Description
First: His name, Lineage and Nickname:
He is Abu Imran ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Amir Ibn Yazid Ibn Tamim Ibn Rabi‘ah Al-Yahsibi Ad-Dimashqi , The imam of the people of the Levant in recitation. He was born in the eighth year of Hijrah in a village called Rehab (from the villages of Jordan). The prophet PBUH passed away when he was two years old, and he moved to Damascus after it was conquered when he was nine years old. Imam Al-Shatibi pointed out in the introduction to Al-Shatibiah that Abdullah Bin Amer had lived in Damascus and it had been blessed by him, Saying:
وَأَمَّا دِمَشْقُ الشَّامِ دَارُ ابْنُ عَامِرٍ فَتْلِكَ بِعَبْدِ اللهِ طَابَتْ مُحَلَّلاَ
Second: His standing and knowledge:
Abdullah Ibn Amer is one of the seven reciters, and he is the Imam of the people of Levant in reciting, and the sheikhs of the reciters reached him, he was given judiciary of Damascus after Abu Idris Al-Khulani, he was the chairman of the Al’umawi Mosque, and one of those who supervised its construction, He was known for his leadership (as Imam) and knowledge, He was a hafiz , virtuous and truthful in transmission, with eloquence in the tongue, He was one of the best of the Tabi’een.
Third: His teachers of recitation :
Ibn Aamer recited to Abu Al-Darda’, may God be pleased with him, and Al-Mughirah Bin Abi Shihab Al-Makhzumi, the companion of Othman Bin Affan, may God be pleased with him, and Fadalah Bin Ubaid, may God be pleased with him, and the most authentic chain of transmission of his recitation is : his recitation to Al-Mughirah , Al-Mughirah to Othman, and Othman and Abu Al-Darda’ to the prophet PBUH.
Fourth: Narrators about his recitations :
Many people recited to Ibn Amir, and up to forty-six of the people that recited to him became imams of recitation , and among them: Yahya Bin Al-Harith Al-Dhamari, whom succeeded him in carrying the recitation , His brother Abd Al-Rahman Ibn Amer, Rabia Ibn Yazid, Ja`far Ibn Rabi`ah, Saeed Ibn Abd Al-Aziz, Khallad Ibn Yazid Ibn Sabih Al-Marri, and others recited to him.
The most famous of those who narrated about him are: Hisham Bin Ammar Al-Sulami Al-Dimashqi, and Ibn Dhakwan Abdullah Bin Ahmad Al-Qurashi Al-Dimashqi.
Fifth: Transformation of spreading and extinction:
The current map of the spread of recitations in the Islamic world has undergone major transformations since the formation of this science in the second and third centuries H., Before Imam Ahmed Bin Mujahid, who wrote his famous book “The Seven” in the year 300 H., The people of the Levant used to recite Imam Abdullah Bin Amer Al-Shami (d. 118 H.) recitation.
The people of the Levant continued to use Ibn Amer’s recitation until the end of the fifth century until one of the imams of the reciters, Ibn Tawus, came to them and taught the narration of Al-Duri of Abu Amr and the people of Levant recited it, so it began to spread gradually in the Levant until it replaced the recitation of Ibn Amer.
Imam Ibn Al-Jazari said: And the people of the Levant as a whole were still on the recitation and prayer of Ibn Amer, until the close of the five hundred, and It was the first recitation that spread in Africa, at the hands of preachers sent by Caliph Omar bin Abdul Aziz.
Likewise, the first recitation that Al-Andalus knew was the recitation of Ibn Amer Al-Shami, because the Shami soldiers who conquered it were reciting it.
The Moroccans and Andalusians continued to recite the Noble Qur’an with Hisham’s narration of Ibn Amer for more than a century.
The places where the recitation is spread today:
This recitation is not recited by the general public, rather than being circulated among scholars and reciters.
Sixth: His death:
Imam Abdullah Bin Amer Al-Dimashqi lived one hundred and ten years and died in Damascus in the year 118 H. during the days of Hisham Bin Abdul-Malik, may Allah have mercy on him and and may Allah grant him paradise.
