Biography of Imam al-Nasa'i: His Sunan, Methodology, and Trial

“And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors similarly. Only those fear Allāh,

from among His servants, who have knowledge. Indeed, Allāh is Exalted in Might and Forgiving.” (Quran 35:28)

Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.

“In the name of Allāh, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.”

“[All] praise is [due] to Allāh, Lord of the worlds -” (Quran 1:1-2)

May Allah bless and send peace upon His Messenger.

Welcome, my brothers and sisters, to this series, "Biography of an Imam."

I continue the discussion on the biography of Imam al-Nasa'i (RH), the Hafidh,

Abu Abd al-Rahman, author of al-Sunan, may Allah have mercy on him and forgive him.

I believe that in our last meeting, I spoke about...

...the legacy left behind by Imam al-Nasa'i (RH).

The greatest legacy of Imam al-Nasa'i is this Sunan, which became widely renowned.

Al-Nasa'i (RH), as mentioned by many scholars, was...

...someone who had strict conditions for accepting narrations.

Therefore, we find that the criticized Hadiths...

...in Sunan al-Nasa'i are very few.

For this reason, for example, as I think I mentioned,

I quoted Al-Hafidh ibn Tahir saying:

"I asked Sa'd ibn Ali al-Zanjani about a man, and he authenticated him,

He said, "Trustworthy." I said, meaning, "Trustworthy" or any term of commendation.

He said: "Al-Nasa'i has declared him weak."

So he said, "O my son, Abu Abd al-Rahman has a condition regarding narrators stricter than that of al-Bukhari and Muslim."

I say: He spoke the truth, for he declared weak a group of narrators from the Sahihs of Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim.

Of course, al-Nasa'i (RH) followed a very precise method in his book, Al-Mujtaba,

and he truly distinguished himself in it from others, which is combining fiqh and the art of isnad.

For example, he excelled in chaptering,

and the fiqh of Imam al-Nasa'i (RH) was evident

in his chapters, along with attention to the art of isnad. He arranged the hadiths into chapters,

and gave them headings that sometimes reach a high level of precision,

and he mentions all the chains of transmission of a single Hadith in one place.

And Sunan an-Nasa'i, of course,

has received, among the scholars,

a high status and position,

and therefore scholars turned to it with explanations and footnotes,

And also critique; they also paid attention to the aspect of critique.

This critique is not a flaw; on the contrary, it adds many additions to these books,

because we believe infallibility belongs to the Book of Allah ﷻ,

Infallibility belongs to Allah's ﷻ Book; scholars exercise ijtihad in this.

But there are many commentaries on the Sunan of al-Nasa'i, among them,

for example, Zahr al-Ruba 'ala al-Mujtaba by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti.

And in truth, Zahr al-Ruba is, so to speak, a gentle commentary that unpacks some of the phrases

and explains some of the wordings, and did not address anything from the chains of narration, for example.

Rather, it is more like —

a gloss or a commentary on An-Nasa'i.

We also have the commentary of As-Sindi on the Sunan,

who is Abu al-Hasan Nur al-Din 'Abd al-Hadi As-Sindi.

Likewise, there has been very great attention from the scholars.

Indeed, one of the latest modern commentaries, which I believe represents the culmination...

...of these commentaries, "Dhakhirat al-'Uqba fi Sharh al-Mujtaba".

This is by Sheikh Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Adam al-Ethiopi,

teacher at Dar al-Hadith al-Khayriyyah in Makkah, may Allah have mercy on him,

who passed away recently.

He granted me ijazah, may Allah have mercy on him and forgive him.

In his commentary—which is detailed and extensive—

he, may Allah have mercy on him, exerted a great and commendable effort.

In my estimation, he left no stone unturned, but rather included and incorporated everything in this commentary.

Whether in terms of linguistics, for example, or the discussion of narrators,

in terms of the views of the scholars, or resolving some problematic issues,

He also mentions the benefits derived from the Hadiths and quotes the scholars' views.

He did not leave out any opinion, whether in the four madhhabs or the views of the Salaf,

but included, organized, and compiled it in this commentary.

He also performs tarjih (scholarly preference),

and mentions the evidence for his preferred views.

Indeed, he also did not neglect linguistic and grammatical issues,

which serve to help students of knowledge understand the Hadith.

I believe it was printed in, I think, twenty-eight

volumes.

In general, this is one of the commentaries that represents the culmination.

Imam an-Nasa'i (RH) was praised by the scholars, as I mentioned.

When Ibn Kathir (RH) mentioned Al-Nasa'i, he said:

"The author of the Sunan, the Imam of his era, and the foremost among his peers and the scholars of his time.

He traveled to far lands, occupied himself with hearing Hadith, and meeting skilled Imams."

Al-Dhahabi likewise praised him, as did Ibn Adi.

These are the Imams who write biographies of scholars.

Therefore, they considered Imam Al-Nasa'i an undisputed Imam of Hadith,

an undisputed Imam of Hadith.

