al-Mukhlis
- Died
- 393 AH
- Born in
- Baghdad
Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mukhlis (305–393 AH / 917–1003 CE) was a Baghdad-based hadith transmitter and high-ranking authority of transmission (musnid), best known for the hadith selections compiled from his narrations titled al-Mukhlisiyyat.
Lineage and Early Life
His full lineage is Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Zakariyya, bearing the kunya Abu Tahir and the nisbas al-Baghdadi and al-Dhahabi. The professional epithet al-Mukhlis refers to a refiner who purifies gold from base metals and impurities using heat and suspension. His father, Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Abbas, was also a trustworthy traditionist; he was deaf in later life and died in Ramadan 357 AH.
Al-Mukhlis stated that he was born at the first break of dawn on Monday, 7 Shawwal 305 AH. He began his hadith auditions as a child in Dhu al-Qi'da 312 AH, first hearing from Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi (known as Ibn Bint Mani'), and shortly thereafter studying under other senior scholars of Baghdad.
Hadith Transmission and Students
Al-Mukhlis transmitted extensively from prominent Baghdad traditionists of his era. Among his principal teachers were Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud, Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'id, Ahmad ibn Sulayman al-Tusi, Ubayd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Sukkari, and Ridwan ibn Ahmad al-Saydalani.
Because of his longevity and high chains of transmission (isnad 'ali), a large number of contemporary and later hadith scholars studied under him. His students included Abu Bakr al-Barqani, Abu al-Qasim al-Azhari, Abu Muhammad al-Khallal, Hibat Allah ibn al-Hasan al-Lalaka'i, Abu al-Qasim al-Tanukhi, Abu Sa'd al-Samman, and al-Qadi Abu al-Tayyib al-Tabari. The last surviving person to narrate directly from him was the Sufi scholar al-Sharif Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Zaynabi. Several parts of his narrations were selected and compiled by contemporary hadith masters, most notably Abu al-Fath Ibn Abi al-Fawaris and Abu Bakr al-Baqqal, forming the collection known as al-Mukhlisiyyat.
Standing and Death
Al-Mukhlis was widely regarded by biographical authorities as a reliable (thiqah), truthful (saduq), and pious traditionist who transmitted a vast volume of hadith. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi affirmed his reliability, and Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Atiqi described him as a righteous and trustworthy elder.
Al-Mukhlis died in Baghdad during the month of Ramadan in 393 AH (1003 CE), at the age of eighty-eight.
Answer updated
List of Works
This work is a short hadith collection (juz) compiled from oral dictation sessions. It preserves the material delivered across seven assemblies, beginning on Friday, 16 Rajab 393 AH.
This classical hadith compilation comprises notebooks and parts (ajza') selected from extensive transmissions by contemporary scholars. The collection features Prophetic traditions, legal rulings, and historical reports narrated with chains of transmission leading back to early authorities.