Ibn al-Muqri
- Died
- 381 AH
- Born in
- Isfahan
Abu Bakr Ibn al-Muqri (285–381 AH / 898–991 CE) was an Isfahan-based hadith master and traveler known for his far-reaching scholarly journeys and his dictionary of teachers, Mu'jam al-shuyukh.
Early life and travels
His full name was Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ali ibn Asim ibn Zadhan al-Asbahani, also known by the nisba al-Asimi. He was born in 285 AH and began his hadith studies around the turn of the fourth century, recording his earliest transmissions in Isfahan from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Mattawayh in 302 AH.
Ibn al-Muqri embarked on extensive journeys across the Islamic world, gathering transmissions in approximately fifty cities throughout Iraq, the Hijaz, al-Jazira, the Levant, and Egypt. He reported having traversed the eastern and western lands four times, visiting Jerusalem ten times, performing the Hajj four times, and residing in Mecca for twenty-five months. Illustrating the physical exertion of his travels, he recounted walking seventy stages (marhala) solely to obtain the text of Mufaddal ibn Fadala.
Among his prominent teachers were Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili in Mosul, Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi and Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Sufi in Baghdad, Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi in Egypt—from whom he heard Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar—and Ibn al-Mundhir in Mecca.
Scholarly career and standing
In theological fundamentals (usul), Ibn al-Muqri adhered to the approach of Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Abu Zur'ah al-Razi. He served as the librarian (khazin kutub) for the Buyid dynasty vizier al-Sahib Ibn Abbad. Although Ibn Abbad held Mu'tazilite views, he maintained high regard for Ibn al-Muqri due to a longstanding friendship with his father and a dream in which he saw the Prophet ﷺ describing Ibn al-Muqri as one of God's righteous allies (wali).
Ibn al-Muqri taught extensively and transmitted hadith to a wide network of scholars, including senior contemporaries such as Abu al-Shaykh al-Isfahani and Abu Ishaq ibn Hamza, as well as students such as Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Ibn Mardawayh, and Hamza al-Sahmi. In addition to compiling his biographical teacher directory, he authored Musnad Abi Hanifah and compiled al-Arba'un.
Biographers praised his reliability and precision; Ibn Mardawayh characterized him as a trustworthy, dependable authority who possessed verified written source texts (sahib usul), while Abu Nu'aym described him as a prominent, reliable traditionist who preserved an immense volume of transmissions.
Death
Ibn al-Muqri died in Isfahan in Shawwal 381 AH (991 CE), with reports specifying his death on 2 Shawwal at the age of ninety-six. An alternative report recorded in al-Irshad places his death at the beginning of 378 AH.
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Muntakhab min Gharaib Malik (also titled al-Muntakhab min Gharaib Ahadith Malik ibn Anas) is a hadith treatise that gathers singular and rare transmissions (gharaib) attributed to Imam Malik ibn Anas. Belonging to a specialized genre focusing on atypical transmissions and unique chains, the compilation brings together narrations traced through Malik that diverge from standard transmissions or were transmitted outside his widely circulated al-Muwatta.
Min Hadith Ibn al-Muqri is a hadith booklet (juz') preserving prophetic narrations accompanied by their chains of transmission (isnad). The text contains transmissions gathered across scholarly journeys and was later preserved and referenced by subsequent traditionists, with manuscript copies surviving in Damascus.
Juz' fihi Ahadith Nafi' ibn Abi Nu'aym is a single-volume hadith collection (juz') dedicated to gathering the narrations transmitted through the prominent 2nd-century Medinan Quran reciter Nafi' ibn Abi Nu'aym (d. 169 AH). The work systematically compiles and arranges these narrations under dedicated chains of transmission.
al-Thalith Ashar min Fawaid Ibn al-Muqri is a hadith fascicle (juz') preserving narrations and traditions recorded with their full chains of transmission (asanid). Representing the thirteenth part of a broader collection of hadith benefits (fawa'id), the work includes prophetic reports related on the authority of early companions and transmission authorities.
Al-Arbaun li-Ibn al-Muqri is a 4th-century AH hadith collection belonging to the forty-hadith genre (arba'iniyyat). The work systematically assembles forty prophetic traditions across forty distinct subject areas of Islamic knowledge, beginning with reports on the virtues and duty of seeking religious learning before addressing various devotional obligations and legal topics.
Al-Rukhsa fi Taqbil al-Yad is a hadith treatise (juzʾ) that gathers prophetic traditions and early reports documenting the permissibility and practice of kissing the hand, feet, head, or forehead as an expression of respect, devotion, and religious veneration.
Mu'jam Ibn al-Muqri, also referred to as al-Mu'jam al-kabir or Mu'jam shuyukh Ibn Zadhan, is a 4th-century AH hadith dictionary. The work documents the scholars and teachers from whom hadith was received during extensive travels across the Islamic world.