Biography of Imam Ibn Majah: His Life, Travels, and Sunan
An episode from the "Biography of an Imam" series focusing on the great Hadith scholar, Imam Ibn Majah. The lecture explores his extensive travels in pursuit of knowledge and the compilation of his famous Sunan. It also highlights the unique features of his work, including his three-narrator chains back to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
“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 ﷻ 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 send peace, blessings, and prayers upon the Messenger ﷺ, his family, companions, and followers.
To proceed: Welcome, my brothers and sisters, to a new episode of this program, "Biography of an Imam."
My talk with you today will be about the great Imam and Hafiz,
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Majah al-Qazwini, author of the book of Sunan,
Sunan Ibn Majah, which is one of the six books agreed upon by the scholars.
Imam Ibn Majah (RH) is one of the leading scholars,
and he is one of the stars in the sky of this world.
Of course, "Majah" is a non-Arabic word.
It is said to be a title for his father, or his grandfather.
It is pronounced with either a 'ta' or a 'ha',
and the most correct view is that it is with a 'ha',
as it is a non-Arabic word, like Ibn Dasah and Ibn Mandah, as it appears, and Allah knows best.
Imam Ibn Majah was born in the year 209 of the Prophet's Hijrah ﷺ,
it is said, in the year in which Imam al-Tirmidhi was born, in the town of Qazvin,
in the town of Qazvin, which was conquered during the caliphate of 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (RA),
and the great Companion al-Bara' ibn 'Azib was its first governor,
its first governor, and that was in the year 24 of the Prophet's Hijrah.
The city became renowned for the science of Hadith.
The reason for that, it seems, and Allah knows best, is the abundance of Hadith scholars
who truly filled the plains and mountains, so to speak,
such as, for example, al-Hafidh 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Tanafisi,
al-Hafidh 'Amr ibn Rafi' al-Bajali, and Isma'il ibn Tawbah,
Also, Imam Ibn Majah (RH) was among the scholars of this town.
Ibn Majah (RH) grew up in a scholarly environment.
Of course, he opened his eyes to an active scholarly movement in his town,
with scholars, circles of knowledge, the movement of students, and also authorship.
It seems, and Allah knows best, that this was one of the most important factors
that made him love knowledge, along with what Allah ﷻ bestowed upon him
of success, natural aptitude, innate intelligence, and the guidance of Allah ﷻ.
Therefore, his signs began to foretell the birth of a great scholar, who grew up loving Islamic knowledge, especially Hadith.
They mentioned that Ibn Majah (RH) memorized the Quran at an early age,
until he became one of the students who frequented the circles of knowledge.
He developed an insatiable appetite and a very strong,
limitless desire for reading and attending gatherings.
He also had a very great ambition regarding knowledge,
and for this reason, he stood out in this manner, and his prominence was early (RH).
Ibn Majah, of course, did not differ from the way of the scholars in seeking knowledge,
but rather followed their path and walked in their footsteps in traveling to seek knowledge.
Of course,
you know that a student having many sheikhs indeed
strengthens his aptitude and refines his soul,
because he will observe a large group of scholars whom he meets,
not only to learn hadith from them,
but also in what distinguishes these scholars, because they are not all the same.
You find a scholar who stands out with a specific method of teaching and imparting knowledge,
while another scholar differs, having unique contributions and creativity.
Also, the manners of these scholars will inevitably add to the student
who studies under various shuyukh and scholars and meets many of them, indeed adding value to him,
contributing to his development and also,
in his emergence as an imam,
because he has acquired so much. For this reason,
as you know and as we always mention, traveling to seek knowledge is an established Sunnah.
Musa (AS) traveled to meet Al-Khidr (AS),
The Companions traveled; Jabir bin Abdullah (RA) traveled to Abdullah bin Anis (RA),
and the students of Abdullah bin Mas'ud (RA) traveled to Umar (RA)
ibn al-Khattab, from Kufah to Madinah.
Therefore,
Ibn Majah (RH) set out for these lands to meet the scholars there,
Thus, he did not leave any region without visiting it if he heard of major scholars,
to learn from them.
Also, what is credited to Ibn Majah is
that he traveled at the age of twenty-two,
Glory be to Allah.
Of course, other scholars might have traveled before that age.
But generally, at this early age, which is naturally the period of youth, he left his homeland and countries,
and also renounced the comfort that most young people seek,
but he left all of this for the sake of seeking knowledge.
He traveled to Khorasan, Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, and Damascus.
Of course, the Hijaz—Makkah and Madinah—and also Egypt.
These regions, lands, and areas were the ones...
...where the major scholars resided, and he met them and learned from them.
Therefore, we find, for example, that the teachers of Imam Ibn Majah are countless,
due to these diverse travels.
Perhaps among his most prominent teachers was Ali ibn Muhammad al-Tanafisi, the Hafiz,
from whom he narrated the most.
Likewise, Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna al-Anazi, nicknamed az-Zaman,
and also Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah, the Imam and author of Al-Musannaf,
and also Ibrahim ibn al-Munthir al-Hizami, who was a student of al-Bukhari,
and likewise Muhammad ibn Abdillah ibn Numayr, and also Jabarah ibn al-Mughallis.
Jubarah ibn al-Mughallis, and also Abdullah ibn Mu'awiyah.
He also learned from Hisham ibn Ammar.
Hisham ibn Ammar has a story with Imam Malik, and I recall,
in a previous meeting, I promised you that I would tell the story of Hisham ibn Ammar with Imam Malik,
but Glory be to Allah, the Almighty, I forgot in the midst of this talk and these biographies,
and perhaps I should mention it now because it might be appropriate.
