The famous Narrators of Hadith

Famous Narrators of Hadith

The Sahabah (Companions)

1. Abu Hurairah (Abdur-Rahmaan) (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.59H at the age of 78;he narrated 5374 ahaadeeth. The number of his students reaches 800
2. Abdullaah Ibn Abbaas (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.68H at the age of 71; he
   narrated 2660 ahaadeeth
3. Aa’ishah Siddeeqa (radi-Allaahu ‘anhaa) d.58H at the age of 67; she narrated2210 ahaadeeth
4. Abdullaah Ibn Umar (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.73H at the age of 84; he narrated 1630 ahaadeeth
5. Jaabir Ibn Abdullaah (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.78H at the age of 94; he narrated 1560 ahaadeeth
6. Anas Ibn Maalik (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.93H at the age of 103; he narrated 1286 ahaadeeth and
7. Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.74H at the age of 84; he
   narrated 1170 ahaadeeth. These Companions were amongst those who had memorised more than 1000 ahaadeeth.
   Furthermore:
8. Abdullaah Ibn Amr Ibn al-Aas (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.63H
9. Alee Ibn Abee Taalib (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.40H and
10. Umar Ibn al-Khattaab (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.33H
    Are amongst those Companions who narrated between 500 and 1000 ahaadeeth.
    Likewise:
11. Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.13H
12. Uthmaan Ibn Affaan Dhun-Noorain (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.36H
13. Umm Salamah (radi-Allaahu ‘anhaa) d.59H
14. Abu Moosaa al-Asha’aree (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.52H
15. Abu Dharr al-Ghaffaree (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.32H
16. Abu Ayyoob al-Ansaaree (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.51H
17. Ubayy Ibn Ka’ab (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.19H and
18. Mu’aadh Ibn Jabal (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) d.81H
    Are amongst those Companions who narrated more than 100 but less than 500 ahaadeeth.

The Taabi’een (Successors)

And we cannot forget the major Taabi’een (Successors) who, after endless striving, gathered the treasures of the Sunnah so the Ummah of Muhammad (sal-Allaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) could become enriched with it forever; from amongst them are

1) Sa’eed Ibn al-Mussayab
He was born in the second year of the reign of Umar (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) in
Madeenah and died in 105H. He learnt ahaadeeth and its knowledge from Uthmaan, Aa’ishah, Abu Hurairah and Zaid Ibn Thaabit (radi-Allaahu ‘anhum).

2) Urwah Ibn Zubair
He was counted from amongst the great people of knowledge from Madeenah and he was the nephew of Aa’ishah (radi-Allaahu ‘anhaa). He narrated mostly from his aunt. He had the pleasure of being the student of Abu Hurairah (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) and Zaid Ibn Thaabit (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu). Saalih Ibn Kiysaan and Imaam az-Zuhree are counted from amongst his students. He died in the year 94H.

3) Saalim Ibn Abdullaah Ibn Umar
He was from the 7 famous Jurists of Madeenah; he learnt ahaadeeth from his father Abdullaah Ibn Umar (radi-Allaahu ‘anhu) and other Companions. Naaf’i, az-Zuhree and other famous Successors were from his students. He died in 106H.4) Naaf’i He was the servant of Abdullaah4(radi-Allaahu ‘anhu). He was his special student and the teacher of Imaam Maalik (rahimahullaah). Maalik from Naaf’i from Abdullaah Ibn Umar from the Messenger of Allaah (sal-Allaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) is known amongst the scholars of hadeeth as the golden chain. Naaf’i died in 117H

Ref-Compilation of hadith by Shaykh Abdul Ghaffar Hassan Rehmaanee.