Abu Nuʿaym al-Isfahani (; full name: ''Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ahmad ibn Ishāq ibn Mūsā ibn Mahrān al-Mihrānī al-Asbahānī'' (or ''al-Asfahānī'') ''al-Ahwal al-Ash`arī al-Shāfi`ī'', died 1038 CE / AH 430) was a medieval

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

scholar and one of the leading

hadith scholars Hadith studies is the academic study of hadith, a literature typically thought in Islam, Islamic religion to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Muhammad as transmitted through chains of narrators. A major area of ...

of his time. His family was an offshoot of the aristocratic

House of Mihran The House of Mihrān or House of Mehrān (Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭨𐭥𐭠𐭭; New Persian: ), was a leading Iranian noble family (''šahrdārān''), one of the Seven Great Houses of the Sasanian İranian Empire which claimed descent from the ...

Biography

Birth and Education

Born in Buwayhid era

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

, his first teacher was his own grandfather who was a

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

master, Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Ma;dan al-Banna' (d. 365/976), who was the spiritual leader of a school of Sufism in Isfahan, which continued to flourish during the lifetime of Abu Nu'aym. Under his father's lead and guide, he began his scholarly career at an early age. As he got older, he would widely travel and visit

Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, Khurazan and other places. He possessed

ijaza An ''ijazah'' (, "permission", "authorization", "license"; plural: ''ijazahs'' or ''ijazat'') is a license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject, which is issued by someone already possessing such authority. It is particul ...

in hadith from all major scholars of his time.

Teachers

Abu Nu'aym had numerous teachers, his most famous ones include: *

Al-Tabarani Abū al-Qāsim Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad ibn Ayyūb ibn Muṭayyir al-Lakhmī ash-Shāmī aṭ-Ṭabarānī () (873/874–970/971 CE/260–360 AH), commonly known as at-Tabarani (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar and traditionist known for the exten ...

(main teacher) *

Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (; 933 - 1014 CE), also known as Ibn al-Bayyiʿ, was a Persians, Persian Sunni scholar and the leading hadith studies, traditionist of his age, frequently referred to as the "Imam of t ...

Al-Daraqutni Ali ibn Umar al-Daraqutni (; 918–995 CE / 306–385 AH), was a Sunni Muslim scholar and traditionist best known for compiling the hadith collection '' Sunan al-Daraqutni''. He is commonly celebrated in Sunni tradition with titles such as "Im ...

Al-Khattabi Abū Sulaymān, Ḥamd b. Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. al-Khaṭṭāb Abū Sulaymān al-Khaṭṭābī, al-Bustī, commonly known as Al-Khaṭṭābī (), was a Sunni Islamic scholar from Sijistan. He is unanimously regarded as the leading figure ...

Abu Bakr al-Ajurri Imam al-Ajurri was an Islamic scholar from 10th century (4th century AH). He came from Darb al-Ajurr in western Baghdad, after studying with many scholar in Iraq he moved to Mecca and start teaching there. He lived in Mecca for 30 years until he ...

* Abu Zayd Marwazi

Transmitting Hadith and Teaching

When he sat down to transmit hadith and teach, the memorizers of hadith gathered in droves and crowded around him, and heavily benefited from him due to his elevated chains of transmission and combined with his ample knowledge and precision he possessed. He surpassed all his contemporaries.

Students

Abu Nu'aym had many students, his most famous ones include: *

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Thābit ibn Aḥmad ibn Māhdī al-Shāfiʿī, commonly known as al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī () or "the lecturer from Baghdad" (10 May 1002 – 5 September 1071; 392 AH-463 AH), was a Sunni Muslim scholar known ...

(foremost pupil) *

Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni Al-Juwayni, `Abd Allah ibn Yusuf ibn `Abd Allah ibn Yusuf ibn Muhammad ibn Hayyuya, Rukn al-Din Abu Muhammad al-Ta'i al-Sinbisi al-Naysaburi al-Shafi`i al-Ash`ari, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni (), was a Sunni scholar based in Khorasan. ...

* Al-Malini * Al-Dakhwani * Abu al-Fadl Hamd bin Ahmed al-Haddad * Abu Ali al-Hassan (his younger brother)

Death

He died in Ṣafar 430/November 1038.

Reception

In his lifetime, the hadith scholars would state: "Abu Nu'aym (Imam Asbahani) possessed chains of transmission that no one in the world possessed during his time". He was praised and famous for possessing very short chains of transmission for hadith. His benefit of studying very young and living almost near 100 years was highly valued by hadith scholars of his time as they saw shorter chain of transmission to be stronger and more authentic. According to

Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal (; (164-241 AH; 780 – 855 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam. T ...

