḥaddith (6th century AH)
al-Baghawī
البَغَوِي
b. c. 433 AH (1041 CE), Bagh (Baghshūr), Khurāsān · d. 516 AH (1122 CE), Marw al-Rūdh
al-Ḥusayn ibn Masʿūd al-Baghawī was born around 433 AH in Bagh, a town of Khurāsān, into a pious household of modest means. A Shāfiʿī in law, he studied under al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn and ot…
Classical theologian & mufassir (6th–7th century AH)
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī
فَخْرُ الدِّينِ الرَّازِي
b. 544 AH (1150 CE), Rayy · d. 606 AH (1210 CE), Herat
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Rāzī, known as Fakhr al-Dīn, was born in Rayy in 544 AH. A Shāfiʿī in law and Ashʿarī in creed, he became the pre-eminent theologian, philosopher, and logicia…
Medieval
Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ
ابنُ
b. 577 AH / 1181 CE, Shahrazur, Kurdistan · d. 643 AH / 1245 CE, Damascus
ʿUthmān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, known as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, was born in the Kurdish region of Shahrazur in 577 AH. He studied in Mosul, Khurasan, and Damascus. In Damascus he was appointed head of Dār…
Classical Mālikī mufassir (7th century AH)
al-Qurṭubī
القُرْطُبِي
b. c. 600 AH (1204 CE), Córdoba, al-Andalus · d. 671 AH (1273 CE), Minyat Banī Khaṣīb, Egypt
Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī was born around 600 AH in Córdoba, the great centre of Andalusian learning. As the Reconquista pressed upon al-Andalus and Córdoba fell in 633 AH, he…
Medieval
al-Nawawī
الإمَامُ
b. 631 AH / 1234 CE, Nawā, Syria · d. 676 AH / 1277 CE, Nawā, Syria
Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī was born in Nawā, Syria in 631 AH. He came to Damascus at sixteen and devoted his entire short life to scholarship — studying sixteen hours a day, never marrying. He died…
HadithFiqh (Shāfiʿī)EthicsTafsīr
Medieval Islamic scholar (7th–8th century AH)
Ibn Taymiyyah
ابْنُ تَيْمِيَّة
b. 661 AH (1263 CE), Ḥarrān (present-day Turkey) · d. 728 AH (1328 CE), Damascus Citadel (in prison)
Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyyah was born in Ḥarrān (present-day southeastern Turkey) in 661 AH/1263 CE into a family with deep roots in Ḥanbalī scholarship. When he was six or seven, the Mongol…
Medieval Islamic scholar (7th–8th century AH)
Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
ابْنُ القَيِّمِ الجَوزِيَّة
b. 691 AH (1292 CE), Damascus · d. 751 AH (1350 CE), Damascus
Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr, known as Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, was born in Damascus in 691 AH. The defining event of his scholarly life was his encounter with Ibn Taymiyyah, under whom he studied from…
Medieval Islamic scholar (8th century AH)
Ibn Kathīr
ابْنُ كَثِيْر
b. 701 AH (1301 CE), Bosra, Syria · d. 774 AH (1373 CE), Damascus
Ismāʿīl ibn Kathīr was born in 701 AH (approximately 1301 CE) near Bosra in the Ḥawrān region of Syria. His father died when he was approximately three years old; his older brother brought him to…
Medieval
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī
ابنُ
b. 773 AH / 1372 CE, Cairo · d. 852 AH / 1449 CE, Cairo
Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī was born in Cairo in 773 AH. Orphaned at four, he memorised the Qurʾān at nine, studied under hundreds of scholars in Cairo, Alexandria, Yemen, the Ḥijāz, and…
Late Medieval (9th–10th century AH) · Cairo, Egypt
al-Jalālayn
الجَلَالَيْن
b. al-Maḥallī: 791 AH (1389 CE) · al-Suyuṭī: 849 AH (1445 CE) · d. al-Maḥallī: 864 AH (1459 CE) · al-Suyuṭī: 911 AH (1505 CE)
