Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Abi Nasr al-Bazanti
| Full Name | Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Abi Nasr al-Bazanti |
|---|---|
| Companion of | Imam al-Kazim (a), Imam al-Rida (a), and Imam al-Jawad (a) |
| Teknonym | Abu Ja'far |
| Well Known As | Al-Bazanti, Ibn Abi Nasr |
| Wellknown Relatives | Isma'il b. Mihran, al-Bazanti |
| Birth | 152/769-70 |
| Place(s) of Residence | Kufa |
| Death/Martyrdom | 221/835-6 |
| Works | Al-Jami' , Al-Masa'il, Al-Nawadir |
ʾAbū Jaʿfar ʾAḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʾAbī Naṣr al-Bazanțī (Arbic: ابوجعفر احمد بن ابي نصر البزنطي) (b.152/769-70 - d.221/835-6), one of the early Imami scholars in Kufa, and a companion of Imam al-Kazim (a), Imam al-Rida (a), and Imam al-Jawad (a), and one of the people of consensus.
Biography
His teknonym is Abu Ja'far, though he is well-known as "al-Bazanti". His grandfather was Abu Nasr Zayd b. 'Amr, and because of him, al-Bazanti is sometimes called Ibn Abi Nasr.[1]
It is mentioned that al-Bazanti was in Qadisiyya around the year 200/815-6.
He was a mawla of the clan of Sakun, a branch of the tribe of Kinda. His family was a well-known Imami family in Kufa. Isma'il b. Mihran, al-Bazanti's cousin, was another famous member of his family.
His demise was in 221/835-6.[2]
Relation with the Imams (a)
Al-Bazanti was mainly a companion of Imam al-Rida (a).[3] In rijal sources, a conversation between him and Imam al-Jawad (a) is mentioned, and there is disagreement as to whether he quoted hadith from Imam al-Kazim (a).
Teachers and Students
Apart from the Imams (a), al-Bazanti learned hadith from great Imami figures such as:[4]
Al-Bazanti was among the People of Consensus and following people have narrated hadith from him:[5]
Religious Affiliation
After the martyrdom of Imam al-Kazim (a), al-Bazanti became a Waqifi, but as a result of a correspondence that he had with Imam al-Rida (a), he believed in the latter's Imamate[6] and became one of the early supporters of Qat'iyya in Kufa, together with Hisham b. Salim and Safwan b. Yahya. According to some reports, he was the most influential supporter and promoter of the Imamate of Imam al-Rida (a).
A Representative of the School of Hisham b. Salim
Among the scholarly inclinations within the Imamiyya, al-Bazanti belonged to the school of Hisham b. Salim; he became the representative of that school after Hisham's demise, criticizing the viewpoints of the rival school of Hisham b. al-Hakam on the knowledge of the Imams.
Hadiths on the Imams' Knowledge
On the knowledge of the Imams (a), several hadiths quoted by al-Bazanti are found in hadith sources such as al-Kafi, Qurb al-isnad, Basa'ir al-darajat, and al-Ikhtisas.
A brief hadith that reflects the viewpoint of al-Bazanti and the school of Hisham b. Salim on this issue is the following: "The faith of a servant will not be perfect, unless he equally recognizes for the last Imam what he recognizes for the first Imam in proof, obedience, halal, and haram."[7]
Status in Rijal
In the discipline of Rijal, al-Bazanti is not only regarded as trustworthy but also as one of the people of consensus. It is noteworthy that because al-Bazanti's name is recorded in the chains of transmission of hadiths about the Prophet's (s) Sira (conduct), he is mentioned in Sunni rijal sources as well. However, he is not considered reliable by Sunni scholars.
Works
In addition to the hadiths quoted by him and preserved in the Four Books, the following are some of al-Bazanti's most important works:
- Al-Jami' : This work included a wide collection of hadiths on various religious teachings, especially jurisprudence. Copies of this work were available at the time of Ibn Idris al-Hilli and most likely at the time of al-Sayyid b. Tawus.
- Al-Masa'il: Ibn al-Nadim mentions this work in his al-Fihrist. In the treatise of Abu Ghalib al-Zurari, the title of this work is Masa'il al-Rida. Some parts of this work is preserved in the book Qurb al-isnad by 'Abd Allah b. Ja'far al-Himyari.
- Al-Nawadir: Al-Shaykh al-Tusi mentions this work in his al-Fihrist. Al-Najashi attributes two books with this title to al-Bazanti. In the Mustatrafat section of Ibn Idris al-Hilli's al-Sara'ir, some hadiths from this work are quoted.
It is noteworthy that al-Shaykh al-Saduq had copies of al-Bazantis works, and he frequently quotes from them in his Kitab man la yahduruh al-faqih, but unfortunately he does not mention the title of the works he has used.
Notes
- ↑ Mamaqānī, Tanqīḥ al-maqāl, vol. 1, p. 77.
- ↑ Ḥillī, Khulāṣat al-aqwāl, p. 13.
