Sufyan al-Thawri
by Shaykh Gibril F. Haddad
Sufyàn ibn Sa'ïd ibn Masruq Abu 'Abd Allàh al-Thawrï al-Mudarï al-Kufï (97-161),
the God-fearing, wise, grief-stricken, Mujtahid Imàm, "Commander of the Believers
in Hadïth" - the highest level in hadïth Mastership -, "Shaykh al-Islàm, the
Imàm of hadïth Masters, the leader of the practicing Ulema in his time, the
author of the Jàmi'" (al-Dhahabï). His father was a junior Tàbi'ï Muhaddith
and he thus began his scholarly career at home. Abu Ishàq al-Sabï'ï recited
when he saw Sufyàn coming: (And We gave him wisdom when a child) (19:12). His
Shuyukh number 600. Ibn al-Jawzï claimed that his students number over 20,000
but al-Dhahabï said: "This is preposterous, they hardly reached 1,000. I know
none of the hadïth Masters from whom more narrated than Màlik, and those number
1,400 - including the liars and the unknown!"
Among the praises related about him:
· "I wrote from 1,100 Shaykhs, but from none better than Sufyàn." (Ibn al-Mubàrak)
· "I never saw better than Sufyàn." (Yunus ibn 'Ubayd - he had seen Sa'ïd ibn
Jubayr, Ibràhïm al-Nakha'ï, 'Atà', and Mujàhid.)
· "If 'Alqama and al-Aswad were present they would stand in need of Sufyàn."
(Abu Hanïfa)
· "I never saw one resemble the Tàbi'ïn more than Sufyàn al-Thawrï" (Ibn Abï
Dhi'b).
· "I never saw stronger in hadïth memorization than al-Thawrï, nor more ascetic
than Shu'ba, nor more intelligent than Màlik, nor of better counsel to the Umma
than Ibn al-Mubàrak.. Sufyàn is the most knowledgeable of them." "I could not
look at Sufyàn directly, he was too intimidating and full of majesty." (Ibn
Mahdï)
· "I never saw anyone more knowledgeable in the halàl and the haràm than Sufyàn
al-Thawrï" (Ibn 'Uyayna).
· "This is the most knowledgeable (afqah) of people on earth." (Zà'ida)
· "I never saw anyone like Sufyàn al-Thawrï" (Ibn Wahb). Ibn Wahb narrates that
he saw Sufyàn prostrate after Maghrib and not raise his head until the call
for 'Ishà'.
· "By Allàh! Sufyàn was more knowledgeable than Abþ H.anïfa" (Fudayl ibn 'Iyàd.).
"He is above Màlik in all things." (Yahyà ibn Sa'ïd al-Qattàn) "If these
two concur on something - al-Thawrï and Abu Hanïfa - then this is a strong
position." (Ibn al-Mubàrak)
· "Al-Thawrï for us was the Imàm of all the people.. Sufyàn in his time was
like Abu Bakr and 'Umar in theirs." (Bishr al-Hàfï)
· "If I were asked to choose someone to lead this Umma I would have chosen Sufyàn
al-Thawrï" (al-Awzà'ï).
· "I never saw a man who follows the Sunna more rigorously or in whose body
I would love to be more than Sufyàn al-Thawrï." (Al-Shàfi'ï)
· "Do you know who is the Imàm? The Imàm in my view is Sufyàn al-Thawrï. No-one
comes before him in my heart!" (Ahmad to Abu Bakr al-Marwadhï)
· "Sufyàn is the 'Àlim of the Umma and its Worshipper" (Al-Muthannà ibn al-Sabbàh.).
· "Truly, if I see a person accompany Sufyàn, that person becomes great in my
view." (Abu Bakr ibn 'Ayyàsh)
Sufyàn spoke certain precious words on money matters. He was once asked a question
while he was buying something. He replied: "Leave me, my heart is with my dirham
right now." He said: "I much prefer to leave behind ten thousand dirhams over
which Allàh takes account of me, rather than stand in need of people." He also
said: "In the past, money was disliked; but today it is the shield of the believer."
To a man who told him: "Abþ 'Abd Allàh! You hold dinars in your hand?!" He replied:
"Be quiet! Were it not for them, the kings would use us to wipe themselves (latamandala
binà al-muluk)."
He also said: "The 'Àlim is the cure in the Religion and money its disease.
