Abu Burda ibn Abi Musa al-Ash'ari

Abu Burda ibn Abi Musa al-Ash'ari, a Successor who transmitted from his father Abu Musa al-Ash'ari the hadith of the "bit'" and the "muzr", in which every intoxicant is forbidden. It is the forty-sixth hadith of Ibn Rajab's additions to the Forty. ¹

The entry says that al-Bukhari (4343) and Muslim (1733) transmitted it. In the report he was asked about the "bit'" and said it is honey-wine, and the "muzr" is barley-wine. ¹

The summary notes that al-Mas'udi calls him Amir and makes him a Kufan who died in the days of Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik, but "Meadows of Gold" is not among the sources of this entity. This needs an additional source.

Amir ibn Abi Musa, Abu Burda, is according to the accepted opinion one of the first of Kufa. Apart from being a son of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, little that can be considered authentic is known of his life and work. As a member of the aristocracy he was appointed to the treasury (Ibn Sa'd). He appears among the notables of Kufa in 51 AH (671), giving evidence against the followers of Hujr ibn 'Adi (printed as Hudir in the scan), and in 76 AH (695-696) doing homage to the Kharijite insurgent Shabib ibn Yazid. He is generally taken to have been qadi of Kufa, but early sources give contradictory reports of the circumstances of his appointment, of his predecessor and successor, and of the length of his tenure. ²

Abu Burda died in 103 AH (721-722), or, by another account, in 101 AH (722-723), at an advanced age. The entry holds that the traditional biography reflects an absence of positive information, combined with the wish to fit his name into a fictitious picture of the early development of Islamic law and justice. He played no part in forming the doctrine of the school of Kufa. Anecdotes about his judgements, about the Prophet ﷺ's instructions to Mu'adh and about 'Umar's instructions on justice appear late. His reputation as a traditionist grew because his name was used in "family isnads", which authenticated sayings his father was claimed to have related; his son Bilal became qadi of Basra. ²