{ "id": "epk2e5xc3r", "slug": "al-zunburi", "title": "Al-Zunburi", "updated": "2026-10-15", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.belief", "label": "Philosophy, religion, and mythology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.belief" }, { "id": "society.belief.religion", "label": "Religion and spirituality", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.belief.religion" }, { "id": "society.belief.religion.people", "label": "Religious biographies", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.belief.religion.people" }, { "id": "society.belief.religion.people.non_christian_leaders", "label": "Jewish, Islamic, and Dharmic religious leaders", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.belief.religion.people.non_christian_leaders" }, { "id": "society.belief.religion.people.islamic_leaders", "label": "Islamic religious leaders and scholars", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.belief.religion.people.islamic_leaders" }, { "id": "society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars", "label": "Sunni imams and classical Islamic scholars", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars" }, { "id": "society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.hadith_scholars", "label": "Hadith scholars and traditionists", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.hadith_scholars" }, { "id": "society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.hadith_scholars.egyptian-traditionists", "label": "Egyptian traditionists", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.hadith_scholars.egyptian-traditionists" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.hadith_scholars", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999: Hadith scholars and traditionists", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.hadith_scholars", "path": [ { "id": "geo.mena", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.belief", "label": "Philosophy, religion, and mythology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion", "label": "Religion and spirituality", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people", "label": "Religious biographies", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.non_christian_leaders", "label": "Jewish, Islamic, and Dharmic religious leaders", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.non_christian_leaders" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_leaders", "label": "Islamic religious leaders and scholars", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_leaders" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars", "label": "Sunni imams and classical Islamic scholars", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.hadith_scholars", "label": "Hadith scholars and traditionists", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.hadith_scholars" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Al-Zunburi (الزنبري), fully Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Mas'ud al-Zunbari al-Misri, was an Egyptian hadith transmitter who died in Ramadan 333 AH and taught al-Tabarani, Ibn Yunus, and Umar ibn Shahin.", "snippet": "Al-Zunburi (الزنبري), fully Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Mas'ud al-Zunbari al-Misri, was an Egyptian hadith transmitter who died in Ramadan 333 AH and taught al-Tabarani, Ibn Yunus, and Umar ibn Shahin.", "node": "society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.hadith_scholars.egyptian-traditionists", "markdown": "# Al-Zunburi\n\n**Al-Zunburi** (الزنبري), fully Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Mas'ud ibn 'Amr ibn Idris ibn 'Ikrima al-Zunbari al-Misri, was an Egyptian hadith transmitter of the fourth century AH who died in Ramadan 333 AH. Al-Dhahabi places him in the nineteenth tabaqa (generation) of his *Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'*, and the structured narrator database at Sunnah.com counts him in the thirteenth generation of transmitters, resident in Egypt and described as a Shafi'i.[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747) • [3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Name | Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Mas'ud ibn 'Amr ibn Idris ibn 'Ikrima, al-Zunbari al-Misri[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012) |\n| Death | Ramadan 333 AH; birth date and place not recorded[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012) |\n| Residence | Egypt; sources call him simply \"Misri\"[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747) |\n| Teachers | Bahr ibn Nasr al-Khawlani, al-Rabi' (identified variously, see below), Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Tarsusi's circle, Bakkar ibn Qutayba, and others[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747) |\n| Students | Ibn al-Muqri', Ibn Yunus, Umar ibn Shahin, Abu al-Qasim al-Tabarani, Abu Dhar al-Tamimi, and Lakhmi students[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747) • [3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012) |\n| Grading | Al-Dhahabi: \"lahu rihla wa fahm\"; database grade: \"saduq hasan al-hadith\"; Muslim ibn al-Qasim al-Andalusi: \"la ba'sa bihi\"[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747) |\n| Works | None recorded in the retrieved biographical notices[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012) |\n\n## Name, nisba, and origins\n\nThe nisba is vocalized **al-Zunbari**, with fatha on the za, then nun, then a ba carrying a dot beneath it. [Ibn Makula](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-makula) and [Ibn al-Sam'ani](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-al-samani) explain it as a nisba to a grandfather (nisba ila al-jadd), that is, a family name inherited from an ancestor rather than a trade or place.[3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012) Ibn Makula noted that no other narrator of the name al-Zunbari carried the nun in that spelling besides him, and al-Dhahabi's notice also recalls an earlier namesake family line, Sa'id ibn Dawud ibn Abi Zanbar al-Zunbari, a companion of Malik.[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604)\n\nA later namesake invites confusion: al-Dhahabi's *Siyar* also carries an entry for Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Khalaf ibn Zunbur al-Baghdadi al-Warraq, a Baghdad traditionist called \"baqiyyat al-ashyakh\", who is a different person entirely.