Distinguishing Between the Two Historical Figures Named Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī

Are There Two Different “Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī” or One? – A Research Clarification


Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 422

Question:​

Are “Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī” the author of Tafsīr and “Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī” the author of Tārīkh two different individuals? If they are the same person, then some scholars say the historian was a Rāfiḍī — so why do scholars trust the exegete? And if they are two different persons, please give a brief biography of both.

Answer:​

Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:


Historical and ḥadīth sources show that under the name “Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī”, two different individuals existed:

① Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Rustam al-Ṭabarī, Abū Jaʿfar al-Āmulī​

• Belief: He was a Rāfiḍī.
• Details:
  
  • Mentioned in:
    
    • Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (Vol. 3, p. 499, no. 7307)
    • Dhail al-Mīzān by al-ʿIrāqī (p. 304, no. 637)
    • Lisān al-Mīzān (Vol. 5, p. 103, no. 7191)
    • Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (Vol. 14, p. 282)
  • Sunni scholars’ stance:
    No reputable Sunni imām has declared him trustworthy or truthful.
  • ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Kattānī’s statement:
    He affirmed this man was a Rāfiḍī.
  • Other opinions:
    Some reports also describe him as a Muʿtazilī.
  • In Shīʿī sources:
    
    • Majmaʿ al-Rijāl by al-Qahbāʾī (Vol. 5, p. 173)
    • Muʿjam Rijāl al-Ḥadīth by al-Khūʾī (Vol. 15, p. 147, no. 10354)
    • Rijāl al-Najāshī (p. 266):
      
      “A prominent figure among our companions, very knowledgeable, eloquent in speech, trustworthy in ḥadīth. He authored al-Mustarshid fī al-Imāmah.”
      
      
    • Tanqīḥ al-Maqāl (Vol. 1, p. 134, no. 1330)
  • Ibn Dāwūd al-Ḥillī (Rāfiḍī) said:
    
    “Trustworthy in ḥadīth, author of al-Mustarshid fī al-Imāmah… and he is not the author of Tārīkh — that one is a Sunnī.” (p. 167)
    
    
  • ʿAllāmah Zubair ʿAlī Zaʾī stated:
    
    “I have seen this Rāfiḍī’s book al-Imāmah. It is full of baseless and fabricated narrations.”
    

② Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd, Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭabarī​

• Belief:
  A great imām of Ahl al-Sunnah.
• Details:
  
  • Mentioned in:
    
    • Tārīkh Baghdād by al-Khaṭīb (Vol. 2, p. 162, no. 589)
    • Al-Muntaẓim by Ibn al-Jawzī (Vol. 13, p. 215, no. 2199)
    • Lisān al-Mīzān (Vol. 5, pp. 100–103, no. 7190)
    • Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (Vol. 3, p. 498, no. 7306)
    • Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (Vol. 14, p. 267, no. 175)
    • Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyyah by al-Subkī (Vol. 3, pp. 120–128)
  • Praise from Sunni scholars:
    Abū Saʿīd ibn Yūnus al-Miṣrī and al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī recorded glowing praise.
  • Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī:
    
    “He was trustworthy, truthful, and a ḥāfiẓ.” (Siyar, 14/270)
    
    
  • Imām Ibn Khuzaymah:
    
    “I do not know anyone on the face of the earth more knowledgeable than Muḥammad ibn Jarīr. The Ḥanbalīs have wronged him.” (Siyar, 14/273)
    

Well-known Works of Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (the Sunnī)​

• Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī
• Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī
• Tahdhīb al-Āthār
• Ṣarīḥ al-Sunnah

His Beliefs (as recorded in his own works):​

“Īmān is speech and action; it increases and decreases.” (Ṣarīḥ al-Sunnah, p. 25)


“And likewise we say: The best of his ﷺ companions is al-Ṣiddīq Abū Bakr (RA), then al-Fārūq ʿUmar (RA), then Dhū al-Nūrayn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (RA), then Amīr al-Muʾminīn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (RA).” (Ṣarīḥ al-Sunnah, p. 24)


These statements clearly prove that Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī was Sunnī, not Shīʿī.

Shīʿī Testimony:​

Al-Māmqānī (Rāfiḍī) said:


“ʿĀmmī (Sunnī), never declared trustworthy.” (Tanqīḥ al-Maqāl, 1/134)

Important Note:​

Declaring Ibn Jarīr trustworthy does not mean that every narration in Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī is authentic. Every report must be examined chain-by-chain from Ibn Jarīr up to the source.


ʿAllāmah Zubair ʿAlī Zaʾī’s research-based statement:


“I have investigated Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī and concluded that about 90% of it consists of fabricated and false reports, due to weak and criticised narrators from whom Ibn Jarīr took narrations and recorded them.”


هٰذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب