Ubayd Allah al-Siqti
- Died
- 406 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu al-Qasim Ubayd Allah al-Siqti (d. 406 AH / 1015–1016 CE) was a Baghdadi hadith scholar and long-term resident (mujawir) in Mecca, known for compiling a treatise on the virtues of the companion Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan .
Lineage and Education
Abu al-Qasim Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Baghdadi al-Saqati originated from Baghdad, where he pursued extensive studies in hadith . In Baghdad, he studied under prominent traditionists, including Isma'il al-Saffar, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Amr ibn al-Bakhtari, Uthman ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Sammak, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Salman al-Najjad, Abu Sahl Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Qattan, and al-Daraqutni .
He subsequently traveled to Mecca, where he heard hadith from scholars such as Abu Sa'id Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibn al-A'rabi and Abu Bakr al-Ajurri .
Transmission and Standing
Al-Saqati transmitted a substantial body of narrations, and the traditionist Ibn Abi al-Fawaris compiled a selective anthology (intikhab) of notable reports (fawa'id) from him in one hundred parts (juz') . He was characterized as a trustworthy hadith scholar (thiqah) by al-Dhahabi, and Ibn al-Najjar noted his uprightness among the righteous, observing that al-Khatib al-Baghdadi did not include a biography for him in his history of Baghdad .
Among those who transmitted hadith from him were Hamza ibn Yusuf al-Sahmi, Abu Dharr al-Harawi, Muzaffar ibn al-Hasan (the maternal grandson of Ibn Lal), Abd al-Aziz al-Azaji, Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Shafi'i al-Makki, and numerous visiting pilgrims in Mecca . His short collection on early merits, Fada'il Amir al-Mu'minin Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (Virtues of the Commander of the Faithful Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan), was transmitted on his authority by Abu Mansur Tahir ibn al-Abbas al-Marwazi . Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani remarked in his biographical critique that al-Saqati narrated from Ishaq ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Susi, whom Ibn Hajar held responsible for transmitting fabricated reports concerning Mu'awiya's merits .
Residence in Mecca and Death
According to an account related by the scholar Sa'd ibn Ali al-Zanjani, al-Saqati had originally supplicated while in Baghdad to be granted the pilgrimage and a residence (mujawarah) of four years in Mecca . He ended up staying in Mecca for forty consecutive years . When those forty years elapsed, he experienced a dream in which a voice addressed him: "O Abu al-Qasim! You requested four years and We granted you forty, for a good deed receives tenfold its like" .
He died in Mecca in that same year, 406 AH (1015–1016 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Fada'il Amir al-Mu'minin Mu'awiya (Virtues of the Commander of the Faithful Mu'awiya) is a hadith treatise organized as a single short collection containing 32 numbered traditions and historical anecdotes. The work compiles narrations and reports concerning the virtues, merits, and status of the companion and caliph Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, including his scribal role in recording divine revelation, prophecies of his entry into Paradise, and reconciliatory interactions with other early figures.