I am from Prizren, Kosovo (Balkans). Time to time, I translate from English classical Islamic materials which I think would be valuable to students and the laymen alike. I mostly translate biographies of classical scholars, ḥanafī fatwas (as we are over 90% ḥanafī), and Alḥamdulillāh, I have been able to translate some works on the virtues of Ahl al-Bayt (Khaṣāʾis Ali of Imam Nasāʾī, Ibn Shāhīn’s Faḍāʾil Fāṭimah, 40 Ḥadith on the Ahl al-Bayt by Imam Kattānī and others – most of them chapters taken from Khalid William’s ‘The perfect Family’). I have translated Mufti Saʿīd Aḥmad Pālanpūrī’s ‘Biography of Imam Ṭaḥāwī’ from English into Albanian, available here:
https://archive.org/stream/TheBiographyOfImamTahawiByShaykhMuftiSaeedAhmadPalanpuri
In my translation, I have added some footnotes regarding some of the names mentioned in the text (biographical information), but I was unable to find information on the names below.
From his teachers:
- Hārūn ibn Saʿīd al-Aylī (Imam Muslim and Imam Abū Dāwūd are among his students).
- ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd ibn Nūḥ.
- ʿIsā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ghāfiqī.
- Sulaymān ibn Shuʿayb Kaysānī.
- Abu Qurrah Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd al-Ruʿaynī.
- Mālik ibn ʿAbd Allah Tujībī.
- Ibrāhīm ibn Mazrūq.
From his students:
- Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Muqriʾ (the one who transmits Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār).
- Abū Bakr ibn Jaʿfar al-Baghdādī, known as Gundar.
- ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Miṣrī (Imam Ṭahāwī’s son).
I need just basic information, two-three sentences for each one of them, their date of birth (if available), place of birth, their specialism and publications and date of death. If you could locate these in Arabic sources and provide them into English, it would be massive help.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
Answer
Teachers
- Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Saʿīd ibn al-Haytham al-Aylī – His teachers include Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198/814). His students include Imam Muslim (d. 261/875), Imam Abū Dāwūd (d. 275/889), Imam Nasāʾī (d. 303/915), Imam Ibn Mājah (d. 273/887) and Imam Ṭaḥāwī ( 321/933), although in Maʿānī al-Āthār (1:325) and Mushkil al-Āthār (1:283; 14:5), he has transmitted his ḥadīths via other teachers. He was born in 170 (786-7) and passed away in 253 (867) (Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 30:90). He is a thiqah (trustworthy) transmitter (al-Thiqāt, 9:240; Taqrīb, p.568).
- ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd ibn Nūḥ – We are not aware of any narrator with this name. Imam Ṭaḥāwī has a teacher by the name: ʿAlī ibn Maʿbad ibn Nūḥ, His kunyah is Abū al-Ḥasan, his father was a governor of Tarablus and he is a thiqah (trustworthy) transmitter (al-Thiqāt of ʿIjlī, p.351; al-thiqāt, 8:472; Taqrīb, p.405). He was a resident of Egypt and taught here. His teachers include Makkī ibn Ibrāhīm (d. 215/830) and Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241/855), and he was also a businessman. He passed away in Egypt in 259 (873) (Tārīkh Baghdad, 12:109; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 21:142). Ḥāfiẓ Ḍhahabī (d. 748/1348) describes him as Imam, Ḥāfiẓ (Siyar, 10:632). He is also inclined to Imam Nasāʾī (d. 303/915) not having transmitted directly from him, contrary to the view of Ḥāfiẓ Mizzī (d. 742/1341).
- ʿIsā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ghāfiqī – His teachers include Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198/814). His students include Imam Abū Dāwūd (d. 275/889) and Imam Nasāʾī (d. 303/915), who described him as unobjectionable. His daughter Ruqayyah breastfed Imam Ṭaḥāwī. He was born in 166 (782-3) or 170 (786-7) and passed away in 261 (874). He is Egyptian and and a thiqah (trustworthy) transmitter (Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 22:583; Taqrīb, p.438). Ḥāfiẓ Ḍhahabī describes him as Imam, Faqīh and Muḥaddith and mentions his kunyah as Abū Mūsā (Siyar, 12:362).
- Sulaymān ibn Shuʿayb Kaysānī – His teachers include Bishr ibn Bakr al-Tinnīsī (d. 205/821) and he is regarded as his last student (Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 4:96; Siyar, 9:508). His kunyah is Abū Muḥammad and he is also Egyptian. He is thiqah (trustworthy) and he passed away in 273 (886) (Tārīkh al-Islām, 6:555; Magānī al-Akhyār, 1:440) or 278 (891) (al-Jawāhir al-Muḍiyyah, 1:252; Lisān, 4:159). He is from the students of Imam Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan (d. 189/805) and is regarded a Ḥanafī (al-Jawāhir, 1:252). Imam Ṭaḥāwī transmits from him frequently.