If the 'Àlim drags the disease to himself, when can he heal others?"[1]
Long before the Ihyà', Sufyàn warned against the mere thirst for knowledge
at the expense of the training of the ego. He possessed a photographic memory
- "I never forgot anything I had memorized" - but, more importantly, "I never
memorized a single hadïth except I practiced it, at least once." "He said: "Adorn
knowledge and the hadïth with yourselves, not vice-versa." He also said: "The
ugliest of people is he who pursues the world through the work of the hereafter."
Abu Dàwud said he heard Sufyàn say: "I do not fear anything that might enter
me into the Fire more than the hadïth." He also said: "Would that I had recited
the Qur'an and stopped there." He also said: "Whoever increases in knowledge
increases in pain; if I knew nothing it would be easier for my predicament."
He also said: "If hadïth were a good it would have vanished just as goodness
has vanished... Pursuing the study of hadïth is not part of the preparation
for death, but a disease that preoccupies people!" Al-Dhahabï comments:
By Allàh, he has spoken the truth!... Today, in our time, the quest for knowledge
and hadïth no longer means for the hadïth Scholar the obligation of living
up to it, which is the goal of hadïth. He is right in what he said because pursuing
the study of hadïth is other than the hadïth itself.[2]
Al-Dhahabï also said:
Love of hadïth in itself and its practice for the sake of Allàh is required
and part of one's provision for the Return; but love of its narration, its shortest
chains, excessive focus on knowing and understanding it - that is what is blamed
and feared on the part of Sufyàn, al-Qattàn, and the people of [spiritual]
observance, for much of this is a curse on the muh.addith.[3]
Yet when he was asked: "Until when will you study hadïth?" he replied: "And
what greater goodness is there for me but hadïth, so that I might turn to it?"
Al-Ashja'ï said: "I heard from al-Thawrï 30,000 hadïths." Sufyàn also said:
"There is no need better than [the study of] hadïth if the intention is correct."
He also said: "If a man were to try and lie in [narrating] hadïth, even inside
his own house, Allàh would cause someone to overpower him." To a man who said
to him: "Narrate to us just as you heard," he replied: "No, by Allàh! This is
impossible. These are only the meanings." "If I tell you that I am narrating
to you just as I heard, do not believe me." "Were we to narrate to you exactly
in the way we heard, we would not narrate to you a single hadïth." Ibn Mahdï
said: "We would be with Sufyàn as if he had been summoned for his last reckoning.
We did not dare speak a word to him. Then we would mention a hadïth and all
this fear would be dispelled and nothing remain except haddathanà h.addathanà."
Qabïsa said: "If you saw Sufyàn you would think he is a monk but when he started
narrating you could not recognize him."
On the chain of transmission: "The isnàd is the weapon of the believer. Whoever
has no weapon, with what is he fighting?"
Sufyàn al-Thawrï called the kissing of the hands of the Ulema a Sunna. Among
his sayings: "Among the best of people is the Sufï learned in Fiqh."[4] "I
found the reform of my heart between Makka and Madïna, among a community of
strangers who wore wool and ample coats." "Simple living (zuhd) does not consist
in eating chaff and wearing coarse cloth, but in keeping hopes short and search
out the coming of death." "I never saw rarer zuhd than the renunciation of leadership.
You might see a man renounce food, money, and dress, but when it comes to leadership,
he maneuvers and battles." "A man must force his child to learn because he is
responsible for him." To a boy in the first row of prayer he said: "Have you
reached puberty?" If not, he would make him stand in a back row. Asked why he
abandoned soldiery (al-ghazþ), Sufyàn replied: "Because they do not observe
the categorical obligations (innahum yudayyi'una al-farà'id.)." To Shu'ayb
ibn Harb he said: "What you wrote will not benefit you until:
- you consider correct the wiping of the two khuffs [in wudu'];
- the softening of Bismillàh al-Rahmàn al-Rahmàn al-Rahïm in prayer becomes
dearer to you than its recitation outloud;
- you believe in qadar;
- you pray behind every righteous and unrighteous imàm;
- you hold that jihàd continues until the Day of Resurrection;
- you endure patiently under the flag of the sultan whether just or unjust."
Shu'ayb said: "Every single Salàt?" He replied: "No, only Jumu'a and the two
'Ïds, otherwise, you are free to choose and not to pray except behind one you
trust and know that he is from Ahl al-Sunna. When you stand before Allàh, if
He asks you about this, tell him, 'My Lord! Sufyàn ibn Sa'ïd told me this.'