: "The pursuit of short transmission chains is a Sunnah (a way) taken from those who came before us". Abu Nu'aym was regarded as one of the best hadith authorities by his contemporary Khatib al-Baghdadi, and by Dhahabi and

Taqi al-Din al-Subki Abu Al-Hasan Taqī al-Dīn Ali ibn Abd al-Kafi ibn Ali al-Khazraji al-Ansari al-Subkī (), commonly known as Taqī l-Dīn al-Subkī () was a Sunni Egyptian polymath and foremost leading Shafi'i jurisconsult, traditionist, Quranic exegete, l ...

. Hamza bin al-Abbas al-Alawi said: "The hadith scholars used to say that the hadith master, Imam Asbahani remained in his field (of hadiths) for 14 years without equal (peerless), no one from the East to West possessing any chain (hadith) shorter than his, and there was no one stronger than him in memorization".

Ibn al-Salah Abū ‘Amr ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd il-Raḥmān Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Kurdī al-Shahrazūrī () (c. 1181 CE/577 AH – 1245/643), commonly known as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, was a Kurdish Shafi'i hadith specialist and the author of the seminal '' Intro ...

in his book entitled ''Manual of Hadith Science'', lists Abu Nu'aym among his seven selected scholars for the highest excellence in authorship of books in Islam.

Theology

Imam Abu Nu'aym followed the

Ash'ari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

doctrine as

Ibn Asakir Ibn Asakir (; 1105–c. 1176) was a Syrian Sunni Islamic scholar, who was one of the most prominent and renowned experts on Hadith and Islamic history in the medieval era. and a disciple of the Sufi mystic Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi. Ibn Asakir was ...

included him to be from the second generation of Imam

Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (; 874–936 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian known for being the eponymous founder of the Ash'ari school of kalam in Sunnism. Al-Ash'ari was notable for taking an intermediary position between the two diametrically op ...

students and this is further confirmed by

Ibn Al-Jawzi Abu al-Faraj Jamal al-Din Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hasan Ali Al-Jawzi also known as Ibn al-Jawzi (16 June 1201) was a Muslim jurisconsult, preacher, orator, heresiographer, traditionist, historian, judge, hagiographer, and philologist who played ...

in his great compilation of history book entitled ''Al-Muntazam''. This is even further confirmed by Abu Nu'aym criticisms of Hanbalite literalism in respect to anthropomorphic expressions in the Quran and Hadith, the

Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...

Ibn Manda Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad bin Isḥāq Ibn Manda (d. 395/1004–5) was an eminent Isfahani Sunni Hadith scholar of Persian origin. Overview of the Ibn Manda Family In classical ''hadīth'' literature, the name "Ibn Manda" may refer to variou ...

was reported to have been involved in a vicious dispute with him.W. Madelung, "Abū No'aym Al-Esfahāni," Encyclopædia Iranica, I/4, pp. 354–355; available online a

/ref> He denounced Abu Nu’aym's creed as unorthodox and banished him from the Jami' mosque of Isfahan, that was dominated by Ibn Manda's

faction. Abu Nu'aym would later retaliate by accusing

, the head of the local Hanbalite traditionists, of being confusing and mixing up hadiths in his old age. Abu Nu'aym is unlikely to have been well trained in Ash'ari

kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...

himself however, but he did approve of it, calling it, "the kalam in accordance with the doctrine of the ahl al-sunnah".

Al-Dhahabi Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī (), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348) was an Atharism, Athari ...

narrates the following incident that took place:

"For there was too much hostile one choosing and enmity between the Ash'aris and Hanbalis, leading to disagreements. Hearing this man call people to Al-Asbahani, the hadith scholars surrounded him with their pen-knives, and he was almost killed.

comments above: "I say, that these are not hadith scholars, but ignorant transgressors (who cross the boundaries set by God) - may Allah keep their harm away!" The Lebanese Hadith scholar,

Gibril Haddad Gibril Fouad Haddad (born 1960) (; ) is a Lebanese-born Islamic scholar, hadith expert (''muhaddith''), author, and translator of classical Islamic texts. He was featured in the inaugural list of ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' and has bee ...

records a historical account and calls it a miracle:

"Imam Asbahani was bestowed a miracle upon him from Allah (God) when he was being banished from the main Mosque of Isfahan (Asbahan) by a group of people against him there. The same people were also unhappy with their ruler, Sultan Mahmud bin Subktukin's appointment of a certain man as a governor over them, and as a result these people ambushed him and killed the governor. Later, the Sultan pretended to solve the issue, had this group reunited in the main Mosque from which Imam Asbahani was banned. Then the Sultan had them all executed down to the last man. And so Imam Asbahani was saved by the harming of such opponents any longer, whilst those against him were punished by Allah, the Exalted."

