Saʿīd al-Maqbūrī

Abu Ma'shar al-Sindī, originally named 'Abd al-Raḥmān bin al-Walīd bin Hilāl al-Sindī, was from a family originating in Sindh and lived during the 8th century CE. He was taken prisoner as a child during a raid and became a client of various tribes, eventually manumitted by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur's wife, becoming a client of Banu Hashim. He studied under prominent Tabi'un scholars in Medina and memorised maghāzī traditions. Later, he moved to Baghdad at the invitation of Caliph al-Mahdī to teach Islamic jurisprudence and lived there until his death in 787 CE. Despite his prolific historical writings, including Kitāb al-Maghāzī and Ta'rīkh al-Khulafā', his reliability as a hadith transmitter was widely questioned by later scholars. He died in Baghdad and was buried in the Great Cemetery, with Caliph Harun al-Rashid leading his funeral prayers.