Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahawi

Name According to al-Dhahabi, his name was Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Salamah ibn 'Abd al-Malik ibn Salamah, al-Azdi al-Hajari al-Misri al-Tahawi al-Hanafi.

Biography Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī was born in the village of Ṭaḥā in upper Egypt in 853 (239 AH). Even within the years of birth, the exact dates are debated as well. Another date within 239 AH/853 AD that is presented is the 10th of Rabī‘ al-Awwal, which would be August 19, 853 AD. Another author adds that his birth was on Sunday night, 11 of the First Rabi‘. which is a renowned tribe in Yemen. His grandfather served as an army commander, while his father was engaged in the fields of poetry and literature.

Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī gained a vast knowledge of ḥadīth in addition to Ḥanafī jurisprudence

Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī was famed for his expertise in both ḥadīth and Ḥanafī jurisprudence even during his own lifetime, and many of his works, such as Kitāb Maʿāni al-Āthār and ʿAqīdah aṭ-Ṭaḥāwīyyah, continue to be held in high regard by Sunni Muslims today.

An examination of the works of al-Ṭaḥāwī's—who lived during a period when āḥadīth and the sciences of āḥadīth were being systematically compiled—reveals that he was an authoritative figure in subjects such as nāsikh wa mansūkh (abrogating and abrogated Hadiths), ‘ilal al-hadīth (defects in Hadith), gharīb al-hadīth (obscure Hadith terms), ta’wīl mukhtalif al-hadīth (reconciling conflicting Hadiths), and jarḥ wa ta‘dīl (criticism and authentication of narrators). The characterization of him as "trustworthy and reliable" (thiqa wa sabt) by his student—the Hadith memorizer, Abu Sa‘id ibn Yunus—was accepted by the majority of later Hadith scholars. Imam al-Nawawi referred to him as "the Imam of the Hanafis in Hadith".