- ↑ Khoeī, Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth, vol. 3, p. 18.
- ↑ Khoeī, Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth, vol. 3, p. 21.
- ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 90; Ardabīlī, Jāmiʿ al-ruwāt wa izāḥat al-ishtibāhāt, p. 1-9; Khoeī, Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth, p. 36-38.
- ↑ Ḥimyarī, Qurb al-isnād, p. 52; Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, p. 13; Ṭūsī, al-Ghayba, p. 1-2.
- ↑ Ḥimyarī, Qurb al-isnād, p. 53; Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, p. 75.
References
- Aṭārudī, ʿAzīz Allāh. Rāwiyān Imām Riḍā (a) dar musnad al-Riḍā. [n.d]. Kungira-yi Jahānī Imām Riḍā (a), 1367 Sh.
- Aqīlī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar. Kitāb al-ḍuʿafā al-kabīr. Edited by ʿAbd al-Muʿṭī Amīn Qalʿajī. Beirut: 1404 AH.
- Abī, Ḥasan. Kashf al-rumūz. Qom: 1408 AH.
- Ardabīlī, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Jāmiʿ al-ruwāt wa izāḥat al-ishtibāhāt ʿan ṭuruq wa al-isnād. Beirut: 1403 AH-1983.
- Abū Ghālib Zurārī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-. Risāla fī Āl Aʿyan. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAlī Muwaḥḥid Abṭahī. Isfahān: 1399 AH.
- Barqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Kitāb al-Rijāl. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥaddith Armawī. Tehran: 1342 Sh.
- Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. al-Aḥmad al-. Mīzān al-iʿtidāl. Edited by ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bajāwī. Cairo: 1382 AH.
- Ḥillī, Ibn Idrīs al-. Kitāb al-sarāʾir al-ḥāwī li taḥrīr al-fatāwī. Tehran: [n.d].
- Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Muʿtabar fī sharḥ al-mūkhtaṣar. [n.p]. 1318 AH.
- Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. al-Ḥasan al-. Mukhtalaf al-Shīʿa fī aḥkām al-sharīʿa. Tehran: 1424 AH.
- Ḥimyarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar al-. Qurb al-isnād. Tehran: Maktabat al-Neynawā al-Ḥadītha, [n.d].
- Ibn Shahrāshūb, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Maʿālim al-ʿulamā. Najaf: 1380 AH/1961.
- Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Lisān al-mīzān. Hyderabad: 1329-1331 AH.
- Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Muḥāsibat al-nafs. Tehran: 1318 AH.
- Ibn al-Nadīm, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. Al-Fihrist. [n.p]. [n.d].
- Khoeī, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim al-. Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth. Najaf: 1398 AH.
- Kashshī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl known as Rijāl al-Kashshī. Edited by Ḥasan Muṣṭafawī. Mashhad: 1348 Sh.
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Tehran: 1377 AH.
- Mamaqānī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥasan. Tanqīḥ al-maqāl fī ʿilm al-rijāl. Najaf: 1349-1352 AH.
- Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Ikhtiṣāṣ. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom: Manshūrāt Jimāʿat al-Mudarrisīn, [n.d].
- Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Rijāl al-Najāshī. Edited by Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī. Qom: Jāmiʿat al-Mudarrisīn, 1407 AH.
- Rāwandī, Saʿīd b. Hibat Allāh al-. Al-Kharāʾij wa l-jarāʾiḥ. Qom: 1409 AH.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā. Najaf: 1390 AH.
- Ṣaffār, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Baṣā'ir al-darajāt fī faḍāʾil-i Āl-i Muḥammad. Tehran: 1404 AH.
- Shahīd al-Awwal, Muḥammad b. Makkī. Ghāyat al-murād. Edited by Riḍā Mukhtārī. Qom: 1414 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥaasn al-. Al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī. Edited by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Āl-i Baḥr al-ʿUlūm. Najaf: 1381 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Ghayba. Edited by ʿIbād Allāh Tihrānī & ʿAlī Aḥmad Nāṣiḥ. Qom: 1411 AH.
- Tustarī, Muḥammad Taqī. Qāmūs al-rijāl. Qom: 1410 AH.
| Family |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Companions | Ahmad b. Abi Nasr al-Bazanti • Yunus b. 'Abd al-Rahman • Al-Hasan b. Mahbub • Muhammad b. Abi 'Umayr • 'Abd Allah b. al-Mughira • Safwan b. Yahya • Jamil b. Darraj • Hammad b. 'Uthman • Hammad b. 'Isa al-Juhani • Abu l-Salt al-Hirawi • Ishaq b. Musa b. Ja'far • Di'bil b. 'Ali al-Khuza'i • Ahmad b. Imam al-Kazim (a) • Hamza b. Musa • 'Ali b. Mahziyar al-Ahwazi • Husayn b. Musa b. Ja'far (a) • Khayran al-Khadim • 'Abd al-'Azim al-Hasani • → other | |
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| Bibliography | ||
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