Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr

Al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (Arabic: قاسم بن محمد‎‎) (born 36 or 38 AH; died 106 AHor 108 AH (corresponding to c. 660/662 and 728/730 AD)) was an important jurist in early Islam. He is considered the fourth in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain of Sufi masters. Naqshbandis also consider him to have passed the chain to his grandson Ja'far al-Sadiq. Al-Qāsim shouldn't be confused with Muhammad's son Qasim ibn Muhammad.

Al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr was born on a Thursday, in the holy month of Ramadan, on 36 / 38 AH (approximately).

Family

Shaykh Qāsim ibn Muhammad descended from Abu Bakr on his father’s side and from Ali ibn Abi Talib on his mother’s side. He was the grandson of the first Caliph Abu Bakr, and the son of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, one of Ali's earliest supporters. Moreover, his daughter Farwah bint al-Qasim was the mother of the sixth Shi'a Imam, Ja'far as-Sadiq. One of his sons was Abdu r-Rahman. Besides, he was the nephew of Aishah bint Abi Bakr.

Life

Aisha lived a very long time and taught her nephew Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr. Many Hadith are quoted through Qasim.

Al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr was one of the seven most famous jurists in Medina, and was considered as the most knowledgeable among them. He was highly influential in disseminating early traditions of hadith, fiqh (jurisprudence) and tafsir (exegesis) of the Qur'an.

He was a pious imam and was very knowledgeable in the narration of the Traditions. Abu Zannad said, "I never saw anyone better than him in following the Sunnah of the Prophet (s). In our time no one is considered perfect until he is perfect in following the Sunnah of the Prophet and Qasim is one of the perfected men."

He learned hadith and fiqh from his aunt and from Ibn Abbas. He was a transmitter of hadith and criticised the use of a hadith if its text was put before the Quran and established Sunnah.

He was among The Seven Fuqaha of Medina who were largely responsible for the transmission of knowledge from Medina and were the source of much of the information of Islam and the Sunnah available today.

He left and went to al-Qudayd, a place between Makkah and Madinah on the 9th of Muharram, where he died. The year was 108 (or 109) AH/730 or 731 CE, and he was seventy years old.

Abdu r-Rahman ibn Abi Zannad said that his father mentioned, "I did not see anyone who knew the Sunnah better than al-Qasim."

According to the 11th-century Hilyat al-Awliya: "He was able to extract the deepest juristic rulings and he was supreme in manners and ethics."

Imam Malik narrated that Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, considered the sixth rightly-guided caliph (after Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali and Hasan) said, "If it were in my hands, I would have made al-Qasim the caliph in my time."

Sufyan said, "Some people came to al-Qasim with charity which he distributed. After he distributed it, he went to pray. While he was praying, the people began to speak negatively about him. His son said to them, "You are speaking behind the back of a man who distributed your charity and did not take one dirham from it for himself." Quickly his father scolded him saying, Do not speak, but keep quiet." He wanted to teach his son not to defend him, as his only desire was to please God. He had no concern for the opinion of people.

Yahya ibn Sayyid said, "We never found, in our time in Madinah, anyone better than al-Qasim." Ayyub as-Saqityani said, "I have not seen anyone better than Imam Qasim. He left 100,000 dinars behind for the poor when he passed away, and it was all from his lawful earnings."

Legacy

His student, Abu'z-Zinad 'Abdullah ibn Dhakwan said about him:

"I never saw a faqih with more knowledge than al-Qasim. I never saw anyone who had more knowledge of the Sunna than him."

The Sunni Imam Malik related that Umar Ibn Abdul-Aziz said:

"If I had authority in the matter, I would appoint the blind one of Banu Taym," meaning al-Qasim ibn Muhammad.

• ^