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Mutarrif ibn al-Shikhkhir

مطرف بن عبد الله بن الشخير

706 CE · 87 AH

Basra

Mutarrif b. al-Shikhkhir (d. 87 or later) — the Basran ascetic-faqih whose father had Companionship; al-Shafi'i approved his ruling; the famous story of the man struck dead by his du'a in Basra's mosque 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Scholar
Era
The Umayyad Period

Life in time

625650675700725750775800 c. c. c.
The Early Abbasid Caliphate · The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate · The Umayyad Period Contemporaries: Abd al-A'la ibn Abdallah ibn Amir · Abd al-Malik ibn Abi Hurra · Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr · Abd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad ibn An'am · Abd Allah ibn Attab al-Basri al-Dimashqi (traditionist)

In space

Basra

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

In brief

Mutarrif b. Abdallah b. al-Shikhkhir, the imam Abu Abdallah al-Amiri al-Harashi of Basra; he was a chief in learning and practice, a figure of standing in Islam with presence in men's hearts. 2

Transmission and standing

He narrated from his father and from Ali, Ammar, Imran b. Husayn, A'isha, Iyad b. Himar, and Abdallah b. Mughaffal al-Muzani; his brother Yazid Abu al-Ala', Thabit b. Aslam al-Bunani, Sa'id al-Jariri, Qatada, Ghaylan b. Jarir, Muhammad b. Wasi', and a group narrated from him. Ibn Sa'd called him "reliable, distinguished, pious, intelligent, and mannered", and Ahmad b. Hanbal said that in Basra only Mutarrif b. al-Shikhkhir and Ibn Sirin escaped the trial of Ibn al-Ash'ath. Ghaylan b. Jarir relates that a man lied about him and Mutarrif prayed "O God, if it is a lie, then raise him dead from his place". 3

His death

He was a chiefly man of great rank who wore fine clothes, rode horses, and entered upon rulers; he died in 95 AH. 4

Connections

Explore the connections

Lived in
Basra

People and things also explored

Great Mosque of Basra· Qasr Qubadh / the Hajjaj palace at Basra· Abu Dawud's first journey: Baghdad, Basra and Mecca, 220/835· Al-Muwaffaq's three wishes: Abu Dawud settles at Basra, c. 272/885· Al-Ash'ari composes Maqalat al-Islamiyyin and his refutations of the Mu'tazila· Al-Ash'ari publicly renounces Mu'tazilism in the Great Mosque of Basra, 300/912-13· Al-Ash'ari, al-Jubba'i's pupil at Basra, and the three brothers debate· The Asawira's Settlement at Basra

Sources

  1. Wafayat al-A'yan wa-Anba' Abna' al-Zaman — Ibn Khallikan
  2. Tadhkirat al-huffaz — al-Dhahabi , j.1 p.64
  3. Tadhkirat al-huffaz — al-Dhahabi , j.1 p.64-65
  4. Tadhkirat al-huffaz — al-Dhahabi , j.1 p.65
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Mutarrif ibn al-Shikhkhir”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/mutarrif-ibn-al-shikhkhir/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-09.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Great Mosque of Basra

Basra's congregational mosque; Utba ibn Ghazwan built it of reeds in 14 AH — its layout claimed for himself, Nafi' ibn al-Adhra' al-Bahzi, Nafi' ibn al-Harith, and al-Aswad ibn Sari' who first judged in it — Abu Musa rebuilt it in mud-brick with mushab roofing, then Ziyad enlarged and rebuilt it in fired brick and gypsum with teak roofing, a stone minaret, the first maqsura, and columns hauled from Ahwaz's mountain by al-Hajjaj ibn Utayk and his son; he had pebbles strewn lest hand-dusting pass for sunnah, and the enforcers' harshness bred the saying 'lovely the governorship, even over stones'. Al-Mahdi bought the houses of Nafi' ibn al-Harith, Ubaydallah ibn Abi Bakra and Rabi'a ibn Kallada into it, and the governor's palace was taken in under al-Rashid.