Atiyah ibn Sa'd


Atiyah ibn Sa'd ibn Junādah al‐'Awfi was an early Shiite traditionist. He is regarded as a reliable narrator of hadith.

Family background

Atiyah belonged to the Judaila family of the tribe known as Qays and his patronymic appellation was Abdul Hasan according to al-Tabari. Atiyah's mother was Greek. Some accounts suggest that she was a Roman slave girl.
Sa'd bin Junadah i.e. the father of Atiyah is reported to have approached Ali, the fourth caliph and the cousin of the prophet Mohammed, and asked him to name him. Ali said: "He is an atiyah of Allah". Thus he was named Atiyah.

Lifetime and Legacy

Arba'een Walk

After the battle of Karbala, the companion of Prophet Muhammad, Jabir ibn Abdullah Al-Ansari and his disciple Atiyah ibn Sa'd were the first pilgrims to visit the grave of Hussain ibn Ali in Karbala. Hearing the news of what had happened, they left Medina to pay homage and reached Karbala on the 20th of the Islamic month of Safar. This event has evolved into a religious pilgrimage, known as the Arba'een, attended by millions of Muslims every year.

Revolt of Al-Ash'ath

Atiyah supported the revolt of Al-Ash'ath and his campaign against al-Hajjāj, the Umayyad viceroy of Iraq under Caliph Al-Walid I. The revolt was suppressed and Al-Ash’ath was killed in 85 AH. after which Atiyah fled to Fars. Al-Hajjāj ordered Muhammad bin Qasim then governor of Fars, to summon Atiyah and demand him to curse Ali, which was a practice used by the Umayyads as a test of loyalty. If Atiyah refused, he was to be flogged four hundred times and his head and beard shaved as humiliation. Al-Tabari narrates that Atiyah refused to curse Ali and he was punished.

Conquest of Sind

Atiyah joined the invasion force of Muhammad bin Qasim in his campaign on Sind. According to Chachnama, he was the commander of the right wing of bin Qasim's army after the conquest of Armabil. Al-Tabari, Ibn Sa'ad and Ibn Hajar give accounts of Atiyah's sojourn in Sind.

Khorasan

Al-Tabari's biography states that Atiyah moved to Khorasan and stayed there during the governorship of Qutayba ibn Muslim. After the accession of Yazid II and the appointment of Umar ibn Hubayra as the Governor of Iraq, he sought permission to return to Iraq. He then moved to Kufa lived there until his death in 111 AH / 729 CE.

Scholarly Impact

Atiyah ibn Sa'd is regarded as a reliable transmitter of Prophetic narrations, hadith, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and al-Tabari. In addition, he was a great exegete of the Qur'an and wrote a commentary on it in five volumes. He was a student of the great Sahaba Abdullah ibn Abbas and Jabir ibn Abd Allah al-Ansari.