Ibn al-Durays
- Died
- 294 AH
- Born in
- -
Ibn al-Durays (ca. 200–294 AH / ca. 815–907 CE) was a Persian hadith scholar and traditionist based in Rayy, known for his early collection on the merits of the scripture, Fada'il al-Qur'an (The Virtues of the Quran).
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ayyub ibn Yahya ibn al-Durays al-Bajali al-Razi. He was born around 200 AH (ca. 815–816 CE). He belonged to a scholarly family; his grandfather, Yahya ibn al-Durays (d. 203 AH), served as the judge of Rayy and was an associate of Sufyan al-Thawri.
Studies, Travels, and Students
Ibn al-Durays traveled in pursuit of hadith, collecting narrations from traditionists in Basra, Mecca, Medina, Baghdad, and Rayy. Reflecting on his expenditures during his scholarly journeys, he reported that on his final trip to Basra alone, he paid ten thousand dirhams in scribes' copying fees.
Among his prominent teachers were Abu al-Walid al-Tayalisi, Muslim ibn Ibrahim, al-Qa'nabi, Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Abdi, Musaddad ibn Musarhad, and Sa'id ibn Mansur.
A broad circle of students narrated from him in Rayy, Qazwin, and neighboring regions. His students included Ibn Abi Hatim, Abu Amr Ismail ibn Nujayd, Ahmad ibn Ishaq al-Tibi, and Abu Said Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab al-Razi, who was the last of his narrators to pass away.
Scholarly Standing
Ibn al-Durays held elevated chains of transmission (uluw al-isnad) across the eastern Islamic provinces. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded narrations directly from him and evaluated him as trustworthy and truthful (thiqah saduq). Abu Ya'la al-Khalili commended him as a consensual, trustworthy authority well versed in hadith who met the standards of the sound collections (shart al-sahih). His treatise Fada'il al-Qur'an received praise as one of his finest transmissions on the devotional merits and transmission of the Quran.
Death
Ibn al-Durays died in Rayy on the Day of Ashura in 294 AH (907 CE) in his nineties; another report places his death in 295 AH.
Answer updated
List of Works
Fada'il al-Qur'an (The Virtues of the Quran) is a third-century AH hadith treatise on the merits and sciences of the Quran. The work is organized as a collection of narrated traditions and companion reports transmitted with complete chains of narration, encompassing the devotional merits of reciting the Quran as well as broader Quranic sciences.