- Abū ʿUbayd Allāh the vizier, Muʿāwiyah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Yasār al-Ashʿarī, their client—known as al-Ṭabarānī, the Syrian, and the secretary—was one of the consummate men, noted for decisiveness, sound judgment, devoted worship, and generosity.
He transmitted hadith from Abū Isḥāq, Manṣūr, and a number of others, while Manṣūr ibn Abī Muzāḥim and others narrated from him.
The caliph al-Mahdī used to show him the utmost reverence and respect, relying on his counsel, administrative skill, and able statesmanship.
His grandson ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Sulaymān said, “Our grandfather wore out two prayer rugs and had already begun on a third—the spots touched by his knees, face, and hands—because of the sheer quantity of his prayers. Each day he would give a kurr (a large measure) of flour in charity, and when famine struck he gave two kurrs instead.”
I say: A single kurr is enough to feed five thousand people, and he was among the just rulers.
It is also reported that he heard hadith from al-Zuhrī and from ʿĀṣim ibn Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywah. In spite of his piety, he did possess a measure of pride and self-esteem.
When the chamberlain al-Rabīʿ performed the pilgrimage he came to greet Muʿāwiyah, but Muʿāwiyah neither rose for him nor accorded him his due. Al-Rabīʿ therefore maligned him before al-Mahdī and charged Muʿāwiyah’s son with violating the sanctity of al-Hādī’s household. Al-Mahdī executed the son, arrested Muʿāwiyah, and he remained in prison until he died in 170 AH.
I have given a fuller account of his life in my History of Islam. He was the grandfather of the ḥadith scholar Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Ashʿarī.
- ʿĀfiyah ibn Yazīd ibn Qays al-Awdī, a Kufan Ḥanafī—he served as judge of Baghdad “bil-jānib” (on one side of the city).