This paper focuses on the probable reasons of Kufan knowledge surpas-sing Basran knowledge in jurisprudence and Hadith in the first half of the first Hijri century despite some of the prominent learned companions having stayed in Basra for many years. Most importantly, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari having remained in Basra for 12 years and Abdullah Ibn Abbas for approximately four years; both of whom were well known to narrate many ahadith and were strong jurisprudentially. Despite this, they did not have the effect that Abdullah ibn Masud had in Kufa.
My approach is to analyze many of the narrations of the companions who stayed in Basra with a focus on the scholarly relationship between the companions and the tabieen (followers) while simultaneously comparing it to Kufa which is similar geographically and in its foundation as a city. The main point of comparison is the scholarly effect of the Sahaba and the scholarly activity of the tabieen.
I conclude that there are four probable reasons that caused this discrepancy: Firstly, Basra was a military city and the companions there were busied with military campaigns and this is clear from Abu Musa's biography. Secondly, the companions in Basra were less inclined towards scholarly transmission and this could be because of nature of their character. Thirdly, the tabieen in Basra did not exert as much effort in transmitting the knowledge of the companions as did the ones in Kufa and this may perhaps return to the fact that the Basran tribes were of nomadic origins. Fourthly, the many tribulations and constant instability of Basra came suddenly while the scholarly transmission of knowledge was still in an infantile stage. These circumstances busied Ibn Abbas who had arrived as a governor and prevented him from focusing on teaching.
This paper argues that Basra was not a city of jurisprudence, hadith, or knowledge in the first half of the first Hijri century when compared to the activity and knowledge transmission at the hands of Ibn Masud in Kufa.
al-Basra First Hijri century alhadith jurisprudence marrations Abu Musa al-Ashari Imran ibn Husayn Ibn Abbas
البصرة القرن الأول الهجري الحديث الفقه الرواية أبو موسى الأشعري عمران بن حصين ابن عباس ابن مسعود
Primary Language | Arabic |
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Subjects | Religious Studies |
Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | June 30, 2020 |
Submission Date | November 15, 2019 |
Acceptance Date | June 10, 2020 |
Published in Issue | Year 2020 Volume: 6 Issue: 1 |