Yahya ibn Said al-Ansari

Yahya ibn Said al-Ansari al-Madani (died 143–144 AH / 760–761 CE) was one of the most important Medinan hadith scholars of the generation following the Tabiun, a master who had direct links to the senior students of the Companions and served as a judge in Medina before being appointed to Iraq. He was from the Ansari family of Medina and traced his lineage to the Banu al-Najjar clan.

He narrated from many of the leading Tabiun including Anas ibn Malik, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Amra bint Abd al-Rahman, al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, and Nafi the mawla of Ibn Umar. His position in the chain of transmission — between the great Tabiun and the classical scholars — made him a crucial link in the isnad system for a vast number of hadith. Imam Malik considered him one of the most reliable Medinan transmitters.

He was eventually appointed as a judge by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur, who moved him from Medina to serve in Anbar and later Baghdad. He reportedly found this appointment burdensome but could not refuse. His move to Iraq late in life introduced his Medinan scholarship directly to the Iraqi scholarly community.

He died in Baghdad around 143–144 AH. His narrations are found in all the six major hadith collections, and his standing is consistently that of one of the most trustworthy (thiqah) transmitters of his era. Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Malik all cite him frequently. His chains of transmission are among the most valued in the entire hadith corpus.