Al-Haytham ibn ʿImrān said, “Ibn ʿĀmir was the leader of the mosque community during the reign of al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and after him.”
A well-attested sunnah had slipped past Ibn ʿĀmir. Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related that Ibn ʿĀmir struck ʿAṭiyyah ibn Qays when the latter raised his hands in the prayer. It is also reported that when ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz heard of this, he barred Ibn ʿĀmir from entering upon him.
There are nine opinions regarding Ibn ʿĀmir’s kunya; the strongest is Abū ʿImrān. The sound view is that he was an Arab of verified lineage, descending from the tribe of Himyar.
Yaḥyā al-Dhimārī said: “Ibn ʿĀmir served as the judge of the military district, oversaw the construction of the Damascus Mosque, and was its chief administrator; whenever he noticed an innovation there, he removed it.” He added, “Ibn ʿĀmir died on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ in 118 AH, at the age of ninety-seven.” By “the district” he meant the Damascus district—that is, the city itself together with the adjoining coasts and fortresses.
I have presented a full biography of this imām in my book Ṭabaqāt al-Qurrāʾ.
- Abū Sufyān Ṭalḥah ibn Nāfiʿ, the Cobbler — (cited by Muslim, by the four Sunan compilers, and by al-Bukhārī in conjunction with another narrator)
A native of Wāsiṭ in Iraq, he was trustworthy.
He transmitted from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah, Ibn ʿAbbās, Anas ibn Mālik, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, and others.
Those who narrated from him include Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, al-Aʿmash, Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, Ḥajjāj ibn Arṭāʾah, Shuʿbah, and many others.
Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī said, “Abū al-Zubayr is dearer to me than he.” Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and others stated, “There is nothing objectionable about him.” Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah remarked, “All that Abū Sufyān has from Jābir is a written compilation.” I say: