RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIESand teachers who gave instruction in morals and demonstrated the
performance of religious rituals. They followed the practices and pro-
cedures of Mul),ammad in their own lives, and by their own behavior
they set examples for others to follow. An example of this was the
way in which 'Abd ar-Ral),man ibn Ab! Layla (d. 701) is reported to
have declined the opportunity to dry his hands after performing the
ritual ablution (Ar. wudii') at Kufa.^9 The use of exemplary precedent
as the basis for Islamic custom came most directly from the concept
of sunna (Ar.) among tribal Arabs. It came from the way tribal leaders
intentionally set binding precedents that their relatives and descendents
were to follow. Such sunna was specific to each group, expressed its
values, and regulated the details of its life. The concept of sunna also
contained a feeling of social responsibility for an act that set a pre-
cedent; a person was held accountable for acts imitated by others.
Everything done by Mul),ammad, from his specific administrative-ju-
ridical decisions to his way of life (Ar. szra), set examples for Muslims
to follow. So did the szra of his Companions and early political suc-
cessors, to the extent that it was based on Qur'anic principles and
therefore was considered to be what Mul),ammad would have done.tO
There was not very much difference between this and the way the
leaders of other religious communities used exemplary precedent to
spread conformity. Muslims with a Magian background could appre-
ciate the resemblance between the Companions and dastiirs; Muslims
with a Jewish background could appreciate their resemblance to rab-
bis.
There were a number of prominent Companions at Basra. Abii Miisa
al-Ash'ari said that 'Umar I had sent him to teach the Qur'an to the
people of Basra. Anas ibn Malik (d. bet. 709 and 711), 'Imran ibn
al-I:Iu~ayn (d. 672), 'Uthman ibn AbI I-A~, and Sufyan ibn Malik are
also said to have been sent by 'Umar to teach the Qur'an to converts
at Basra. The Companions at Basra also included Samura ibn Jundab
(d. ca. 679), Nafi' ibn al-I:Iarith ibn Kalada, 'Abd ar-Ral),man ibn
Samura (d. ca. 670), Abii Bakra (d. ca. 671). Ma'qil ibn Yasar (d.
679), Abii Barza al-AslamI (d. 681-83), and 'Abdullah ibn al-Mugh-
affal (d. 678-79).u
9 Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VI, 75.
10 Bravmann, Spiritual Background, pp. 123-98; Muranyi, Prophetengenossen, pp.
25-33, 100, 105-6.
11 Abii Nu'aym, I:lilyat al-awliyii' wa tabaqiit al-a~fiyii' (Beirut, 1387/1967), I, 257;
Abii Yiisuf, Khariij, p. 125; Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VII(l), 4-16, 26-27, 33-34, 49-50;
Pellat, Milieu ba~rien, pp. 72, 85.