The village of Shaghb, located in the Tabuk region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that tranquil agricultural oasis, embraces within its folds an ancient history, stories, and poems sung by poets and mentioned by historians. This is not surprising, as that agricultural oasis was the traveler’s solace, and his resting and comfort station, on his way to the city of the Messenger, peace be upon him. Shaghb in the early days of Islam, and the Umayyad era, was one of the most important stations on the Hajj route that connects the Hijaz and the Levant. The historian Abu Ubaid al-Bakri al-Andalusi (d. 487 AH) referred to it in his book “Mu’jam Ma Istajam min Asma’ al-Bilad wa al-Mawadi’,” where he says: “The first boundary of the Hijaz: the valley of Nakhl, the upper part of Ruma, and the back of the lava field of Layla.” The eight that are next to the Levant: Shaghab and Bada’,” and Bada’ is adjacent to Shaghab, and it is within the Al Wajh Governorate in Tabuk. Al Ya’qubi (d. 292 AH) also mentioned them in “The Book of Countries”: “Whoever wants to travel on the road to the city of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, takes from Madin to a place called Aghra’, then to Qalis, then to Shaghab, then to Bada’, then to Al Suqya, then to Dhu Al Marwa, then to Dhu Khashab, then to Medina. These are the places from Egypt to Mecca and Medina.”.

Shaghab is also an important station on the Egyptian Hajj route, as it is narrated on the authority of Judge Waki’ that he said: “The route to Egypt is from Fustat to Al-Jub, and from Al-Jub to Al-Hafar… to Sharaf Al-Ba’al, and from there to Madyan, and from there to Fals, and from there to Al-Aghar, and from there to Al-Kalabiyah, and from there to Bada’, and from there to Shaghab, and from there to Al-Sarhatain, and from there to Al-Saqya, and at it the route to Syria and Egypt meets.”.

The poet Kathir Azza, one of the most famous love poets of the Umayyad era, sang her praises:

And you are the one who made me love Shaghb, and my homeland is a land other than them…

I settled this matter repeatedly… and thus both valleys became pleasant

However, the most important thing that the village of Shaghab contains in the memory of its land and soil is that it contains the grave of the great follower Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, who was a hadith scholar and historian who had a great role and a huge impact on writing Islamic heritage and recording the Prophetic Sunnah.

The Encyclopedia of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, published by the King Abdulaziz Library, refers to the history of the village of Shaghab and its great connection to Imam Al-Zuhri, where it states: “Shaghab is located 45 km east of the city of Duba. It is an ancient agricultural oasis in which, in the early days of Islam, there were properties belonging to the Banu Marwan bin Al-Hakam Al-Umawi, which they granted to the Hadith scholar of Medina, Muhammad bin Shihab Al-Zuhri. Al-Zuhri lived there during his last days, planted palm trees there, and died there in the year 124 AH / 742 AD, and was buried there. The freed slave of Al-Zuhri (Zakaria bin Issa Al-Shaghabi) is attributed to it. There are traces of the remains of canals, pools, springs, and old farm enclosures.”.

The figure of Imam Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri is at the forefront of the founding imams in the science of Islamic history, the Prophet’s biography, and the recording of the Sunnah and traditions. Although his fame is greater as a hadith scholar, he also had an important impact on the science of history, genealogy, and poetry.

Ibn Kathir wrote about him in “Al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya”: “Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Abdullah ibn Shihab ibn Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn Zuhra ibn Kilab ibn Murra, Abu Bakr al-Qurashi al-Zuhri, one of the prominent imams of Islam, a distinguished Tabi’i (successor of the Companions), who heard from more than one of the Tabi’in. Al-Layth said: ‘Al-Zuhri was the most generous person I have ever seen. He would give to everyone who came and asked him, until he had nothing left, then he would borrow. He would feed people tharid (a type of bread soup) and give them honey to drink. He would drink honey continuously, just as drinkers continue to drink theirs, saying: “Give us to drink and tell us stories.” If one of them became drowsy, he would say to him: “You are not one of the night-time storytellers of Quraysh.” Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz said: “You should seek out Ibn Shihab, for there is no one left who is more knowledgeable about past Sunnahs than him.” Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar said: “Al-Zuhri died at his estate in Shaghab on Monday, the night of Tuesday, the 17th of Ramadan in the year 124 AH, at the age of 72. He ordered that he be buried by the roadside so that passersby would pray for him.”.

Al-Zuhri was one of the most important figures and dignitaries of the Umayyad state. He had a strong relationship with the Umayyad caliphs, from Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan to Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. He was close to them, an advisor, and his writings and books occupied an important place in the treasuries of the Umayyad caliphs. Ibn Kathir describes the strength of this relationship: “Ibn Shihab came to Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in Damascus, so he honored him, paid off his debt, and allocated him a stipend in the treasury. Then he was one of his companions and confidants, and then he was the same with his sons after him, al-Walid and Sulayman, and likewise with Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, and with Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik. Yazid appointed him as a judge along with Sulayman ibn Habib. Then he was favored by Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, and he performed Hajj with him and made him the teacher of his children until he died in this year, a year before Hisham.”.

The historical uniqueness of Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, and his scientific value, lies in the fact that he was the first to transmit hadith, and he was also the first to compile the Prophetic Sunnah by order of the Umayyad Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz when the Caliph issued his order to all regions in the Islamic state to collect and compile the Prophetic Sunnah, as Abdullah ibn Dinar mentions: “Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz wrote to the regions, look at the hadith of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and collect it and preserve it, for I fear the loss of knowledge and the passing away of scholars.” So Imam al-Zuhri was one of the men who undertook this task, as al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar mentions: “The first to compile hadith was Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri at the beginning of the century by order of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.”.

Abu Dawud mentions that al-Zuhri's entire body of hadiths numbers two thousand two hundred, half of which are with chains of transmission. Al-Layth ibn Sa'd describes him, saying, "I have never seen a scholar more comprehensive in knowledge than Ibn Shihab. If I heard him narrating on exhortation, I would say he knows nothing else; if he narrated on the Prophets and the People of the Book, I would say the same; and if he narrated on the Bedouin and genealogies, I would say he knows nothing else." Abdullah ibn Dhakwan, known as Abu al-Zinad, clarifies al-Zuhri's role in establishing the concept of comprehensive documentation of Islamic heritage in all its branches and sciences, and in encouraging scholars to do the same. He says, "We used to write down what was permissible and forbidden, and Ibn Shihab would write down everything he heard. When his expertise was needed, I realized he was the most knowledgeable of people, after we had been going around with him, carrying tablets and scrolls, laughing at him, while he wrote down hadiths and memorized them.".

The great investigator and historian Fuad Sezgin shows the great impact that Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri had on the recording of hadith, and the role he played until he became a pillar of preserving and recording the heritage. He says: “It becomes clear when examining the chains of transmission of hadiths that al-Zuhri’s name occupies the second place after the name of the Messenger for most of them, and this makes us decide his great role in the history of hadith. The chain of transmission was not unknown to those whom al-Zuhri studied with, but he was interested in the chains of transmission for a large number of hadiths whose chain of transmission was not necessary before that, and these hadiths were written down or narrated orally that was widespread in the Islamic world at that time. As one of the followers, he had to search for the early followers and companions who met the Messenger, peace be upon him, and heard hadiths from him, or were the owners of these hadiths that were in the era of al-Zuhri that were circulated orally or in writing, and that was possible at that relatively early time for a man like al-Zuhri, and he was able to write the names of these people in his texts, and make them narrated after that.”.