Abu al-Mahasin al-Tabasi
- Died
- 537 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu al-Mahasin al-Tabasi (d. 537 AH / 1142–1143 CE) was a hadith scholar and reciter based in Nishapur, known for compiling al-Arbaun al-Mustakhraja min al-Sihah min Riwayat al-Muhammadin (The Forty Extracted from the Authentic Collections from the Narrations of the Muhammads) .
Lineage and Family
His full name was Abd al-Razzaq ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Nasr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Isa ibn Ammar al-Tabasi . A variant in the transmission record of his compilation names his grandfather Abu Nasr as Isa rather than Ahmad . While widely known by the kunya Abu al-Mahasin, the kunya Abu al-Hasan was also recorded for him . His nisba traces back to his hometown of Tabas .
Al-Tabasi came from a household dedicated to hadith transmission: his father had collected extensively in Nishapur, and his brother Fadl Allah Abu al-Ma'ali copied hadith manuscripts and heard narrations with his guidance . His daughter, Zubaydah, was brought by him to hear hadith from Abd al-Mun'im ibn Abi al-Qasim al-Qushayri and lived until around 618 AH .
Scholarly Career and Teachers
Al-Tabasi began his studies in Tabas, where he received hadith narrations from the judge and hafiz Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Ja'far al-Tabasi . He subsequently moved to Nishapur, where he studied under Abu Nasr al-Qushayri, heard from Abu al-Hasan, and acquired transmission paths from later scholars of the region .
He developed extensive skill and practice as a hadith reciter (qari) before senior scholars, reading the two Sahih collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim directly to Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Farawi . Based on al-Farawi's transmissions, al-Tabasi assembled his specialized forty-hadith collection, arranged so that every narrator in the transmission chains bears the given name Muhammad .
Standing and Students
Al-Tabasi was recognized as the hadith instructor (mufid) of Nishapur, noted by Abu Sa'd al-Sam'ani for the soundness of his reading and his dedication to teaching hadith students . Abu Ishaq al-Sarifini described him as an upright, meticulous scholar who combined academic proficiency with devotion to worship and upright conduct .
Scholars who transmitted hadith from him or recorded his recitations included Ibn Asakir, al-Sam'ani, and Zaynab bint Abd al-Rahman al-Sha'riyya .
Death
Al-Tabasi died in Nishapur during the 530s AH, with the year specified as 537 AH . He was buried in the quarter of Kanjrud near the tomb of Ibn Khuzaymah .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Arbaun al-Mustakhraja min al-Sihah min Riwayat al-Muhammadin is a specialized hadith collection belonging to the traditional forty-hadith genre. Structured around interconnected chains of transmission, the collection features forty authentic narrations drawn from authentic sources in which every narrator across the upper tiers of the transmission chain shares the given name Muhammad.