Muhammad ibn Mas'ud al-Ayyashi

Abu l-Nasr Muhammad b. Mas'ud b. Muhammad b. 'Ayyash al-'Ayyashi was a Shi'i writer of the third/ninth century. He was a native of Samarkand and was said to descend from the tribe of Tamim. He was originally a Sunni, but was converted to Shi'ism while still young, and studied under the disciples of 'Ali b. al-Hasan b. Faddal and of 'Abd Allah b. Muhammad b. Khalid al-Tayalisi. He spent a patrimony of over 300,000 dinars on learning and tradition, and his house became a centre of Shi'i learning. He is credited with more than 200 books. Although he was accused of relating traditions on weak authorities, later Shi'i writers often cite him. Muhammad b. 'Umar al-Kashshi, author of a well-known Shi'i biographical work, was his pupil. ¹

The earlier draft card called him a tenth-century jurist and exegete, and gave a death date of 932. The Encyclopaedia entry places him in the third/ninth century as a Shi'i writer and transmitter of traditions, and gives no death date, so the draft's description and date are not confirmed here. ¹