The tābi‘ūn (Arabic: اَلتَّابِعُونَ‎, also accusative or genitive tābi‘īn اَلتَّابِعِينَ, singular tābi‘ تَابِعٌ), "followers" or "successors", are the generation of Muslims who followed the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (ṣaḥābah), and thus received their teachings secondhand. A tābi‘ knew at least one ṣaḥābiyy. As such, they played an important part in the development of Islamic thought and philosophy, and in the political development of the early caliphate.