al-Hakam ibn Nafi al-Bahrani
- Died
- 222 AH
- Born in
- Homs
al-Hakam ibn Nafi al-Bahrani (138–222 AH / 755–837 CE), known by his kunya Abu al-Yaman, was a Syrian hadith transmitter based in Hims and an important source for major hadith collections, including Sahih al-Bukhari.
Background and transmission
Al-Hakam ibn Nafi was born in 138 AH. He was affiliated by clientage (walaʾ) to the tribe of Bahraʾ, specifically as a client of a woman named Umm Salama, who was married to 'Amr ibn Ru'ba al-Taghlibi.
He studied under several Syrian scholars, most prominently transmitting the narrations of Shu'ayb ibn Abi Hamzah, as well as Safwan ibn 'Amr, Hariz ibn 'Uthman, Sa'id ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, Artah ibn al-Mundhir, and 'Ittaf ibn Khalid.
A well-known discussion among hadith critics concerned his reception of Shu'ayb ibn Abi Hamzah's corpus. Abu Zur'ah al-Razi stated that Abu al-Yaman heard only a single hadith directly from Shu'ayb, receiving the remainder through general authorization (ijazah). When questioned by Ahmad ibn Hanbal about his transmission method, Abu al-Yaman clarified that he had read parts of the texts to Shu'ayb, Shu'ayb had read parts to him, and he received other parts through authorization and written transmission (munawalah); Ahmad instructed him that he could introduce all of them with the formula "Shu'ayb informed us" (akhbarana Shu'ayb). Abu al-Yaman also stated to Yahya ibn Ma'in that he never released to anyone what he had received solely by munawalah.
Many scholars transmitted hadith from him, including Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma'in, Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli, Abu Hatim al-Razi, Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Darimi, and Abu Zur'ah al-Dimashqi. Al-Bukhari relied heavily on his direct transmissions throughout his compilation, while Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, Abu Dawud, and al-Tirmidhi transmitted from him through intermediaries.
Scholarly standing and death
Al-Hakam ibn Nafi was widely regarded as a reliable authority in hadith. Abu Hatim al-Razi described him as "noble, trustworthy, and truthful" (nabil thiqah saduq), and Ibn 'Ammar deemed him trustworthy (thiqah). Al-Ijli and al-Nasa'i observed that "there is no harm in him" (laysa bihi ba's). Later biographers such as Ibn al-Imad and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani characterized him as an authoritative and firm transmitter (thiqah thabt).
He died in 222 AH (837 CE), as recorded by al-Bukhari and Ibn Sa'd. Alternate reports place his death in 221 AH or 211 AH.
Answer updated
List of Works
Hadith Abi al-Yaman is a hadith tract compiled from the narrations of the Syrian scholar al-Hakam ibn Nafi al-Bahrani, transmitting traditions primarily received from Shu'ayb ibn Abi Hamzah.