Name and background
His full name was ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Jurayj. He was an imam, scholar, memoriser, and teacher of the Haram. His kunya was Abu Khalid and also Abu al-Walid. He was a Qurashi, Umayyad, Makkan, and the author of books. He was the first to write down knowledge in Makkah. He was a freedman of Umayyah ibn Khalid. It was said that his grandfather Jurayj was a slave belonging to Umm Habib bint Jubayr, the wife of ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Khalid ibn Asid al-Umawi. His grandfather was a Roman slave. He had a brother named Muhammad who was barely known, and a son also named Muhammad.
Who He Narrated From
He narrated extensively and reliably from ʿAtaʾ ibn Abi Rabah. He also narrated from Ibn Abi Mulaykah, Nafiʿ the freedman of Ibn ʿUmar, and from Tawus with one hadith only. He collected hadiths from Safiyyah bint Shaybah but did not manage to enter upon her. He took two readings from Mujahid, and narrated from Maymun ibn Mihran, Yusuf ibn Mahak, ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, ʿAmr ibn Dinar, ʿIkrimah al-ʿAbbasi (mursalan), ʿIkrimah ibn Khalid al-Makhzumi, Ibn al-Munkadir,
ʿUbayd Allah ibn Abi Yazid, al-Qasim ibn Abi Bazzah, ʿAbd Allah ibn Kathir al-Dari, Ayyub ibn Haniʾ, Habib ibn Abi Thabit, Zayd ibn Aslam, al-Zuhri, Safwan ibn Sulaym, ʿAbd Allah ibn Tawus, ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, ʿAbd Allah ibn Kathir ibn al-Muttalib, ʿAbd Allah ibn Kiyan, ʿUbaydah ibn Abi Lubabah, Muhammad ibn ʿAbbad ibn Jaʿfar, and many others. He narrated from his peers such as Ziyad ibn Saʿd, Jaʿfar al-Sadiq, Zuhayr ibn Muʿawiyah, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi ʿAtaʾ, Saʿid ibn Abi Ayyub, Ismaʿil ibn ʿUlayyah, Maʿmar ibn Rashid, and Yahya ibn Ayyub.
His students
His students included Thawr ibn Yazid, al-Awzaʿi, al-Layth ibn Saʿd, Sufyan al-Thawri, Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, Hammad ibn Zayd, Hammad ibn Salamah, Ibn ʿUlayyah, Ibn Wahb, Khalid ibn al-Harith, Hammam ibn Yahya, ʿIsa ibn Yunus, Ibn Idris, Yahya ibn Saʿid al-Umawi, Yahya ibn Saʿid al-Qaṭṭan, Muhammad ibn Harb al-Abrash, Yahya ibn Abi Zaydah, Wakiʿ, al-Walid ibn Muslim, Hisham ibn Yusuf, Hajjaj ibn Muhammad al-Aʿwar, Abu Usamah, Rawh, Abu ʿAsim, al-Khuraybi, ʿAbd Allah ibn Rajāʾ al-Makki, ʿAbd al-Razzaq ibn Hammam, ʿUbayd Allah ibn Musa, Ghundar, al-Ansari, ʿUthman ibn al-Haytham the muʾadhdhin, Yahya ibn Sulaym al-Taʾifi, Muhammad ibn Bakr al-Barasani, and others.
His early pursuit of knowledge
He began seeking knowledge from ʿAtaʾ ibn Abi Rabah. ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr told him to first memorise the Qur’an, then learn inheritance laws, and only then to seek knowledge. After following this advice, he stayed with ʿAtaʾ for seventeen years. He also said he stayed eighteen years, and he slept in the masjid for twenty years. After that, he studied with ʿAmr ibn Dinar for nine years.
Recognition by scholars
ʿAtaʾ called him the leader of the youth of Hijaz. Ali ibn al-Madini mentioned him among six core transmitters of knowledge. Al-Walid ibn Muslim reported that he said he sought knowledge for the benefit of the people, unlike others who said they sought it for themselves. Yahya ibn Saʿid said Ibn Jurayj was more reliable than Malik in narrating from Nafiʿ. Ahmad said he and ʿAmr ibn Dinar were the most accurate in narrating from ʿAtaʾ. Ibn Maʿin and others said his books were books of trust.