Imam Al-Nasa'i (RH)—

Allah ﷻ blessed him in his life, and Allah ﷻ blessed him in his knowledge,

and Allah ﷻ blessed his legacy.

Thus, he served the Prophet's Sunnah greatly;

he is one of the guardians of the Prophet's Sunnah (RH), so he compiled this Sunnah.

these Hadiths and arranged them in his book, Al-Sunan.

Therefore, it is accepted by everyone,

may Allah ﷻ have mercy on him. And that is why it is

one of the Six Books that are prioritized over others.

As for the trial of Imam Al-Nasa'i (RH),

this is a constant law for scholars, the allies of Allah, and the righteous,

and even the Prophets (AS).

Allah ﷻ says:

“Alif, Lām, Meem.”

“Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe" and they will not be tried?”

“But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allāh will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.” (Quran 29:1-3)

...the patient."

And this is the way of the Prophets, the scholars, and the allies of Allah ﷻ.

But indeed, you might remember those whose biographies we covered,

there is no scholar except that he was subjected to trial and tribulation.

Yet, you find that some scholars' trials were easy and light,

while other scholars had great trials, like Imam Ahmad,

and like al-Bukhari (RH),

He was tested with a great trial.

Al-Nasa'i (RH), indeed, had a great ordeal,

The trial that befell him was such that it was said to have claimed his life.

He died because of it as a martyr, by Allah's leave,

And the reason was that when al-Nasa'i (RH) came from Egypt to Damascus,

he found the people of Damascus biased against 'Ali (RA),

They would not mention any of the virtues of 'Ali (RA),

and it appears, and Allah knows best, that they were the Nawasib,

the Nawasib — and Allah ﷻ knows best.

Of course,

Al-Nasa'i (RH) — and this is from his fiqh —

wanted to bring people back to the path of moderation in dealing with all the companions,

so he authored Al-Khasa'is,

meaning, regarding the virtues of Ali (RA).

The people of Damascus

accused him, saying: by this you have revealed your creed — that you differ from Ahl al-Sunnah. They also added to

the accusation, saying you mention no virtues

of Abu Bakr, nor Umar, nor Uthman — only the virtues of Ali.

And you know the situation that existed at that time, and the tension that was present, and so on.

even though Al-Nasa'i (RH) had authored a work on the virtues of the Companions,

and had praised Mu'awiyah (RA) within it,

but he thought and assessed the situation—

and he deemed it important to return people to moderation and balance.

These were the companions of the Prophet ﷺ.

Therefore, al-Nasa'i was not biased against any of the Companions (RA); far from it.

This, of course, is the talk of the ignorant fanatics and others,

they even went further, saying, "You hate Mu'awiyah (RA),"

"and you do not mention the virtues of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman (RA)."

Because of this, they harmed him. We ask Allah ﷻ for safety and well-being.

Therefore, Al-Hafiz Ibn Asakir (RH) said:

It was narrated that Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa'i was asked about Mu'awiyah bin Abi Sufyan (RA),

"What do you say about Mu'awiyah bin Abi Sufyan (RA)?"

He said, "He is a Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."

Then he said, "Indeed, Islam is like a house with a door, and the door of Islam is the Companions (RA),"

"so whoever harms the Companions (RA) only intends [to harm] Islam,"

"just like one who knocks on the door only wants to enter it."

Therefore, he said, "So whoever targets Mu'awiyah (RA) only targets the Companions (RA)."

They even believed or said that Mu'awiyah became a test for the people;

whoever defames Mu'awiyah (RA) defames the Companions (RA).

The Companions, as Al-Nasa'i (RH) said, are like a house with a door.

Whoever knocks on this door intends the Companions, and not just Mu'awiyah or others (RA).

Naturally, Al-Nasa'i (RH) authored a book on the virtues of the Companions (RA),

and this is proof of his veneration of the Companions and his clarification of their virtues (RA).

Of course, he was harmed; it was said he was beaten, to the extent that it was said his death was due to this beating.

It was mentioned that he asked to be moved to Makkah,

but it seems, and Allah knows best, he did not go to Makkah, but died in Palestine.

Of course, Al-Nasa'i (RH) passed away in the year 303 AH,

in the year 303 AH, after a life full of knowledge, teaching, travel, and severe suffering.

But Allah Almighty compensated him with good, so the name of Al-Nasa'i remained

immortal in the hearts of people, and the knowledge of al-Nasa'i remained present among the people,

and people pray for Allah to be pleased with him. Not a day passes but al-Nasa'i is mentioned,

mentioned in mosques, mentioned in universities, mentioned in the media,

mentioned in gatherings, mentioned in lessons, mentioned in circles of knowledge.

This is what remained for al-Nasa'i (RH),

so peace be upon him among the former and the latter generations.

This was indeed a quick and brief tour, otherwise, al-Nasa'i is an encyclopedia.

I mean, if we wanted to cover everything,

I think this would take much more time from us than what is scheduled for this program.

I ask Allah ﷻ to gather us with him in the Gardens of Pleasure

with the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous. And until another personality...

of these scholars.

We will meet you in goodness. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.