Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (5/465)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

the Muʿtazilah (1).

A poet said:
“You turned our union into the letter rā’, a sound you never pronounce,
then you severed me so completely it is as though you were one who connects!”

Some maintained that Wāṣil left behind a number of writings.
It was also reported that he deemed it permissible to recite (the Qur’an) by meaning alone—an ignorant view.
Others said he died in 131 AH.
Another view holds that he was nicknamed al-Ghazzāl because he would frequent the yarn market in order to give alms to impoverished women.

He had sat with Abū Hāshim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah, after which he kept close company with al-Ḥasan. He was taciturn and exceptionally long-necked.

Among his works are a treatise on tawḥīd (monotheism) and the book Al-Manzilah Bayna al-Manzilatayn (“The Intermediate Position between Two Positions”).

211 – Abū Bishr Jaʿfar ibn Abī Waḥshiyyah Iyās al-Yashkurī * (ʿ)
A Basran who later lived in Wāsiṭ, he was one of the eminent scholars and reliable masters of ḥadith.

He narrated from: al-Shaʿbī, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥimyarī, Mujāhid, Ṭāwūs, ʿAṭāʾ, ʿIkrimah, Abū Ḍuḥā, Maymūn ibn Mihrān, Nāfiʿ al-ʿUmarī, and many others.

He also transmitted from ʿAbbād ibn Shuraḥbīl al-Yashkurī, who was a Companion.

(1) Abu al-Husayn al-Malati (d. 377 AH/987 CE) states in his work “Radd al-Ahwa wa-l-Bidaʿ,” the earliest source to explain the origin of the Muʿtazila’s name: “They called themselves Muʿtazila because, when al-Hasan b. ʿAli pledged allegiance to Muʿawiya and handed political authority over to him, they withdrew from both al-Hasan and Muʿawiya as well as from the rest of the people. Although they had been supporters of ʿAli, they remained in their homes and mosques, saying, ‘We prefer to devote ourselves to learning and worship.’ Hence they were designated Muʿtazila.” Al-Masʿudi adds that the appellation derives from their doctrine that the fasiq (grave sinner) occupies a status between believer and unbeliever. See also: al-Shahrastani, al-Milal wa-l-Nihal, 1/30; al-Baghdadi, al-Farqu bayna al-Firaq, p. 15; al-Asfarayini, al-Tabsir fi-l-Din, pp. 64–65. (*) Principal biographical sources: Khalifa, Tabaqat, p. 325; al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-Kabir, 2/186, and al-Tarikh al-Saghir, 1/320; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil, 2/473; al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, p. 207; Ibn Hajar, Tadhhib al-Tahdhib, 1/106/2, and Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, 2/83; al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam, 5/54; al-Khazraji, Khulasat Tadhhib al-Kamal, p. 64.

المُعْتَزِلَة (١) ، قَالَ شَاعِرٌ: وَجَعَلْتَ وَصْلِي الرَّاءَ لَمْ تَلْفِظْ بِهِ ... وَقَطَعْتَنِي حَتَّى كَأَنَّكَ وَاصِلُ وَقِيْلَ: لِوَاصِلٍ تَصَانِيْفُ. وَقِيْلَ: كَانَ يُجِيْزُ التِّلاَوَةَ بِالمَعْنَى، وَهَذَا جَهْلٌ. قِيْلَ: مَاتَ سَنَةَ إِحْدَى وَثَلاَثِيْنَ وَمائَةٍ. وَقِيْلَ: عُرِفَ بِالغَزَّالِ؛ لِتَرْدَادِهِ إِلَى سُوْقِ الغَزْلِ؛ لِيَتَصدَّقَ عَلَى النِّسوَةِ الفَقِيْرَاتِ. جَالَسَ أَبَا هَاشِمٍ عَبْدَ اللهِ بنَ مُحَمَّدٍ ابْنِ الحَنَفِيَّةِ، ثُمَّ لاَزمَ الحَسَنَ، وَكَانَ صَمُوتاً، طَوِيْلَ الرَّقَبَةِ جِدّاً. وَلَهُ مُؤَلَّفٌ فِي التَّوْحِيْدِ، وَكِتَاب (المَنْزِلَةُ بَيْنَ المَنْزِلَتَيْنِ) . ٢١١ - أَبُو بِشْرٍ جَعْفَرُ بنُ أَبِي وَحْشِيَّةَ إِيَاسٍ اليَشْكُرِيُّ * (ع) البَصْرِيُّ، ثُمَّ الوَاسِطِيُّ، أَحَدُ الأَئِمَّةِ وَالحُفَّاظِ. حَدَّثَ عَنْ: الشَّعْبِيِّ، وَسَعِيْدِ بنِ جُبَيْرٍ، وَحُمَيْدِ بنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الحِمْيَرِيِّ، وَمُجَاهِدٍ، وَطَاوُوْسٍ، وَعَطَاءٍ، وَعِكْرِمَةَ، وَأَبِي الضُّحَى، وَمَيْمُوْنِ بنِ مِهْرَانَ، وَنَافِعٍ العُمَرِيِّ، وَعِدَّةٍ. وَرَوَى عَنْ: عَبَّادِ بنِ شُرَحْبِيْلَ اليَشْكُرِيِّ، وَلَهُ صُحْبَةٌ.

(١) وقال أبو الحسين الملطي المتوفى سنة ٣٧٧ هـ في " رد الاهواء والبدع " وهو أقدم مصدر يبين وجه تلقيبهم بالمعتزلة: وهم سموا أنفسهم معتزلة، وذلك عندما بايع الحسن بن علي ﵇ معاوية وسلم إليه الامر، اعتزلوا الحسن ومعاوية وجميع الناس - وكانوا من أصحاب علي - ولزموا منازلهم ومساجدهم، وقالوا: نشتغل بالعلم والعبادة، فسموا بذلك معتزلة، وذكر المسعودي أن تسميتهم معتزلة لقولهم باعتزال الفاسق عن منزلتي المؤمن والكافر. وراجع " الملل والنحل " للشهرستاني ١ / ٣٠ و" الفرق بين الفرق " ص ١٥، و" التبصير في الدين " للاسفراييني ص ٦٤، ٦٥. (*) طبقات خليفة ٣٢٥، التاريخ الكبير ٢ / ١٨٦، التاريخ الصغير ١ / ٣٢٠، الجرح والتعديل ٢ / ٤٧٣، تهذيب الكمال ٢٠٧، تذهيب التهذيب ١ / ١٠٦ / ٢، تاريخ الإسلام ٥ / ٥٤، تهذيب التهذيب ٢ / ٨٣، خلاصة تذهيب الكمال ٦٤.