The Madīnan School: Sulaymān ibn Yasār
He is Abū Ayyūb Sulaymān ibn Yasār al-Hilālī al-Madanī (raḥimahullāh), one of the Seven Fuqahāʾ of Madīnah. Born in Madīnah in the year 34 AH, during the Khilāfah of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān. His father Yasār was of Persian origin and a mawlā of Umm al-Muʾminīn Maymūnah bint al-Ḥārith; Sulaymān himself was her mawlā (and in some reports had been under a kitābah contract with Umm Salamah). His brothers included the well-known scholar ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, as well as ʿAbd al-Malik and ʿAbdullāh.
He sought knowledge from the senior Companions of Madīnah. He narrated from Zayd ibn Thābit, Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn ʿUmar, Abū Hurayrah, ʿĀʾishah, Umm Salamah, Maymūnah, Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh, and others. He rose to become one of the foremost authorities in fiqh and ḥadīth in the city. Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib would direct those who came to him for fatwā to Sulaymān, saying: “Go to Sulaymān ibn Yasār, for he is the most knowledgeable of those who remain today.” Imām Mālik said that Sulaymān was among the most learned of the people after Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib and that he frequently agreed with Saʿīd’s views. Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah declared: “Sulaymān ibn Yasār is more understanding than Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib in our view.”
The later historians and ḥuffāẓ confirmed this high standing. Adh-Dhahabī described him as “the faqīh, the imām, the scholar of Madīnah and its muftī,” and recorded the consensus of the early authorities upon his excellence. Ibn Saʿd said: “He was thiqah, ʿālim, of elevated rank, a faqīh, and abundant in ḥadīth.” Abū Zurʿah said: “Maʾmūn, virtuous, and a worshipper.” An-Nasāʾī counted him among the imāms. The early biographers are agreed upon his reliability, deep understanding, and piety.
His major students included Muḥammad ibn Shihāb az-Zuhrī, Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, Abū az-Zinād, Bukayr ibn al-Ashajj, and others who carried the knowledge of Madīnah forward. ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz appointed him over the market of Madīnah while he was governor of the city.
He was known for his deep worship and continuous fasting; Abū az-Zinād reported that Sulaymān used to fast the entire year (ṣawm ad-dahr), while his brother ʿAṭāʾ fasted one day and broke the next. He was also noted for his personal integrity. A well-known incident is related in which a woman attempted to seduce him; he fled his own house rather than yield.
He died in Madīnah in the year 107 AH at approximately seventy-three years of age, Rahimahullāh.
(Named by an-Nasāʾī among the Tābiʿīn of the fuqahāʾ of Madīnah, after ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUtbah.)
