al-Dhuhli
- Died
- 258 AH
- Born in
- Nishapur
Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli (172–258 AH / 788–872 CE) was a leading hadith scholar and the preeminent traditionist of Khurasan, renowned for his exhaustive expertise on the narrations of Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri.
Lineage and Early Life
His full lineage is Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Abd Allah ibn Khalid ibn Faris ibn Dhu'ayb al-Dhuhli al-Naysaburi. His family's affiliation (wala') to the tribe of Dhuhl derived from his ancestor Faris, who was an emancipated client of the family of Mu'adh ibn Muslim ibn Raja'; Raja' had originally been taken as a hostage by Mu'awiya I until the chieftain al-Qa'qa' ibn Shawr al-Dhuhli intervened to secure his release. Al-Dhuhli was born in Nishapur in 172 AH (or in the late 170s AH).
Travels and Education
Al-Dhuhli embarked on three major journeys in pursuit of hadith, reporting that he spent 150,000 dirhams on his scholarly travels. He traversed Iraq, the Hijaz, Sham, Egypt, Yemen, al-Rayy, and al-Jazira. When he first entered Basra, he encountered the funeral procession of the master Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qattan at the city gates, lamenting that had he not delayed his arrival there, he would have caught several earlier authorities before their deaths.
He studied under numerous prominent scholars of his era, including Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani, Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi, Yazid ibn Harun, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Ishaq ibn Rahwayh.
Scholarly Standing and Students
Scholars widely recognized al-Dhuhli as the foremost hadith master of Khurasan. When he visited Baghdad, Ahmad ibn Hanbal stood up to greet him, urged his own sons and students to attend his lectures, and remarked that he had seen no one more knowledgeable regarding the traditions of al-Zuhri. Ali ibn al-Madini described him as the rightful "heir of al-Zuhri," while Abu Hatim al-Razi termed him the leading imam of his era. Later traditionists such as al-Daraqutni observed that anyone wishing to appreciate the deficiencies of his own knowledge should examine al-Dhuhli's two-volume specialized study, Kitab al-Zuhriyyat (also known as 'Ilal Hadith al-Zuhri). He also authored Kitab al-Tawakkul ("Book of Trust in God").
A vast cohort of traditionists studied and transmitted under him, including Abu Zur'ah al-Razi, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaymah, and his son Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Dhuhli. Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari also transmitted over thirty traditions from him in his Sahih, frequently masking his name by citing him simply as "Muhammad," "Muhammad ibn Abd Allah" (after his grandfather), or "Muhammad ibn Khalid" (after his great-grandfather).
The Pronunciation Dispute
When al-Bukhari settled in Nishapur around 250 AH, al-Dhuhli initially encouraged the public to attend his assemblies. However, a bitter controversy erupted over the theological question of the human pronunciation of the Quran (lafz al-Qur'an). When al-Bukhari stated that human actions and their vocalizations are created while God's speech itself is uncreated, opponents accused him of heresy.
Al-Dhuhli took a strict stance against such formulations, publicly declaring that anyone who held al-Bukhari's position was forbidden from attending his circle. In protest, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj immediately stood up, left al-Dhuhli's lecture, gathered every manuscript he had written from him, loaded them onto a camel, and returned them to al-Dhuhli, severing ties and refusing to include any narrations from him in his Sahih. Under escalating pressure, al-Bukhari departed Nishapur.
Death
Al-Dhuhli died in Nishapur in Rabi' I (or one of the two months of Rabi') in 258 AH (872 CE) at the age of eighty-six. Variant reports recorded his death in 252, 256, or 257 AH, though biographical critics established these dates as errors.
Answer updated
List of Works
This specialized hadith collection (juz') brings together 112 numbered traditions transmitted through Abu Ali al-Maqli. Tracing direct narrations from prominent authorities of the era, a significant portion of its reports features chains running through Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri. The contents encompass a diverse range of legal, ethical, and historical topics, including ritual purity and prayer, fasting and pilgrimage rites, commercial ethics and family law, and the virtues of early figures.
Also known as Min Ahadith Abi Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli, this hadith tract (juz') consists of 111 numbered narrations comprising prophetic traditions alongside statements of the Companions and Successors. Transmitted by Abu Ali al-Ma'qili, a major portion of the compilation runs through chains from Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani and Ma'mar ibn Rashid from Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, addressing subjects such as prayer, fasting, transactions, inheritance, and interpersonal conduct.