Name:
عكرمة القرشي الهاشمي، أبو عبد الله المدني، مولى عَبْد الله بْن عباس،
أصله من البربر من أهل المغرب
Ikrimah
al-Qurashi al-Haashmi, Abu Abdullah al-Madani, Mawla Abdullah bin Abbaas,
originally from al-Barbar from the people of west
Tabaqah: 3
– From the Middle Level of Taabi’een
Death: 104
H and it is said: After that – in Madeenah
Narrated by:
Al-Bukhaari – Muslim – Abu Dawood – Tirmidhi – Nasaa’ee – Ibn Maajah
Teachers:
Abdullah bin Abbaas, Jaabir bin Abdullah, Hasan bin Ali bin Abi Taalib, Safwaan
bin Umayyah, Abdullah bin Umar bin al-Khattaab, Abdullah bin Amr bin al-Aas,
Mu’aawiyah bin Abi Sufyaan, Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri, Abu Qataadah al-Ansaari, Abu
Hurayrah as-Sadoosi, and others.
Students:
Ibraaheem an-Nakha’ee, Ismaa’eel bin Abi Khaalid, Ayyoob as-Sakhtiyaani, Thawr
bin Yazeed al-Himsi, Abu al-Sha’tha Jaabir bin Zayd al-Basari, Habeeb bin Abi
Thaabit, Hakam bin Utaybah, Hammaad bin Abi Sulemaan, Dawood bin Abi Hind,
Salamah bin Kuhayl, Sulemaan al-A’mash, Simaak bin Harb, Aasim al-Ahwal, Aamir
ash-Sha’bee, Abdullah bin Tawoos, Abdul Azeez bin Abi Rawwaad, Ataa bin
as-Saa’ib, Ataa al-Khurasaani, Amr bin Deenaar al-Makki, Muhammad bin Sireen,
Ibn Shihaab az-Zuhri, Makhool ash-Shaami, Moosa bin Uqbah, Hishaam bin Hisaan,
Yahya bin Sa’eed al-Ansaari, Yahya bin Abi Katheer al-Yamaami, Yoonus bin
Yazeed al-Aylee, Abu Ishaaq as-Sabi’ee, Abu az-Zubayr al-Makki, and others.
Status:
Thiqah Thabat Imaam, Master of Tafseer and Hadeeth
Opinions of Ahl ul-Jarh wat Ta’deel:
Those who praised him:
1- Uthmaan bin Hakeem narrates that: “I was sitting with Abu
Umaamah Sahl bin Haneef (radiallah anhu) when Ikrimah arrived. So he said: O
Abu Umaamah mention the name of Allaah, did you hear Ibn Abbaas saying, ‘Accept
whatever Ikrimah narrates to you from me, for verily he does not lie upon me’ so
Abu Umaamah said, ‘Yes’”
[Taareekh Ibn
Ma’een, narrated by ad-Dauri: 2/413, Chain Saheeh]
2- Imaam Amr bin Deenaar said that Jaabir bin Zayd sent some
masaail to me that I ask Ikrimah about them, he said: “Ikrimah is the Mawla
(freed slave) of Ibn Abbaas; he is an ocean (of knowledge), therefore ask him”
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra by Ibn Sa’d: 2/293-294, Chain Saheeh]
3- Imaam Sa’eed bin Jubayr said: “If Ikrimah stops narrating his
hadeeth to them, people would travel to him”
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra: 2/294, Chain Saheeh]
4- The same was said by Imaam Tawoos.
