Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read" O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Messengers and pious persons who had gone before them.
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ نُمَيْرٍ، وَأَبُو سَعِيدٍ الأَشَجُّ وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى الْعَنَزِيُّ - وَاللَّفْظُ لاِبْنِ نُمَيْرٍ - قَالُوا حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ إِدْرِيسَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ، عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنِ وَائِلٍ، عَنِ الْمُغِيرَةِ بْنِ شُعْبَةَ، قَالَ لَمَّا قَدِمْتُ نَجْرَانَ سَأَلُونِي فَقَالُوا إِنَّكُمْ تَقْرَءُونَ يَا أُخْتَ هَارُونَ وَمُوسَى قَبْلَ عِيسَى بِكَذَا وَكَذَا . فَلَمَّا قَدِمْتُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ
إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يُسَمُّونَ بِأَنْبِيَائِهِمْ وَالصَّالِحِينَ قَبْلَهُمْ
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Isnad
8 transmitters- 1Abu Bakr bin Abi ShaybaKufa · d. ~235 AH
- 2Muhammad bin 'Abdullah bin NumayrHamadan,al-Kufa · d. 234 AH
- 3'Abdullah bin Sa'id al-Ashajal-Kufa · d. 257 AH
- 4'Abdullah bin Idris bin Yazid al-AudiKufa · d. 192 AH/807 CE
- 5Idris bin Yazid bin 'Abdur Rahman al-AwdKufa
- 6Smak bin Hrb bin Awsal-Kufa · d. 123 AH
- 7'Alqama bin Wa'il bin Hjral-Kufa
- 8al-Mughira ibn Shu'baMakkah/Medina/Basra/Kufa · d. 50 AH/670 CE or 53 AH
References2 variants
- In-Book Reference
- Book 38, Hadith 13
- USC-MSA web (English) reference
- Book 25, Hadith 5326 (deprecated numbering scheme)