Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj مسلم بن الحجاج النيسابوري

One of the two foremost authorities of Sunni hadith, Abu al-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi (204–261 AH / 819–875 CE) was born in Nishapur, in the Khurasan region, into the Arab tribe of Qushayr. From a young age he devoted himself to the study of prophetic tradition, traveling across Iraq, the Hijaz, Syria, and Egypt to hear from the leading scholars of his day, among them Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Qutayba ibn Saʿid, and ʿAbd Allah ibn Maslama al-Qaʿnabi. He held al-Bukhari in deep regard and benefited closely from him. His enduring legacy is al-Musnad al-Sahih, known simply as Sahih Muslim, which traditional scholars rank second only to Sahih al-Bukhari among collections of hadith, the two together forming the Sahihayn at the heart of Sunni tradition. The work is admired for its careful arrangement of narrations by theme and for its substantial introduction (muqaddima), an early and influential statement on the principles of chain criticism and sound transmission. His commentary by Imam al-Nawawi, al-Minhaj, remains the most widely studied exposition of the book. Muslim also composed works on narrator criticism, including al-Tamyiz and Kitab al-Kuna wal-Asmaʾ. He died in Nishapur in 261 AH.