Al-Nasa'i | |
---|---|
![]() |
|
Born | 214 AH (c. 829 CE) Nasā, present-day Turkmenistan |
Died | 303 AH (915 CE) Ramla or Mecca |
Nationality | Persian |
Occupation | scholar |
Notable work | Al-Sunan al-Sughra |
Theological work | |
Tradition or movement | Sunni |
Al-Nasā'ī (214 – 303 AH; c. 829 – 915 CE), full name Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān Aḥmad ibn Shu`ayb ibn Alī ibn Sīnān al-Nasā'ī, was a noted collector of hadith (sayings of Muhammad), and wrote one of the six canonical hadith collections recognized by Sunni Muslims,Sunan al-Sughra, or "Al-Mujtaba", which he selected from his "As-Sunan al-Kubra". He also wrote 15 other books, 6 dealing with the science of hadith. He was of Persian origin.
Abu Abdel-rahman Ahmed ibn Shua'ib ibn Ali ibn Sinan ibn Bahr ibn Dinar Al-Khurasani Al-Nasa'i was born in the year 215 A.H as the Imam clearly states himself (although some say 255 A.H or 214 A.H) in the city of Nasa (in present-day Nisa, Turkmenistan), situated in Western Asia in a region known at that time as Khorasan, in which many centres of Islamic knowledge were located. Thus he primarily attended the gatherings and circles of knowledge (known as halqas') in his town. When he was about 15 years old, he started traveling and made his first journey to Qutaibah. He covered the whole Arabian Peninsula seeking knowledge from scholars in Iraq, Kufa, the Hijaz, Syria and Egypt. Finally he settled down in Egypt.
Hafiz Ibn Hajr alaih says that it is impossible to name and gather all his teachers but some are:
Although some scholars, like Hafiz ibn Hajr, also claimed that Imam Bukhari was among his teachers, this was not the case, for, according to al-Mizzi, the Imam Bukhari never met him. Others, however, refuted this, like As-Sakhawi who went into great details showing that the reasons for Al-Mizzi claiming they never met were not used similarly for 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 was also an influence.
After an-Nasa'i decided to stay in Egypt, he started to lecture, mostly narrating ahadith to the extent that he became known by the title Hafizul Hadeeth.