Mahmood Abu Maryam, Trying to make sense of it all... Answered 3 years ago

I wish to add some more names and details to complement the respected Sayyid al-Musawi's clear response to this question.

Overall, a good book one can refer to for names of the nawasib - enemies of the Ahl al-bayt (a) - who appear in Sunni hadith is Hashim Ma`ruf al-Hasani's Dirasat fi’l hadith wa’l muhaddithin published in Beirut.

Here are some more examples of such ignoble people appearing in Sunni hadith sources.

1. `Umar b. Sa`d

`Umar b. Sa`d needs no introduction for those aware of the details of the tragedy of Karbala. This son of Sa`d b. Abi Waqqas, the companion of the Prophet (s), led the troops on the ground against Imam al-Husayn (a).

Al-Tabari quotes Ibn Sa`d, after the Imam (a) had been mercilessly killed: 

Then `Umar b. Sa’d called out among his followers, "Who will volunteer [to go] to al-Husayn and make his horse trample on al-Husayn’s body?" Ten volunteered. Among them was Ishaq b. Haywah al-Hadrami, who was the one who stole al-Husayn’s shirt and later got leprosy, and Ahbash b. Marthad b. ‘Alqamah b. Salamah al-Hadrami. They trampled on the body of al-Husayn with their horses until they had crushed his back and his chest. I learned that some time later an arrow from an unknown direction hit Ahbash b. Marthad as he was standing in a battle. It split his heart, and he died. (Al-Tabari, al-Ta’rikh, translated into English as ‘History of al-Tabari – The Caliphate of Yazid b. Mu’awiyah’, Howard, pp. 163) 

Some example of the Prophet’s (s) hadith quoted by Sunni scholars on the authority of `Umar b. Sa`d! 

  • Al-Tirmidhi, Sunan, kitab sifat al-janna `an rasulillah, volume 4, page 678 
  • Al-Nasa’i, al-Sunan al-mujtaba, kitab tahrim al-dam, volume 7, page 121 
  • Al-Nasa’i, al-Sunan al-kubra’, volume 6, page 263 
  • Al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-kubra, volume 3, page 375 
  • Ahmad b. Hanbal, al-Tabarani, and others. 

2. `Abd al-Rahman b. `Abza

`Abd al-Rahman b. `Abza (or `Abzi) al-Khuza`i was a companion of the Prophet (s). He was present with the troops of Ibn Ziyad who fought and killed Imam al-Husayn (a). (See al-Dinawari, al-Akhbar al-Tiwal, page 298).

See some of the narrations by him in: 

  • Al-Bukhari, Sahih, kitab al-tayammum, volume 1, page 129 
  • Muslim, Sahih, kitab al-hayd, volume 1, page 280 
  • Al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Maja, and many others 

3. al-Harith b. Yazid al-Kufi

Al-Harith b. Yazid al-`Akali al-Taymi al-Kufi seems to the al-Harith b. Yazid b. Ruwaym on whose services Ibn Ziyad called upon by sending him from his own base in Kufa to join `Umar b. Sa`d’s army (See al-Dinawari, al-Akhbar al-Tiwal, page 254). No other ‘al-Harith b. Yazid’s in rijal lexicons seem to hail from Kufa.

See his narrations in: 

  • Al-Bukhari, Sahih, kitab al-`itq, volume 2, page 898 
  • Muslim, Sahih, kitab fada’il al-sahaba, volume 4, page 1957 
  • Al-Nasa’i, Ibn Maja, and others. 

4. Shabath b. Rib`i

Abu `Abd al-Quddus Shabath b. Rib`i al-Tamimi al-Yarbu`i was a man with a checkered background. A companion of the Prophet (s), he used to be once on the side of Imam ‘Ali (a), then joined the Khawarij and later was part of Ibn Ziyad’s troops in Karbala fighting Imam al-Husayn (a)!

See: 

  • al-Dinawari, al-Akhbar al-Tiwal, page 254; 
  • al-`Asqalani, al-‘Isaba, volume 3, page 376 
  • al-`Asqalani, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, volume 4, page 266. 