Hisham ibn Ammar (RH)
says about himself: "My father sold a house of his for twenty dinars and prepared me for Hajj,
so when I reached Medina, I came to the gathering of Malik."
Malik who? Malik ibn Anas, the Imam of Dar al-Hijrah,
who became so famous in his time that no one else reached.
"When the scholars are mentioned, Malik is the star."
He says: "I came to the gathering of Malik, having questions I wanted to ask him,"
"And I arrived while he was sitting in the manner of kings,"
"with servants standing, and people asking."
Perhaps you remember, in the biography of Imam Malik,
I pointed out the awe-inspiring presence that Imam Malik possessed.
"Servants were standing, people asking, and he answered them."
"When the gathering ended, I said to him, 'Narrate to me.'"
Hisham ibn 'Ammar was saying to Imam Malik, "Narrate to me."
Of course, Imam Malik (RH),
his method was that he did not like to narrate himself,
but rather would say to the student, "Read to me."
Hisham ibn 'Ammar did not know this custom,
nor this practice of Imam Malik,
so he said to him, "Narrate to me," and he replied, "Read."
I said: No, rather narrate to me.
He said: Read.
"When I persisted, he said: O boy,
come, take this one and strike him fifteen times."
He says: "The boy took me and struck me fifteen
lashes. I wept, and he said to me: What makes you cry?
Did this lash hurt you?"
I said to him: My father sold his house and sent me to you so that I may be honored by you and by hearing from you,
and you struck me without fault. By Allah, I absolve you.
Malik said: And what is its expiation?
I said: Its expiation is that you narrate to me fifteen hadith.
He said: So he narrated to me fifteen hadith.
I said to him: Add to the beating and add to the narration!
Malik laughed and said: Go."
May Allah ﷻ have mercy on him and forgive him.
This is patience in the face of the harshness of scholars when they are truly harsh.
This is patience.
Notice that Hisham ibn Ammar could have left Malik's circle and gone to someone else,
but he knew that meeting someone like Imam Malik
was indeed the opportunity of a lifetime.
Of course, Ibn Majah's teachers also included Muhammad ibn al-Rumh and Dawud ibn al-Rashid,
and Jubarah ibn al-Mughallis, whom I mentioned a short while ago.
And of course, scholars have spoken about Jubarah ibn al-Mughallis.
As I mentioned to you, it is very difficult to enumerate all of these scholars.
Of course, Ibn Majah (RH) was keen on having a high chain of transmission.
What does a high chain of transmission mean?
It means that there is a small number of narrators between the scholar and the Prophet ﷺ...
...narrators, a small number of narrators.
So, whenever one met scholars between whom and the Prophet ﷺ there were two, three, or four [narrators], this is called a high isnad.
Therefore, the scholars were keen on having a high isnad, and they would travel to different countries to meet scholars...
...between whom and the Prophet ﷺ there were only two or three narrators.
That is why Ibn Majah (RH) was keen on this, following the practice and determination of the scholars.
Therefore, Ibn Majah has approximately five high,
three-narrator chains—meaning there are only three narrators between him and the Prophet ﷺ.
But in reality, anyone who examines them will find that they were narrated through his teacher,
Jabarah ibn al-Mughallis, whom I mentioned earlier.
Had it not been for the weakness of his Sheikh Jubarah,
the status of his Sunan would have risen due to these thulathiyyat.
But, Subhan Allah, Jubarah is weak according to the scholars,
and therefore, when al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar wrote his biography or mentioned him, they said: "Weak."
Weak. However, these thulathiyyah Hadiths narrated by Ibn Majah are authentic through other chains.
This does not mean that these Hadiths,
through which Ibn Majah aimed to achieve a high chain of narration,
are absolutely weak,
no, rather they were narrated through other chains, but they are not thulathiyyat.
And they are authentic—all praise and gratitude be to Allah.
Of course, Ibn Majah (RH)...
his students are also too numerous to count.
Of course, through Imam Ibn Majah's scholarly journeys,
which were said to have lasted more than fifteen years,
Imam Ibn Majah traveled from region to region, country to country, from the Hijaz to Iraq, and so on.
Naturally, he would have a very large number of students in these regions.
But in his hometown from which he came, the city of Qazwin,
when he returned, students sought him from every direction,
once his news and reputation spread and he became famous among the people.
He sat to author books and narrate Hadith, and many people studied under him.
If we wanted to count them, it would also be difficult,
but among the most famous of them were 'Ali ibn Sa'id ibn 'Abdullah al-Ghadani,
Ibrahim ibn Dinar al-Jarash al-Hamadani,
and Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Qazwini, the grandfather of al-Hafiz Abu Ya'la al-Khalil.
And also Abu al-Tayyib Ahmad ibn Ruh al-Mash'arani,
and Ishaq ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini, and Ja'far ibn Idris,
and Muhammad ibn 'Isa al-Saffar,
and also the well-known Hafidh Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Salamah al-Qazwini,
and indeed, many others, among whom was Ibn Sibawayh,
the master of Arabic.
He was among the students who studied under Imam Ibn Majah (RH).
may Allah ﷻ have mercy on him and forgive him.
Naturally, speaking about Ibn Majah is indeed extensive and multifaceted,
but perhaps I will stop here. In sha Allah, in the next session, I will complete the discussion about this Imam,
and also mention his scholarly legacy,
and some of what happened to him (RH), may Allah forgive him. So join me in the next session, by Allah's power.
And may the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.