Sunan al-Nasa'i

Overview

Sunan al-Nasa'i, formally known as al-Mujtaba or al-Sunan al-Sughra, is one of the six canonical hadith collections, compiled by Imam Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb al-Nasa'i (829-915 CE). It is considered by many scholars to have the strictest criteria for hadith acceptance after Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

Compilation

Al-Nasa'i originally compiled a larger collection called al-Sunan al-Kubra, then distilled it into the shorter al-Mujtaba (The Selected), removing hadiths he considered too weak. The final collection contains approximately 5,270 hadiths organized into 51 books.

Methodology

Al-Nasa'i was renowned for his extremely rigorous standards in evaluating narrators. He would often identify subtle defects (ilal) in chains that other compilers accepted. His work on narrator criticism, al-Du'afa wal-Matrukin (The Weak and Abandoned Narrators), demonstrates his exacting standards. Many scholars rank his collection third in authenticity after Bukhari and Muslim.

Significance

Al-Nasa'i excelled in the technique of presenting multiple chains for the same hadith, allowing readers to see how a narration was transmitted through different routes. This is particularly useful for hadith scholars studying the reliability of narrations. He also organized chapters very precisely, often repeating a hadith in different chapters to highlight different legal implications.

The Compiler

Al-Nasa'i was born in Nasa, Khorasan (modern-day Turkmenistan). He traveled extensively for hadith and settled in Egypt. He was killed in Damascus under disputed circumstances, and his death is considered by many to be a martyrdom.