Imam Muslim (AH 202–261)

His Methods of Classification and Annotation

After the Qur’an, Bukhari’s Sahih is the most reliable book of Islamic Shari`ah. Muslim’s Sahih comes next to it. However, in certain respects the latter is considered superior to the former. Imam Muslim strictly observed many principles of the science of Hadith that were slightly ignored by his great teacher Imam Al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on both of them). Imam Muslim considered only such hadiths to be genuine and authentic as had been transmitted to him by an unbroken chain of reliable authorities and were in perfect harmony with what had been related by other narrators whose trustworthiness was unanimously accepted and who were free from all defects.

Moreover, Imam Al-Bukhari, while describing the chain of narrators, sometimes mentioned their kunyahs (epithets) and sometimes gave their names. This was particularly true in case of the narrators of Syria. This created confusion, which Imam Muslim avoided.

Imam Muslim took particular care in recording the exact words of the narrators and pointed out even the minutest difference in the wording of their reports.

Imam Muslim also constantly kept in view the difference between the two well-known modes of narration, haddathana (“he narrated to us”) and akhbarana (“he informed us”). He is of the opinion that the first mode is used only when the teacher is narrating the hadith and the student is listening to it, while the second mode of expression implies that the student is reading the hadith before the teacher. This reflects his utmost care in the transmission of a hadith.

Imam Muslim took great pains in connecting the chain of narrators. He recorded only hadiths that at least two reliable tabi`in (successors) had heard from two Companions, and this principle was observed throughout the subsequent chain of narrators.

His Students

Imam Muslim had a very wide circle of students who learned Hadith from him. Some of them occupy a very prominent position in Islamic history, for example, Abu Hatim Ar-Razi, Musa ibn Harun, Ahmad ibn Salamah, Abu `Isa At-Tirmidhi, Abu Bakr ibn Khuthaimah, Abu ‘Awanah, and Al-Hafiz Adh-Dhahabi.

His Death

Imam Muslim lived for 55 years in this world. He spent most of this short lifespan learning, compiling, teaching, and transmitting Hadith. He always remained absorbed in this single pursuit, and nothing could distract his attention from this pious task. He died in AH 261/875 CE and was buried in the suburbs of Nishapur.​

*By Dr `Abdul Hamid Siddiqui

(1) It is essential to remove one of the serious misgivings under which so many Orientalists and Westernized Muslim scholars are labouring. When they are told that Imam Muslim selected 4,000 hadiths out of a total collection of 300,000, they think that since quite a large number of hadiths were unreliable, they were therefore rejected. They then jump to the conclusion that the whole stock of Hadith is spurious and should be rejected outright. This betrays utter ignorance of the critics, even about the elementary knowledge of hadith. Matn (text) is not the basis on which the number of hadiths is calculated. Hadiths are counted on the chain of transmission.

Thus when we say that Imam Muslim collected 300,000 hadiths and included only 4,000 in his compilation, it does not imply that he rejected the rest of the whole lot of the Prophet’s sayings as being unreliable. What this means is that the words and deeds of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were transmitted to Imam Muslim through so many chains of transmission, out of which he selected 4,000 chains as most authentic and narrated the text on their authority.

A text (matn) that is transmitted through one hundred isnads is in Hadith literature treated as one hundred traditions. For example, the text of the first hadith in Al-Bukhari (The Actions Are Based on Intention) is counted as a selection of one out of 700 hadiths since it has been transmitted through such a large number of isnads.

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Imam Muslim (AH 202–261) - IslamOnline

His name was Abu Husayn Muslim ibn Hajjaj ibn Muslim ibn Ward ibn Kausyaz Al-Qusyairi An-Naisaburi. He was a descendant from one of the well-known Arab tribes which is Bani Qusyair. He was born in the year 206H, 12 years after Imam Al-Bukhari. A hafiz, muhaddith and an imam of the ahlussunnah, he started seeking knowledge at a very young age and travelled to different countries.

Among the places that he travelled to were Makkah, Madinah, Syam, Mesir, Iraq, Kufah, Ray and many more. He travelled to these places more than once with the sole purpose of seeking knowledge and to hear narrations of hadiths from scholars. He was so dedicated to seeking knowledge that that was the cause of his death. Of all the branches of knowledge that he excelled in, he gave special attention in the field and sciences of hadith.

He was a diligent student to many notable hadith scholars and amongst them was his inspiration and life -long companion, Imam Al-Bukhari. Others were the likes of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abdullah bin Maslamah Al-Qa’nabi, Ishaq bin Rahawaih and many more. He was also a teacher to many scholars of hadith such as Imam Abu Daud, Imam Ibnu Khuzaimah and others.

