The full name of Imam An-Nasai is Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb ibn Ali ibn Bahr ibn Sinan ibn Dinar An-Nasai. He was born in the year 215 AH in a town called Nasa in Khorasan. His father passed away when he was young, and his righteous mother raised him.
Imam An-Nasa'i acquired his initial knowledge of Islam from the local scholars of Nasa – at a time when Allah had blessed Khorasan with distinguished Muslim scholars, jurists, and experts in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).
He completed the memorization of the entire Qur'an at just 8 years of age. He was intelligent and had a great passion for knowledge. The teachers of Imam An-Nasa'i, even when he was young, noticed his unparalleled brilliance, which compelled them to regard him differently.
From around the year 230 AH, Imam An-Nasai began traveling to various Muslim lands in search of further knowledge. The Imam visited Balkh, Egypt, Hijaz, Iraq, Basra, Kufa, Naisapur, Sham (Syria), Nazd, Damascus, Marv, and other Arab regions. After many years of travel, the Imam finally settled in Egypt.
Imam An-Nasai acquired knowledge from many Muslim scholars. His primary teacher was none other than Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (who passed away in 241 AH). An-Nasai was also a direct student of Imam Al-Bukhari (who died in 256 AH) and Imam Abu Dawud (who died in 275 AH).
The renowned muhaddith (hadith scholar) Abdullah ibn Mubarak (died 254 AH) and Yahyah ibn Musa (died 240 AH) were also among Imam An-Nasai's teachers. Likewise, the Imam studied under scholars such as Qutaybah ibn Sa'eed (died 240 AH), who was a student of Imam Malik ibn Anas (died 179 AH).
As a teacher, the role Imam An-Nasa'i played was remarkable. Students of knowledge from Muslim nations around the world would attend his lectures. One of his prominent students was Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal (died 290 AH). Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Salih (died 349 AH), Mansoor ibn Ismail Al-Mishri (died 306 AH), Muhammad ibn Qasim Al-Andalusi (died 327 AH), Imam Abul Qasim ibn Ahmad At-Tabarani (died 360 AH), and Imam Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Muwayyah (died 358 AH) were also major students.
It is reported that one of the greatest muhaddithin of Egypt, Imam Ahmad At-Tahawi Al-Misri (died 321 AH), narrated hadith from Imam An-Nasai, and his son Ali also studied under the Imam.
Imam An-Nasai was God-fearing, extremely courteous, patient, and critical of religious innovations (bid'ah). He used to avoid gatherings in royal palaces and the houses of the elite. The renowned Hafiz Abul Hasan Muhammad ibn Muzaffar said:
"I asked my teachers in Egypt about Imam An-Nasa'i, and I heard them say: 'An-Nasa'i is among the greatest imams of his time.'"
The Imam was very devout, performed Hajj every year, and was intensely passionate about jihad. Furthermore, the Imam was very handsome, and besides that, he always wore fine clothing.
It is reported that while residing in Egypt, An-Nasai went to the house of the famous judge and hadith scholar of Egypt, Al-Harith ibn Miskeen, to study. However, due to his good looks, the judge thought An-Nasai might be a government spy and expelled him from the class. Such expulsion, however, could not diminish his thirst for knowledge, and he continued to sit at the door of Imam Miskeen's house to listen to hadith.
Imam Daraqutni (who died in 385 AH) said: "Imam Nasa'i was the most learned of his time in Egypt. The Imam had great skill and wisdom in distinguishing weak hadiths and selecting authentic ones. He possessed vast knowledge regarding the biographies of all hadith narrators."
Imam An-Nasai also wrote several books, such as (i) Kitabul Fadayilul Quran, (ii) Kitabut Tafsirun Nasai, (iii) Kitabul Asma wal Kuna, (iv) Kitabul Manasik, and (v) Kitabul Fadayilus Sahaba. It is reported that once the Imam wrote a hadith book called Sunan Al-Kubra (the Major Sunan).
After that, the Imam compiled another book containing only authentic hadiths and named it Sunan As-Sugra Wal-Mujtaba Wal-Mujtana (The Chosen Abridgment). This book, commonly known as Sunan An-Nasai, is what Imam An-Nasai is most famous for.
Sunan As-Sugra contains approximately 5,700 hadiths (with repetitions) in 52 volumes. The book also includes explanations of difficult words and different narrations of a single hadith. In compiling the book, Imam An-Nasai followed the path of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim. The book mostly contains authentic hadiths, and whenever the Imam narrates a weak narration, he points out its weakness. If we compare the books of authentic hadiths, it ranks third after Bukhari and Muslim.
As mentioned earlier, Imam An-Nasai lived in Egypt for a long time. Indeed, his popularity reached every corner of the Muslim world, and simultaneously, some groups of people became envious of the Imam. To avoid any conflict, the Imam migrated to Damascus around the year 302 AH.
Damascus was the headquarters of the Umayyad Caliphate and had long been a region where the Kharijites (an extremist group) also held influence. Therefore, the Imam noticed that the people of Damascus had acquired some corrupted creeds and enmity towards Ali ibn Abi Talib. To correct the people's beliefs, the Imam wrote a book titled 'The Characteristics and Virtues of Ali ibn Abi Talib,' in which Ali ibn Abi Talib was praised appropriately.
When the Imam read his book to the people in the mosque of Damascus, some of them heckled him and asked the Imam his opinion about Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan. The Imam replied that there is a marfu' hadith regarding Muawiyah in which the Prophet (SAW) said: "May Allah never fill the belly of Muawiyah" (i.e., may he never be satisfied), but being a Companion of the Prophet (SAW) might save him.
This response provoked some extremists and partisans who began to beat the Imam mercilessly. The Imam was taken to Makkah in a critical condition, where he passed away in the year 303 AH (some sources mention 302 or 303 AH). Imam An-Nasai was buried in a place between the hills of Safa and Marwah.
Family
Imam An-Nasa'i had four wives, but historians mention only one son of his, namely Abdul Kareem, who narrated the Sunan from his father.