maintain my ties of kinship, discharge the dues that pertain to it, and from it assist the widow, the poor, the destitute, the orphan, and the neighbor. Allah, Exalted is He, knows best (1).
Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb al-ʿAnazī (2) was a distinguished Successor. He related hadith from Anas, Jābir, Ibn al-Zubayr, Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, and others, while Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl, al-Aʿmash, and Ṭāwūs—who was his contemporary—narrated from him.
ʿAmr ibn Dīnār praised him, as did several other leading scholars, though some took issue with him for espousing the Murjiʾ doctrine of irjāʾ. He was also among those who joined Ibn al-Ashʿath’s uprising.
He used to say, “Strengthen yourselves with taqwā (God-consciousness).” When asked, “Define taqwā for us,” he replied, “Taqwā is to act in obedience to Allah, upon a light from Allah, hoping for the mercy of Allah; and to abandon disobedience to Allah, upon a light from Allah, fearing the punishment of Allah.”
He also said, “The rights owed to Allah are too great for His servants to fulfill, and the blessings of Allah are too many to count or to thank Him for adequately; therefore begin every morning in repentance and end every evening in repentance.”
Ṭalq would never leave for prayer without carrying something to give in charity—even if it were only an onion—saying, “Allah the Exalted has said: ‘O you who believe, when you confer privately with the Messenger, then offer charity before your private consultation’ (al-Mujādilah 58:12). Offering charity before communing with Allah is even more fitting and more deserving.” (3)
Mālik stated that al-Ḥajjāj executed him, together with a group of Qurʾān reciters, among them Saʿīd ibn Jubayr (4).
Ibn Jarīr (5) previously reported that Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qasrī sent three men from Mecca to al-Ḥajjāj: Mujāhid, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, and Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb. Ṭalq died on the way, Mujāhid was imprisoned, and—as for Saʿīd—what befell him is well known. Allah knows best.
ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām (6), the Qurashī al-Asadī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Madanī, was a revered Successor. He transmitted hadith from his father and from