ABŪ ʿABDI ʾLLĀH MĀLIK IBN ANAS (ابو عبدالله مالك بن انس). [[MALIK].]
ABŪ ʿABDI ʾLLĀH MUḤAMMAD IBN AL-ḤASAN (ابو عبدالله محمد بن الحسن). Known as Imām Muḥammad. Born at Wāsit̤, a city in Arabian ʿIrāq, A.H. 132. He studied under the great Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, and had also studied under Imām Mālik for three years. He is celebrated as one of the disciples of the Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, from whom he occasionally differs, as is seen in the Hidāyah. He died at Rai, in K͟hurāsān, where his tomb is still to be seen, A.H. 189.
ABŪ BAKR (ابو بكر). Of the origin of his name, there are various explanations. Some think that it means “the father of the maiden,” and that he received this title because he was the father of ʿĀyishah, whom Muḥammad married when she was only nine years old. His original name was ʿAbdu ʾl-Kaʿbah (which the Prophet changed into ʿAbdu ʾllāh) Ibn Abī Quḥāfah. He was the first K͟halīfah, or successor of Muḥammad. [[SHIʿAH].] Muḥammadan writers praise him for the purity of his life, and call him aṣ-Ṣiddīq, the Veracious. He only reigned two years, and died August 22nd, A.D. 634.
ABŪ DĀʾŪD (ابو داود). Sulaimān Ibn al-Ashʾas̤ al-Sijistānī; born at al-Baṣrah A.H. 202, and died A.H. 275. The compiler of one of the six correct books of Sunnī traditions, called the Sunnan Abī Dāʾūd, which contains 4,008 traditions, said to have been carefully collated from 500,000. [[TRADITIONS].]
ABŪ ḤANĪFAH AN-NUʿMĀN (ابو حنيفة النعمان). Abū Ḥanīfah an-Nuʿmān is the great Sunnī Imām and jurisconsult, and the founder of the Ḥanīfī sect. His father, S̤ābit, was a silk dealer in the city of al-Kūfah, and it is said his grandfather, Zūt̤a, was a native of Kābul. He was born at al-Kūfah, A.H. 80 (A.D. 700), and died at Bag͟hdād, A.H. 150. He is regarded as the great oracle of Sunnī jurisprudence, and his doctrines, with those of his disciples, the Imām Abū Yūsuf and the Imām Muḥammad, are generally received throughout Turkey, Tartary, and Hindustan. It is related that Imām Mālik said that the Imām Abū Ḥanīfah was such a logician that, if he were to assert a wooden pillar was made of gold, he would prove it by argument.
ABŪ HURAIRAH (ابو هريرة). One of the most constant attendants of Muḥammad, who from his peculiar intimacy has related more traditions of the sayings and doings of the Prophet than any other individual. His real name is doubtful, but he was nicknamed Abū Hurairah on account of his fondness for a kitten. He embraced Islām in the year of the expedition to K͟haibar, A.H. 7, and died in al-Madīnah, A.H. 57 or 59, aged 78.
ABŪ JAHL (ابو جهل). An implacable adversary of Muḥammad. His real name was ʿAmr ibn Hishām, but he was surnamed, by the Muslims, Abū Jahl, or the “Father of Folly.” He is supposed to be alluded to in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxii. 8]:—“There is a man who disputeth concerning God without either knowledge or direction.” He was a boastful and debauched man, and was killed in the battle of Badr.
ABŪ LAHAB (ابو لهب). One of the sons of Abū Mut̤t̤alib, and an uncle to Muḥammad. He was a most bitter enemy to the Prophet, and opposed the establishment of Islām to the utmost of his power. His name was ʿAbdu ʾl-Uzza, but he was surnamed by Muḥammad, Abū Lahab, “The Father of the Flame.” When Muḥammad received the command to admonish his relations, he called them all together, and told them he was a warner sent unto them before a grievous chastisement. Abū Lahab rejected his mission, and cried out, “Mayest thou perish! Hast thou called us together for this?” and took up a stone to cast at him; whereupon the CXIth Sūrah of the Qurʾān was produced:—
“Let the hands of Abū Lahab perish, and let himself perish!
His wealth and his gains shall avail him naught.