Sufyan ibn Sa'id ibn Masruq Abu 'Abd Allah al-Thawri al-Mudari al-Kufi 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan (d.161H/778CE)

Sufyan al-Thawri al-Mudari al-Kufi [97-161], the Godfearing, wise, grief-stricken, Mujtahid Imam, "Commander of the Believers in Hadith" – the highest level in hadith Mastership –, "Shaykh al-Islam, the Imam of hadith Masters, the leader of the practicing Ulema in his time, the author of the Jami' " (SHAMS AL-DIN AL-DHAHABI). His father was a junior Tabi'i Muhaddith and he thus began his scholarly career at home. Abu Ishaq al-Sabi'i recited when he saw Sufyan coming: (And We gave him wisdom when a child) (19:12). His Shuyukh number 600. Ibn al-Jawzi claimed that his students number over 20,000 but al-Dhahabi said: "This is preposterous, they hardly reached 1,000. I know none of the hadith Masters from whom more narrated than Imam Malik, and those number 1,400 – including the liars and the unknown!"