al-Majshun
- Died
- 164 AH
- Born in
- -
Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah al-Majshun (d. 164 AH / 780–781 CE) was an early Medinese jurist, mufti, and hadith scholar who later settled and taught in Baghdad.
Lineage and Background
His full name was Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Abi Salama, and his grandfather Abu Salama was named Maymun, or according to other reports, Dinar. He bore the agnomen (kunya) Abu Abd Allah, and reportedly Abu al-Asbagh. He was an affiliated client (mawla) of the Hudayr family of the Qurayshite clan of Banu Taym. His family originated from Isfahan before settling in Medina. The title al-Majshun is an Arabicized Persian expression meaning "rose-colored" (al-muwarrad) or resembling wine or the moon, originally given on account of reddish cheeks. Another report states that it arose because their forebear greeted people in Persian with the phrase shoni shoni (or juni juni). The nickname came to designate his uncle Ya'qub and his extended family.
Education and Public Life
Al-Majshun studied under leading scholars of Medina, including his father Abd Allah, his uncle Ya'qub ibn Abi Salama, Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, Abd Allah ibn Dinar, Hisham ibn Urwah, Humayd al-Tawil, and Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim. In Medina, he attained prominence as a legal authority; Abd Allah ibn Wahb recounted that during the pilgrimage season of 148 AH, a town crier announced that no one was permitted to issue legal verdicts (fatwas) to the people except Malik ibn Anas and Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Majshun.
During a pilgrimage, the Abbasid caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur asked his son al-Mahdi to seek a gift from him, and al-Mahdi requested a man of intellect and counsel; al-Mansur sent him al-Majshun. Al-Majshun consequently relocated to Baghdad, where he remained and taught. According to Yahya ibn Ma'in, al-Majshun was not originally devoted to narrating hadith, but when scholars in Baghdad eagerly took down traditions from him, he later remarked: "The people of Baghdad turned me into a muhaddith." Ahmad ibn Kamil noted that he authored treatises on legal rulings (kutub fi al-ahkam) that were transmitted by Ibn Wahb and others.
Among those who transmitted from him were his son Abd al-Malik ibn al-Majshun, Layth ibn Sa'd, Waki' ibn al-Jarrah, Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, Abu Daud al-Tayalisi, Abu Nu'aym al-Fadl ibn Dukayn, and Ali ibn al-Ja'd.
Creed and Standing
Ibn Ma'in related that al-Majshun initially engaged with theological speculation (kalam) and held views regarding divine decree (qadar), but he subsequently abandoned these positions and adhered strictly to the Sunnah. When he examined some of the theological discourse of Jahm ibn Safwan, he remarked: "This is demolition without construction, and description without meaning."
He was regarded as a reliable (thiqah) authority by hadith critics, including Ibn Ma'in, Abu Hatim al-Razi, Abu Zur'ah al-Razi, and al-Nasa'i. Abu Daud al-Tayalisi remarked that al-Majshun was suited for a vizierate on account of his judgment and dignity. The Medinese scholar Ashhab even considered him more knowledgeable than Malik.
Death
Al-Majshun died in Baghdad in 164 AH (780–781 CE) during the caliphate of al-Mahdi. The caliph attended his funeral, led the funeral prayer over him, and ordered his burial in the Quraysh Cemetery (Maqabir Quraysh). Other reports place his death in 160 AH or 166 AH.
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Hajj lil-Majishun is an early Medinese legal text addressing the rites of pilgrimage. Drawing on Quranic verses and transmitted reports, the work outlines sequential rituals and legal rulings concerning ihram and miqat boundaries, the talbiyah, prohibitions and expiations, and the ceremonies observed in Mecca, Arafat, and Muzdalifah.