Name

Ḥamza

Original name

Ḥamza b. Ḥabīb b. ʿUmāra b. Ismāʿīl, Abū ʿUmāra al-Taymī al-Kūfī al-Zayyāt

Main activity

Muqri'

Secondary activity

Merchant

Title

Name variations

Ḥamza al-Zayyāt"

Education place

Education institution

Activity place

Kufa

Activity institution

Activity start date

Activity end date

Place of birth

Hulwan

Date of birth

699

Place of death

Hulwan

Date of death

772

Bibliographical references

Descriptive card

He was one of the seven canonical transmitters of Qur'ān. A mawlā of the family of ʿIkrima b. Ribʿī al-Taymī, he became a merchant. From here arises his surname al-Zayyāt, he transported oil from Kūfa to Ḥulwān and cheese and nuts from Ḥulwān to Kūfa. He settled in Kūfa and became familiar with ḥadith and farā'īḍ on which we find a "Kitāb al-Farā'īḍ" probably collected by his pupils. Among his pupils: Sufyān al-Thawrī and al-Kisā'ī, but his reading of the Qur'ān, which was put together in "Kitāb Qirā'āt Ḥamza" ("Fihrist": 44) and which was criticized by Ibn Ḥanbal and Ibn ʿAyyāsh, was transmitted by his immediate disciples: Khalaf b. Hishām (767-843) at Baghdād and Khallād b. Khālid (d. 835) at Kūfa. His reading became popular and has become quite widespread in the Maghrib.

Entry author

Olivier Salem