Nafi' al-Madani

Nafi' ibn Abi Nu'aym al-Madani (d. 169H) was one of the Seven Canonical Reciters (al-Qurra' al-Sab'ah) and the undisputed authority of Quranic recitation in Madinah. Of Abyssinian origin, he studied under more than seventy companions and their followers, including Abdur-Rahman ibn Hurmuz al-A'raj and Abu Ja'far Yazid ibn al-Qa'qa'. He served as the Imam of the Quranic recitation of Madinah for over sixty years. His two primary transmitters were Warsh (d. 197H) and Qalun (d. 220H), whose recitations remain widely used today in North and West Africa and parts of the Arab world. Imam Malik reportedly said about Nafi': 'He is the Imam of the Muslims in recitation.'