Then leave me with my Lord." Al-Dhahabï said: "This is firmly established as
authentic from Sufyàn."[5]
He used to give precedence to 'Alï over 'Uthmàn, which al-Dhahabï calls "slight
Shï'ism." Yet he narrates that Sufyàn said: "Love of both 'Uthmàn and 'Alï are
not found together except in the heart of the noblest men." He also narrates
that Sufyàn said: "Whoever says that 'Alï was more deserving of the Caliphate
than Abu Bakr and 'Umar has declared that Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Alï, the Muhàjirun,
and the Ansàr were all wrong. I am not sure whether such a person's acts of
worship rise to the heaven." "Whoever places anybody before Abu Bakr and 'Umar
has made light of twelve thousand Companions of the Messenger of Allàh with
whom the Messenger of Allàh was well-pleased when he died!" Asked about a man
who died insulting Abu Bakr he said: "Such a man is a disbeliever in Allàh Most
High." "Do we pray over him?" "No, and fie to him!" "But he says là ilàha illà
Allàh?" He replied: "Do not touch him with your hands. Raise him up on a slab
of wood until you bring him down into his grave."
In his Tafsïr Sufyàn said: "(We lead them on) (7:182, 68:44) means We lavish
blessings on them but prevent them from giving thanks." He also said: "He is
not a wise person (faqïh) who does not consider difficulties a blessing and
fortune a trial." Sufyàn once spent the night in the house of Ibn Mahdï and
started weeping. To his questioners he replied: "I care less for my sins than
for this dust, but I fear deprivation of faith before dying." 'Atà' al-Khaffàf
said he never met Sufyàn except he saw him weeping. When he asked him why, Sufyàn
replied, "Because I am afraid of being written among the wretched in the Mother
of the Book." He also said: "Whoever is content with the world, fear of the
next life is removed from his heart." Yet Qabïsa said he found Sufyàn so inclined
to joking that he lagged behind him whenever he could - to avoid his jokes -
and 'Ïsà ibn Muhammad relates that Sufyàn sometimes laughed to the point of
lying down and stretching his legs. Al-Mu'àfà used to rebuke him, saying: "What
is this, Sufyàn? This is not the manner of the Ulema!" And Sufyàn would accept
it from him.
Sufyàn was the farthest of people from kings and princes. He would not eat at
their tables nor return their salaams but he would avoid them and ignore them
until they showed humbleness and repentance. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhàb said:
"I never saw princes and rich men sit more meekly than in the gathering of Sufyàn
al-Thawrï." In our own time this was also observed from the Moroccan hadïth
Master Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Kattànï. Sufyàn also said: "Those kings left
the hereafter to you, so leave the world to them!"
Yahyà ibn 'Abd al-Malik ibn Abï Ghaniyya said: "I never saw anyone with a sterner
face (asfaqa wajhan) for the sake of Allàh." Sufyàn said: "If a man's neighbors
all praise him, then he is an evil man because he might have seen them do something
wrong and he says nothing and meets them with a smile; or he is a flatterer."
Among his sayings: "Safety lies in not being known." "I never met anyone except
they warned me against fame." "I fear Allàh has abandoned this Umma by having
people need me. I wish I could live among people who do not know me." "The less
people you know, the less slander you commit." "Having many brothers is part
of folly in one's Religion."
Qabïsa said that no-one sat with Sufyàn except they remembered death. Yusuf
ibn Asbat. narrates that he once handed Sufyàn the ablution-pot in the evening
and left him holding it pensively. At dawn, he had not moved and said: "I am
still thinking about the next life." He would reach states of anxiety about
the Day of Judgment in which he urinated blood. He said: "I may see something
against which I ought to speak out but I do not, then I urinate blood." He also
said: "I felt the fear of God to a point I wondered how I could still be alive,
then I would say to myself: I have a fixed term of life, but I wish it were
made lighter for me. My fear is such that I fear losing my mind." "I ask Allàh
to take away some of my fear of Him." Ibn Mahdï said: "Night after night I would
catch sight of Sufyàn sitting up and calling out: 'The Fire! The Fire! I cannot
sleep nor feel pleasure anymore because I think of the Fire."[6] Abu Nu'aym
said that Sufyàn would be useless for days whenever this state overtook him.
Sufyàn's garb was coarse and ragged and he ate dried meat and eggs. He said
to Mu'ammal: "I do not tell you not to eat good things. Dress well and eat good
things." Ahmad ibn Yunus said: "I once ate fruit at Sufyàn's house, he said:
'This was brought to us as a present.'" 'Abd al-Razzàq said: "Sufyàn once ate
dates with butter, then he rose and prayed until noon."
