Ata ibn Abi Rabah

Ata was born in the town of Muwalladi l-Janad in Yemen. Although early biographical sources differ on the exact year of his birth, it is generally accepted he was born towards the beginning of Uthman ibn Affan's reign, . His mother was a Nubian basket weaver while his father, named Aslam, is described as being dark-skinned and flat-nosed. Ata was a cripple and possessed a limp, and while he was born with one healthy eye, he later went completely blind. == Life as a scholar ==

Ata was raised in Mecca as a mawla (client) of the Qurayshi Abu Khuthaym al-Fihri, where he worked as a Quran teacher, before being recognised for his expertise in fiqh. He was later appointed mufti of the city by the Umayyads and taught in the Great Mosque, in which he also lived during the latter years of his life. While in Mecca, Ata met with and transmitted hadith from several companions of Muhammad, including Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurairah and Jabir ibn Abd Allah. In 93 AH/711 CE, he was imprisoned on suspicion of being a murji' at the behest of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, but was later released. Biographical sources disagree on the year of his death, but it is likely he died . == Legacy ==

Piety Narrations in biographical works present Ata as a pious and virtuous man. He reportedly only wore simple clothing, performed the Hajj over seventy times, and, despite reaching an advanced age, was able to recite 200 verses of Al-Baqarah in salah without moving. Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq Ata is frequently cited as one of Ibn Jurayj's authorities in the Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq. In a sample of 3,810 narrations selected by Harald Motzki, 39% of those ascribed to Ibn Jurayj are adduced from Ata. Ata relates a tradition in only 20% of these narrations, with the remaining 80% being his own ''ra'y''. Of the authorities cited in his traditions, 15% are companions of Muhammad, 10% are Quranic verses and 5% are hadith from Muhammad. According to Motzki, Ibn Jurayj attempted to reproduce Ata's narrations faithfully and the corpus lacked signs of fabrication. == Further reading ==