- Abū Jaʿfar the Reciter, Yazīd ibn al-Qaʿqāʿ al-Madanī *
He was one of the Ten Imams of the canonical Qurʾānic readings.
His full name is Yazīd ibn al-Qaʿqāʿ al-Madanī.
He learned the Qurʾān from his patron, ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa al-Makhzūmī. A number of scholars also state that he studied under Abū Hurayrah and Ibn ʿAbbās—both of whom had taken their recitation from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb—and that he once led Ibn ʿUmar in prayer.
He transmitted hadiths from Abū Hurayrah and Ibn ʿAbbās. Although his narrations are few, in the science of Qurʾānic recitation he was an undisputed imam.
It is said that he began teaching publicly even before the Battle of al-Ḥarra. Some relate that he read to Zayd ibn Thābit, though he did not actually meet him.
Among those who read the Qurʾān to him were Nāfiʿ, Sulaymān ibn Muslim ibn Jammāz, ʿĪsā ibn Wardān, and others. Those who narrated from him include Mālik ibn Anas, al-Darāwardī, and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Ḥāzim. Ibn Maʿīn and al-Nasāʾī both declared him reliable.
Abū ʿUbayd said, “He was teaching Qurʾān before the Battle of al-Ḥarra; Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar related that to us from him.”
Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar further said: Sulaymān ibn Muslim told me, “Abū Jaʿfar informed me that he taught recitation before al-Ḥarra and that he would hold the muṣḥaf for his patron while doing so. He was among the most proficient of people in recitation; I watched everything he read and took his mode from him.”
Abū Jaʿfar also told me that Umm Salama once wiped her hand over his head and prayed for him.
Yahyā ibn ʿAbbād reported: I asked Abū Jaʿfar, “When did you learn the Qurʾān?” He replied, “During the time of Muʿāwiyah.”
Nāfiʿ the Reciter said: “Abū Jaʿfar used to stand for the night prayer, but when he began teaching he would become drowsy. He would say to them, ‘Place pebbles between my fingers and press them together.’ They would do so, yet sleep would still overcome him.”