4 of 4 · 8 AH – c. 58 AH · the Conquest and after · Makkah and Madinah
Jubayr ibn Mut'im رضي الله عنه
The Keeper of Lineages
Jubayr was with the Muslims at the Conquest of Makkah and at Hunayn. On the road back from Hunayn he saw the Bedouins crowd around the Prophet ﷺ, asking for the spoils, so closely that they pulled his cloak onto a thorn tree. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Give me my cloak. If I had as many sheep as these trees, I would divide them among you, and you would not find me stingy, nor a liar, nor a coward" (Sahih al-Bukhari 3148).
He learned the genealogies of the Arabs from Abu Bakr, who was the greatest authority on them, and became so skilled that he was asked about the lineages of the Quraysh and the tribes. He used his knowledge for family ties: the Prophet ﷺ said that one who cuts the ties of kinship will not enter Paradise (Sahih al-Bukhari 5984), and Jubayr narrated this.
He lived in Madinah until his death, in the time of Mu'awiyah, around 58 AH; the sources differ by several years. His son Nafi' and his other descendants carried his hadith, and his generous father's protection of the Prophet ﷺ was remembered along with his own long service to the community.
Knowledge of one's people is a trust when it is used to join ties and to give each person his due.
How well do you know your own family's story, and are you keeping the ties?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3148 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5984 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, al-Isti'ab fi Ma'rifat al-AshabHistorical report
- al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'Historical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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