246 – Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn Abū Bakr al-Anṣārī *
The Imām, Shaykh al-Islām, Abū Bakr al-Anṣārī, al-Anasī, al-Baṣrī, a freedman of Anas ibn Mālik—the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ attendant.
His father was among the captives of Jarjarāyā (1). Anas acquired him, then arranged a manumission contract with him for several thousand dirhams. Sirīn paid the amount in full, even advancing the remaining installments before they fell due. When Anas noticed how wealthy Sirīn had become through trade, he refused to take the money, hoping instead to inherit from him. Sirīn brought the case before ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with him—who compelled Anas to accept the early payment.
Anas ibn Sīrīn said, “My brother Muḥammad was born when two years of ʿUmar’s caliphate remained (2), and I was born in the year that followed.”
He heard narrations from: Abū Hurayrah, ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿAdiyy ibn Ḥātim, Ibn ʿUmar, ʿUbaydah al-Salmānī, Shurayḥ the Judge, Anas ibn Mālik, and many others.
Those who transmitted from him include: Qatādah, Ayyūb, Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd, Ibn ʿAwn, and Khālid.
(*) Tabaqat Ibn Saʿd 7/193; al-Zuhd by Ahmad, p. 306; Tabaqat Khalifa, no. 1728; Tarikh al-Bukhari 1/90; al-Maʿarif, p. 442; al-Maʿrifa wa-l-Tarikh 2/54; Dhayl al-Mudhayyal, p. 640; al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil, second part of vol. 3, p. 280; Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ 2/263; Tarikh Baghdad 5/331; Tabaqat al-Fuqahaʾ by al-Shirazi, p. 88; Tarikh Ibn ʿAsakir 15/210 A; Tahdhib al-Asmaʾ wa-l-Lughat, part 1 of vol. 1, p. 82; Wafayat al-Aʿyan 4/181; Tahdhib al-Kamal, p. 1207; Tarikh al-Islam 4/192; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz 1/73; al-ʿIbar 1/135; Tadhhib al-Tahdhib 3/210 B; Mirʾat al-Janan 1/232; al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya 9/267 and 274; Ghaya al-Nihaya, no. 3057; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 9/214; al-Nujum al-Zahira 1/268; Tabaqat al-Fuqahaʾ by al-Suyuti, p. 31; Khulasa Tadhhib al-Tahdhib, p. 340; Shadharat al-Dhahab 1/138.
(1) Jirjrayya: a town in Lower Nahrawan, located between Wasit and Baghdad on the eastern side; see Muʿjam al-Buldan.
(2) The manuscript gives this reading, but the correct name is (Uthman), as in Ibn Saʿd 7/193, Tarikh al-Khatib 5/333, and the other parallel reports and sources. We have nevertheless kept (Umar) because it appears in another narration a few lines later, and the author comments on this on the following page.