Ibn Abi al-Fawaris
- Died
- 412 AH
- Born in
- -
Ibn Abi al-Fawaris (338–412 AH / 950–1022 CE) was a Baghdad-based hadith scholar, memorizer (hafiz), and compiler known for his extensive travels and hadith dictation assemblies .
Lineage and Education
His full name was Abu al-Fath Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Faris ibn Sahl al-Baghdadi . He was known as Ibn Abi al-Fawaris because his ancestor Sahl bore the kunya Abu al-Fawaris . He was born at dawn on Sunday, with eight nights remaining in Shawwal 338 AH (950 CE) .
He began hearing hadith in 346 AH, and according to al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, his earliest audition was under Abu Bakr al-Najjad . In Baghdad, he studied under prominent authorities, including Abu Bakr al-Shafi'i, Abu 'Ali ibn al-Sawwaf, Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Khuldi, Abu Bakr al-Naqqash, and Ahmad ibn Yusuf ibn Khallad . He undertook scholarly journeys across the Islamic East to collect narrations, traveling to Basra, Fars, Khurasan, and Isfahan, where he heard from scholars such as Abu Bakr al-Isma'ili and Abu Bakr ibn al-Muqri' .
Scholarly Career and Students
Ibn Abi al-Fawaris resided on the eastern side of Baghdad and held regular dictation sessions (imla') at the Mosque of al-Rusafa . He was recognized for his textual discrimination and compilation skills, frequently selecting (intikhab) narrations from the collections of older masters for his contemporaries, as exemplified by his selection from the hadiths of Abu Tahir al-Mukhallis in al-Mukhallisiyyat .
A number of notable scholars transmitted hadith from him, including al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, who read a portion of hadith to him, as well as Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi, Abu Bakr al-Barqani, Abu Sa'd al-Malini, and Abu 'Ali ibn al-Banna' .
Standing and Death
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi praised Ibn Abi al-Fawaris as possessing exceptional memory, deep knowledge, integrity, and reliability, noting that he was widely renowned for his righteousness .
He died on Wednesday, 16 Dhu al-Qi'da 412 AH (1022 CE) in Baghdad . He was buried the following day in the Bab Harb cemetery, adjacent to the grave of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, separated from it only by the tombs of three members of the Tamimi family .
Answer updated
List of Works
This specialized biographical and hadith treatise documents the Companions whose narrations were transmitted in the two primary canonical hadith collections, the Sahih of al-Bukhari and the Sahih of Muslim. It identifies the Companions whose transmissions both compilers agreed upon authenticating, alongside those whose hadiths were transmitted exclusively by either al-Bukhari or Muslim.