- Abu Qurrah Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd al-Ruʿaynī – His teachers include ʿAbd Allah ibn Yūsuf al-Tinnīsī (d. 218/833-4) and Abū Ṣāliḥ (d. 223/837) the writer of Layth ibn Saʿd (d. 175/791). He is thiqah (trustworthy) and he passed away in 266 (879) (Tārīkh ibn Yūnus, 1:443; Tārīkh Mawlid al-ʿUlamā wa Wafyātihim, 2:582; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 15:100). His students include Imam Dawlābī (d. 310/923) (see al-Kunā, 1:54,58) and Imam Ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311/924) (Tārīkh al-Islām, 6:401).
- Abū Saʿīd Mālik ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Sayf al-Tujībī – His teachers include ʿAbd Allah ibn Yūsuf al-Tinnīsī (d. 218/833-4) and Ismāʿīl ibn Maslamah ibn Qaʿnab (d. 217/832-3). His students include Imam Ibn Abī Ḥātim (d. 327/938) who described him as ṣadūq (truthful) (al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, 8:214). He passed away on the last day of Jumādā al-Thāniyah in 268 (882) in Egypt (Tārīkh Mawlid al-ʿUlamā wa Wafyātihim, 2:585; Tārīkh al-Islām, 6:429; Maghānī al-Akhyār, 3:8). Imam Ṭaḥāwī transmits from him frequently (Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, 10:19).
- Ibrāhīm ibn Mazrūq – We are not aware of any teachers of Imam Ṭaḥāwī with this name. However, there is Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Marzūq (with the letter rāʾ before the letter zāʾ) ibn Dīnār al-Umawī al-Baṣrī, who resided in Egypt. His teachers include Imam Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī (d. 204/819). His students include Imam Nasāʾī (d. 303/915) and Imam Abū ʿAwānah (d. 316/929). He passed away in 270 (883) (Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 2:197). Ḥāfiẓ Dhahabī describes him as Ḥāfiẓ and Ḥujjah (Siyar, 12:354). He is thiqah (trustworthy) except that towards the end of his life he would err after becoming blind (Taqrīb, p.94).
Students
- Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī al-Aṣbahānī – He is a famous ḥadīth scholar commonly known as Ibn al-Muqriʾ whose Muʿjam is widely available. He travelled across the Muslim world in the pursuit of knowledge. He himself remarks, “I entered al-Quds ten times, performed Hajj four times and remained in Makkah for twenty-five months.” Ḥāfiẓ Dhahabī describes him using lofty titles such as Ḥāfiẓ and Musnid al-Waqt. He was born in 285 (898-9) and passed away in Shawwāl 381 (991-2). His teachers also include Imam Ibn al-Mundhir (d. 318/930-1). His students include Imam Abū Nuʿaym (d. 430/1038) and Imam Ibn Mardawayh (d. 410/1020) (Siyar, 16:398).
- Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Baghdādī al-Warrāq, known as Gundar – Ḥāfiẓ Dhahabī describes him as Imam, Ḥāfiẓ whilst Khaṭīb Baghdādī (d. 463/1071) describes him as Ḥāfiẓ, Thiqah (trustworthy). His teachers also include Abū Bakr al-Bāgandī (d. 312/925). His students include Imam Abū Nuʿaym (d. 430/1038) and Imam Ḥākim (d. 405/1014). He authored many books and travelled a lot. He passed away in 370 (980-1) during his journey from Marw to Bukhara. (Tārīkh Baghdad, 2:150; Siyar, 16:214)
- Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Salāmah al-Ṭaḥāwī, the son of Imam Ṭaḥāwī – His teachers include Imam Nasāʾī (d. 303/915). He passed away in 351 (962) (al-Ansāb, 9:54; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 1:332). Along with ḥadīth, he studied jurisprudence with his father and is a ḥanafī (al-Jawāhir al-Muḍiyyah, 1:352). He also narrates a famous statement of his father in relation to him not following Imam Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150/767) in every matter (Lisān, 1:620; Rafʿ al-Iṣr, p.273).
We hope this answers your queries.
Note: May Allah Almighty reward you for your passion and endeavours and accept all your efforts. We would advise you to remain in contact with a local UK based organisation Muslim Welfare Institute which is run by scholars and has been delivering education and Islamic projects – including translation of books into Albanian – in Albania for over two decades.
Allah knows best
Yusuf Shabbir
6 Rajab 1439 / 23 March 2018
Approved by: Mufti Shabbir Ahmed and Mufti Muhammad Tahir