Transmitters of Sunan al-Nasa’i

Among the students of Imam al-Nasa’i who narrated his Sunan, Hafiz Ibn Hajar mentioned ten notable narrators, as listed below:

1. ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Ahmad ibn Shu‘ayb al-Nasa’i (d. 344 AH):
‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Asad al-Juhani, Ayyub ibn Husayn al-Qadi al-Thaghar, and Khasib ibn ‘Abdullah narrated the Sunan from him. Ibn Khayr states, “Abu Muhammad ibn Asad possessed the Kitab al-Tibb (in two volumes), and he alone narrated it from Abu Musa ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Ahmad ibn Shu‘ayb al-Nasa’i.” [Fihrist Ibn Khayr, p. 113; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1/37] He also mentions that Abu ‘Ali al-Ghassani said: “The narration of al-Mujtaba from al-Nasa’i was transmitted by his son ‘Abd al-Karim and Walid ibn al-Qasim al-Sufi.” [Fihrist Ibn Khayr, pp. 116–117]

2. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn al-Sunni al-Dinawari (d. 364 AH):
Hafiz Ibn Hajar listed him among the transmitters of Sunan al-Sughra. However, Ibn Khayr does not mention him in his list of transmitters. He is a narrator of al-Mujtaba, the abridged version of al-Nasa’i’s Sunan. [Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’, 16/255] The earliest known manuscripts of Sunan al-Sughra come through the chain of Ibn al-Sunni. It is firmly established that Imam al-Nasa’i himself authored Sunan al-Sughra (al-Mujtaba). Ibn al-Sunni is merely a narrator. Some have mistakenly attributed authorship to him due to certain additions in his narration, but scholars agree that it is common for narrators to insert supplementary material from their teachers. For example, there are additions by ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad and al-Qati‘i in Musnad Ahmad and Fada’il al-Sahabah, and by Abu al-Hasan al-Qattan in Sunan Ibn Majah. A strong proof that Sunan al-Sughra is by al-Nasa’i is that it contains several ahadith not found in Sunan al-Kubra.

3. Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Khidr al-Asyuti (d. 361 AH):
Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Khalaf al-Qabisi and Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Idfawi narrated the Sunan from him. [Fihrist Ibn Khayr, p. 112]

4. Hasan ibn Rashiq Abu Muhammad al-‘Askari (d. 370 AH):
Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahid ibn al-Fadl Abu al-Barakat al-Farra’ and Abu al-Qasim Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Anbari narrated the Sunan from him.

5. Abu al-Qasim Hamzah ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Kinani al-Misri al-Hafiz (d. 357 AH), also known as Sahib Majlis al-Bitaqah:
Seven narrators transmitted the Sunan from him. Ibn Khayr mentions that the manuscript of Abu Muhammad ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Asad al-Juhani includes some books not found in the narration of Abu Muhammad Usayli. These include Manaqib al-Sahabah (4 volumes), Kitab al-Nu‘ut (1 volume), Kitab al-Bay‘ah (1 volume), Kitab Thawab al-Qur’an (1 volume), Kitab al-Ta‘bir (1 volume), and Kitab al-Tafsir (5 volumes). These books were transmitted from Qadi Hamzah by Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Mufarrij and Abu al-Qasim Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Ma‘afiri—both companions of Muhammad ibn Asad. However, neither Muhammad ibn Qasim nor Abu Bakr ibn al-Ahmar narrated them, except for Kitab al-Isti‘adhah and Fada’il ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib found with Ibn Qasim.

Ibn Khayr further adds that apart from this compilation, he also found Kitab al-Iman and Kitab al-Sulh written in the handwriting of Abu Muhammad ibn Yarbu‘. The narration chain for Kitab al-Iman is: Abu ‘Ali Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Ghassani → Abu ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Barr → Abu al-Qasim Ahmad ibn Fath al-Tajir → Hamzah ibn Muhammad al-Kinani. Abu ‘Ali al-Ghassani also narrates it through the following chain: Abu Marwan ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Ziyadat Allah al-Tamimi → Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Sa‘id ibn ‘Abdullah al-Habbal → Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-Sudafi → Hamzah al-Kinani in Rajab 354 AH, who said: “Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa’i narrated to us by direct recitation in his own words.” [Fihrist Ibn Khayr, p. 115]

Hafiz al-Mizzi mentions in Tuhfat al-Ashraf multiple times that Kitab al-Mawa‘izh was exclusively narrated by Abu al-Qasim Hamzah al-Kinani.

➏ Ibn Haywayh: Abul Hasan Muhammad bin Abdul Karim bin Zakariya bin Haywayh al-Naysapuri al-Misri (d. 366 AH): Abul Hasan al-Qabisi the jurist, Abul Hasan Ali bin Munir al-Khallal, and Abul Hasan Ali bin Rabee’ah al-Bazzar narrated the Sunan from him. [Fihrist Ibn Khayr 115] Hafiz al-Mizzi relied on the narration of Ibn Haywayh in *Tuhfat al-Ashraf*.

