Abdullah ibn Dinar was the hadith scholar and reliable transmitter, Abu Abdurrahman al-ʿAdawi al-ʿUmari, a freedman of the ʿAdiyy clan of Madinah. He was one of the trustworthy transmitters of his time and was especially known for his strong connection to the hadiths of Ibn Umar.
The Companions He Met and Learned From
He heard hadith directly from several companions of the Prophet, including Ibn Umar, Anas ibn Malik, Sulayman ibn Yasar, and Abu Salih al-Samman, as well as from other reliable figures. His most famous transmissions were from Ibn Umar, with whom he had a strong and direct relationship, and he is among the most well-known narrators from him.
Those Who Narrated From Him
Many of the major hadith scholars narrated from him, including Shuʿbah ibn al-Hajjaj, Malik ibn Anas, Sufyan al-Thawri, Warqaʾ ibn ʿUmar, Sulayman ibn Bilal, his own son Abdurrahman ibn Abdullah ibn Dinar, Ismaʿil ibn Jaʿfar, Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, and many others.
Famous Hadith and Reliability
One of the hadiths he uniquely narrated from Ibn Umar was that the Prophet said: “The Prophet forbade the sale of walaʾ (inheritance loyalty) and its gift.” This hadith is agreed upon and appears in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Despite his strong reputation, Abu Jaʿfar al-ʿUqayli listed him in his book of weak narrators, claiming that there was confusion in how some teachers transmitted from him. However, the confusion was not due to Abdullah ibn Dinar himself, but from those who narrated from him incorrectly. Many scholars of hadith declared him trustworthy.
His Death
He passed away in the year 127 AH. Al-Hafiz Ahmad ibn Ali al-Asbahani said that the total number of hadiths he narrated reached around two hundred. Abdullah ibn Dinar remains well-known for his precision, reliability, and his narrations from Ibn Umar, many of which appear in the most authentic collections.
Siyar A’lām al-Nubalā By Ad Dhahabi (5/254-255)
