Al-Hallaj is Al-Husayn ibn Mansur, born in the village of Al-Tour in the northeast of Al-Bayda, a city in the Fars province of Iran around the year 242 AH/857 AD. His family left the village of Al-Tour and moved with him to central Iraq, where his father was involved in the cotton ginning and weaving trade. It is believed that the name 'Al-Hallaj' was given to him due to his father's trade. Hallaj spent his childhood moving between the schools of Wasit, gaining whatever knowledge was available, then moved to Shushtar to study under Sahl ibn Abdullah al-Tasstari, and later to Basra to form a good relation with the Sufi Amr ibn Uthman al-Makki, who bestowed upon him the cloak of Sufism.