Maʿbad al-Juhayni the Qadari (1)—it is said that his full name was Maʿbad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUkaym (2)—is the transmitter of the hadith: “Do not make use of the hide or sinews of a carcass” (3). Other opinions have been voiced concerning his lineage.

He heard hadiths from Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn ʿUmar, Muʿāwiyah, ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, and others. He was present on the Day of Arbitration, questioned Abū Mūsā about the matter, and Abū Mūsā advised him. He later met ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, who likewise counselled him and said, “Enough, O billy-goat of Juhaynah! You are fit neither for secrecy nor for open affairs; the truth will not benefit you, nor will falsehood harm you” (4). ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ had discerned something in him, for Maʿbad was the first to speak publicly about qadar (predestination). It is said he took this doctrine from a Christian man in Iraq called Sawsan, and that Ghaylān (5) learned the doctrine of qadar from Maʿbad.

Maʿbad was known for worship and asceticism, and Ibn Maʿīn and others considered his hadith sound (6). Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, however, said, “Beware of Maʿbad, for he is astray and leads others astray.”

He was among those who joined Ibn al-Ashʿath’s rebellion, whereupon al-Ḥajjāj subjected him to severe punishments of various kinds and then killed him. Saʿīd ibn ʿAfīr held instead that ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān crucified him in Damascus in the year 80 AH and then killed him. Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ stated that he died before 90 AH, and Allah knows best.

[Another report deems it more likely that ʿAbd al-Malik executed him; and Allah, exalted is He, knows best.]