Al-Nasāʾī (214 – 303 AH; 829 – 915 CE), full name Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb ibn ʿAlī ibn Sīnān al-Nasāʾī, (variant: Abu Abdel-rahman Ahmed ibn Shua'ib ibn Ali ibn Sinan ibn Bahr ibn Dinar Al-Khurasani), was a noted collector of hadith (sayings of Muhammad),

Ludwig W. Adamec Ludwig W. Adamec (10 March 1924 – 1 January 2019) was a noted scholar on the Middle East and Afghanistan. He was a professor emeritus in the School of Middle East and North African Studies at the University of Arizona.

(2009), ''Historical Dictionary of Islam'', p.138. Scarecrow Press. . of Persian origin from the city of Nasa (early

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

and present day Turkmenistan), and the author of "''As-Sunan''", one of the six canonical hadith collections recognized by

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s. From his "''As-Sunan al-Kubra'' (The Large Sunan)" he wrote an abridged version, "''Al-Mujtaba''" or ''

Sunan al-Sughra ''Al-Sunan al-Sughra'' ( ar, السنن الصغرى), also known as ''Sunan al-Nasa'i'' ( ar, سنن النسائي), is one of the Kutub al-Sittah (six major hadiths), and was collected by al-Nasa'i (214 – 303 AH; c. 829 – 915 CE). Descri ...

'' (The Concise Sunan). Of the fifteen books he is known to have written, six treat the science of hadīth.

Biography

Al-Nasa'i himself states he was born in the year 830 (215 h.) - although some say it was in 829 or 869 (214 or 255 h.) - in the city of Nasa in present-day Turkmenistan - part of

, a region in Western Asia and Central Asia known for its many centres of Islamic learning. There he attended the gatherings and circles of knowledge, known as "''halqas''". At about 15 years old, he began his travels with his first journey to Qutaibah. He covered the whole Arabian Peninsula seeking knowledge from scholars in Iraq, Kufa, the Hijaz,

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and Egypt, where he eventually settled. A habit of his was to fast every other day, as this was a habit of Dawud.

Death

In 302 AH/915 AD, he stopped by in the city of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

in between his long journey from Cairo to Mecca just as a stopping point. Near the time of his death, he had become a renowned scholar in the Islamic world and decided to give a speech in the Umayyad Mosque as a scholar of his repute tends to do. The lecture he did was on the virtues of the companions of Muhammad, specifically throughout the lecture he recited the virtues of Ali that he had heard of throughout his life. His narrating the virtues of Ali railed up the crowd due to the anti-

alid The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inc ...

sentiments in Damascus. In opposition, the crowd felt that there was nothing about

Muawiya I Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...

in the lecture and asked him to narrate something related to the Umayyad caliph. He responded back by saying the only narration that he had heard about him about Muawiya by Muhammed was when Muhammed prayed to Allah saying "May Allah not fill his stomach". The crowd took this narration as a demerit from Muhammad leading the crowd to beat him and he eventually died due to his injuries on the outskirts of the city.

Teachers

According to the hafiz Ibn Hajr Alaih, al-Nasa'i's teachers were too numerous to name, but included: * Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh * Imam Abu Daud Al-Sijistani (author of

Sunan Abu Dawood ''Sunan Abu Dawood'' ( ar-at, سنن أبي داود, Sunan Abī Dāwūd) is one of the ''Kutub al-Sittah'' (six major hadith collections), collected by Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (d.889). Introduction Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one books related to ...

) * Qutayba ibn Sa'id Hafiz ibn Hajr and others claimed that Imam Bukhari was among his teachers. However Al-Mizzi, refutes that the Imam ever met him. As-Sakhawi gives the reasons in great detail for al-Mizzi's claim that they never met, but argues these must apply also to his claim that An-Nasa'i heard from Abu Dawud. Moreover, Ibn Mundah narrates the following: We were informed by Hamzah, that an-Nasa'i, Abu Abd-ur-Rahman informed us saying, 'I heard Muhammad Ibn Isma'il Al-Bukhari...'

Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub al-Juzajani Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Sa'di al-Juzajani ( ar , أبو إسحاق إبراهيم بن يعقوب بن إسحاق السعدي الجوزجاني , born around 180 AH – died 872 CE/259 AH) was a Muslim hadith scholar, one of t ...

was also an influence. In Egypt an-Nasa'i began to lecture, mostly narrating '' ahadith'' (hadith plural) to the extent that he became known by the title "''Hafizul Hadeeth''". His lectures were well attended and among his many students were the scholars: * Imam Abul Qasim Tabrani * Imam Abu Bakr Ahmed ibn Muhammad, also known as Allamah ibn Sunni * Sheikh Ali, the son of the Muhaddith, Imam Tahawi.

School of Thought

Imam Izzakie was a follower of the Shafi'i '' fiqh'' (jurisprudence) according to Allamah as-Subki, Shah Waliullah, Shah Abdulaziz and many other scholars. The Great Scholar Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri and

Ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyyah (January 22, 1263 – September 26, 1328; ar, ابن تيمية), birth name Taqī ad-Dīn ʾAḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Numayrī al-Ḥarrānī ( ar, تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد الحليم � ...

consider him a Hanbali.

Family

Imam an-Nasa'i had four wives but historians mention only one son, Abdul Kareem, a narrator of the ''Sunan'' of his father.

Books

Selected works:For a list of ten of his works see Fuat Sezgin, ''GAS'' (Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums), i, 167-9. *

As-Sunan al-Kubra ''As-Sunan al-Kubra'', ( ar, سنن الكبرى), is a hadith book collected by Imam Al-Nasa'i (214 – 303 AH), not to be confused with the same titled book by Imam Al-Bayhaqi. Description As-Sunan al-Kubra is the larger collection of the S ...

* Sunan Al-Sugra/ Al-Mujtana/ Al-Mujtaba * Amul Yawmi Wallaylah * Kitaby Dufai wal Matrookeen *

Khasais of Amir Al Momenin ''Khasais of Amir Al Mu'minin'' ( ar, خصائص أمير المؤمنين) (Characters of the commander of the faithful) or ''Khasais Ali'' ( ar, خصائص علي) is a book on virtues and moral characters of the fourth Rashidun caliph and Imam ...

* Al-Jurhu wa Ta'adeel * Sunan An-Nisa'i * Qasayis e Murtazavi

References

External links

Biodata at MuslimScholars.info

Biography at Sunnah.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasa'i Hadith compilers Muhaddiths from Nishapur Biographical evaluation scholars 820s births 915 deaths Year of birth uncertain 10th-century Iranian people 9th-century Iranian people 9th-century jurists 10th-century jurists