[4](https://shamela.ws/book/10906/10403) Al-Subki's *Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya* likewise distinguishes our subject from the earlier Muhammad ibn Bashir al-Zunbari of the second generation, noting that Muhammad ibn Bashir belonged to a different generation, the latter's death year was never established.[3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012)\n\n## Teachers and students\n\nAl-Dhahabi records that he narrated from [Bahr ibn Nasr al-Khawlani](https://www.edgepedia.org/bahr-ibn-nasr-al-khawlani), al-Rabi' ibn Abd al-Hakam, and a group of others.[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) The identity of \"al-Rabi'\" is the main point of disagreement among the sources: Ibn Makula's *al-Ikmal* and [Yaqut al-Hamawi](https://www.edgepedia.org/yaqut-al-hamawi)'s *Mu'jam al-Buldan*, as cited in the Sunnah.com entry, say he narrated from al-Rabi' ibn Sulayman al-Muradi and Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Hakam, while al-Subki's *Tabaqat* records, via Ibn Makula and Ibn al-Sam'ani, that he heard from al-Rabi' ibn Sulayman and Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Hakam, and al-Dhahabi's own notice reads al-Rabi' ibn Abd al-Hakam. The discrepancy is unresolved in the sources themselves.[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747) • [3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012) The Sunnah.com database adds further teachers, including Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Khaza'i, Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Balisi, Bakkar ibn Qutayba, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Hakam, and places him among the students of Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muslim al-Tarsusi.[2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747)\n\nHis students form a recognizable Egyptian and western circle. Al-Dhahabi lists Ibn al-Muqri', [Ibn Yunus](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-yunus), and Umar ibn Shahin among those who narrated from him.[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) Yaqut adds Abu Dhar 'Ammar ibn Muhammad al-Tamimi and Abu al-Qasim al-Tabarani.[2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747) Al-Subki's *Tabaqat* names Abu Bakr Ibn al-Muqri', Abu Hafs ibn Shahin, Abu Sa'id ibn Yunus, and Abu al-Qasim al-Tabarani, and the entry also records two Lakhmi students, Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Hazm al-Lakhmi and Ahmad ibn Abd al-Rahim ibn Kinana al-Lakhmi al-Qurtubi.[3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012) A biography of him appears in al-Mansuri's *Irshad al-Qasi wa'l-Dani ila Tarajum Shuyukh al-Hafiz Abi al-Qasim al-Tabarani*, a work devoted to the sheikhs of al-Tabarani.[3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012)\n\n## Grading by the critics\n\nAl-Dhahabi's verdict is brief and favorable: \"lahu rihla wa fahm\" (he undertook travel for hadith and had understanding), and, citing Ibn Makula's *al-Ikmal* 4/242, that he \"was an accomplished litterateur, of good knowledge of hadith\" (adib fadil hasan al-ma'rifa bi-l-hadith).[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) The Sunnah.com narrator database aggregates his grade as \"saduq hasan al-hadith\" (truthful, of good hadith).[2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747) The Andalusi traditionist Musamma (Muslim) ibn al-Qasim al-Andalusi graded him \"la ba'sa bihi\" (there is no harm in him).[2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747)\n\n## What the record shows and where it thins\n\nThe consistent core across al-Dhahabi, the database aggregations, and al-Subki is small but stable: the name and lineage, residence in Egypt, death in Ramadan 333 AH, and al-Tabarani among his students. Around that core the record thins. No source gives a birth date or birthplace; the ibnalarabi.com entry states both as unknown.[3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012) No works are listed in any of the notices, so nothing is known to survive.[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012)\n\nTwo textual problems recur. The first is the al-Rabi' disagreement described above. The second is a death-year variant: one line in the ibnalarabi.com text reads \"thlath wa-thamanin wa-thalathimi'a\" (383 AH), which stands against the 333 AH given by al-Dhahabi, the Sunnah.com database, and the entry's own summary field; the 383 reading appears to be a textual corruption of 333.[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747) • [3](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012) The Sunnah.com structured lists also place al-Tabarani and Umar ibn Shahin among his teachers as well as his students, an apparent database inconsistency against al-Dhahabi's clear listing of both as his students.[1](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604) • [2](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', vol. 15: al-Zunbari Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Mas'ud ibn 'Amr (al-Risala edition, Shamela)](https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/10906/9604)\n2. [Ahmad ibn Mas'ud al-Zunbri, Narrators database, Sunnah.com](https://beta.sunnah.com/narrator/45747)\n3. [Tarajim al-Shuyukh wa'l-Ulama: Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Mas'ud ibn 'Amr al-Zunbari al-Misri (incl. al-Subki's Tabaqat and al-Mizzi's Tahdhib al-Kamal), ibnalarabi.com](https://www.ibnalarabi.com/tarajim/tarjamat.php?id=17012)\n4. [Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', vol. 16: Ibn Zunbur Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Baghdadi (namesake), Shamela](https://shamela.ws/book/10906/10403)\n\n---\n*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 › Egyptian traditionists*\n\n*Initially written Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/al-zunburi", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/al-zunburi.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Al-Zunburi\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/al-zunburi. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Al-Zunburi](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-zunburi)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/al-zunburi](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-zunburi). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Al-Zunburi\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/al-zunburi. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Al-Zunburi, fully Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Mas'ud al-Zunbari al-Misri, was an Egyptian hadith transmitter who died in Ramadan 333 AH and taught al-Tabarani, Ibn Yunus, and Umar ibn Shahin." }