Imam Muslim

Brief Biography

Imam Muslim (may Allaah have mercy on him)

He is the great imam, hafiz and scholar, Abu’l-Husayn, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj ibn Muslim al-Nisaboori. He was born in 204 AH, or it was said in 206 AH.

---

Reputation Among the Imams

He devoted his time to hadeeth, and he travelled in search of hadeeth and strove hard in that field, until he became very prominent. His contemporaries attested to his virtues.

His shaykh Muhammad ibn Bashshaar (Bandaar) said:

The haafiz of this world are four: Abu Zar’ah in al-Ray, Muslim in Nisapur, ‘Abd-Allaah al-Daarimi in Samarqand, and Muhammad ibn Ismaa’eel in Bukhaara.

Ahmad ibn Salamah al-Nisaboori said:

I saw Abu Zar’ah and Abu Haatim giving precedence to Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj in knowledge of saheeh over the shaykhs of their time.

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said of him:

They were unanimously agreed on his eminence, leadership and high status. The greatest evidence of that is his book al-Saheeh; no book before it or after is as well organized or precise in the isnaads of its hadeeth.

---

Background & Works

His shaykhs included: Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Bukhaari, Yahya ibn Yahya al-Teemi, Ishaaq ibn Raahawayh, Yahya ibn Ma’een, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah and many others.

His students included: Abu Haatim al-Raazi, Abu ‘Eesa al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Khuzaymah, Abu ‘Awaanah al-Isfaraayeeni and Makki ibn ‘Abdaan.

His well known books include: al-Jaami’ al-Saheeh; al-Kuna wa’l-Asma’; al-Tabaqaat; al-Tamyeez; and al-Munfaridaat wa’l-Wahdaan.

---

Death

He died, may Allaah have mercy on him, in Rajab 261 AH.