Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri | |
|---|---|
الحكيم النيشابور | |
| Title | Al-Hakim Shaykh al-Muhaddithin |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Nishapur, 3 March 933 CE (3 Rabi'-ul-Awwal 321 AH) |
| Died | Nishapur, 1 September 1014 CE (3 Safar 405 AH) |
| Era | Islamic golden age |
| Main interest(s) | Hadith,History |
| Notable work(s) | Mustadrak al-Hakim,History of Nishapur |
| Occupation | Muhaddith,Scholar |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi'i |
| Creed | Ash'ari[1][2] |
| Muslim leader | |
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (Persian:أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله الحاكم النيسابوري; 933 - 1014 CE), also known asIbn al-Bayyiʿ,[4] was aPersian[5]Sunni scholar and the leadingtraditionist of his age, frequently referred to as the "Imam of theMuhaddithin" or the "Muhaddith ofKhorasan."[6] He is widely renowned for his expertise in Hadith criticism, and regarded as the Sheikh of Hadith masters at his time.Al-Daraqutni, considered Al-Hakim to be superior in the science of Hadith thanIbn Manda.[7]
Al-Hakim fromNishapur took narrations from 2000 thousand scholars of authority fromKhorazan,Transoxiana,Iraq,Persia and other places leading him to have the highest sanad (chains of transmission) in both Iraq and Khorazan.[8] Amongst the leading and renowned hadith masters who Al-Hakim narrated from were his own teachersIbn Hibban,Al-Khattabi,Al-Daraqutni andAl-Halimi.[7][9][10][11] He had plenty of students who transmitted hadith from him and they includeAl-Bayhaqi (foremost pupil),Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani,Al-Qushayri,Muhammad bin Husayn al-Sulami and others.[12] Al-Hakim is from the second generation of theAsh'ari school of theology, having taken his creed directly from the immediate students ofImam Al-Ash'ari, the most prominent one being Abu Salh Al-Suluki. Al-Hakim studied under a number of Sufi masters that taught him the science ofTasawwuf with the most prominent one being Sheikh Abu Amr Bin Nuja.[13]
A famous incident happened with the world's most famous Hadith master (Al-Hakim) and the worlds most famous poet named Abu al-Fadl Hamadhani.[13]
It is narrated that a certain poet and a man of letters named, Abu al-Fadl Hamadhani came to Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri. After some time he had a group of followers named a title of praise,Badi al Zaman (Wonder of The Age), after which he became infatuated with himself, obsessed and proud. The reason for his praise was that when he heard someone recite 100 verses of poetry, he was able to memorize the poem and began reciting it backwards all the way to the beginning, which made the people of Nishapur fanaticized with him. After al-Hamadhani heard people praising al-Hākim saying: "So and so, the memorizer of Hadith...." he made a derogative comment about memorizing the isnads of Hadith. When Imam Al-Hakim heard of this, he sent a book of Hadiths and challenged him to memorize it entirely in a week. After a week, al-Hamadhani, returned the book back to Al-Hakim saying, "who can memorize this? Muhammed son of so-and-so, Jafar son of so-and-so reported from so-and-so!? It is filled with all sorts of different names and terms!" Imam Al-Hakim replied to him, "Then know your limits. And understand that to memorize the likes of this, is beyond your sphere."
On the 3rd of Safar 405 al-Hakim went into the bath, came out after bathing, said, "Ah," and died wearing but a waist-cloth before he had time to put on a shirt. Later, one of al-Hakim's students, Al-Hasan ibn Ash`ath al-Qurashî said: "I saw al-Hâkim in my dream riding a horse in a handsome appearance and saying: 'Salvation.' I asked him: `Al-Hakim! In what?' He replied: 'Writinghadith.'"[14] Hisfuneral prayer was led byAbu Bakr al-Hiri,Qadi (judge) ofNishapur.[15]
Shah Waliullah stated that:[16]
Amujaddid appears at the end of every century: Themujaddid of the 1st century wasImam of Ahlul Sunnah,Umar bin Abdul Aziz. Themujaddid of the 2nd century was Imam of Ahlul SunnahMuhammad Idrees Shafi'i. Themujaddid of the 3rd century was Imam of Ahlul SunnahAbu Hasan Ash'ari. Themujaddid of the 4th century was Abu Abdullah Hakim Nishapuri.
The Shafi'i hadith specialistIbn al-Salah honours al-Hakim as one of the 'seven compilers of useful compilations' who has the distinction of being one of the few men to have compiled significant works in all three genres of hadith literature.[17]
The Shafi'i historianal-Dhahabi calls him "The great hafiz and Imam (leader) of the traditionists (hadith scholars)".[18]
Abu Hazim relates that Imam Al-Hakim in his time was peerless in the sciences of Hadith. His fame became rapidly widespread from east to west during his lifetime and establishing himself as one of the greatest scholars.[7]
Despite this, he had been accused of being aShi'a, butal-Subki stoutly denies this.[18] He rejects the label of Shi`i as baseless becauseIbn Asakir includes al-Hakim among theAsharis, who consider the Shias asinnovators. Others noted to al-Hakim's sincerity in narrating hadith as the first hadith al-Hâkim narrated is:
Al-Hakim reputedly said: "I drank water fromZamzam Well and asked Allah (God), The Glorified - for excellence in writing books. After this, he began authoring the following books and many others:[13]
The great Ash'ari theological school was flourishing under Abu at-Tayyib as-Su'laki (d. 398), Ibn Furak (d. 406), al-Hakim an-Naisaburi (d. 405) and Abu Ishaq al-Isfara'ini
