Abu Umar al-Duri
- Died
- 246 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu Umar al-Duri (c. 150s–246 AH / c. 767–860 CE) was a Baghdadi Quran reciter and grammarian who became the leading authority on Quranic recitation in Iraq and the primary transmitter of the readings of Abu Amr ibn al-Ala and al-Kisa'i .
Lineage and Early Life
He was Hafs ibn Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Sahban (also vocalized as Suhayb) ibn Adi ibn Sahban al-Azdi, known by the kunya Abu Umar (and in some sources Abu Amr) . His nisba al-Duri refers to al-Dur, a locality and quarter situated on the eastern side of Baghdad . He was born in the 150s AH and was blind (al-Darir), with some accounts noting that he lost his sight later in life . Later in his career, he took up residence in Samarra .
Education and Quranic Transmission
Al-Duri traveled extensively in pursuit of Quranic variants, becoming recognized as the first scholar to systematically compile the variant readings (qira'at) . He studied the canonical readings along with anomalous recitations (al-shawadhdh) under several prominent masters . He recited directly to al-Kisa'i, and he read the recitation of Abu Amr ibn al-Ala under Yahya ibn al-Mubarak al-Yazidi, from whom he also studied Arabic grammar . He also studied under Ismail ibn Jafar, Ya'qub ibn Jafar, Sulaym ibn Isa, and Shuja' ibn Abi Nasr al-Balkhi . In hadith, he collected traditions from scholars across Medina, Iraq, and the Levant, hearing from teachers such as Sufyan ibn Uyaynah, Ismail ibn Ayyash, Sharik ibn Abd Allah, and Abu Tumaylah Yahya ibn Wadih .
Among his scholarly contributions, he authored Juz Qira'at al-Nabi (Tract on the Readings of the Prophet), documenting prophetic traditions on specific verse recitations, as well as Ma ittafaqat alfazuhu wa-ma'anih min al-Quran (What Agrees in Wording and Meaning in the Quran) .
Students and Transmission
A large number of scholars studied and transmitted Quranic recitation from al-Duri, including Ahmad ibn Farah al-Mufassir, Ahmad ibn Yazid al-Halwani, Ahmad ibn Harb, Abu al-Za'ra Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdus, and Abu Uthman Said ibn Abd al-Rahim . His hadith students included Abu Zur'ah al-Razi, Nasr ibn Ali al-Jahdami, and Ibn Majah, who included his narration in his Sunan . Abu Dawud reported seeing Ahmad ibn Hanbal writing down traditions from al-Duri . His two sons, Abu Ja'far Muhammad and Abu Bakr Muhammad, were also traditionists who transmitted from him .
Standing and Creed
Al-Duri was widely regarded as an authoritative and precise master of recitation. Abu Amr al-Dani described him as an "Imam in recitation, trustworthy, authoritative, and well-known," while Ibn Sa'd noted that he was knowledgeable in the Quran and its commentary . Abu Ja'far al-Uqayli stated that he was trustworthy and reliable in both recitation and hadith, and Ibn Hibban listed him among the reliable narrators in al-Thiqat . Abu Hatim al-Razi graded him as truthful . In hadith criticism, however, al-Daraqutni declared him weak, and al-Dhahabi observed that while he was entirely solid and authoritative in recitation, he was not of the same caliber in hadith transmission .
Regarding creed, when his student Ahmad ibn Farah asked him for his position on the Quran, al-Duri affirmed: "The speech of God, uncreated" .
Death
Al-Duri died in the month of Shawwal in 246 AH (860 CE) in his nineties . Another report places his death in 248 AH, but al-Dhahabi identified that date as an error .
Answer updated
List of Works
Juz Qiraat al-Nabi (Tract on the Readings of the Prophet) is a 3rd-century AH hadith-based monograph that documents the specific Quranic variant readings transmitted on the authority of the Prophet Muhammad. Arranged according to the sequence of Quranic chapters, it gathers prophetic traditions alongside their chains of transmission, detailing how particular verses were recited.