al-Muammal ibn Ihab
- Died
- 254 AH
- Born in
- -
al-Muammal ibn Ihab (d. 254 AH / 868 CE) was a hadith scholar from Kufa who traveled across the Islamic world and settled in al-Ramla, known for his hadith transmission and his compiled hadith tract Juz al-Muammal.
Origin and Travels
His full lineage is recorded as al-Muammal ibn Ihab (also vocalized Yahab) ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Qufl ibn Sadal (or Sadak) al-Raba'i al-'Ijli, with the kunya Abu Abd al-Rahman. Originally from Kirman, he lived in Kufa and journeyed widely to collect hadith. He transmitted narrations in several regional centers, including Baghdad, Damascus, Hims, Aleppo, and Egypt, before settling in al-Ramla in Palestine.
Teachers and Students
Al-Muammal studied under numerous scholars of his era, including Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani, Yazid ibn Harun, Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi, Yahya ibn Adam, Damrah ibn Rabi'ah al-Ramli, and Sayyar ibn Hatim.
His narrations were transmitted by several prominent hadith scholars, including Abu Dawud and al-Nasa'i, who both recorded his transmissions in their Sunan collections, as well as Abu Hatim al-Razi, Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili, and Abu Bakr ibn Abi Khaythamah. His hadith monograph, Juz' al-Mu'ammal, was transmitted through his student Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Nasr al-Sulami.
Scholarly Standing and Death
Al-Muammal was widely regarded as a trustworthy transmitter. Abu Hatim al-Razi declared him truthful (saduq), and al-Nasa'i described him as acceptable (la ba'sa bihi) and on another occasion explicitly called him trustworthy (thiqah). He was likewise included by Ibn Hibban in his register of reliable narrators, al-Thiqat. Ibrahim ibn al-Junayd noted that when Yahya ibn Ma'in was asked about him, he appeared to lean toward weakening him.
According to Ibn Yunus, al-Muammal died in al-Ramla in the month of Rajab in 254 AH (868 CE), with another report specifying his death on a Thursday when nine (or seven) nights had passed of that month. Ibn Hibban alternatively placed his death around 260 AH.
Answer updated
List of Works
Juz al-Muammal is a collection of hadith belonging to the ajza' genre of hadith literature, which consists of compact monographs gathering hadith narrations through a specific transmitter or chain of transmission.