al-Ghadairi

Abu Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan al-Ghadairi (d. 414 AH / 1023 CE) was a Baghdad-based hadith transmitter, known for his compilation of hadith narrations transmitted from prominent tenth-century Baghdadi traditionists Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Lineage and Background

His full name was al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Halbas ibn Abd Allah al-Makhzumi al-Ghadairi Ithaf al-Murtaqi bi-Taraj…+1. He belonged to the Qurayshite clan of Makhzum Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1. His relative adjective (nisba) al-Ghadairi derives from ghadarah, denoting the making or use of a type of earthenware clay vessel Tawdih al-Mushtabah+1. Although his exact date of birth is unrecorded, al-Dhahabi remarked that he likely lived beyond the age of ninety Siyar Aalam al-Nubala.

Hadith Studies and Transmission

Al-Ghadairi studied under several notable traditionists and scholars of Baghdad, receiving narrations through audition and dictation (imla'). His teachers included Abu Bakr al-Suli (from whom he heard in 334 AH), Ismail ibn Muhammad al-Saffar, Abu Amr Ibn al-Sammak, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Salman al-Najad (heard in 345 AH), Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Amr al-Razzaz, and the Sufi teacher Ja'far al-Khuldi Ithaf al-Murtaqi bi-Taraj…+1.

He transmitted hadith to a wide circle of prominent scholars of the following generation. Among his students was al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, who recorded hadith directly from him in Baghdad, and Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi, who narrated from him across his works Ithaf al-Murtaqi bi-Taraj…+1. His transmissions were also related by Abu Abd Allah al-Qasim ibn al-Fadl al-Thaqafi (the transmitter of Juz' al-Ghadairi), Abu al-Husayn Ibn al-Muhtadi bi-Llah, Yusuf ibn Muhammad al-Mahrawani, and Abbas ibn Bakran al-Hashimi Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Standing and Death

Al-Ghadairi was considered a reliable authority in hadith transmission. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi noted that he was trustworthy and virtuous (thiqah fadil), and al-Dhahabi described him as a righteous, trustworthy imam Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Al-Ghadairi died on Tuesday night, the 15th of Muharram 414 AH (1023 CE) Tarikh Baghdad. He was buried in the cemetery of Bab Harb in Baghdad, near the grave of Ahmad ibn Hanbal Tarikh Baghdad+1.