Works

Abû Nu`aym authored over a hundred works, among them: * The ''

Hilyat al-Awliya' Hilyat al-Awliya' wa Tabaqat al-Asfiya' () is a biographical encyclopaedic book authored by Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani. It provides a glance of the lives of more than 200 saints from the first three generations of Muslims ( pious predecessors). Con ...

'' is a substantial work in ten volumes, comprising a total of 695 biographies, amounting to about 4,000 pages in the printed edition. The work includes many biographies of early Islam. Most biographies of individuals that are directly involved with the development of

Sufi mysticism Sufism ( or ) is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, and asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are referred to as "Sufis" (from , ), and ...

are found in the tenth volume. * Al-Arba`în `alâ Madhhab al-Mutahaqqiqîn min al-Sûfiyya, in print * Dalâ'il al-Nubuwwa ("The Signs and Proofs of Prophethood"), devoted entirely to Muhammad, this large work - partly in print - was expanded by

Al-Bayhaqi Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Khusrawjirdī al-Bayhaqī (, 994–1066), also known as Imām al-Bayhaqī, was a Sunni scholar widely known for being the foremost leading hadith master in his age, leading authority in th ...

to seven volumes in a like-titled work. * Dhikr Akhbâr Asbahân ("Memorial of the Chronicles of Ispahan"), in print * Al-Du`afâ', in print * Fadâ'il al-Khulafâ' al-Arba`a wa Ghayrihim, in print * Fadîlat al-`Adilîn min al-Wulât, a collection of over forty narrations on just government and the duties of the governed towards the rulers.

Al-Sakhawi Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sakhāwī (, 1428/831 AH – 1497/902 AH) was a reputable Shafi‘i Muslim hadith scholar and historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an ...

documented each narration in detail and both the work and its documentation were published. * Juz` fî Turuq Hadîth Inna Lillâhi Tis`atun wa Tis`îna Isman, in print * Al-Mahdî. * Ma`rifat al-Sahâba wa Fadâ'ilihim ("Knowing the Companions and Their Merits"), in print. This book was the basis of subsequent similar works by

Ibn 'Abd al-Barr Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Abū ʿUmar al-Namarī al-Andalusī al-Qurṭubī al-Mālikī, commonly known as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr ()

, Ibn al-Athir, and

Ibn Hajar Ibn Hajar may refer to: *Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1372–1449), Shafi'i and Hadith scholar *Ibn Hajar al-Haytami Sheikhul Islam Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī al-Makkī al-Anṣārī kn ...

. * Musnad al-Imâm Abî Hanîfa, in print * Al-Mustakhraj `alâ al-Bukhârî ("Additional Narrations Meeting al-Bukhârî's Criterion"), in print * Al-Mustakhraj `alâ Muslim ("Additional Narrations Meeting Muslim's Criterion"), in print * Riyâdat al-Abdân, in print * Al-Shu`arâ' ("The Poets"). * Al-Sifât. Al-Suyûtî mentioned it in his commentary on Sûrat al-Nâs in his book al-Iklîl fî Istinbât al-Tanzîl. * Sifat al-Janna ("Description of Paradise"), in print * Tabaqât al-Muhaddithîn wal-Ruwât ("Biography-Layers of the Hadîth Scholars and Narrators"). * Tasmiyatu mâ Intahâ ilaynâ min al-Ruwât `an al-Fadl ibn Dukayn `Aliyan, in print * Tasmiyatu mâ Intahâ ilaynâ min al-Ruwât `an Sa`îd ibn Mansûr `Aliyan, in print * Tathbît al-Imâma wa Tartîb al-Khilâfa, in print, a refutation of Shîasm. * Al-Tibb al-Nabawî ("Prophetic Medicine").

References

Sources

*Norman Calder, Jawid Ahmad Mojaddedi, Andrew Rippin, ''Classical Islam: a sourcebook of religious literature'', Routledge, 2003, , p. 237. *ABU NU`AYM AL-ASBAHANI, ''Dr. G.F. Haddad'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani Sufi writers Asharis Shafi'is Sunni Sufis 11th-century Persian-language writers 10th-century Persian-language writers 948 births 1038 deaths 10th-century Muslim theologians 11th-century Muslim theologians Scholars under the Buyid dynasty Writers from Isfahan