{ "id": "ep4fpypam6", "slug": "muhammad-ibn-al-hasan-al-naqqash", "title": "Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash", "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.tafsir_scholars", "label": "Quran commentators and exegesis scholars", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.tafsir_scholars" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.tafsir_scholars", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999: Quran commentators and exegesis scholars", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.tafsir_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.tafsir_scholars", "label": "Quran commentators and exegesis scholars", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.tafsir_scholars" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash (النقاش محمد بن الحسن) was a tenth-century Sunni scholar of Quranic exegesis and recitation whose hadith reliability was contested; his tafsir Shifa' al-Sudur survives.", "snippet": "Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash (النقاش محمد بن الحسن) was a tenth-century Sunni scholar of Quranic exegesis and recitation whose hadith reliability was contested; his tafsir Shifa' al-Sudur survives.", "node": "society.belief.religion.people.islamic_sunni_scholars.tafsir_scholars", "markdown": "# Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash\n\n**Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash** (النقاش محمد بن الحسن بن محمد بن زياد), full name Abu Bakr Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. Ziyad al-Naqqash al-Mawsili al-Baghdadi, was a fourth-century AH scholar of Quranic exegesis (tafsir), Quranic recitation (qira'at), and hadith who died in Baghdad on 3 Shawwal 351 AH (4 November 962 CE).[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) He was a Sunni who followed the Shafi'i madhhab; the claim, made by some, that he was also Mu'tazili is not corroborated in the sources.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) Classical writers called him \"the allama, the mufassir, shaykh of the qurra\", yet his standing in hadith was contested, and al-Dani relied on his recitation transmissions in compiling the qira'at manual al-Taysir.[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Identity | Abu Bakr Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. Ziyad al-Naqqash al-Mawsili al-Baghdadi, tafsir, qira'at, and hadith scholar[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) |\n| Dates | Born 266 AH (880 CE); died 3 Shawwal 351 AH (4 November 962 CE) in Baghdad[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) |\n| Nisba | \"Al-Naqqash\" (decorator) from his occupation in building decoration; a mawla originally from Mosul[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) |\n| Qira'at standing | Al-Dani relied on his recitation reports in al-Taysir and called him \"maqbul al-shahada\" (acceptable in testimony)[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252) |\n| Hadith standing | Al-Barqani: \"all his hadith is munkar\"; al-Dhahabi: \"in my view he is muttaham (suspect)\"[3](https://hadith.dev/narrator/11990) • [2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252) |\n| Surviving work | The tafsir Shifa' al-Sudur, said to be about 12,000 folios; a manuscript to Q 18:65 is in the Süleymaniye Library (Hasan Hüsnü Paşa, nr. 40)[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) |\n\n## Name, family, and the al-Naqqash nisba\n\nThe laqab \"al-Naqqash\" (decorator) came from his trade: his occupation was building decoration, and al-Zirikli records that early in his career he worked at engraving ceilings and walls, hence the name.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) • [4](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/81) He was a mawla (a client) originally from Mosul, which the nisba al-Mawsili records; al-Zirikli gives his origin as Mosul and his upbringing as Baghdad.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) • [4](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/81) The hadith.dev narrator entry prints the fuller chain of forebears: Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. Ziyad b. Harun b. Ja'far b. Sand, [Abu Bakr](https://www.edgepedia.org/abu-bakr) al-Muqri' al-Baghdadi, known as al-Naqqash.[3](https://hadith.dev/narrator/11990)\n\nHe must be distinguished from namesakes. A separate Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Ziyad appears in narrator databases as a transmitter of the tenth tabaqa, of unknown status (majhul al-hal), who narrated from Abd al-Aziz b. Numayr and was narrated from by Umar ibn Shabba al-Numayri; he is not the tafsir scholar.[5](https://sunnah.com/narrator/52066)\n\n## Life and historical context\n\nAl-Naqqash was born in 266 AH (880 CE). The TDV encyclopedia states he was born in Baghdad and raised there, while [Ibn al-Nadim](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-al-nadim) says he was born in Mosul; the disagreement is unresolved.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) He traveled widely for qira'at and hadith, with itineraries covering Mecca, Medina, Kufa, Basra, Mosul, Cairo, Damascus, Homs, Antioch, Ramla, Hulwan, the Jazira, Khurasan, Tabaristan, Ray, Herat, and Nasa.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan)\n\n**The Baghdad of his maturity was the world of Ibn Mujahid's canon.** In 324/936 [Ibn Mujahid](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-mujahid) (d. 324/936) selected seven eponymous readings as canonical, out of more than fifty recorded reading traditions, and the Abbasid court endorsed the decision, trying opponents before the vizier [Ibn Muqla](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-muqla) (d. 328/939).[6](https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/shadynasser/files/8_nasser_the_canonizations_of_the_quran_political_decrees_or_community_practices.pdf) • [7](https://euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/jqs.2022.0494) Two of those tried, Ibn Shanabudh (d. 328/939) and Ibn Miqsam (d. 354-5/965-6), were brought before Ibn Muqla for teaching readings outside Ibn Mujahid's system; Ibn Shanabudh was reportedly tortured and forced to retract. These trials fell within al-Naqqash's own lifetime in Baghdad.