Ahmad ibn Yunus said: "I heard Sufyàn al-Thawrï countless times say, 'Allàhumma
sallim sallim, Allàhumma sallimnà, warzuqnà al-'àfiyata fïl-dunyà wal-àkhira.'"
'Abd al-Razzàq said he heard Sufyàn say to Wuhayb: "By the Lord of this [human]
frame, I do love death!"
When Ibn Mahdï took care of Sufyàn in his last illness, he asked him about the
permissibility of leaving the congregational prayer to that end. Sufyàn said:
"Serving a Muslim in need for one hour is better than congregational prayer."
Ibn Mahdï said: "From whom did you hear this?" Sufyàn replied: "'Àsim ibn 'Ubayd
Allàh narrated to me from 'Abd Allàh ibn 'Àmir ibn Rabï'a, from his father [the
Companion 'Àmir ibn Rabï'a al-'Anzï]: 'I would prefer serving one man among
the Muslims who is in need for a single day, to sixty years of congregational
prayers in which I never missed the opening Takbïra!'" Sufyàn became afflicted
with chronic diarrhea. The night of his death, Ibn Mahdï relates, he made his
ablution sixty times. When he felt the end was near he left his bed and put
his cheek on the ground, saying, "Abþ 'Abd al-Rahmàn! How hard it is to die!"
He then said: "Recite Yà Sïn over me, for I was told it makes it easier for
the sick man." Ibn Mahdï said: "I recited and did not finish before he expired."
Mus'ab ibn al-Miqdàm said he dreamt of the Prophet e holding Sufyàn by the hand
and thanking him. Ibràhïm ibn A'yan also dreamt of him and asked him: "What
happened to you?" Sufyàn replied: "I am with the (Noble and righteous) (80:16)."
Ibn al-Qayyim in al-Ruh. reports that Ibn 'Uyayna said: "I saw Sufyàn al-Thawrï
in sleep [after his death] and said, 'Give me your final command!' He said,
'Make little of the knowledge of men.'" Qubaysa ibn 'Uqda said, "I saw Sufyàn
al-Thawrï in sleep after his death and I said, 'What has Allàh done with you?'
He said, 'I looked at my Lord face to face, and He said to me:
My pleasure is with you, Ibn Sa'ïd!
You stood (in worship) when night fell,
Sad with tears and firm of heart.
Behold! Choose which castle you wish,
And visit me; for I am not far from you!"
Sufyàn ibn 'Uyayna also said: "I saw Sufyàn al-Thawrï after his death, flying
in the Garden from palm tree to tree and from tree to palm tree, saying, (For
the like of this let the workers work) (37:61) but the narration in the Siyar
has (Praise be to Allàh, Who has fulfilled His promise unto us) (39:74) He was
asked, 'By means of what were you brought into the Garden?' He said, 'Godwariness,
godwariness (wara')!'"
Of his moving words: "Weeping is ten parts, one for Allàh, and nine for other
than Allàh. If the part that is for Allàh comes once a year, that is plenty."
Ibn Mahdï said: "I could hardly hear Sufyàn's recitation because of his weeping."
Ibn al-Mubàrak visited al-Firyàbï and said: "Bring out the hadïth of al-Thawrï
for me." Then he started weeping until his beard became wet and he said: "Allàh
have mercy on him! I do not think I shall ever see the like of him again."
Main source: al-Dhahabï, Siyar (Fikr ed. 7 :174-211 #1083).
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[1]Al-Dhahabï, Tadhkirat al-Huffàz. (1:204).
[2]Al-Dhahabï as cited in al-Sakhàwï, al-Jawàhir wal-Durar fi Tarjamat Shaykh
al-Islàm Ibn H.ajar (al-'Asqalànï), ed. Hàmid 'Abd al-Majïd and Taha al-Zaynï
(Cairo: Wizàrat al-Awqàf, 1986) p. 21-22.
[3]Siyar. There is more in al-Dhahabï's Tadhkirat al-Huffàz..
[4]Narrated by al-Harawï al-Ansàrï in his T.abaqàt al-Sufiyya, Ibn al-Jawzï
in Sifat al-Safwa, and Ibn al-Qayyim in Madàrij al-Sàlikïn (2:330).
[5]Tadhkira (1:207).
[6]Also in the Hilya (7:60) and Tàrïkh Baghdàd (9:157).
