Authored by: Hafiz Muhammad Anwar Zahid (Hafizahullah)
Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Maryam belonged to the tribe of Ghassan and was a resident of Homs. His father’s name was Abdullah, and his kunyah was Abu Maryam. His own kunyah was Abu Bakr. However, there exists significant disagreement about his actual name:
Imam al-Dhahabi mentions:
He is considered weak in the view of the scholars of Hadith. His narrations are found in the collections of Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah. Despite this, he was known to be extremely devout in worship. Abu al-Yaman, Baqiyyah, Babulti, and others narrated from him.
Imam Ahmad and others say:
He is weak and commits many errors in narrating Hadith.
Ibn ‘Adiyy says:
He is not reliable as evidence (ḥujjah). Ibn ‘Adiyy considered many of his narrations to be rejected (munkar).
Ibn Ḥibbān states:
His memory was extremely poor. If he narrates something alone, it cannot be accepted as evidence.
Baqiyyah narrates:
Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Maryam’s village was full of olive trees, and there wasn’t a single tree toward which he had not faced during nightlong prayers. He would constantly be seen weeping.
Jawzajani mentions:
He was a very pious man and passed away in 156 AH.
Sources Referenced:
Mezan al-I‘tidal T5407, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 12/38/139, Taqrib al-Tahdhib 2/398, Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’ 7/64, al-Ṭabarī 1/2071, Ṭabaqat Ibn Sa‘d 7/487, al-Tarikh al-Kabir 9/9, al-Mughni 7340, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id 1/188
While this individual may appear to be a greatly elevated spiritual figure, the claim that he would face every tree to perform prayers is beyond common comprehension. Possibly, this may be considered some stage in spiritual journey (sulūk), since Sufis typically do not attain such states within populated areas, thus seeking solitude in the wilderness.
However, it is also entirely possible that this incident is fabricated, since the narrator of this story is Baqiyyah, a known extremist Shi‘a. In fact, Abu Sa‘īd, a Hadith scholar, has made an excellent remark about Baqiyyah:
أحاديث بقيه، ليست نقيه، فكن منها على التقيه
The narrations of Baqiyyah are not pure, so beware of them.
Readers must remember that Abbas رضي الله عنهما, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, was only one and a half to two years older than the Prophet ﷺ. His son, Abdullah رضي الله عنه, famously known as Ibn Abbas, from whose lineage the Abbasid Caliphs descend, was born just two years before the migration to Madinah.
Therefore, all narrations attributed to these individuals that contradict this timeline are not only pure fabrications, but also expose the ignorance of the narrators. No further evidence is needed to dismiss such reports.
❶ No woman prefers the presence of a man during childbirth — not even her husband, let alone her father-in-law, toward whom a daughter-in-law typically maintains a strict veil and modesty. So how could any woman wish for his presence during such a sensitive moment?
❷ When the jinns of the sorcerers and soothsayers vanished due to the birth of the Prophet ﷺ, and their knowledge of the unseen ceased — how then did followers of the Prophet ﷺ later adopt these practices, narrate unseen matters, and justify friendship with jinns?
◈ Lineage and Identity
Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Maryam belonged to the tribe of Ghassan and was a resident of Homs. His father’s name was Abdullah, and his kunyah was Abu Maryam. His own kunyah was Abu Bakr. However, there exists significant disagreement about his actual name:
- One opinion is that his name was Bakr.
- Another states Bakīr.
- Some say Amr, others Amir, and another opinion names him Abd al-Salam.
◈ Evaluation by Scholars of Hadith
Imam al-Dhahabi mentions:
He is considered weak in the view of the scholars of Hadith. His narrations are found in the collections of Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah. Despite this, he was known to be extremely devout in worship. Abu al-Yaman, Baqiyyah, Babulti, and others narrated from him.
Imam Ahmad and others say:
He is weak and commits many errors in narrating Hadith.
Ibn ‘Adiyy says:
He is not reliable as evidence (ḥujjah). Ibn ‘Adiyy considered many of his narrations to be rejected (munkar).
Ibn Ḥibbān states:
His memory was extremely poor. If he narrates something alone, it cannot be accepted as evidence.
◈ Anecdotes and Mystical Claims
Baqiyyah narrates:
Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Maryam’s village was full of olive trees, and there wasn’t a single tree toward which he had not faced during nightlong prayers. He would constantly be seen weeping.
Jawzajani mentions:
He was a very pious man and passed away in 156 AH.
Sources Referenced:
Mezan al-I‘tidal T5407, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 12/38/139, Taqrib al-Tahdhib 2/398, Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’ 7/64, al-Ṭabarī 1/2071, Ṭabaqat Ibn Sa‘d 7/487, al-Tarikh al-Kabir 9/9, al-Mughni 7340, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id 1/188
◈ Observations on Mystical Practices
While this individual may appear to be a greatly elevated spiritual figure, the claim that he would face every tree to perform prayers is beyond common comprehension. Possibly, this may be considered some stage in spiritual journey (sulūk), since Sufis typically do not attain such states within populated areas, thus seeking solitude in the wilderness.
However, it is also entirely possible that this incident is fabricated, since the narrator of this story is Baqiyyah, a known extremist Shi‘a. In fact, Abu Sa‘īd, a Hadith scholar, has made an excellent remark about Baqiyyah:
أحاديث بقيه، ليست نقيه، فكن منها على التقيه
The narrations of Baqiyyah are not pure, so beware of them.
◈ Refutation of Fabricated Narratives
Readers must remember that Abbas رضي الله عنهما, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, was only one and a half to two years older than the Prophet ﷺ. His son, Abdullah رضي الله عنه, famously known as Ibn Abbas, from whose lineage the Abbasid Caliphs descend, was born just two years before the migration to Madinah.
Therefore, all narrations attributed to these individuals that contradict this timeline are not only pure fabrications, but also expose the ignorance of the narrators. No further evidence is needed to dismiss such reports.
❀ Two Particularly Absurd Points in Some Narratives
❶ No woman prefers the presence of a man during childbirth — not even her husband, let alone her father-in-law, toward whom a daughter-in-law typically maintains a strict veil and modesty. So how could any woman wish for his presence during such a sensitive moment?
❷ When the jinns of the sorcerers and soothsayers vanished due to the birth of the Prophet ﷺ, and their knowledge of the unseen ceased — how then did followers of the Prophet ﷺ later adopt these practices, narrate unseen matters, and justify friendship with jinns?
