al-Shashi
- Died
- 335 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu Sa'id al-Haytham ibn Kulayb al-Shashi (d. 335 AH / 946–947 CE) was a Transoxanian hadith scholar and traditionist, best known for compiling the hadith collection al-Musnad al-Kabir (The Great Musnad) .
Background and Education
His full lineage is Abu Sa'id al-Haytham ibn Kulayb ibn Surayj—also recorded as Shurayh—ibn Ma'qil al-Shashi . His family originated from Marw, while his nisba refers to the city of al-Shash beyond the Sayhun (Syr Darya) River .
He undertook extensive travels to study hadith, journeying to Baghdad and other centers of learning . His teachers included Abu Isa al-Tirmidhi, Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Duri, Isa ibn Ahmad al-Asqalani in Asqalan Balkh, Zakariyya ibn Yahya al-Marwazi, Yahya ibn Abi Talib, and Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Saghani . Through these chains, he was also a principal transmitter of major texts, including al-Tirmidhi's Shama'il al-Nabi (The Prophetic Characteristics) and Ibn Qutayba's Gharib al-Hadith (Uncommon Terms in Hadith) .
Teaching and Transmission
He arrived in Bukhara and narrated hadith there in 334 AH . A wide circle of students transmitted from him, among them Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Manda, who reportedly transcribed one thousand parts (juz') of hadith from him .
Other notable students included Abu al-Qasim Ali ibn Ahmad al-Khuza'i, who transmitted al-Musnad al-Kabir directly from him, as well as Mansur ibn Nasr al-Kaghadi and Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Da'uni .
Standing and Death
He was regarded as a reliable hadith memorizer (hafiz) and an extensive traveler in search of narrations, earning the designation of the traditionist of Transoxania (muhaddith ma wara' al-nahr) .
He died in 335 AH (946–947 CE) . Biographers such as al-Sam'ani and Ibn Makula record that he returned to al-Shash and died there, while al-Dhahabi notes that his death occurred in Samarqand .
Answer updated
List of Works
Also known as al-Musnad al-Kabir, this work is a hadith compilation structured in the traditional musnad format, arranging narrations and traditions under the names of individual Companions.