Full Name and Lineage
Ayyub ibn Abi Tamimah Kaysan, known as Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani, was a freedman of the ʿAnazah tribe, from Basrah. Some said his allegiance was to the tribe of Tuhayyah, and others said to Juhaynah. He was nicknamed Abu Bakr and counted among the younger generation of the Tabiʿin. He was one of the most trustworthy and precise hadith narrators of his time and was considered the leader of the scholars of Basrah.
Birth and Early Life
He was born in the year 68 AH, the same year Ibn Abbas passed away. It was said that he was born just one year before the plague known as Ṭāʿūn al-Jārīf, which occurred in 69 AH and killed over one hundred thousand people in Basrah in a few days. Though he lived in the same city as Anas ibn Malik and saw him, there are no known narrations of hadith directly from Anas by him, even though he was in his twenties at the time.
Those Who Narrated From Him
Ayyub heard hadith and learned from a wide range of Tabiʿin and companions. His teachers included ʿAmr ibn Salamah al-Jarmi, Abu ʿUthman al-Nahdi, Saʿid ibn Jubayr, Abu al-ʿAliyah al-Riyahi, Abdullah ibn Shaqiq, Abu Qilabah, Mujahid ibn Jabr, al-Hasan al-Basri, Muhammad ibn Sirin, Maʿadhah al-ʿAdawiyyah, Qays ibn ʿAbayah, Abu Rajaʾ al-ʿAtaridi, ʿIkrimah (freedman of Ibn Abbas), Abu Mujliz Lahiq ibn Humayd, Hafsah bint Sirin, Yusuf ibn Mahak, ʿAtaʾ ibn Abi Rabah, Nafiʿ (freedman of Ibn Umar), Abu al-Shaʿthaʾ Jabir ibn Zayd, Humayd ibn Hilal, Abu al-Walid Abdullah ibn al-Harith, al-Aʿraj, ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, al-Qasim ibn Asim, al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, Ibn Abi Mulaykah, Qatadah, and many others.
Many scholars narrated from him, including people who were his contemporaries and also counted among his teachers, such as Muhammad ibn Sirin, ʿAmr ibn Dinar, al-Zuhri, and Qatadah. Other students included Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, Shuʿbah, Sufyan al-Thawri, Malik ibn Anas, Maʿmar, ʿAbd al-Warith, Hammad ibn Salamah, Sulayman ibn al-Mughīrah, Hammad ibn Zayd, Muʿtamir ibn Sulayman, Wahb, ʿUbaydullah ibn ʿUmar, Ismaʿil ibn ʿUlayyah, ʿAbd al-Salam ibn Harb, Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Taffawi, Nuh ibn Qays al-Haddani, Hushaym ibn Bashir, Yazid ibn Zurayʿ, Khalid ibn al-Harith, Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, ʿAbd al-Wahhab al-Thaqafi, and many others.
His Worship and Asceticism
Ayyub was deeply devoted in worship and known for his humility and concealment of good deeds. He would stand in prayer all night but conceal it, only raising his voice at dawn as if he had just started. He feared showing off and would avoid anything that drew public attention. He once said: “If a man truly fears Allah, let him not make his asceticism a punishment for others.” He would hide his zuhd so well that once when someone lifted his bedding, they found he was sleeping on a rough mat filled with palm fibres.
He once said, “No truthful man ever loved fame.” And he said about himself, “When the righteous are mentioned, I am not one of them.” He was known for crying quietly and blaming it on a cold. When he felt overcome with emotion in gatherings, he would pretend to blow his nose and say, “What a strong cold!”
He would also flee from gatherings where he feared being praised. When he arranged to meet someone, he would say, “There is no fixed meeting between me and you,” but he would always arrive early.
