Atiyya ibn Sa'd

Atiyya ibn Sād ibn Junada (Arabic: عطية بن سعد بن جنادة‎‎) belonged to the Judaila family of the tribe known as Qays and his patronymic appellation was Abdul Hasan according to al-Tabari. Some accounts suggest Atiyya's mother was a Roman slavegirl.

Name

Saad bin Junada i.e. the father of Atiyya is reported to have approached the fourth caliphate and the cousin of the prophet Mohammed, Ali ibn Abi Talib in Kufa and said: "O Commander of the Faithful! Allah has given me a son. Kindly propose his name." Ali said: "He is an atiyya (Arabic; gift) of Allah". Thus he was named Atiyya.

Lifetime

He fought with Ibn Ash’ath in his campaign against al-Hajjāj, the governor of the Iraqi provinces during the caliphate of the Umayyad al-Walid I. After Ibn Ash’ath was killed in 85 AH. Atiyya fled to Persia. Al-Hajjāj, who held staunch anti-Shi'a beliefs, wrote to Muhammad bin Qasim Thaqafi to summon Atiyya and ask him to curse Ali ibn Abi Talib and, in the event of his refusal to do so, to slash him four hundred times and to shave his head and beard. Muhammad summoned Atiyya and read over al-Hajjāj's letter to him so that he might choose one of the two alternatives. Atiyya declined to curse Ali and agreed to the alternative.

When Qutayba bin Muslim became the Governor of Khorasan Atiyya migrated there until Umar bin Habira became the Governor of Iraq. Atiyya wrote a letter to him seeking permission to return to Iraq. Umar accorded him permission and he went to Kufa and continued to reside there until he died in 111 AH.

Achievements

Saad is regarded as a reliable transmitter of Prophetic narrations, hadith, by al-Tabari. In addition, he was a great exegete of the Qur'an and wrote a commentary on it in five volumes. He was a student of the great Sahaba Abdullah ibn Abbas.

References

• Ayati, Ibrahim. A Probe Into the History of Ashura. Chapter 48. Published by: Islamic Seminary Publications, Karachi, Pakistan. Available online