The Tafsīr al-Jalālayn is unique in classical Islamic literature: the product of two scholars sharing the name Jalāl al-Dīn, separated by a generation, who together produced the most widely memorised…
Classical — Shāfiʿī jurist, co-author of al-Jalālayn
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
جَلَال الدِّين الْمَحَلِّي
b. 791 AH / 1389 CE, Cairo · d. 864 AH / 1459 CE, Cairo
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī was a Shāfiʿī jurist and scholar of uṣūl in Cairo, celebrated for the exactness of his mind. He began the concise tafsīr known as Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, commenting…
Medieval
al-Suyūṭī
الإمَامُ
b. 849 AH / 1445 CE, Cairo · d. 911 AH / 1505 CE, Cairo
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī was born in Cairo in 849 AH, orphaned at five, and memorised the Qurʾān at eight. By his own count he wrote over 600 works — earning the nickname Ibn al-Kutub (Son of Books).…
TafsīrHadithLinguisticsEncyclopedist
Classical — mujtahid, jurist, and mufassir of Yemen
al-Shawkānī
الشَّوْكَانِي
b. 1173 AH / 1759 CE, Yemen · d. 1250 AH / 1834 CE, Ṣanʿāʾ
al-Shawkānī of Yemen rose to be chief judge of Ṣanʿāʾ and one of the great advocates of ijtihād over blind imitation. His Nayl al-Awṭār remains a standard work of comparative fiqh groun…
◉Contemporary Scholars(6)
Modern scholars who have made tafsīr accessible to English-speaking audiences.
Legacy: Education · Contemporary Tafsīr · Dawah · Modern Fiqh · English-Language Islamic Scholarship
Modern Ḥanbalī mufassir (14th century AH)
al-Saʿdī
السَّعْدِي
b. 1307 AH (1889 CE), ʿUnayzah, al-Qaṣīm · d. 1376 AH (1956 CE), ʿUnayzah
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāṣir al-Saʿdī was born in 1307 AH (1889 CE) in ʿUnayzah, in the Qaṣīm region of Najd. Orphaned young, he devoted himself wholly to study, mastering the Islamic…
Contemporary — Indian scholar and mufassir
Abū al-Kalām Āzād
أَبُو الْكَلَام آزَاد
b. 1888 CE, Makkah · d. 1958 CE, Delhi
Abū al-Kalām Āzād was an Indian scholar, journalist, and statesman, deeply learned in the Islamic sciences and in Arabic and Persian letters. He wrote widely on the Qurʾān and on the re…
Modern Mālikī mufassir & reformer (14th century AH)
Ibn ʿĀshūr
ابْنُ عَاشُور
b. 1296 AH (1879 CE), Tunis · d. 1393 AH (1973 CE), Tunis
Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir ibn ʿĀshūr was born in Tunis in 1296 AH (1879 CE) into a distinguished family of scholars. Trained at the venerable Zaytūna mosque-university, he rose to become i…
Contemporary
Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī
مُحَمَّد
b. 1333 AH / 1914 CE, Shkodër, Albania · d. 1420 AH / 1999 CE, Amman, Jordan
Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī was born in Shkodër, Albania in 1914. His family emigrated to Damascus around 1923 to escape secularising reforms, and it was there that his father, a Ḥanafī scholar,…
HadithJarḥ wa TaʿdīlHadith GradingSalafi Methodology
Contemporary (20th–21st century CE)
Jamāl al-Dīn Zarabozo
جَمَال الدِّين زَرَابُوزُو
b. 1957 CE, USA (of Spanish heritage) · d. Living
Jamāl al-Dīn Zarabozo is an American Muslim scholar of Spanish heritage who converted to Islam in his youth. His scholarly formation combined independent study of Islamic texts with formal engagement…
Contemporary (21st century CE)
Yāsir Qāḍī
يَاسِر قَاضِي
b. 1975 CE, Houston, Texas, USA · d. Living
Yāsir Qāḍī was born in 1975 in Houston, Texas, to Pakistani immigrant parents, and grew up between the United States and Saudi Arabia. He completed an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at…