Description

First: His name, lineage, and nickname:

Hamza bin Habib bin Amara bin Ismail al-Kufi al-Tamimi, one of the seven imams. His nickname was Abi ‘Amara, and he was one of the imams of Kufa. He was born in the year 80 AH. He was present at the time of the Prophet’s Companions and perhaps he saw some of them.

Second: His status and knowledge:

He was one of the seven reciters and he was the leader of reciting for a while. He was a prominent imam, trustworthy, noble, and dedicated his life to the Holy Book of God Almighty. He was a memoriser of hadith, perceptive of the ordinances and of the Arabic language, a worshipper, ascetic, and submissive, as well as being devout and pious. Most of the people of Kufa gathered for his recitations and he became the imam after Assem.

Yahya bin Mu’een said: “I heard Muhammad bin Al-Fadl say: “I do not think that God will ward off affliction from the people of Kufa except through Hamza”. And Al-Kisa’i said to one of the people, describing Hamzah: “He was an imam from the imams of Muslims, and the master of reciters and ascetics. If you had seen him, your eyes would have been delighted with his worshipping”. Al-Kisai used to be proud of him and called him “My teacher” and he revered him and respected him. He read the Qur’an before him four times.

Hamzah used to recite twenty-five complete recitations every month, and no one had ever met him but he was reciting. 

Imam al-Shatibi said about him in his poetry:

وحمزة ما أزكاه من مُتَوَرِّع

إماماً صَبُورَاً للقُرَان مُرَتِّلا

“And Hamzah, how purified (and devout) he was,

A patient imam and reciter of the Holy Qur’an”

Third: His teachers in reciting:

Hamza recited before: Suleiman bin Mahran Al-A’mash, and Humran bin Ayan, and Abi Ishaq Al-Subai’i, and Muhammad bin Abd Al-Rahman bin Abi Laila, Ja’far bin Muhammad Al-Sadiq, and others. What was from the recitation of Al-A’mash and Humran was on the authority of Ibn Masoud, may God be pleased with him, and what was on the authority of Ibn Abi Layla, it was on the authority of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him, as for Abu Ishaq al-Subai’i, he used to recite from both of them.

Fourth: Narrators of his recitations:

Many people recited before him, the most prominent of whom are: Ali bin Hamza Al-Kisa’i, who is of the dearest of his companions, and Salim bin Isa, who is the most accurate of his companions, and Khalid bin Khalid Al-Ahwal, and Ibrahim bin Adham, and others.

His recitation was transmitted by Khalaf bin Hisham Al-Bazzar, and Khallad bin Khaled Al-Sirafi, both on the authority of Salim bin Isa on the authority of Hamza.

Shatby said about him (in his poetry):

روى خَلَفٌ عنه وخلَّاد الذي

رواه سُلَيم مُتْقَنَاً ومُحَصَّلا

“Khalaf narrated on his authority as well as Khallad,

who was narrated by Salim, in complete detail”.

Fifth: Transformation of spreading and extinction:

The current map of the spread of recitations in the Islamic world has undergone major transformations since the crystallisation of this science in the second and third centuries AH. 

Before Imam Ahmed bin Mujahid, who wrote his famous book “The Seven” in the year 300 AH, the people of Kufa were on the recitings of Hamza bin Habib Al-Zayyat and Asim bin Abi Al-Najud. The reading of Hamza was dominant and most common among the people of Kairouan (a city in Tunisia), until Muhammad bin Omar bin Khayrun Al-Ma’afari Al-Andalusi (died 306 AH) presented Nafi’’s recitation to the city.

The places the recitation is widespread today:

This recitation is not recited by the general public, rather it is circulated among scholars and reciters.

Sixth: His death:

Imam Hamzah lived until the age of 76 and died in Helwan in Iraq in the year 156 AH, may God have mercy on him and may he be granted paradise.