Imām Nāfiʿ (d. 169 AH)

The Imām, Muftī and ʿĀlim of Medina, the freed slave and prestigious narrator from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar al-Madanī (raḍī Allāhu ʿanh). His full name was Abū ʿAbdillāh Nāfiʿ ibn Sarjis ad-Daylamī. (Isʿāf al-Mubaṭṭaʾ, 28) It is also suggested that his father’s name was either Hurmuz or Kādish. He was from among the senior Successors who was reliable in ḥadīth. (Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 5:95).

Scholars are unanimous that he is an authority in the science. Many scholars and leading narrator critics attested to his reliability. Imām Ibn Saʿd said, ‘Nāfiʿ was reliable, and narrated many reports.’ (aṭ-Ṭabaqāt 5:343). Imām Aḥmad stated, ‘Nāfiʿ the mawlā of Ibn ʿUmar is a reliable Medinan Successor’. (Tārīkh Dimashq 61:433) Imām Nasāʾī, Imām ʿIjlī, and Imām Ibn Kathir are some other scholars who echoed the same sentiments.

Many scholars considered Imām Mālik to be the most reliable narrator from Nāfiʿ, although some differed. Imām Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn stated, ‘The strongest student from Nāfiʿ is Mālik ibn Anas. According to me, he is stronger than ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿUmar and Ayyūb’ (At-Tamhīd, 8:334). Thus, according to Imām Bukhārī, the chain in which Imām Mālik narrates from Nāfiʿ from Ibn ʿUmar is the most reliable chain of transmission, known as ‘Silsilat adh-Dhahab’ (the Golden Chain). He says, ‘The most authentic chain is Mālik from Nāfiʿ from Ibn ʿUmar.’ (Isʿāf al-Mubaṭṭāʾ, 28).