Ishaq al-Dabari
- Died
- 285 AH
- Born in
- -
Ishaq al-Dabari (c. 195–285 AH / 811–898 CE) was a Yemeni hadith transmitter and the principal narrator of the compilations of Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani, including his Musannaf .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Abu Ya'qub Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn 'Abbad ibn Sam'an al-Dabari al-San'ani . He was also recorded with the kunya Abu Muhammad . His nisba derives from Dabar (or Dabrah), a village located near Sanaa in Yemen . According to Abu Ya'la al-Khalili, al-Dabari was born in 195 AH, though another report places his birth in 190 AH .
His father, Ibrahim ibn 'Abbad al-Dabari, brought him as a young boy to study under Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani in the year 210 AH . Ibrahim al-Harbi stated that Abd al-Razzaq died when al-Dabari was only six or seven years old .
Transmission and Students
Al-Dabari attended the reading of Abd al-Razzaq's works under the guidance of his father, commonly using the transmission formula "we read to Abd al-Razzaq," indicating that he attended sessions where another reader recited the texts in his presence . He transmitted the bulk of Abd al-Razzaq's authored corpus, which was subsequently relayed from him across Islamic lands .
A number of notable scholars traveled to receive traditions from him, including Abu al-Qasim al-Tabarani, Abu Sa'id Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ziyad al-A'rabi, Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn Sa'd ibn Idris, and Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abd al-Hamid al-San'ani .
Critical Assessment
Scholars evaluated al-Dabari's standing in light of his young age during his reception of hadith. When al-Hakim al-Naysaburi asked al-Daraqutni about him, al-Daraqutni replied that al-Dabari was truthful (ṣadūq), that he knew of no disagreement regarding his reliability, and that his transmissions were fit for inclusion in authentic collections, despite not being a specialist critic of hadith . Al-Dhahabi considered his reception valid (samāʿuhu ṣaḥīḥ) and described him as a truthful transmitter who faithfully conveyed the books as he had heard them .
Conversely, Ibn Adi cited his young age during the lifetime of Abd al-Razzaq and recorded an anomalous tradition transmitted through him . Ibn al-Salah held that certain uncorroborated reports in his narrations stemmed from his late reception, having heard Abd al-Razzaq toward the end of the latter's life when he suffered from blindness . Al-Dhahabi countered that irregularities in those narrations originated with Abd al-Razzaq's later condition or from intermediate narrators rather than from al-Dabari himself .
Death
Al-Dabari died in San'a in 285 AH (898/899 CE) at the age of ninety .
Answer updated
List of Works
Hadith Ishaq al-Dabari an Abd al-Razzaq is a hadith tract (juzʾ) containing traditions transmitted through Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani from prominent second-century authorities, predominantly Ibn Jurayj, Ma'mar ibn Rashid, and Sufyan al-Thawri. The narrated reports cover various legal rulings and ritual practices, such as dietary regulations, obligatory charity and almsgiving, ritual sacrifices, and the Friday prayer.