# Ahmad ibn al-Nadr al-Naysaburi
**Ahmad ibn al-Nadr al-Naysaburi** (أحمد بن النضر بن عبد الوهاب النيسابوري), in full Ahmad ibn al-Nadr ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Abu al-Fadl al-Naysaburi, was a third/ninth-century hadith transmitter of Nishapur in Khurasan, brother of the narrator Muhammad ibn al-Nadr, remembered by al-Hakim as "one of the pillars of hadith" and used directly by al-Bukhari in the *Jami' al-Sahih*; he died in 285 AH (898 CE), with a 283 AH variant reported[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425) • [2](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/8684) • [3](https://tarajm.com/people/27096).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Identity | Ahmad ibn al-Nadr ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Abu al-Fadl al-Naysaburi, brother of Muhammad ibn al-Nadr; 34 narrated hadith in the Sunnah.com database, 11th generation (tabaqa)[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425) |
| Death date | 285 AH per al-Dhahabi ("he lived long, remaining until the year 285"); 283 AH (895 CE) per tarajm.com[2](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/8684) • [3](https://tarajm.com/people/27096) |
| Critical grade | Al-Khalili: "thiqa muttafaq alayh" (trustworthy, unanimously agreed); al-Nasa'i: "thiqa"; Abu Hatim and Abu Zur'a: "we reached him but did not write from him"[4](https://shamela.ws/book/89/190) |
| Canonical use | Narrator in Sahih al-Bukhari (e.g. no. 2661), al-Hakim's Mustadrak, and al-Bayhaqi's al-Sunan al-Kubra[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425) |
| Teachers and students | Narrated from Abu Mus'hab al-Zuhri, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Ubaydallah ibn Mu'adh al-'Anbari, and others; al-Bukhari and Ibn al-Akhram narrated from him[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425) • [3](https://tarajm.com/people/27096) |
| Local standing | Al-Hakim's Tarikh Naysabur calls him one of the pillars of hadith and records that al-Bukhari lodged with the two Nadr brothers on his Nishapur visits[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425) |
## Name, family, and identification
The biographical record gives his genealogy as Ahmad ibn al-Nadr ibn Abd al-Wahhab, with the honorific Abu al-Fadl and the nisba al-Naysaburi, tying him to Nishapur; the Sunnah.com profile states plainly that he was "brother of Muhammad ibn al-Nadr"[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425). The two brothers form a paired entry in the sources: al-Dhahabi, citing al-Bukhari, explains that the "Muhammad" in the isnad "Muhammad narrated to us, Ubaydallah ibn Mu'adh narrated to us" is Muhammad ibn al-Nadr, who died early, "while Ahmad lived long, remaining until the year 285"[2](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/8684).
**Disambiguation was the main problem his name posed.** Several prominent Ahmads belong to the same generation, and later indexes confused them. Al-Dhahabi states directly: "Ahmad here is ibn al-Nadr, and he is not ibn Hanbal"[2](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/8684). In [Sahih al-Bukhari](https://www.edgepedia.org/sahih-al-bukhari)'s hadith of the Ifk, the phrase "and Ahmad corrected part of it for me" was attributed by Khalid al-Wasiti's al-Atraf, followed by al-Dumyati, to Ahmad ibn Yunus; [Ibn Asakir](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-asakir) and al-Mizzi called that attribution an error (wahm), and al-Dhahabi resolves the narrator as Ahmad ibn al-Nadr[2](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/8684). Ibn Mandah likewise insists that this Ahmad is not to be attributed to [Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr](https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ibn-abi-bakr) or Abdallah ibn Mu'adh, "and it is said: he is Ahmad ibn al-Nadr al-Naysaburi al-Hafiz"[4](https://shamela.ws/book/89/190). A further namesake, Ahmad ibn Nasr Abu Abdallah al-Naysaburi, appears in al-Bukhari's al-Tarikh al-Kabir as dying in Dhu al-Qa'da 245 AH, apparently a different and earlier figure[4](https://shamela.ws/book/89/190).
## Nishapur as a hadith center
Ahmad ibn al-Nadr worked in one of the densest hadith environments of the third century AH. Nishapur's rise as a scholarly capital began with the Tahirids at the start of the third century AH, who made the city their seat and drew scholars to the region; its prominent muhaddiths included [Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj](https://www.edgepedia.org/muslim-ibn-al-hajjaj), Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli, Ibn al-Jarud, [Ibn Khuzayma](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-khuzayma), and Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Sarraj[5](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1973609). The scale of the city's contribution is measurable: more than 10% of the hadiths in al-Kutub al-Sitta were taken from the Nishapur region[5](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1973609).
The key local source for his circle is al-Hakim Abu Abdallah al-Bayyi's Tarikh ulama Naysabur, completed in 998 CE in eight thick volumes, the standard biographical repertory for Nishapur's scholars[6](https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/7533/0049060e.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y). Ibn Hajar places the two Nadr brothers in the tabaqa of Muslim and the other students of al-Bukhari, though they shared some of al-Bukhari's own shaykhs, a position that captures their double role as both fellow students and teachers of the great compiler[2](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/8684).
