An Nasa-i

An-Nasā'ī (Arabic: النسائي) (ca. 215 – 303 AH/ ca. 829 – 915 AD/CE), born in Nasa-i, Khurosan, full name Aḥmad ibn Shu`ayb ibn Alī ibn Sīnān Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Nasā'ī, is a noted collector of hadith (i.e. narrations from Muhammad). He wrote a hadith collection, Sunan al-Sughra, a.k.a. "Al-Mujtaba", which he selected from his "As-Sunan al-Kubra".

=Characteristics=

An-Nasā'ī was a handsome, clean, fresh-faced man. He was charismatic, calm, well-dressed person. He had a very great concern about his lifestyle balance, in terms of food, clothing, and fun. He drank fruit juice and ate a lot of chickens.

=Thrist of Knowledge=

An-Nasā'ī started studying early. He memorized the Qur-an during his primary school (madrasah) years. He traveled to Qutaibah ibn Sa'id when he was 15 years old. He lived with Qutaibah in Baghlan for a year and two months, so he gained a lot of knowledge from him and narrated his hadiths.

An-Nasā'ī had a strong rote and understanding that was rarely owned by people of his day, as he had a deep foresight and thoroughness. He memorized a lot of hadiths from great Islamic scholars, then collected and wrote them.

He had written both weak and authentic hadiths, and he didn't forget to label them. He contributes to the biographical evaluation of many hadith narrators. He did that quite detailed and accurately. He intended not only to narrate hadiths, but also to give advices and to remove heresy from the practise of Islamic laws.

An-Nasā'ī was always careful when listening to narrations and always selective in re-narrating them. Many of his hadiths are narrated from Al-Harith ibn Miskin, but he did not say: 'narrated to us,' or 'informed to us,' instead, he always said:

أَخْبَرَنَا الْحَارِثُ بْنُ مِسْكِينٍ قِرَاءَةً عَلَيْهِ وَأَنَا أَسْمَعُ

i.e. Al Harith ibn Miskin informed us by reciting it and I heard. Many scholars said that he did it because there was a rift between him and Al Harith, and it's impossible for him to attend the lecture by al-Harith, unless by listening to Al Harith from behind the door or any places that allows him to hear the recitation but he cannot see Al Harith.

An-Nasā'ī had many scholarly trips, so that he heared from many people who heard the hadith from Hafidh (i.e. people who memorize narrations from Muhammad) and Sheikh (i.e. oldmen). He had visited Khorasan, Iraq (Baghdad, Kufa, Basrah), Al Jazirah (Haran, Maushil, and their vicinity), Syria, the border between Islamic and Rome dynasty, Hejaz, and Egypt.

=Teachers and Students=

Some of his teachers were: Qutaibah ibn Sa'id, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, Ishaq ibn Rahawaih, Al Harith ibn Miskin, Ali ibn Kashram, Abu Dawud, At Tirmidhi, Hisham ibn 'Ammar, Suwaid ibn Nasr, Ahmad ibn 'Abdah Ad Dabbi, Abu Tahir ibn As Sarh, Yusuf ibn 'Isa Az Zuhri, and so on.

Some of his students were: Abu Al Qosim At Tabrani (the author of the book Mu'jam), Abu Ja'far Al Tahawi, Al Hasan ibn Al Khadir As Suyuti, Muhammad ibn Muawiyah ibn Al Ahmar Al Andalusi, Abu Nasr Ad Dalabi, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad As Sunni, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Isma'il An Nahhas An Nahwi, Hamzah ibn Muhammad Al Kinani, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Al Haddad Ash Shafi'i, Al Hasan ibn Rashiq, Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah ibn Hayuyah An Naisaburi, and so on.

=Biographical Evaluation=

Comments about him from several people:
 * 1) Abu 'Ali An Naisaburi: He is one of the leaders among moslem. He is a leader in hadith science with no contradictions.
 * 2) Abu Bakr Al-Haddad ash-Shafi'i: I'm pleased that he is the "argument" between me and Allah.
 * 3) Mansur ibn Isma'il and At Tahawi: He is one of the leaders of the moslem.
 * 4) Abu Sa'id ibn Yunus: He is a leader in the hadith science, he is tsiqah, tsabat and hafidh.
 * 5) Al Qasim Al Muththarriz: He is a leader, or entitled to be a leader.
 * 6) Ad Daruqutni: He has more precedence than everybody else mentioned in these disciplines in his time.
 * 7) Al Khalili: He is a capable hafidh, pleased by all hafidhs, scholars agreed on his rote strength and perseverance, and his words could be used as a biographical evaluation.
 * 8) Ibn Nuqthah: He is a leader in these disciplines.
 * 9) Al-Mizzi: He is an outstanding leader, he is hafidh, and a famous figure.

=His Works=


 * 1) As Sunan al-Kubra
 * 2) As Sunan Ash Shughra (known as Sunan An Nasa-i)
 * 3) Al Kuna
 * 4) Al Khashais
 * 5) 'Amalul Yaum Wal Lailah (The Deed of the Day and the Night)
 * 6) At Tafsir (the Exegesis)
 * 7) Adl Dlu'afa wal Matrukin (The Weak and The Abandoned Narrations)
 * 8) Tasmiyatu Fuqaha `i al Amshar
 * 9) Tasmiyatu man lam yarwi 'anhu ghaira rajulin wahid
 * 10) Dzikru man haddatsa 'anhu Ibn Abi Arubah
 * 11) Musnad 'Ali ibn Abi Talib
 * 12) Musnad Hadith Malik
 * 13) Asthma ar `u wa at tamyiz bainahum ruwah
 * 14) al Ikhwah
 * 15) al Ighrab
 * 16) Musnad ibn Mansur Zadzan
 * 17) Al Jarhu wa ta'dil
 * 18) Fadhail Al Shahabah
 * 19) Al Manasik

An-Nasā'ī gave As Sunan Al Kubra to the mayor of Ramlah region. The mayor asked An-Nasā'ī, "Does this book contain all authentic hadith?" He answered honestly, "There are authentic, good, and nearly identical hadiths in it." The mayor said again, "If so, can you recompile only authentic hadiths?"

Based on this request, he then tightly selected the contents of al-Sunan al-Kubra, only into authentic hadiths, and finally downsizing it into Al Sunan Al Sughra. This smaller book is also called Al Mujtaba (i.e. the selected ones) or Sunan An Nasa-i.

However, Ibn Jauzy found ten mawdu' (fabricated) hadiths, and then Imam Suyuti denied that there are some weak hadiths in the book, but not that many.

=His Death=

A year his death, he moved from Egypt to Damascus. There is no consensus on where he was buried. Al-Daruqutni said, he was buried in Makkah and between Safa and Marwah. Similar opinions are expressed by Mandah of Hamzah bin Abdullah al-al-Mishri 'Uqbi.

Other scholars, like Imam al-Dzahabi, rejected the claim. He said that An-Nasā'ī died in Ramlah, a region in Palestine. This opinion is supported by Ibn Yunus, Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi (a disciple of An-Nasā'ī) and Abu Bakr al-Naqatah.

According to this last view, An-Nasā'ī died in 303 AH and was buried in Bait al-Maqdis, Palestine. Hopefully his efforts in carrying out the will to spread the Sunnah (the tradition of the Messenger of Allah) get rewarded by Allah. Amin.