Imam Muslim was well known to be a Master in the sciences of hadith and an eminent authority in the field. It was narrated by Ahmad ibn Salamah that Abu Hatim Ar-Razi and Abu Zur’ah Ar-Razi would put Imam Muslim in the forefront of other scholars. Both Abu Hatim and Abu Zur’ah were Imam of Jarh wa Ta’dil (Criticism and Praise of Narrators) and for them to acknowledge Imam Muslim as one of the main reference points of hadith studies is considered a huge praise, given to only a selected few.

“Imam Muslim had a very strict methodology in inserting and compiling narrations in his book. The hadiths are thoroughly checked by him and his teachers.“

Many other scholars commended his works as well. Abdurrahman ibn Abi Hatim said he was a reliable person (Tsiqah) among the Imams of hadith. Muhammad bin Basyar stated that there are 4 Huffaz (Imams) of this world and among the four, he mentions Imam Muslim from Naisabur as one of them.

Imam Muslim wrote multiple books during his lifetime but he was especially known for his magnum opus, the Sahih Muslim. Ahmad ibn Salamah narrated that he was there with Imam Muslim for 15 years when he wrote Sahih Muslim. There were several reasons why he authored this book and he stated them in his introduction or preface (Muqaddimah), one of which was because he wanted to answer the questions and doubts asked by one of his students.​

Another was that there were a lot of hadith books written during his time but most of them, if not all, were books where there were a mix of authentic and unauthentic narrations. He wanted to compile a book free from these unauthentic narrations as he sees a need and a market for it. He also wanted to follow the footsteps of his inspiration and teacher, Imam Al-Bukhari who also wrote his own book of Sahih collections. With that, the Sahih Muslim was born.

Imam Muslim had a very strict methodology in inserting and compiling narrations in his book. The hadiths are thoroughly checked by him and his teachers, only accepting authentic narrations that were within his strict set of conditions and unanimously agreed upon. Imam An-Nawawi stated that if one were to inspect the

Sahih Muslim with the fine details of its methodology, they would be starstruck by the brilliance of Imam Muslim. He was said to be so precise that even those who came after him were not able to emulate this book. It was very rare to find someone as brilliant as him during his time. Due to that, this compliment was considered to be huge, especially with the amount of great scholars present then.

There are some differences in the conditions within Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Although both authors had the same goal in compiling a book where there were only authentic narrations, their conditions differ in certain aspects. An example would be the case of Al-An’a’nah .

Imam Bukhari’s condition was that the two parties had to be from the same generation and had to be proven to meet each other whereas Imam Muslim’s condition was that it is enough that both parties were from the same generation. Another difference we can see from these two books was that Imam Muslim wrote a Muqaddimah (Indroduction/Preface) of his book where he explains his methodology whereas Imam Bukhari did not.

This book has attained a special place in the hearts of the Muslims and became a source of beneficial knowledge, especially those in living in Maghrib. He surpassed most of the other scholars of Islam in fame and recognition. This is because he sought knowledge and wrote with the intention that it was for the sake of Allah s.w.t and to attain His pleasure. With this sincere intent, Allah s.w.t blessed his book up to a point that every muslim (and non-muslim) must have heard of it.

His book reached such a level of precision that it is only surpassed by two books; The Holy Qur’an and Sahih Bukhari. Scholars of his time and those who came after celebrated his work by writing various commentaries on it. A famous one would be ‘Al-Minhaj fi Syarh Sahih Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj’ written by Imam An-Nawawi.​

Imam Muslim died at the age of 55 in the month of Rejab on 261H. He was attending a circle of knowledge and heard a narration that he had never heard before. He then went straight home and lit a candle so that he could find that narration in his collection of compilations. He ordered that no one were to disturb him while he was doing his research.

At that moment, someone had given him a basket of dates and he took them into the room. One by one as he was finding the hadith, he ate the dates. He ate so much that after he found what he was looking for, the basket of dates was finished. It was narrated that he died due to consuming high levels of sugar. Even in the state before death, his determination and love for Hadith was manifested and a trait worth following.

Imam Muslim was a man of knowledge, wisdom and sheer determination in the quest of narrating and protecting the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW. He is a figure worth appreciating and respecting for all Muslims of every generation, due to his immense contributions to the Ummah.

On a personal level, let us seek to emulate the traits of this reputable scholar in our acts of service to the community, our determination in seeking knowledge. Only Allah SWT can bless Imam Muslim and his works, and may he be placed amongst the dwellers of the highest of paradise.​