Sufyan al-Thawri

Infobox_Philosopher
region = Muslim scholar
era = Islamic golden age
color = #B0C4DE

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name = Sufyan ath-Thawri ibn Said
birth =
death = 778 CE / 161 "hijri"
school_tradition = Islam
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Sufyan al-Thawri ibn Said (716-778) was a "tabi'i" Islamic scholar, Hafiz, jurist and a hadith compiler from Kufa, of whom a great number of anecdotes are recorded. According to al-Tabari in his book Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and Their Successors, "....Sufyan al-Thawri [was] a student of tradition. [He] showed a leaning toward the Shi'ia ... he left for al-Basrah, where he met ['Abdallah] ibn 'Awn and Ayyub [al-Sakhtiyani] . He then Abandonod his Shi'i view."

Al-Thawri is reported to have regarded the jihad as an obligation only as a defensive war. [Angeliki E. Laiou, et al. (2001). "The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World." p. 23.] He was one of the 'Eight Ascetics,' who included (usual list) Amir ibn Abd al-Qays, Abu Muslim al-Khawlani, Uways al-Qarani, al-Rabi ibn Khuthaym, al-Aswad ibn Yazid, Masruq ibn al-Ajda', and Hasan al-Basri. It is said that he was offered high office positions during the Umayyad caliphate but consistently declined. [Fihrist, 225; Abu Nu`aym, V1. 356-93, VH. 3-144; EI, 1v. 500-2] He even refused to give to the Caliphs moral and religious advice and when asked why, he responded "When the sea overflows, who can dam it up?". [Michael Cook. (2003). "Forbidding Wrong in Islam: An Introduction". p. 77.] He was also quoted to have said to a friend of his "Beware of the rulers, of drawing close to and associating with them. Do not be deceived by being told that you can drive inequity away. All this is the deceit of the devil, which the wicked qurra' have taken as a ladder [to self promotion] ." [Muhammad Qasim Zaman. (1997). "Religion and Politics Under the Early 'Abbasids: The Emergence of the Proto-Sunni Elite". p. 79.] He spent the last year of his life hiding after a dispute between him and the caliph al-Mahdi.

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