سفيان الثوري

Sufyan al-Thawri (RH)

97–161 AH · 716–778 CE

Hadith Fiqh

'Commander of the Believers in hadith', jurist of Kufa and model of independence from rulers.

Sufyan al-Thawri was a master of hadith in Kufa, given the title Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith. He also founded a school of law that had followers for some centuries before it faded.

He refused to serve as a judge and fled when the caliph al-Mahdi tried to appoint him, spending his final years in hiding. His scrupulous piety and his independence from power made him a model for later scholars and ascetics. Ja'far al-Sadiq and Abu Hanifa were among his contemporaries, and Ibn al-Mubarak among his students.

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Life journey

716 CE Kufa الكوفة
775 CE Basra البصرة
Died 778 CE · 161 AH
Spent his last years in hiding from the Abbasid authorities, partly in Makkah, and died in Basra. The year is approximate.

Teachers

Ja'far al-Sadiq (RH) c. 702–765 CE
Sufyan al-Thawri narrated hadith from Ja'far.

Students

Ibn al-Mubarak (RH) 736–797 CE
Ibn al-Mubarak learned hadith from Sufyan al-Thawri.
'Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani (RH) 744–827 CE
'Abd al-Razzaq narrated a great deal from Sufyan al-Thawri; his Musannaf preserves many of al-Thawri's reports.

Places in their life

Sources

al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'
Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awliya'

Draft, awaiting scholarly review.