Ata ibn Abi Rabah

Ata ibn Abi Rabah (27-114 AH / 647-732 CE), whose full name is Ata ibn Abi Rabah al-Qurashi al-Makki, was the grand mufti of Mecca among the Tabiin and the undisputed foremost authority on the rituals of Hajj and Umrah in his generation. He was of Yemeni and Nubian descent, originally a freed slave (mawla) of the Quraysh in Mecca, who rose purely through his extraordinary knowledge to become the most consulted religious authority in the holiest city of Islam. His kunya was Abu Muhammad.

Ata studied under approximately two hundred companions, making him one of the most comprehensively educated scholars of his generation. His teachers included the greatest of the companions: Abdullah ibn Abbas (who was the principal source of his Hajj knowledge and Quranic exegesis), Abdullah ibn Umar, Abu Hurairah, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Aisha, and many others. Ibn Abbas himself deferred to Ata on questions related to Hajj, reportedly telling questioners: "Why do you come to me when Ata ibn Abi Rabah is among you in Mecca?" This public acknowledgment from the Quran's foremost interpreter established Ata's unrivaled authority in matters of pilgrimage.

Ata's knowledge was not limited to Hajj. He was a versatile and prolific jurist whose legal opinions covered the full range of fiqh, and his rulings on prayer, purity, trade, family law, and other matters were cited by scholars across the Muslim world. He served as the mufti of Mecca, the most prestigious scholarly position in Arabia, for decades. His physical disability — he walked with a limp and had a disability in one arm — along with his dark complexion, meant that his outward appearance was unprepossessing, yet rulers and scholars alike would rise in his honor out of reverence for his knowledge.

Both Imam Malik and Imam ash-Shafii transmitted from him and held him in the highest regard. He died in Mecca in 114 AH (732 CE), having spent a lifetime in service of the Sacred Mosque and in teaching the rites of Hajj and the knowledge of Islam to the pilgrims who came from every part of the world.