His Character, Appearance, and Humility
He was generous and dignified. Hammad ibn Zayd described him as appearing like someone who did not follow the outward dress of ascetics. He wore well-made clothes, including a high-quality Yemeni cloak, a good hat, a fine shirt from Herat, and a long robe that swept the ground. His beard and hair were thick. He also owned a red cloak that he wore only when travelling, and he had set it aside to be his shroud.
He avoided argumentation and disliked engaging in theoretical reasoning. When someone asked him to consider a point of opinion (raʾy), he replied with a parable about a donkey being asked to chew cud, saying he disliked chewing falsehood.
Praise from The Scholars
Al-Hasan al-Basri once said, “This is the leader of the young men of Basrah,” referring to Ayyub. Sufyan al-Thawri and other great scholars echoed this. Shuʿbah called him “the leader of the jurists.” Many scholars said they never saw anyone like Ayyub. Abu ʿAwanah said he never saw anyone like Ayyub, Yunus, and Ibn ʿAwn. Al-Thawri said the same, listing Ayyub first when naming the four great scholars of Basrah.
Hammad ibn Zayd said, “Among all those I sat with, Ayyub was the best in following the Sunnah.” Malik ibn Anas said, “You talk about hadith from the people of Iraq, but I narrate from Ayyub—and there’s no one more trustworthy than him.”
His Firmness Against People Of Desires And Innovation
He was very firm against the people of desires (ahl al-ahwaʾ). He would refer to them as the Khawarij, saying that though they differed in name, they were united on using the sword. When someone from the people of innovation tried to speak to him, he turned away saying, “Not even half a word!” He believed that the face of those who follow falsehood would carry humiliation, quoting the verse: “They will be struck with humiliation and anger from their Lord” (al-Aʿraf: 152).
His Relationship With the Quran and Salah
He used to lead people in prayer during Ramadan, reciting about thirty verses per rakʿah. Between the sets of taraweeh, he would pray extra for himself with a similar length of recitation. He would end the night by praying for guidance, praying over the Prophet, and making duʿa, ending with sujud.
Hadith and Reliability
Ayyub narrated around eight hundred hadiths according to ʿAli ibn al-Madini. Ibn ʿUlayyah said they used to estimate his narrations at around two thousand, and very few were missed. Abu Hatim said, “He is trustworthy—there is no need to even ask about someone like him.” Ibn Saʿd said, “He was trustworthy, strong in hadith, comprehensive, very knowledgeable, a proof, and upright.”
Famous Hadiths and Chains
He transmitted a hadith through Nafiʿ from Ibn Umar that the Prophet said: “Those who make images will be punished on the Day of Judgment, and it will be said to them: Give life to what you have created.” This was narrated by Muslim.
He also transmitted the hadith of Ibn Umar regarding menstruating women during Hajj and their permission to delay tawaf. He narrated from Ibn Umar through Nafiʿ that the Prophet recited the verse “The Day when all people will stand before the Lord of the worlds” (al-Mutaffifin: 6), and said, “They will stand until sweat reaches their ears.”
He also narrated the hadith from Hakim ibn Hizam: “The Messenger of Allah forbade me from selling what I do not yet possess.”
His Spiritual Experience
There is a report, though not authentic, that on one of his travels through Mount Hira, when people ran out of water, he made duʿa and water sprang from the ground. Though the chain of this story is weak and not reliable, it reflects how highly people regarded his piety.
Final Description
Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani was not only one of the greatest hadith transmitters of his time, but also an embodiment of sincere worship, hidden virtue, and strong adherence to the Sunnah.
Ayyub performed forty Hajj pilgrimages. He passed away in Basrah in 131 AH, during a plague. He was sixty-three years old. Before his death, a man dreamed that Abu Bakr and Umar had come to pray over someone in Basrah. It was later found that Ayyub had died that same night.
He avoided fame, argued little, and wept often. He lived humbly, dressed cleanly, avoided showing off, and kept to the straight path until his death.
Siyar A’lām al-Nubalā By Ad Dhahabi (6/16-26)
