Imam Sufyan bin ʿUyaynah and The Sunnah

Translated

Abu Sinan

Checked & Revised

Abu Khuzaimah Ansaari

His Birth and Lineage

He is Al-‘Allamah, Al-Hafidh, Shaykh Al-Islam, Muhaddith Al-Haram Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah, son of Abu ‘Imran Maymun, Mawla (freed slave) of Muhammad bin Muzahim, brother of Adh-Dhahak bin Muzahim, Al-Hilali Al-Kufi Al-Makki (he later settled in Makkah). His Kunyah is Abu Muhammad, he was born in 107H, and passed away in 198H, may Allah have mercy upon him.

The Praise of the Scholars for Him

Imam Ash-Shafi’i said,

“Were it not for Malik and Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah, knowledge would have departed from Al-Hijaz (Makkah, Madinah, and the surrounding areas).” And he also said, “I have not seen anyone better in tafsir (exegesis) of Al-Hadith than him (Sufyan).”

Ibn Wahb said,

“I do not know of anyone more knowledgeable in Tafsir Al-Qur’an than Ibn ‘Uyaynah.”

Imam Ahmad said,

“I have not seen anyone more knowledgeable in Qur’an and As-Sunan than him.”

Ibn Al-Madini said,

“Yahya Al-Qattan said to me: None of my teachers remain except for Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah, and he has been an Imam for 40 years.”

Abu Hatim Ar-Razi said,

“Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah is a trustworthy Imam.”

(Hafidh Al-Mizzi, Tadhib Al-Kamal 11:177
Beirut: Muassasat Ar-Risalah, 2nd Edition, 1403H/1983CE,
Hafidh Adh-Dhahabi, Siyar A’lam An-Nubala 8:454,
Beirut: Muassasat Ar-Risalah, 1402H/1982CE)

His Teachers

Those who he narrated from include:

‘Amr bin Dinar
Az-Zuhri
Abul Ishaq
Aswad bin Qays
Zayd bin Aslam
Ziyad bin ‘Alaqa

His Students

Those that narrated from him include:

Al-A’mash
Ibn Jurayj
Ibn Al-Mubarak
Ash-Shafi’i
Ahmad bin Hanbal
Yahya bin Ma’in
Ishaq bin Rahawayh

And more from a large group of scholars, may Allah have mercy upon them all.

(Imam Adh-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat Al-Huffadh, 1:262,263
Hyderabad: Da’irat Al-Ma’rif Al-‘Uthmaniyyah, 3rd Edition, 1376H/1956CE)

I’tiqad of Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah

Bakr bin Al-Faraj Abul ‘Ala’ said: I heard Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah saying,

“The Sunnah is ten, so whoever is upon it, then he has fulfilled the Sunnah, and whoever abandons anything from it, then he has abandoned the Sunnah:

Affirming Al-Qadr (the Divine Decree)
And giving preference to Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (May Allah be pleased with them both)
And to believe in Al-Hawdh (the Lake that Allah has honoured his Messenger ﷺ with)
And in the Intercession [of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ]
And in the Scales and the Sirat (bridge over the Hellfire)
And to believe that Iman is speech and action
And that the Qur’an is the Speech of Allah
And to believe in the Punishment of the Grave
And in the resurrection on Yawm Al-Qiyamah
And to not definitively declare any Muslim is in Paradise or the Hellfire.”