ভূমিকা

He was a poet[^3] and a genealogist[^4] who would look for the chains of narrators in the traditions[^5]. He would strive in the quest for knowledge and would guard it. He kept aloof from the events and turmoil of his time[^6].

He believed in the dissemination of knowledge among the people and used to say: ‘In the spread of knowledge there is the strengthening of religion and worldly life and in the path of knowledge all this comes together[^7].’ He studied about the seerah from Sa’eed bin al-Musayyab, ‘Urwa bin Zubayr and ‘Ubaydallah bin ‘Abdullah bin Utbah, and in his attitude towards his teachers, he displayed exemplary ethics and morals. He would accompany them, serve them and show the utmost reverence to them[^8].

Zuhri made efforts to author some works. He would write down what he heard. When his works became known, people turned to him and benefitted greatly from his knowledge. Zuhri started with Hadith, History and Expeditions. He wrote so much that his writings had to be carried on the backs of animals. When he died, he was in such a position that there was none more learned than him in history.[^9] His knowledge was disseminated through his narrators.

The most famous of them who lived in Haramayn and Hijāz included: ‘Umar bin Dinar, Yahya bin Sa’eed al-Ansāri, Musa bin ‘Uqba and others.

From those who lived in Iraq, the most important ones included: ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umayr, Ismā’il bin Abi Khālid, ‘Atā ibn Sā’ib; and from the other places like Syria and Egypt, there were Mansur bin Sādhān, ‘Abd al-Karim Jazari, Thawr bin Yazid and others.[^10] The merits of Zuhri’s accounts of the expeditions over other works are as follows: They were written with sincerity, honesty, clarity and eloquence.

Zuhri had met some of the companions who participated in battles with the Prophet (S) and he has narrated from them about the wars and the strategies of the Holy Prophet (S). The most important of them are: Abdullah bin ‘Umar, Anas bin Mālik, Suhayl bin Sa’d and others[^11]. Similarly, in al-Musannaf (vol.