147 – al-Walid ibn Mazyad, Abu al-ʿAbbas al-ʿUdri * (D, S)

A ḥāfiẓ, reliable, and learned jurist, Abu al-ʿAbbas al-ʿUdri, the Beiruti, was a close disciple of al-Awzaʿi.

He received al-Awzaʿi’s own compilations from him, and also studied under ʿAbd Allah ibn Shawdhab, ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Jabir, ʿUthman ibn ʿAtaʾ al-Khurasani, Saʿid ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, ʿUthman ibn Abi al-ʿAtikah, Muqatil ibn Sulayman, and several others.

Those who narrated from him include his son—the ḥāfiẓ al-ʿAbbas ibn al-Walid—together with Abu Mushir al-Ghassani, Duhaim, Abu ʿUmayr ʿIsa ibn Muhammad al-Ramli, Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hawari, Muhammad ibn Wazir al-Dimashqi, ʿAbd Allah ibn Khalid al-Ramli, Muhammad ibn ʿUthman al-Kafrasusi, and others.

Al-Bukhari said in his History (1): “Al-Walid ibn Mazyad al-Shami heard al-Awzaʿi narrating from ʿUmar—an incomplete (mursal) report; he added no further detail.”

Al-Daraqutni said: “He was among the trustworthy companions of al-Awzaʿi, firmly established.”

Ibn Zabr stated: “He was born in the year 126 AH.”

Muhammad ibn Barakah reported: “Saʿd al-Bayruti brought out for me the notebooks of al-ʿAbbas—meaning what he took from his father—and the majority of them read, ‘I heard al-Awzaʿi, I heard al-Awzaʿi.’ Al-Awzaʿi’s written legacy had been destroyed by fire, so whoever received it from that first transmission is an authoritative source.”