Abu Abd-Allah Muhammad ibn Abd-Allah al-Hakim al-Nishaburi
(933 - 1012) , and also known as Ibn Al-Baiyi.) was a Sunni scholar and the leading traditionist of his age, frequently referred to as the "Imam of the Muhaddithin" or the "Muhaddith of Khorasan

Greater Khorasan

Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...

."

Biography

Al-Hakim, who hailed from Nishapur

Nishapur

Nishapur or Nishabur , is a city in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad...

, had vast amounts of teachers in Khurasan, Iraq, Transoxiana and elsewhere. He had scores of notable students, including Imam al-Bayhaqi

Ahmad Bayhaqi

Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn Ibn 'Ali Ibn Moussa al-Khosrojerdi al-Bayhaqi, البيهقي also known as Imam Al-Bayhaqi was born 994 CE/384AH in the small town of Khusraugird near Bayhaq in Khurasan...

 who was a scholarly giant in his own right.

Al-Hakim gained a substantial reputation for writing Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain

Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain

Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain is a five volume hadith collection written by Hakim al-Nishaburi d. 405H.-History:He wrote it in the year 393 AH , when he was 72 years old. It contains 9045 hadith...

. He started writing al-Mustadrak in the year when he was 72 years old. Al-Hakim is quoted to have said: "I drank water from Zamzam

Zamzam Well

The Well of Zamzam is a well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, east of the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam...

 and asked Allâh for excellence in writing books".

Death

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: 'Writing hadith

Hadith

The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

.'"

Legacy

stated :

Criticism

Al-Hakim drew criticism for mildly adhering to Shi`ism. Ibn al-Subkî rejects the label of Shi`i as baseless because Ibn `Asakir includes al-Hakim among the Asharis, who consider the Shias as innovators. Yet this label is still branded as a blemish today at the hands of those who oppose his positions if they weaken theirs, and those who oppose him for being a follower of al-Ashari, or for being a Sufi. Others noted to al-Hakim's sincerity in narrating hadith as the first hadith of Prophet Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

al-Hâkim narrated is:

May Allah make radiant the face of one who heard one of my sayings and then carried it to others. It may be that one carries understanding without being a person of understanding; it may be that one carries understanding to someone who possesses more understanding than he.

Works

He authored the following works among others:

• Al-Abwâb ("The Chapters")
• Al-Amâlî ("The Dictations")
• Amâlî al-`Ashiyyât ("Night Dictations")
• Fadâ'il al-Shâfi`î ("The Immense Merits of al-Shâfi`î")
• Fawâ'id al-Nusakh ("Benefits of the Copies")
• Fawâ'id al-Khurâsâniyyîn ("Benefits of the People of Khurâsân")
• Al-Iklîl fî Dalâ'il al-Nubuwwa ("The Diadem: The Marks of Prophethood")
• Al-`Ilal ("The Defects of Hadîth")
• Mâ Tafarrada bi Ikhrâjihi Kullu Wâhidin min al-Imâmayn ("Reports Found Only in al-Bukhârî or Only in Muslim")
• Al-Madkhal ilâ `Ilm al-Sahîh ("Introduction to the Science of Sound Reports")
• Ma`rifat Anwâ` `Ulûm al-Hadîth ("Knowledge of the Different Types of the Hadîth Sciences")
• Al-Mustadrak `alâ al-Sahîhayn ("Supplement for What is Missing From al-Bukhârî and Muslim")
• Muzakkâ al-Akhbâr ("Verified Reports")
• Al-Sahîhân ("The Two Books of sahîh Hadîths")
• Al-Talkhîs ("The Summary")
• Tarâjim al-Musnad `alâ Shart al-Sahîhayn ("The Reports of Ahmad's Musnad That Match the Criteria of the Two Books of Sahîh")
• Tarâjim al-Shuyûkh ("Biographies of the Shaykhs")
• Târîkh `Ulamâ' Ahl Naysabûr ("History of the Scholars of Naysabûr")