Abu Sad al-Naysaburi
- Died
- 548 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu Sa'd al-Naysaburi (476–548 AH / 1083–1153 CE; another report gives 549 AH / 1154 CE) was a Persian Shafi'i jurist, legal theorist, and professor at the Nizamiyya madrasas of Nishapur and Herat.
Early Life and Education
Abu Sa'd Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Mansur (also cited as Ibn Abi Mansur), titled Muhyi al-Din, was born in Turaythith in Khurasan in 476 AH (1083 CE). His father originated from Janwah and had moved to Nishapur to accompany the mystic Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri.
Abu Sa'd pursued jurisprudence under Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, becoming one of his prominent disciples, and also studied under Abu al-Muzaffar Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Khwafi. In hadith, he heard transmissions from scholars including Nasr Allah al-Khashnami, Abd al-Ghaffar al-Shirawi, Abu al-Fityan Umar al-Rawasi, Isma'il al-Buhayri, and Abu Hamid Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Abdus al-Hadhdha'—the latter in 496 AH during a reading by Abu Nasr Abd al-Rahim al-Qushayri.
Career and Scholarly Standing
Abu Sa'd rose to become the leading Shafi'i authority and debater of his era in Nishapur, assuming the professorship at the prestigious Nizamiyya madrasa in Nishapur and later teaching at the Nizamiyya of Herat. Students and jurists traveled from across the region to study under him. His students included the historian and traditionist Abu Sa'd al-Sam'ani and his son, Mansur ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Tabari, and Yahya ibn al-Rabi' al-Wasiti.
He was praised for his piety, asceticism, and mastery of legal differences (khilaf). Ibn Khallikan characterized him as the master of later scholars (ustadh al-muta'akhkhirin), while al-Sam'ani described him as the most discerning debater among the scholars of Khurasan in his day. Among his writings were al-Muhit fi Sharh al-Wasit, an eight-volume commentary on al-Ghazali's legal compendium al-Wasit, and al-Intisaf fi Masa'il al-Khilaf, a work on disputed points of Islamic jurisprudence.
Death
Abu Sa'd was killed during the invasion of Nishapur by nomadic Ghuzz (Oghuz) forces following their rebellion against the Seljuk ruler Sanjar. The invaders killed him by shoving earth into his mouth until he suffocated. Most biographical sources record his death in the month of Ramadan 548 AH (November–December 1153 CE), while Abu Sa'd al-Sam'ani stated that he was killed in the Great Mosque on 11 Shawwal 549 AH (December 1154 CE). Al-Sam'ani recounted seeing him in a dream afterward and asking of his state, to which Abu Sa'd replied that God had forgiven him.
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Arbaun li Abi Sad al-Naysaburi is a collection of forty prophetic traditions compiled from the transmissions of the Shafi'i jurist and scholar. Arranged according to forty different topics of religious practice and Islamic law, the work presents forty hadiths narrated on the authority of forty distinct Companions, accompanied by full chains of transmission and critical commentary on their status and paths of transmission.