➐ Muhammad bin Mu'awiyah bin al-Ahmar al-Andalusi al-Qurtubi (d. 358 AH): After hearing the *Sunan al-Kubra*, he carried it to al-Andalus, and people heard this book from him. The currently published edition of *Sunan al-Kubra* is based on the narration of Ibn al-Ahmar and Ibn Sayyar. Those who narrated Sunan from Ibn al-Ahmar include: ① Abu al-Walid Yunus bin Abdullah bin Mughith al-Qadi ② Sa'id bin Muhammad Abu Uthman al-Qallas ③ Muhammad bin Marwan bin Zahr Abu Bakr al-Ayyadi ④ Abdullah bin Rabee’ bin Bannus Abu Muhammad [Fihrist Ibn Khayr 110]

➑ Muhammad bin Qasim bin Muhammad bin Sayyar al-Qurtubi al-Andalusi, Abu Abdullah (d. 327 AH): Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ali al-Baji and Abu Bakr Abbas bin Asbagh al-Hijazi narrated the Sunan from him. Ibn Khayr says: Muhammad bin Qasim and Abu Bakr bin al-Ahmar heard from the same copy. In Muhammad bin Qasim’s version were included the books *Fada'il Ali wa Khawasih* and *Kitab al-Isti'adhah*, which were not present in the copy of Ibn al-Ahmar. [Fihrist Ibn Khayr 111, 112; Tahdhib al-Kamal 1/37]

➒ Ali bin Abi Ja’far Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Sallamah, Abu al-Hasan al-Tahawi (d. 351 AH) [Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1/37]

➓ Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Muhammad bin al-Muhandis (d. 385 AH): All of these are narrators who transmitted the *Sunan* from al-Nasa’i. [Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1/37] Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Abid al-Mu’afiri narrated the *Sunan* from Ibn al-Muhandis. [Fihrist Ibn Khayr 115] Hafiz Ibn Hajar mentioned these ten narrators in *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib*, but Hafiz al-Dhahabi says: Whoever said that Ibn al-Muhandis heard from al-Nasa’i was mistaken. [Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala 462]

⓫ Abu al-Qasim Mas'ud bin Ali bin Marwan bin al-Fadl al-Bajjani: During Hajj, he learned from al-Nasa’i in Egypt and narrated the *Sunan*. [Tarikh Ibn al-Faradi, entry 2146; *al-Lubab fi al-Ansab* by Ibn al-Athir, entry: al-Bajjani; *al-Mushtabih* by al-Dhahabi, p. 51; *Tawdih al-Mushtabih* by Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi 1/370–371; Hashiyah Tahdhib al-Kamal 1/333]

⓬ Abu Hurayrah bin Abi al-‘Isam: Ahmad bin Abdullah bin al-Hasan bin Ali al-‘Adawi: Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Asad al-Juhani narrated the *Sunan* from him. [Fihrist Ibn Khayr 114]

⓭ Ibn Abi al-Tammam: Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Uthman bin Abdul Wahhab bin ‘Urfa bin Abi al-Tammam, Imam of the Grand Mosque in Egypt: Abu Muhammad al-Asili and Hafiz Abu al-Qasim Khalaf bin al-Qasim narrated the *Sunan* from him. Ibn Khayr says: The narration of *Kitab al-Sulh* from *Sunan al-Nasa’i* is through Abu Ali al-Ghassani from Abu Shakir Abdul Wahid bin Muhammad bin Muhibb al-Asili, and Abu Ali narrates with the chain: Ibn Abd al-Barr from Abu al-Qasim Khalaf bin al-Qasim, and both al-Asili and Abu al-Qasim narrate from Abu al-Hasan Ibn ‘Urfa from al-Nasa’i. [Fihrist Ibn Khayr 113] It is to be noted that *Kitab al-Sulh* is not found in either *Sunan al-Sughra* or *al-Kubra*, and neither Hafiz al-Mizzi nor Hafiz Ibn Hajar referred to it.

⓮ Abu Ali Hasan bin Badr bin Abi Hilal: Abu al-Hasan Ali bin Muhammad bin Khalaf al-Qabisi narrated the *Sunan* from him. [Fihrist Ibn Khayr 112]

⓯ Abu Ahmad Husayn bin Ja'far bin Muhammad al-Zayyat: Khalaf bin Qasim bin Sahl al-Dabbagh al-Hafiz narrated the *Sunan* from him. [Fihrist Ibn Khayr 114]

⓰ Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin Hasan al-Misri [Tuhfat al-Ashraf 11131]

⓱ Abu al-Tayyib Muhammad bin Fadl bin Abbas [Tuhfat al-Ashraf 5318]

⓲ Abu al-Hasan Ali bin al-Hasan al-Jurjani [Tarikh Jurjan 317]

⓳ Walid bin al-Qasim al-Sufi: Ibn Khayr mentions in his *Fihrist* that Abu Ali al-Ghassani says: The *al-Mujtaba* was narrated from al-Nasa’i by his sons Abdul Karim and Walid bin al-Qasim al-Sufi. [Fihrist Ibn Khayr 116, 117]

Some additional renowned students are listed below:

➊ Abu al-Qasim Sulayman ibn Ahmad al-Tabarani
➋ Abu ‘Awanah Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-Isfarayini
➌ Abu Bishr al-Dulabi
➍ Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Amr al-‘Uqayli
➎ Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Sallamah Abu Ja‘far al-Tahawi
➏ Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Salih
➐ Abu ‘Ali Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Naysaburi
➑ Abu Ahmad ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Adi al-Jurjani
➒ Abu Sa‘id ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Yunus ibn ‘Abd al-A‘la al-Sudafi, the author of *Tarikh Misr* (History of Egypt)
➓ Muhammad ibn Sa‘d al-Sa‘di al-Bawardī
⓫ Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Yusuf al-Shaybani, the hadith scholar known as al-Akhram
⓬ Mansur ibn Isma‘il al-Misri, the jurist.
⓬ Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Haddad, the jurist.

The last-mentioned, Abu Bakr ibn al-Haddad, is someone who did not narrate from anyone other than Imam al-Nasa’i.
Imam al-Daraqutni said: “Ibn al-Haddad was a prolific narrator of hadith, but he did not narrate from anyone besides al-Nasa’i. He said, ‘I have made al-Nasa’i a proof between me and Allah, the Exalted.’”
[*Tabaqat al-Shafi‘iyyah* 2/113, *Tadhkirat al-Huffaz* 2/700, *al-Bidayah* 11/123]