Download PDF: [S] Who is Imam ibn Majah

Imam ibn Majah’s – may Allah be pleased with him – title is “Abu Abdullah” and his full name is Muhammad bin Yazeed. He is linked to the Rabee Qazwani tribe and is world famous by the title of “ibn Majah”. In one report it is mentioned that his father’s name was Majah. Among the six scholars of Ahadith, he is considered the sixth Imam. His world famous treatise is called “Sunah ibn Majah”.

 

Imam ibn Majah – may Allah be pleased with him – was born in 200 A.H. and hailed from a place Qazweni which is an area in Azerbaijan. He travelled extensively in search of Hadith and visited the Hejaz, Iraq, Syria, Khurasan, Egypt, etc. He also lived for a while in Basrah, Kufah, Baghdad, the Haramain and Syria. He also stayed in the company of nearly 310 Mashaa’ikh.

 

Imam ibn Majah – may Allah be pleased with him – is recognized in a great authority in this field and was also noted for his amazing memory. People like ibn Jouzi, Hafiz Zehbi, ibn Khalakaan have also accepted him as an authority in Hadith.

 

Imam ibn Majah – may Allah be pleased with him – also had a long list of students. However, very little is recorded about his personal life. However, from his writings and research, we come to realise that he spent most of his time in search of Hadith. He also wrote on Tafseer, history and obviously his “Sunan” has become world famous.

 

Sunan ibn Majah

 

It is mentioned that the great Imam searched for hundreds of thousands of Ahadith and chose four thousand Ahadith to include in his treatise and placed them in different chapters. Ibn Katheer has mentioned in the “Al Bidaayah” that there are thirty books in the “Sunan”, fifteen hundred chapters and four thousand Ahadith and besides a few of them, the rest are extremely authentic.

 

It is mentioned that the previous Muhadditheen did not like the idea of placing the “Sunan” among the six authentic books of Hadith, however, the latter day Muhaditheen have included it among the six books of Ahadith.

 

There is no doubt though that this is certainly a very authentic treatise on Ahadith. One of the main features in this treatise is that no Hadith is repeated. At the same time, there have been people who have praised the “Sunan” and there are certain people who have not said the same thing about the “Sunan”.

 

Another important thing to bear in mind is that there are certain Ahadith which has been mentioned in the “Sunan” which are not found in any other books of Ahadith. Therefore, its value also increased in this manner. However, certain ‘Ulama have mentioned that there are certain Ahadith in the “Sunan” which are considered as weak and that is the reason that its status is not as highly rated as the other five treatises.

 

Imam ibn Majah – may Allah be pleased with him – passed away in 272 A.H. (Taarik ibn Majah)