The t膩bi士奴n (
Arabic: 丕賻賱鬲賻賾丕亘賽毓購賵賳賻, also accusative or genitive t膩bi士墨n丕賻賱鬲賻賾丕亘賽毓賽賷賳賻, singular t膩bi士鬲賻丕亘賽毓賹), "followers" or "successors", are the generation of
Muslims who followed the
companions (峁岣ツ乥a) of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad, and thus received their teachings secondhand.[1] A t膩bi士 knew at least one 峁岣ツ乥墨.[2] As such, they played an important part in the development of
Islamic thought and knowledge, and in the political development of the early
caliphate.
The next generation of Muslims after the tabi士奴n are called the t膩bi士 at-t膩bi士墨n鬲賻丕亘賽毓購賵 俦賱鬲賻賾丕亘賽毓賽賷賳賻. The first three generations of Muhammad's followers make up the salaf爻賻賱賻賮購 of Islam.
Sunni definition
Muslims from the Sunni branch of Islam define a t膩bi士 as a Muslim who:
Saw at least one of the companions of Muhammad
Was rightly-guided (ar-r膩拧id奴n)
One who died in that state. The
Khawarij are therefore not referred to as t膩bi士奴n even though they saw many of Muhammad's companions.
Sunni Muslims also regard the t膩bi士奴n as the best generation after the companions. According to
Sunni Muslims, Muhammad said: "The best people are those living in my generation, then those coming after them, and then those coming after (the second generation)"[3]
The t膩bi士奴n are divided by most Muslim scholars into three classes:[4]
The students of companions who accepted Islam before the conquest of Mecca
The students of companions who accepted Islam after the conquest of Mecca
The students of companions who were not yet adults at the time of Muhammad's passing
List of t膩bi士奴n
The first t膩bi士 to die was Zayd ibn Ma'mar ibn Zayd, 30 years after the
hijra, and the last to die was Khalaf ibn Khalifa, who died in 180 AH. Alternatively, since the status of Khalaf ibn Khalifa as a t膩bi士 is strongly challenged by reputed scholars, the last to die from amongst them may have been Jarir bin Haazim in 170 AH. Therefore, many of the t膩bi士奴n were tasked with the preservation of Islamic traditions from the era of the companions to later Muslims.[4]
Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla al-Kindi (d. 701), transmitter of traditions on Ali and the companions, joined the uprising of
Ibn al-Ash'ath and killed at the
Battle of Dayr al-Jamajim.[5]
^Morony, Michael G. (1984). Iraq after the Muslim Conquest. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 435, 467.
ISBN0-691-05395-2.
^Meri, Josef W. (October 31, 2005).
Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 5.
ISBN9781135456030. Abu Hanifa is counted among the most illustrious of the Tabi'un (literally "the successors,"which refers to the second generation of Muslims), and some sources relate that he met at least four Companions of the Prophet
^脰nc眉 S没f卯lerden Fudayl b.鈥業y芒d鈥櫮眓 (枚l. 187/802) 陌lm卯 艦ahsiyeti." 艦谋rnak 脺niversitesi 陌lahiyat Fak眉ltesi Dergisi 11.24 (2020): 159-185. "..Tabi'un are the people who followed Sahaba, the companions of the prophet), is one of the important names in the history of Islamic science. Fudayl, who was an Arab, spent his life in three regions: Khorasan, Kufa, and Mecca. Names such as Abu Hanifa, Mansur bin Mu'temir.."