Generation IV
تَبَع التَّابِعِين
Followers of the followers — the third generation after the Prophet ﷺ. Among them are the four great Imams of Islamic jurisprudence, whose systematic scholarship transformed the Sunnah into a living legal and spiritual tradition practiced by Muslims worldwide to this day.
711–795 CE
Imam Malik ibn Anas (RH)
Imam Dar al-Hijrah — Imam of the Abode of Migration
Imam Malik ibn Anas (RH) was the founder of the Maliki school of jurisprudence and the leading scholar of Madinah in his era. His Muwatta is…
12 narrations
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767–820 CE
Imam al-Shafi'i (RH)
Nasir al-Sunnah — Defender of the Sunnah
Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (RH) was the founder of the Shafi'i school and the architect of the science of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-…
12 narrations
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716–778 CE
Sufyan al-Thawri (RH)
Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith — Commander of the Faithful in Hadith
Sufyan ibn Sa'id al-Thawri (RH) was one of the greatest hadith scholars, jurists, and ascetics of the early Islamic period. Born in Kufa, he…
12 narrations
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736–797 CE
Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (RH)
Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith — Scholar, Merchant, and Warrior
Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (RH) was one of the most remarkable figures in Islamic history — simultaneously a foremost hadith scholar, a success…
12 narrations
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780–855 CE
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (RH)
Imam Ahl al-Sunnah — Imam of the People of the Sunnah
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal (RH) was the founder of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence and one of the greatest hadith scholars in Islamic…
12 narrations
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