From al-Tabari, from the scene of the battle of Karbala: 

He (i.e.`Umar b. Sa`d) put `Azrah b. Qays al-Ahmasi in command of the cavalry and Shabath b. Rib`i al-Yarbu`i in command of the footsoldiers. (Al-Tabari, al-Ta’rikh, translated into English as ‘History of al-Tabari – The Caliphate of Yazid b. Mu’awiyah’, Howard, pp. 121) 

Some narrations from Shabath in: 

  • Abu Dawud, Sunan, kitab al-‘adab, volume 4, page 315. 
  • Al-Nasa’i, al-Sunan al-kubra’, volume 6, page 204. 

5. Qadi Shurayh

Abu Umayyah Shurayh b. al-Harith b. Qays al-Kindi was a judge in Kufa. He connived with the Umayyad authorities in Kufa in suppressing the Shi’a and supporters of Imam al-Husayn (a) from rallying to the call of Muslim b. `Aqil and Hani’ b. `Urwa shortly before the onset of the battle of Karbala. He had a share in the responsibility for the murder of Hani’ by Ibn Ziyad (See al-Dinawari, al-Akhbar al-Tiwal, page 238).

Shurayh narrates traditions in: 

  • Al-Nasa’i, Sunan, kitab al-`umra, volume 6, page 277 
  • Ahmad b. Hanbal’s al-Musnad, and other books. 

There are many other narrators who cursed and hated Imam ‘Ali (a), as confirmed by Sunni books of rijal, and are yet present in major Sunni books narrating Prophetic hadith.

Here is a list that has been gathered from several sources, particularly al-Hasani’s work mentioned above. The list is in no particular order and there are quite likely to be more such narrators that could not be identified and included.

  1. Hurayz (or Hariz) b. ‘Uthman
  2. Busr b. Artat 
  3. `Urwah b. al-Zubayr
  4. Abu Bardah b. Abu Musa al-Ash`ari
  5. Ishaq b. Suwayd b. Hubayrah
  6. Husayn b. Numayr al-Wasiti
  7. Dawud b. al-Husayn al-Madani
  8. Muhammad b. Ziyad al-Alhani, Abu Sufyan al-Himsi
  9. al-Mughirah b. Muqsim, Abu Hisham
  10. `Abdullah b. Salim al-Ash`ari al-Himsi
  11. Qays b. Abi Hazim al-Bajali
  12. Thawr b. Zayd al-Daylami
  13. al-Walid b. Kathir bar Yahya al-Madani
  14. Walid b. `Uqba
  15. `Abdullah b. Abi Sarh
  16. Ash’ath b. Qays
  17. Marwan b. al-Hakam
  18. Abu Bakra Nafee` al-Thaqafi
  19. Ahmad b. Abdah Musa Janabi
  20. Ishaq b. Suwayd b. Hubayrah al-`Adwi al-Taymi
  21. Isma`il b. Samee` al-Hanafi
  22. Thawr b. Yazid Kala’i al-Himsi, Abu Khalid
  23. Jarir b. `Abdullah al-Bajali
  24. Habib b. Maslama
  25. Khalid b. Salamah al-Kufi
  26. Khalid b. Abdullah al-Qasri
  27. Rashid b. Sa`d Maqrahi
  28. Rafi` b. Khadeej
  29. Ziyad b. `Alaqah
  30. Sa`id b. al-`As al-Umawi
  31. Sa`id b. al-Musayyab
  32. Samurah b. Jundab
  33. Shaqeeq b. Salamah al-Asadi
  34. `Abd al-Rahman b. Habib (Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Aslami)
  35. `Abdullah b. al-Zubayr
  36. `Abdullah b. Zayd Abu Qalaba
  37. `Abdullah b. Salim
  38. `Abd al-`Aziz b. Marwan
  39. `Abd al-Malik b. Marwan al-‘Umawi
  40. `Uthman b. `Asim
  41. `Umar b. Thabit al-Ansari al-Khazraji
  42. `Imran b. Husayn
  43. `Amr b. `Abdullah, Abu Ishaq al-Sabi’I
  44. Masruq b. Ajdah
  45. Nafi` b. ‘Amr, Abu Sa`ud al-Ansari
  46. Hisham b. Isma`il
View 1 other response to this question