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra: 2/294, Chain Saheeh]
5- Imaam Yahya ibn Ma’een narrated from Jareer bin Abdul Hameed
from Mu’aawiyah bin Miqsam that he said: “It was said to Sa’eed bin Jubayr:
Do you know anyone who is more knowledgeable than you?” He replied: “Yes,
Ikrimah”
[Taareekh Ibn
Ma’een by ad-Dauri: 3/358]
6- Imaam Salaam bin Miskeen said: “Ikrimah was the biggest
Scholar of Tafseer among all men”
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra: 2/294, Chain Saheeh]
7- Imaam Ikrimah himself said: “When I go out to the market and
hear a person speaking with a (good) speech, thus (even) this opens up fifty
doors of knowledge for me”
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra: 2/294, Chain Saheeh]
8- Imaam Abu Ishaaq as-Sabi’ee said that: “Ikrimah came and
started narrating, while Sa’eed bin Jubayr was also present there, thus he made
a knot of 30 (with his fingers) and said, he narrated the hadeeth correctly”
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra: 2/294, Chain Saheeh]
9- Imaam Ikrimah said: “Ibn Abbaas (was so strict about my
education that he) would teach me the Qur’aan and Sunan by tying a chain on my
feet”
[Tabaqaat al-Kubra:
2/294, Chain Saheeh]
10-
Imaam Hammaad bin Zayd
said that a man said to Ayyoob (As-Sakhtiyaani), “O Abu Bakr, has Ikrimah
been accused (of lying)” Ayyoob remained silent, then he said: “As for
me, then I do not accuse him”
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra: 5/221, Chain Saheeh]
Imaam Ayyoob
also said: “The Huffaadh of (the hadeeth of) Ibn Abbaas have unanimously
consented upon Ikrimah, among them are: Sa’eed bin Jubayr & Ataa bin Abi
Ribaah, they would ask him about the hadeeth of Ibn Abbaas”
[Ad-Du’afa
al-Kabeer by al-Ukaylee: 3/376, Chain Saheeh]
11-
Imaam Sufyaan ibn
Uyaynah said, I heard Ayyoob (as-Sakhtiyaani) saying: “If I were to tell you
that Hasan (al-Basari) quit narrating a lot of Tafseer when Ikrimah (the expert
of Tafseer) entered upon us in Basrah until he went out of it, then I said the
truth”
[Ad-Du’afa
al-Kabeer by al-Ukaylee: 3/373, Chain Saheeh]
12-
Imaam Qataadah bin
Di’aamah said: “The most knowledgeable of all people about Halaal and Haraam
is Hasan (al-Basari), and the most knowledgeable of them in Manaasik is Ataa
bin Abi Ribaah, and the most knowledgeable of them in Tafseer is Ikrimah”
[Al-Ma’rifah
wal Taareekh: 1/702, Chain Saheeh]
13-
Imaam Yahya ibn Ma’een
declared him “Thiqah”
[Taareekh
Uthmaan ad-Daarimi: 357, 581, & 604]
14-
Imaam Abu al-Hasan
al-Ijlee said: “He is Taabi’ee Thiqah and he is from the whatever people
accuse him of Khaarijiyyah”
[Thiqaat by
al-Ijlee: 1/339]
15-
Imaam Bukhaari said: “There
is no one among our companions except that he would take evidence from Ikrimah”
[Al-Taareekh
al-Kabeer by al-Bukhaari: V. 7 T. 218]
Imaam Bukhaari
also narrated from him in his Saheeh.
16-
Imaam Tirmidhi
authenticated numerous ahaadeeth of Ikrimah in his Sunan.
17-
Imaam Ibn Abi Haatim
ar-Raazi asked his father (Abu Haatim) about Ikrimah, so he said: “He is Thiqah”
His son asked: “Is evidence taken from him?” He replied: “Yes, when
Thiqah people narrate from him, and those who rejected him: Yahya bin Sa’eed
al-Ansaari and Maalik then it was only due to his raye (opinion)” It was
said to him, how are the clients of Ibn Abbaas? So he said: “They are
Kurayb, Sumay’, Shu’bah, Ikrimah and Ikrimah was the most knowledgeable of them”
His son asked him about Ikrimah and Sa’eed bin Jubayr as to which one of the
two is more knowledgeable of Tafseer? So he replied: “The companions of Ibn
Abbaas was children to Ikrimah”
[Al-Jarh wat
Ta’deel: Vol. 7 T. 32]
18-
Imaam Ibn Adee said: “He
is Mustaqeem ul-Hadeeth except if a weak person narrates from him…. The A’immah
of Hadeeth do not prevent from narrating from him, and the Authors of Sihaah
have entered his hadeeth in their authentic books when a Thiqah person narrates
from him….There is nothing wrong in him”