Methodology in hadith
Ahmad warned that when Ibn Jurayj said “qala” or “balaghani,” the hadith might contain oddities, but when he said “samiʿtu” or “saʾaltu,” it was reliable. Abu Jaʿfar the caliph praised his hadith but disliked interpolations like “it reached me.” Malik called him a night-collector of hadith. He sometimes took reports by writing and permission only, which led to some mistakes, especially in narrating from al-Zuhri. He himself admitted he did not hear from al-Zuhri but was given a written part.
Praise and criticism
Ibn Maʿin said he was not reliable in narrating from al-Zuhri. Ahmad said he narrated from six old women of the Haram. Yahya ibn Saʿid said his direct narrations were sound, but his indirect ones were like wind. ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi said he had to summarise Ibn Jurayj’s hadith to memorise them. Mukhallad ibn al-Husayn said he had not seen anyone more truthful than him. ʿAbd al-Razzaq said he had not seen anyone pray better than him. The people of Makkah said his method of prayer came through ʿAtaʾ from Ibn al-Zubayr from Abu Bakr from the Prophet ﷺ.
Fiqh and worship
He was devout in worship. Abu ʿAsim said he used to fast all year except three days per month. He had a pious wife. Al-Shafiʿi said he had mutʿah marriages with ninety women and would apply oil to enhance strength for intercourse. He gave a dinar to a beggar once. He was described as one of the kings of Qur’an reciters.
Narration style and controversies
He narrated by ijazah and munawalah and was relaxed in this, which caused confusion. He was accused of narrating from people he had not met, like Wahb ibn Munabbih, ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb regarding zakah on orphan’s wealth, and Abu al-Zinad. Despite this, he was trustworthy and a memoriser. He was young when he studied under ʿAtaʾ and did not live past eighty.
His position in Makkah
After the Sahabah, the scholars of the Haram were ʿAtaʾ and Mujahid, then Qays ibn Saʿd and Ibn Jurayj, who eventually became the main imam. Muslim ibn Khalid al-Zanji learned from him, and Imam al-Shafiʿi studied under al-Zanji. Al-Shafiʿi and Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah were both very knowledgeable about Ibn Jurayj’s hadith.
Hadith compilations
His narrations are found abundantly in the six major books, the Musnad of Ahmad, the Muʿjam of al-Ṭabarani, and many other collections. He narrated nearly 1,000 prophetic hadiths, in addition to a vast amount of reports, disconnected sayings, and tafsir.
Examples of his hadith
He narrated: “Whoever conceals a Muslim, Allah will conceal him in this life and the next…” and “Whoever sits in a gathering and says before standing: Subhanak Allahumma wa bihamdika… will have his sins forgiven.” These hadiths were narrated through trustworthy chains.
A story from his life
He once travelled to Maʿn ibn Zaʾidah due to a debt and heard a slave-girl singing poetry from ʿUmar ibn Abi Rabiʿah that criticised long delays in returning to Makkah for Hajj. He wept and begged to return to Makkah. Maʿn sent him back with 2,000 dinars, and he arrived on the Day of ʿArafah.
Duration with ʿAtaʾ and title of knowledge
He remained with ʿAtaʾ for twenty-one Hajj seasons and feared missing his death. He said: no one documented this knowledge before me. He said: no one bested me in sitting to the left of ʿAtaʾ for twenty years. When asked why he did not sit to his right, he said: Quraysh used to overpower me on that side.
Travels and reports in Basra
He visited Iraq before his death and narrated extensively in Basra. On one occasion, he narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri, and when the people objected, he said he had stayed with ʿAtaʾ for twenty years and sometimes heard things from others about ʿAtaʾ that he had not heard from him directly.
His Death
He was born in 80 AH, the Year of al-Juhaf. The correct date of his death is 150 AH. Others said 149 or 151 AH, but the correct is 150. He lived seventy years. His birth and death matched those of Abu Hanifah.
Siyar A’lām al-Nubalā By Ad Dhahabi (6/325-338)
