Yahya bin Sa'id

Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari al-Khazraji was one of the most authoritative and universally trusted Tabi'i scholars of Medina, regarded by scholars of all subsequent generations as a cornerstone of sound hadith transmission. He was born in Medina and narrated from the greatest scholars of his generation, including Anas ibn Malik, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Amra bint Abd al-Rahman, Abu Salama ibn Abd al-Rahman, and many others. He served as a judge in Medina and later in Iraq. Imam Malik relied on him so heavily that the Muwatta contains an enormous number of narrations through Yahya ibn Sa'id. He was trusted by Malik, al-Awza'i, Shu'ba, and virtually every major hadith scholar of the following generation. His narrations were taken as standards against which other narrations were compared, making him one of the central pillars of the Medinan hadith tradition. He passed away in 143 AH in al-Hashimiyya (near Kufa) while serving in a judicial role. His narrations are foundational in Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, the Muwatta, and all six major collections.