[Al-Kaamil:
2/292]
19-
Imaam Ibn Khuzaymah
authenticated his hadeeth in his Saheeh
20-
Imaam Ibn Hibbaan
mentioned him in ath-Thiqaat
[5/229]
21-
Imaam Ad-Daaraqutni
authenticated his hadeeth saying, “Its chain is Hasan Saheeh”
[Sunan
ad-Daaraqutni: H. 2233, 2374, 2380, ]
22-
Imaam al-Haakim
authenticated his hadeeth to be on the conditions of al-Bukhaari
[Mustadrak
al-Haakim: H. 210, 216…]
At another
place, he graded one of his hadeeth saying, “All the narrators of this
hadeeth are Thiqaat”
[H. 553]
23-
Imaam Bayhaqi said: “Ikrimah
is from the Thiqah Thabat people according to the Majority of A’immah”
[As-Sunan
al-Kubra lil Bayhaqi: 8/234]
24-
Imaam Ikrimah and
Kuthayyir Azzah (the famous poet of Arabs) died on the same day, so the people
of Madeenah said: “The biggest Faqeeh of people and the biggest poet of
people died today”
[Al-Ma’rifah
wal Taareekh: 2/6; Tabaqaat Ibn Sa’d: 5/292]
25-
Imam Dhahabi said: “He
has been criticized for his opinion not his memory”
[Meezaan: 3/93]
At another
place, he said: “He is Thiqah Thabat”
[Deewaan
ad-Du’afa: 1/278]
26-
Haafidh Ibn Hajar
al-Asqalaani said: “He is Thiqah Thabat, the Scholar of Tafseer, the accusing
of lying on him from Ibn Umar is not proven, nor is the Bid’ah (of any kind) is
proven from him”
[Taqreeb:
4673]
Those who criticized him:
1- Abu Khalf Abdullah bin Eesa al-Kharraaz narrated from Yahya
al-Bakaa: I heard Ibn Umar saying to Naafi’: “Fear Allaah O Naafi’ and do
not lie upon me as Ikrimah lies upon Ibn Abbaas”
[Tahdheeb
al-Kamaal: 20/279]
Answer:
This narration
is severely weak and Fabricated because:
·
Its original source and
full chain of this narration is not known
·
Yahya al-Bakaa is Matrook
and severely weak.
2- Imaam Sa’eed bin al-Musayyab said to his servant: “Do not lie
upon me as Ikrimah lies upon Ibn Abbaas”
[Al-Ma’rifah
wal Taareekh: 2/5, Chain Saheeh]
Answer:
Imaam Sa’eed
used to criticize Imaam Ikrimah based on the differences between the two in
some fiqhi issues, and in return Imaam Ikrimah also used to criticize Imaam
Sa’eed. Therefore, the Jarh of both contemporaries on each other is rejected.
3- Yazeed bin Abi Ziyaad reported that Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbaas
once tied up Ikrimah with a door, when he was asked about the reason, he said: “This
filthy person lies upon my father”
[Ad-Du’afa
al-Kabeer by al-Ukaylee: 3/373]
Answer:
Its chain
contains Yazeed bin Abi Ziyaad who is weak according to the consensus of
Muhadditheen.
4- Yahya bin Sa’eed al-Ansaari said: “He is Kadh-dhaab”
[Ad-Du’afa
al-Kabeer of al-Ukaylee: 3/373, Chain Saheeh]
5- Ibn Sa’d narrated from Muhammad bin Umar al-Waaqidi from an
unknown person that he said: “It is thought that he (Ikrimah) held the view
of Khawaarij”
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra: 5/224]
This chain is
severely weak because:
·
Al-Waaqidi is a Liar and
Matrook person &
·
The one saying it is
unknown
6- Mus’ab bin Abdullah az-Zubayri said: “Ikrimah held the
opinion of Khawaarij”
[Tabaqaat
al-Kubra: 5/224]
Mus’ab was
born in 156 H while Ikrimah died in 104 H, so where did Mus’ab get this from??
Therefore, it is not proven from Imaam Ikrimah that he held the opinion of
Khawaarij.
After reading
different testimonies, the result that comes out is that Ikrimah was not very
strict with the Khawaarij unlike the common Muslims and used to keep relations
with them, and since this practice of his was against the practice of common
Muslims and they did not like it, that is why he was attributed towards
Khaarijiyyah; and this is also possible that he held the same opinion as
Khawaarij in some certain issue due to which he became famous with being a
Khaariji. Otherwise, he has no relation with this group.
Conclusion:
Imaam Ikrimah was one of the
biggest Fuqaha of his time and a highly reliable and truthful person in the
field of Hadeeth.
For more Sayings, see: Tahdheeb
at-Tahdheeb – under the biography of Ikrimah
