al-Harfi
- Died
- 423 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu al-Qasim al-Harfi (336–423 AH / 947–1032 CE) was a Baghdadi hadith scholar and transmitter (musnid).
Identity and Life
His full name was Abd al-Rahman ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn (or al-Hasan) ibn Abd Allah ibn Ishaq ibn al-Furat ibn Dinar ibn Muslim ibn Aslam, known as Ibn al-Harfi and titled Abu al-Qasim al-Simsar al-Harbi al-Harfi al-Baghdadi. He resided in the Harbiya quarter of Baghdad, and his nisba al-Harfi associated him with the trade of seeds and herbs. According to his own statement recorded by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, he was born on 14 Jumada al-Akhirah 336 AH, though another source dates his birth to 333 AH.
Hadith Transmission
Al-Harfi studied hadith under several scholars of Baghdad, including Abu Bakr al-Najjad, Hamzah ibn Muhammad al-Dihqan, Abu Bakr al-Shafi'i, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash, Habib ibn al-Hasan al-Qazzaz, Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Zubayr al-Qurashi, and his own father, Ubayd Allah.
He delivered dictation sessions (amali) and transmitted hadith to a wide network of scholars. Among those who narrated from him were al-Bayhaqi, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, al-Qasim ibn al-Fadl al-Thaqafi, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Salam al-Ansari, al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Sarraj, and Abu Bakr al-Turaythithi. Selections from his transmissions were curated by scholars such as Abu al-Qasim al-Lalaka'i into tracts of hadith benefits (fawa'id), alongside his dictation gatherings recorded as Amali al-Harfi.
Standing and Death
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi wrote down hadith from him and described him as truthful (saduq), though he noted that al-Harfi's audition in some transmissions from al-Najjad exhibited confusion (idtirab). Al-Dhahabi commended him as a learned transmitter and shaykh.
Al-Harfi died on Saturday, 7 Shawwal 423 AH (1032 CE), and was buried in the Bab Harb cemetery in Baghdad.
Answer updated
List of Works
This collection of hadith benefits (fawa'id) is organized as a concise booklet (juz') featuring prophetic traditions and narrations transmitted with complete chains of transmission. Selected from a broader repertoire by Abu al-Qasim Hibat Allah ibn al-Hasan al-Tabari al-Lalaka'i and preserved in the transmission of Abu Abd Allah al-Qasim ibn al-Fadl ibn Ahmad al-Thaqafi, it addresses matters of prophetic guidance, moral conduct, ritual purification, and prayer, accompanied by critical assessments of transmission chains and textual variants.
Also known as the first part of al-Fawaid al-sihah wa-l-gharaib wa-l-afrad, this hadith tract brings together selected sound, singular, and rare narrations preserved through the transmission of al-Sharif Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Abd al-Salam al-Ansari. Extracted and compiled by Abu al-Qasim Hibat Allah ibn al-Hasan al-Tabari al-Lalaka'i, the text contains prophetic hadiths, historical reports (athar), and poetic verses organized under the relevant teachers of transmission alongside critical remarks on rare lines and isolated reports.