أبو ثور

أبو ثور

854 عیسوی · محرم 240 ھ

A great Baghdad imam among the foremost companions of al-Shafi'i; he transmitted from Sufyan b. 'Uyayna, Ibn 'Uyayna's peers, Waki', 'Abd al-Rahman b. Mahdi and al-Shafi'i himself, and Muslim (outside the Sahih), Abu Dawud, Ibn Maja and al-Baghawi transmitted from him. Ahmad b. Hanbal said 'I have known him for the Sunna for fifty years; in my view he stands in the skin of Sufyan al-Thawri' and would tell questioners 'ask Abu Thawr'; al-Nasa'i called him 'one of the jurists, trustworthy'. Al-Khatib relates that he began in the ra'y method until al-Shafi'i came to Baghdad, whereupon he attached himself to him and turned to hadith. He died in Safar 240 ¹.