Yahya ibn Ma'een

Yahya ibn Ma'een al-Ghatafani (158–233 AH) was one of the foremost hadith scholars and narrator critics (rijal critics) of the classical period. Born in Niqya near Baghdad, he inherited wealth which he spent entirely on acquiring hadith knowledge, reportedly traveling extensively and spending over a million dirhams on this pursuit. He was a student of Yahya al-Qattan and a close contemporary of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. His evaluations of narrators are considered definitive in the science of hadith criticism ('ilm al-rijal), and his assessments are preserved in works like Ta'rikh ibn Ma'een. He evaluated hundreds of thousands of narrators and is one of the founding authorities of hadith criticism.