Intermediate
The Ten Readers
Nafi' Al-Madani — Biography, School, and Principal Narrators
Biography:
Nafi' ibn Abd Al-Rahman ibn Abi Nu'aym Al-Laythi (d. 169H) — undisputed Imam of readers in Medina. Originally from Isfahan. He taught Quran in Medina for about seventy years.
Status: Imam Malik: "Nafi' is the imam of people in reading." Abu Amr ibn Al-Ala': "Nafi's reading is a sunna." His face was said to give off a musk fragrance.
School and teachers: Learned from seventy Followers (Tabi'in), most prominently Abu Ja'far, Al-A'raj, and Muslim ibn Jundab — all tracing back to Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurayra, and Ubayy ibn Ka'b.
Principal narrators:
Nafi' ibn Abd Al-Rahman ibn Abi Nu'aym Al-Laythi (d. 169H) — undisputed Imam of readers in Medina. Originally from Isfahan. He taught Quran in Medina for about seventy years.
Status: Imam Malik: "Nafi' is the imam of people in reading." Abu Amr ibn Al-Ala': "Nafi's reading is a sunna." His face was said to give off a musk fragrance.
School and teachers: Learned from seventy Followers (Tabi'in), most prominently Abu Ja'far, Al-A'raj, and Muslim ibn Jundab — all tracing back to Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurayra, and Ubayy ibn Ka'b.
Principal narrators:
- Qalon (d. 220H): Isa ibn Mina — direct student; widespread in Libya and Tunisia
- Warsh (d. 197H): Uthman ibn Sa'id Al-Masri — traveled to learn from Nafi'; widespread in Egypt and the Maghreb
Source: Ibn Al-Jazari, Al-Nashr (1/120); Al-Dani, Al-Taysir (p.6); Ibn Mujahid, Al-Sab'a (p.55)
Test Yourself
How many Followers (Tabi'in) did Nafi' learn from? Name his two most famous narrators.
Show Answer