Ibn Abi Shaybah


Ibn Abi Shaybah or Imam Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Shaybah or Abu Bakr 'Abdullaah bin Muhammad Ibn Abee Shaybah Ibraaheem bin 'Uthmaan Al-'Abasee Al-Koofee was an early Muslim scholar of hadith. He authored a musannaf work commonly known as Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah that is one of the earliest extant works in that genre.
Alongside Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ali ibn al-Madini and Yahya ibn Ma'in, Ibn Abi Shaybah has been considered by many Muslim specialists in hadith to be one of the four most significant authors in the field.

Biography

He was born in Kufah, Iraq in 159H. He was the author of large voluminous works such as Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Al-Musnad and others.
He heard from a large group of the scholars from the reliable and trustworthy Imaams, such as Sufyaan bin 'Uyainah, 'Abdullaah bin Al-Mubaarak and 'Abdur-Rahmaan bin Mahdee.
Imaam Ahmad Bin Hanbal and his son, 'Abdullaah, reported on his authority and he is from the shuyookh of the famous Imaams: Al-Bukhaari, Muslim, Abu Dawood and Ibn Maajah.
Abu 'Ubayd Al-Qaasim bin Salaam said: "The leading scholars of Hadeeth are four: The most knowledgeable of them of the Halaal and the Haraam is Ahmad bin Hanbal. The best at listing hadeeth and placing them in the right context is Ali ibn al-Madini. The best at writing a book is Ibn Abee Shaybah. And the most knowledgeable of which hadeeth are authentic and which are weak is Yahyaa bin Ma'een."
He added that: " the Hadeeth ultimately goes back to four : to Abu Bakr Ibn Abee Shaybah, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma'in and 'Alee Ibn Al-Madeenee. So Abu Bakr is the best among them at presenting it. Ahmad is the one with the most Fiqh of it among them. Yahyaa is best among them at gathering and collecting it. And 'Alee is the most knowledgeable amongst them of it."
Al-'Ijlee said: "He is reliable and a Haafidh."
Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdaadee said: "He was precise in his narration, memorized many ahaadeeth, and produced many works. He wrote the books Al-Musnad, Al-Ahkaam, and At-Tafseer."
Al-Haafidh Ad-Dhahabee described him as: "The Grand and unique Haafidh, and the one who is reliable."
He died at the age of 76.

Writings

Below is a summary of the discussion of Imam Ibn Abi Shyba available works in Maktabatus Shamila and published in Beirut, Lebnon.