Nafiʽ al-Madani

al-Madani
Nafiʽ (نافع)
Personal
Born689CE
70AH
Madina
Died785CE
169AH
Madina
ReligionIslam
Main interest(s)Quran
Other namesAbu Ruwaym Ibn ʽAbd ar-Rahman Ibn Abi Naʽim al-Laythi

Abu Ruwaym Ibn ʽAbd ar-Rahman Ibn Abi Naʽim al-Laythi (Arabic: أبو رويم بن عبدالرحمن بن أبي النعيم الليثي)(70-169AH), better known as Nafiʽ al-Madani, was one of the transmitters of the seven canonical Qira'at,[1] or methods of reciting the Qur'an.[2] Outside of Egypt, his method of Qur'an recitation is the most popular in Africa in general,[3] and his chain of narration returning to the companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad is well-attested.[4]

Nafiʽ was born in the year 689CE,[5] and he died in the year 785CE.[6][4] His family was from Isfahan, though he himself was born and died in Medina.[4]

His method of recitation via his two most famous students, Qalun and Warsh, is the most common Quran reading mode in North Africa, West Africa and Qatar. He had a total of four canonical transmitters of his recitation; in addition to Qalun and Warsh, he also transmitted his reading to Isma'il bin Ja'far al-Ansari and Ishaq bin Muhammad al-Musayyabi.[7] Nafi's style of reading became so popular that it eventually eclipsed that of his teachers in Medina.[4]

See also

Ten readers and transmitters

References

  1. ^ Scott C. Lucas, Al-Dhahabi's Vision of Sunni Hadith Scholarship, p. 71. Taken from Constructive Critics, Ḥadīth Literature, and the Articulation of Sunnī Islam: The Legacy of the Generation of Ibn Saʻd, Ibn Maʻīn, and Ibn Ḥanbal. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2004. ISBN 9789004133198
  2. ^ Muhammad Ghoniem and MSM Saifullah, The Ten Readers & Their Transmitters. (c) Islamic Awareness. Updated January 8, 2002; accessed April 11, 2016.
  3. ^ Cyril Glasse, The New Encyclopedia of Islam, p. 268. Intr. by Huston Smith. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. ISBN 9780759101906
  4. ^ a b c d Peter G. Riddell, Early Malay Qur'anic exegical activity, p. 164. Taken from Islam and the Malay-Indonesian World: Transmission and Responses. London: C. Hurst & Co., 2001. ISBN 9781850653363
  5. ^ Shady Hekmat Nasser, Ibn Mujahid and the Canonization of the Seven Readings, p. 57. Taken from The Transmission of the Variant Readings of the Qur'an: The Problem of Tawaatur and the Emergence of Shawaadhdh. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2012. ISBN 9789004240810
  6. ^ Shady Nasser, Canonization, p. 39.
  7. ^ Shady Nasser, Canonization, p. 135.