Muhammad ibn Saad ibn Manee’ of Basrah is a widely known scholar of the early Islamic period. He is included in most biographical books, and several Orientalists have written articles about him and his famous book. Nevertheless, we do not have enough information to give an outline of his character. He is a historian who does not allow his writings to reflect his own personal image. What is ironic in all this is that Muhammad ibn Saad is the author who has given us many a biography delineating the personal traits, sometimes with meticulous details, of many Islamic figures.
Muhammad ibn Saad was born in Basrah in 168 AH, corresponding to 785 CE. He traveled to Baghdad where he lived for many years, studying under his well-known teacher, Muhammad ibn Umar Al-Waqidi. He also traveled to Kufah and Madinah. There is no doubt that his trip to Madinah was prior to 200 AH, as he reports meeting several scholars there, many of whom died before the beginning of the third century.
When he traveled his main occupation was to meet scholars, particularly scholars of Hadith, to read under them, and to collect books. Hence, he was able to meet many of the most distinguished contemporary figures in the study of Hadith. He is described by scholars as one who has transmitted numerous Hadiths and read a large number of books.
This suggests that he authored several books, and had many interests, but historical sources mention only three of his books which are really one book, known as Al-Tabaqat. The other two are a summary of this book, and the life of the Prophet, which is perhaps an extraction of Al-Tabaqat, as the first two volumes of this book are devoted to the history of the Prophet and his life.
A careful reading of his book Al-Tabaqat will reveal that Muhammad ibn Saad studied under famous scholars such as Sufyan ibn Uaynah, Wakee’ ibn Al-Jarrah, Sulaiman ibn Harb, and many others. These teachers take their rank among scholars of the highest caliber, who are classified by most Hadith scholars as highly reliable. Hence, Muhammad ibn Saad came for much praise by experts in judging Hadith reporters.
Thus, Al-Khateeb says: "We consider Ibn Saad as reliable. His reporting indicates that he takes meticulous care in most of what he reports." Ibn Khillikan describes him as "truthful and reliable." Imam Ibn Hajar gives him a similar approval and says: "He is one of the top reliable and meticulous scholars." Indeed critical scholars place him in their ranking higher than his teacher, Al-Waqidi.
Although Ibn Saad was highly interested in Hadith, biographies and history, he did not confine himself to these. He appears to have given linguistic study fair attention, and mastered all methods of reciting the Qur’an.
The book that kept Ibn Saad’s name well-known in scholarly circles up to our present time, and is likely to keep it that way for ever, is known for short as Al-Tabaqat, while its full name is Kitab Al-Tabaqat Al-Kabeer. It is an encyclopedic work which the author intended to take up to 15 volumes, serving the Sunnah and Hadith scholarship.
Ibn Saad devotes the first two volumes of his book to the history of the Prophet’s life, and completes the second volume with a chapter that includes a biography of the Prophet’s companions who looked at certain cases and ruled on them during the Prophet’s lifetime. The rest of his book includes the biographies of the Prophet’s companions and the generation that succeeded them, i.e. tabieen. The last volume is devoted to biographies of women in those two generations.
The title of the book, Al-Tabaqat, means The Rankings, and the same title lent itself to a long series of biographical books speaking on different groups of people, such as scholars belonging to a particular school of Fiqh. In his classification, Ibn Saad takes into consideration two important elements: time and geographical location. From the time viewpoint, Ibn Saad attaches much importance to seniority in embracing and serving Islam. He chooses certain points of reference, such as the emigration of a number of the early Muslims to Abyssinia, the Battle of Badr, the fall of Makkah to Islam, etc.
Hence, he begins with the Muhajireen, i.e. the Muslims from Makkah who migrated with the Prophet to Madinah, and who took part in the Battle of Badr, followed by those who fought in the same battle from the Ansar, i.e. the Muslims of Madinah. The next rank is given to those who embraced Islam in its early days but did not fight in Badr, such as those who immigrated to Abyssinia, then those who fought in the Battle of Uhud, then those who embraced Islam before the fall of Makkah.
After that, the second element of geographical location begins to play a role in the classification. Ibn Saad begins here to classify the Prophet’s companions and their successors on the basis of the cities or areas in which they later settled, beginning with Madinah, Makkah and Taif, followed by those who settled in Yemen, Yamamah, Kufah and Basrah. Next are those who lived in Syria and Egypt and other areas.
Further sub-classes begin to appear as well, but the time element continues to play an important role in addition to the geographical one. This is particularly noticeable in the biographies of tabieen, whom he lists in classes, each extending over a period of approximately 20 years.
This classification had one main drawback, which is the case of those who could come under several headings, such as a person who attended Badr, and was a scholar giving rulings during the time of the Prophet, and later settled in a particular city or province. This means that he would have to have three entries. Indeed Ibn Saad lists such a person three times, but gives the most detailed biography in one of them, adding only very brief notes in the other two entries.
We note that Ibn Saad provides more extensive details on the early companions of the Prophet, and other early categories, and that the later the group, the less detailed the biography. In all he is very accurate, which greatly adds to the value of the book.
Ibn Saad’s Al-Tabaqat is one of the earliest books on classified biographies, although his teacher, Al-Waqidi, took the lead in this area. Indeed, Ibn Saad relies heavily on Al-Waqidi’s book, but is by no means limited to what he learnt from his teacher. He has many other sources. As a leader in this field, Ibn Saad’s book influenced most of those who wrote classified biographies in later generations.
In 1903, a number of Orientalists worked on editing the manuscripts of this book and published it in a fine edition. It was published many times afterwards, with the new editions based on that early one. It is invaluable as a book of reference covering the early periods of Islam, through the biographies of those who lived in that period.
Ibn Saad died in Baghdad in 230 AH, at the age of 62. May God shower His mercy on him.
