Ibn al-Furat
- Died
- 258 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu Mas'ud Ahmad ibn al-Furat al-Razi (c. 180s–258 AH / c. 797–872 CE) was a Persian hadith scholar and traditionist from Rayy who settled in Isfahan, renowned for his memorization and transmission of hadith .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Ahmad ibn al-Furat ibn Khalid al-Dabbi, with the kunya Abu Mas'ud . He was also known as al-Warraq . He was born around the 180s AH during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid . He began seeking hadith at an early age, though according to al-Daraqutni, he did not hear hadith directly from his father, al-Furat ibn Khalid .
To collect traditions, he traveled extensively across Islamic lands, visiting Basra, Kufa, Baghdad—which he entered during the lifetime of Ahmad ibn Hanbal—as well as the Jazira, Syria, the Hijaz, Yemen, and Egypt . He eventually took up residence in Isfahan, where he lived and taught for the remainder of his life .
Teachers and Students
Ibn al-Furat studied under numerous leading traditionists across several regions. His teachers included Yazid ibn Harun, Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi, Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani, Abd Allah ibn Numayr, Abu Usama Hammad ibn Usama, and Abd Allah ibn Maslama al-Qa'nabi .
A substantial cohort of scholars transmitted hadith on his authority, including Abu Dawud (who included his narrations in his Sunan), Ibn Abi Asim, Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Firyabi, Humayd ibn al-Rabi' (who was older than him), Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Manda, and Abd Allah ibn Ja'far ibn Faris .
Scholarly Standing
Ibn al-Furat was widely praised by his contemporaries for the breadth of his memorization and his reliability as a transmitter. Ahmad ibn Hanbal remarked that no one under the sky possessed greater memorization of the reports of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than Abu Mas'ud al-Razi, and noted his role in demonstrating the Sunnah in Isfahan . Ibn Adi stated that he knew of no repudiated (munkar) narration transmitted by him, affirming him as a man of truthfulness and precise memorization .
Ibrahim ibn Awramah described him as one of three preeminent scholars remaining in the world during his time, alongside Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli in Khurasan and al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Hulwani in Mecca, distinguishing Abu Mas'ud as the one with the finest hadith among them . Muhammad ibn Adam al-Massisi remarked that if Abu Mas'ud were responsible for issuing legal fatwas over half the world, he would have sufficed it . Ibn al-Furat compiled his own large hadith work, al-Musnad, alongside dedicated hadith booklets (ajza') .
Death
Ibn al-Furat died in the month of Sha'ban in 258 AH (872 CE) in Isfahan; an alternative transmission mentions his death occurring in 268 AH . His ritual washing was performed by Muhammad ibn Asim, and his funeral prayer was led by Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Khattabi .
Answer updated
List of Works
This short hadith tract comprises thirteen selected traditions drawn from the broader compilation of Abu Mas'ud Ahmad ibn al-Furat al-Dabbi al-Razi. Twelve of the included reports are elevated substitute transmissions (al-abdal al-'awali) alongside one subsequent narration (hadith tali), encompassing legal, ethical, and medical themes.
This specialized hadith treatise gathers twenty-three narrations with elevated chains of transmission (awali) chosen from the hadith collection (Juz') of Abu Mas'ud Ahmad ibn al-Furat. The selection encompasses prophetic traditions as well as reports from the Companions and Successors, addressing topics such as medical treatments, ethical supplications, and interpersonal conduct.