Tabi‘un

The Tabi‘un (Arabic: التابعون‎‎ "followers") are the generation of Muslims who were born after the passing of the Prophet Muhammad but who were contemporaries of the Sahaba ("companions"). As such, they played an important part in the development of Islamic thought and philosophy, and in the political development of the early caliphate. The ones who came after the Tabi'un are called Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in.

Muslims from the Sunni branch of Islam define a Tâbi`î as a Muslim who:

Sunni Muslims also regard the Tabi‘un as the best generation after the Sahabah. According to Sunni Muslims, Muhammad said: "The best people are those living in my generation, then those coming after them, and then those coming after (the second generation)" [1].

The Tabi'un are divided by most Muslim scholars into three classes:

The earliest of the Tabi'un to die was Zayd ibn Ma'mar ibn Zayd, 30 years after the hijra, and the last to die was Khalaf ibn Khalifa, who died in 180 A.H. Therefore, many of the Tabi'un were tasked with the preservation of Islamic traditions from the era of the Sahaba to later Muslims.

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