The hadith library

The authors

Discover authors of Islamic scholarship, their lives and works.

194–256 AH

Al-Bukhārī

محمد بن إسماعيل البخاري

Al-Bukhārī (194–256 AH / 810–870) was a scholar from Bukhara specialising in hadith and its transmitters. His Ṣaḥīḥ is central to Sunni tradition; his other works explore ethics, biography and theology.

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≈206–261 AH

Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj

مسلم بن الحجاج النيسابوري

Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj was a scholar from Nishapur. He travelled through Arabia, Iraq, Syria and Egypt to study hadith. He met al-Bukhari and paid close attention to the precise wording of transmitted reports.

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202–275 AH

Abū Dāwūd

سليمان بن الأشعث السجستاني

Sulaymān ibn al-Ashʿath, known as Abu Dawud, came from Sijistan. He studied with Ahmad ibn Hanbal. His travels and research brought together the study of hadith and Islamic law.

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≈209–279 AH

At-Tirmidhī

محمد بن عيسى الترمذي

Abū ʿĪsā Muhammad ibn ʿĪsā at-Tirmidhī devoted himself to studying and transmitting hadith. Al-Bukhari was among his teachers, and he travelled to meet scholars of his time.

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≈214/215–303 AH

An-Nasāʾī

أحمد بن شعيب النسائي

Ahmad ibn Shuʿayb an-Nasa’i was born in Nasa, in Khurasan. He travelled in search of knowledge before settling in Egypt, where he taught hadith to many students.

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209–273 AH

Ibn Mājah

محمد بن يزيد القزويني

Muhammad ibn Yazīd Ibn Majah came from Qazvin. After studying in his hometown, he travelled to Iraq, the Hijaz, Egypt and Syria to learn from hadith scholars.

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773–852 AH

Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī

أحمد بن علي بن حجر العسقلاني

Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī was born in Cairo in 773 AH. He became one of the leading hadith scholars of his age, taught, served as a judge and wrote numerous works. He died in 852 AH.

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164–241 AH

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal

أحمد بن محمد بن حنبل الشيباني

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (164–241 AH) was a Baghdad hadith scholar and the foundational figure of the Hanbali school. His Musnad arranges traditions by the Companions who transmitted them.

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≈ 450–505 AH

Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī

أبو حامد محمد بن محمد الغزالي

Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (c. 450–505 AH) was a Shafi‘i jurist, theologian and spiritual author from Khurasan. Al-Munqidh min al-Ḍalāl recounts his search for knowledge and his spiritual journey.

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691–751 AH

Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya

محمد بن أبي بكر ابن قيم الجوزية

Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya (691–751 AH) was a Hanbali scholar of Damascus and a student of Ibn Taymiyya. Zād al-Maʿād examines prophetic conduct and its lessons for religious practice.

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631–676 AH

An-Nawawī

يحيى بن شرف النووي

An-Nawawī (631–676 AH), a hadith scholar and Shafi‘i jurist, taught in Damascus. He compiled the Forty Hadith and Riyāḍ aṣ-Ṣāliḥīn.

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≈ 93–179 AH

Mālik ibn Anas

مالك بن أنس الأصبحي

Mālik ibn Anas (c. 93–179 AH) taught in Medina. A foundational figure of the Maliki school, he compiled Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ.

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181–255 AH

Ad-Dārimī

عبد الله بن عبد الرحمن الدارمي

Ad-Dārimī (181–255 AH), a scholar from Samarkand, transmitted hadith and compiled the Sunan, also known as a Musnad.

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≈ 701–774 AH

Ibn Kathīr

إسماعيل بن عمر ابن كثير

Ibn Kathīr grew up in Damascus, studying Shafi‘i law, hadith and history.

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661–728 AH

Ibn Taymiyya

أحمد بن عبد الحليم ابن تيمية

Born in Harran, Ibn Taymiyya grew up and taught in Damascus after his family settled there.

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541–620 AH

Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī

عبد الله بن أحمد ابن قدامة المقدسي

Born in Jammāʿīl near Nablus, Ibn Qudāma moved to Damascus with his family and later studied in Baghdad.

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≈260–324 AH

Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī

أبو الحسن علي بن إسماعيل الأشعري

Originally from Basra, Al-Ashʿarī studied with the Muʿtazili theologian Abū ʿAlī al-Jubbāʾī before breaking with his teaching.

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…–333 AH

Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī

أبو منصور محمد بن محمد الماتريدي

Active in the Hanafi scholarly milieu of Samarkand, Al-Māturīdī was a theologian and Quranic commentator whose birth date remains unknown.

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239–321 AH

Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī

أبو جعفر أحمد بن محمد الطحاوي

Born in Egypt, Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī first studied Shafi‘i law before adopting the Hanafi school.

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849–911 AH

As-Suyūṭī

عبد الرحمن بن أبي بكر السيوطي

Born in Cairo, As-Suyūṭī studied Quranic sciences, hadith, Shafi‘i law and Arabic.

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384–456 AH

Ibn Ḥazm

علي بن أحمد ابن حزم

Born in Cordoba, Ibn Ḥazm experienced the political crises of al-Andalus before concentrating on teaching and writing.

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577–643 AH

Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ

عثمان بن عبد الرحمن ابن الصلاح

Originally from the Shahrazur region, Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ travelled to study before teaching in Damascus.

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