Muhammad ibn Sirin

Muhammad ibn Sirin (33-110 AH / 654-729 CE), whose full name is Muhammad ibn Sirin al-Ansari al-Basri, was one of the leading scholars of Basra among the Tabiin, famous for three distinct aspects of his scholarly personality: his mastery of dream interpretation (tafsir al-ahlam), his strict adherence to hadith and insistence on the importance of the chain of narration (isnad), and his exceptional commercial and personal integrity. He was the son of Sirin, a freed slave of Anas ibn Malik who later became free and established himself as a craftsman.

Muhammad ibn Sirin studied under several major companions, including Anas ibn Malik (his father's former master), Abu Hurairah, Imran ibn Husayn, Ibn Abbas, and Aisha. He also studied extensively under leading Tabiin scholars of Basra, particularly al-Hasan al-Basri. He narrated hadith that are preserved in all six canonical collections, and his reliability as a narrator was universally accepted. His narrations cover prayer, purification, commerce, and many other areas of Islamic practice.

Ibn Sirin's most enduring contribution to Islamic intellectual history was his early insistence on the critical importance of the isnad (chain of narration). He is credited with the foundational methodological statement: "This knowledge is a matter of religion, so consider carefully from whom you take your religion" (inna hadha al-ilm din, fandhuru amma man takhudhuna dinakum). This principle became one of the cornerstones of the science of hadith criticism. He was among the earliest scholars to emphasize that a hadith must be evaluated not only by its text but by the trustworthiness of every person in its chain of transmission.

His book on dream interpretation — often attributed to him under the title Tafsir al-Ahlam — became the most famous and widely circulated work on the subject in Islamic literature. As a cloth merchant, Ibn Sirin was scrupulously honest to the point of informing buyers of any defects in his merchandise and returning dishonestly acquired profits. He reportedly once purchased cloth worth eighty thousand dirhams and then discovered a flaw he had not noticed, after which he refused to sell it until he had informed buyers of the issue. He died in Basra in 110 AH (729 CE), reportedly just one hundred days after his teacher al-Hasan al-Basri.