## Transmission: teachers, students, and isnads
The attested teacher lists vary by source. Sunnah.com enumerates Abu Mus'hab al-Zuhri, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Hamid ibn Yahya al-Balkhi, Sulayman ibn Dawud al-Zahrani, Sahl ibn Uthman al-Askari, Shayban ibn Farrukh, Salt ibn Mas'ud, Ubaydallah ibn Mu'adh al-'Anbari, and Amr ibn Zurara al-Naysaburi, and elsewhere in the same entry Ibn Abi Shayba al-'Absi, Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli, Uthman ibn Abi Shayba, Nasr ibn Ali al-Azdi, and Sulayman ibn Dawud al-'Ataki[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425). Tarajm.com, compiled from al-Dhahabi, lists eight teachers including Muhammad ibn Yahya al-'Adani, Hudba ibn Khalid, Shayban ibn Farrukh, Sahl ibn Uthman al-Askari, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Ubaydallah ibn Mu'adh, Abu Mus'hab al-Zuhri, and Amr ibn Zurara[3](https://tarajm.com/people/27096). The two lists overlap on the core names but do not match, and neither is presented as exhaustive.
His students include al-Bukhari himself, plus Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-'Umawi, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Shaybani, Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Tusi, and Muhammad ibn Salih al-Warraq in the Sunnah.com list[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425); tarajm.com adds Abu Hamid ibn al-Sharqi, Abu Abdallah Ibn al-Akhram, Ahmad ibn Ishaq al-Saydalani, and Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Ibrahim[3](https://tarajm.com/people/27096).
**His most cited appearance is in Sahih al-Bukhari.** Al-Hakim's Tarikh Naysabur records that whenever Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari came to Nishapur he stayed with the two brothers Muhammad and Ahmad, sons of al-Nadr ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and narrated from both in the Jami' al-Sahih with their joint isnad and audition, adding "and they are alike" (siyan)[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425). One identifiable hadith is no. 2661, on a man who draws lots between his wives when intending travel[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425). He also appears in al-Hakim's Mustadrak (Books 16 and 17) and in al-Bayhaqi's al-Sunan al-Kubra (Books 2, 3, 4, and 10)[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425).
Two identifications fix his place in specific chains. In Bukhari's tafsir of Surat al-Anfal, the chain runs "Ahmad narrated to us, from Ubaydallah ibn Mu'adh"; both al-Hakim Abu Ahmad and al-Hakim Abu Abdallah Ibn al-Bayyi' affirmed that this Ahmad is ibn al-Nadr ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and Muslim narrated the same hadith directly from their shared shaykh Ubaydallah ibn Mu'adh[2](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/8684) • [1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425). Al-Bukhari likewise identified the Ahmad in part of the Ifk hadith chain, via Abu al-Rabi' al-Zahrani, as Ahmad ibn al-Nadr[3](https://tarajm.com/people/27096).
## Critical assessment
The jarh wa-ta'dil verdicts on him are consistently positive but not uniform in strength. Al-Khalili called him "thiqa muttafaq alayh", trustworthy with unanimous agreement, and al-Nasa'i listed him among his shaykhs with the single word "thiqa"[4](https://shamela.ws/book/89/190). Abu Hatim and Abu Zur'a gave the more reserved formula "adradnahu wa-lam naktub 'anhu", we reached him (in life) but did not write from him, a statement that confirms personal contact while recording that they took no material from him[4](https://shamela.ws/book/89/190). Al-Hakim, in his local history, ranked him among "the pillars of hadith" (ahad arkan al-hadith)[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425).
Al-Dhahabi's summary epithet adds a second dimension: "al-Hafiz al-mujawwid al-allama... one of the imams and authors", and al-Hakim describes him as a reciter (mujawwid) in the Basran reading, indicating Quranic recitation alongside hadith[3](https://tarajm.com/people/27096).
## By the numbers
The surviving profile is compact. The Sunnah.com narrator database attributes 34 narrated hadith to him and places him in the 11th generation[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425). One canonical collection, Sahih al-Bukhari, uses him directly, with al-Hakim's Mustadrak and al-Bayhaqi's Sunan al-Kubra as the other attested venues[1](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425). His city's collective weight is far larger: over 10% of al-Kutub al-Sitta traces to the Nishapur region[5](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1973609).
## References
1. [Ahmad ibn al-Nadr al-Naysaburi, Narrators database, Sunnah.com](https://sunnah.com/narrator/425)
2. [Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, vol. 13, al-Dhahabi, entry for Ahmad ibn al-Nadr al-Naysaburi, Shamela](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/8684)
3. [أحمد بن النضر بن عبد الوهاب أبي الفضل النيسابوري, tarajm.com](https://tarajm.com/people/27096)
4. [Ikmal Tahdhib al-Kamal, al-Mizzi, entry for Ahmad ibn al-Nadr al-Naysaburi, Shamela](https://shamela.ws/book/89/190)
5. [Nishapur hadith studies, Kocatepe İslami İlimler Dergisi](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1973609)
6. [The Scholars of Nishapur, 700–1225, University of Edinburgh PhD thesis](https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/7533/0049060e.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Philosophy, religion, and mythology › Religion and spirituality › Religious biographies › Jewish, Islamic, and Dharmic religious leaders › Islamic religious leaders and scholars › Sunni imams and classical Islamic scholars › Hadith scholars and traditionists › Khorasanian and Transoxanian traditionists › Hadith scholars of Nishapur*
*Initially written Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
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