[6](https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/shadynasser/files/8_nasser_the_canonizations_of_the_quran_political_decrees_or_community_practices.pdf) The critical climate of the fourth century AH judged readings mainly by [Arabic grammar](https://www.edgepedia.org/arabic-grammar), the Uthmanic rasm, and established usage; a 2025 study of the immediately preceding generation (al-Zajjaj, d. 311 AH, and al-Nahhas, d. 338 AH) identifies thirteen key critical terms, including \"ghalat\", \"khata' fahish\", and \"lahn la yajuz\".[8](https://www.rumelide.com/file/download/1069927147/13--ba-wazir--q--t--a---2025--------------------------------311----------338---186---dorduncu-hicri-yuzyilda-mutavatir-kur-an-kiraatlerinin-elestirisinde-dil-bilimcilerin-terimleri-ebu-ishak-ez-zeccac--o--311-h--ve-ebu-cafer-en-nahhas--o--338-h--ornegi-187---the-terms-used-by-linguists-in-critiquing-mutawatir-quranic-readings-in-the-fourth-hijri-century--a-case-study-of-abu-ishaq-al-zajjaj--d--311-ah--and-abu-ja-far-al-nahhas--d--338-ah-188.pdf) Ibn Mujahid's own selection was guided by isnad (chain of transmitters authenticating a hadith report) credibility, community recognition, and accord with grammar rather than collation of the oldest manuscripts; of the fifty textual variants mentioned by Ibn Abi Dawud al-Sijistani (d. 929), he rejected only four.[9](https://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.ojs-doi-10_24425_ro_2022_141413/c/articles-58289060.pdf.pdf)\n\n## Teachers, isnad, and students\n\nAl-Dhahabi lists his qira'at teachers: he recited to Harun al-Akhfash, to Ahmad b. Anas in Damascus, to al-Hasan b. al-Hubab and others in Baghdad, and to al-Hasan b. Abi Mihran in Rayy.[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252) The TDV entry adds Idris b. Abd al-Karim, Hasan b. Husayn al-Sawwaf, Ahfash al-Dimashqi, and Ismail b. Abdallah al-Nahhas among his recitation teachers.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan)\n\nHis students in recitation included Abu Bakr Ibn Mihran, Abd al-Aziz b. Ja'far al-Farisi, Ibn al-Hammami, Ibrahim b. Ahmad al-Tabari, and Abu al-Faraj al-Shanbudhi; the TDV list adds Ibn Ashta, Ali b. Ja'far al-Sa'idi, and Shanabudhi.[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252) • [1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) Among those who narrated from him, al-Dhahabi names Ibn Mujahid, al-Daraqutni, and [Ibn Shahin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-shahin), with the note that Ibn Mujahid \"is among his senior teachers\", so the direction of the relationship runs both ways in the sources and remains ambiguous.[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252)\n\n## Place in the qira'at tradition\n\nAl-Dani testified that he was \"ja'iz al-qawl, maqbul al-shahada\" (an admissible opinion, acceptable in testimony) and relied on his qira'at transmissions in al-Taysir.[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252) • [10](https://www.tarajm.com/people/11841) [Al-Dhahabi](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-dhahabi) judged him stronger in qira'at than in riwayat (hadith narration).[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252) Al-Dhahabi counted him among the eighth-tabaqa memorizers of the Quran, and Ibn al-Jazari (d. 833 AH) listed him among the scholars of qira'at.[10](https://www.tarajm.com/people/11841)\n\nHis generation sits between the canon of the Seven (324/936) and the filtering by al-Dani (d. 444/1053) and al-Shatibi (d. 590/1193-4); only later did Ibn al-Jazari (d. 833/1429) add the three readings of Abu Ja'far al-Madani, [Ya'qub al-Hadrami](https://www.edgepedia.org/yaqub-al-hadrami), and Khalaf al-'Ashir to the canon.[6](https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/shadynasser/files/8_nasser_the_canonizations_of_the_quran_political_decrees_or_community_practices.pdf) • [7](https://euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/jqs.2022.0494)\n\n## Works and what survives\n\nAl-Dhahabi lists his works: al-Ishara fi gharib al-Quran, al-Manasik, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, the three Ma'ajim (on the names of the readers and their readings), a large tafsir of about forty volumes, al-Qira'at bi-'ilaliha, Kitab al-Sab'a, and Akhbar al-Qussas.[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252) The tarajm entry names the tafsir Shifa' al-Sudur (or Ishfa' al-Sudur) at about twelve thousand leaves, plus al-Mawdih fi ma'ani al-Quran, and counts seventeen works in all.[10](https://www.tarajm.com/people/11841)\n\nOnly the tafsir Shifa' al-Sudur survives. Its size is given in two incompatible units: about 12,000 folios (varak) per the TDV encyclopedia and tarajm, versus about forty volumes per al-Dhahabi.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) • [2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252) A manuscript covering the Quran from the beginning to verse 65 of Surat al-Kahf is held in the Süleymaniye Library (Hasan Hüsnü Paşa, nr. 40).[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) Al-Islam.org likewise records Shifa' al-Sudur as a manuscript.[11](https://www.al-islam.org/ar/person/muhammad-b-al-hasan-al-naqqash-al-mufassir)\n\n## Assessment by classical biographers\n\nThe verdicts divide sharply, and each belongs to the critic named.\n\n**In qira'at, favorable.** Al-Dani called him \"maqbul al-shahada\" and used his transmissions in al-Taysir.[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252)\n\n**In hadith, largely negative.** Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi records that al-Naqqash was a muqri' learned in the letters of the Quran and a hafiz of tafsir, but that \"in his hadith there are munkar reports with well-known isnads\".[3](https://hadith.dev/narrator/11990) Al-Barqani said \"all his hadith is munkar\", and Talha b. Muhammad b. Ja'far said \"he used to lie in hadith and storytelling dominated him\".[3](https://hadith.dev/narrator/11990) Al-Khatib also records a retraction: the transmitter Ali b. Umar al-Hafiz confronted al-Naqqash over a combined hadith (\"I asked God not to answer the supplication of a beloved against a beloved\"), and al-Naqqash admitted it was in his book though he had not heard it from Abu Ghalib.[3](https://hadith.dev/narrator/11990)\n\n**Al-Dhahabi's mixed verdict.** He uses the titles \"allama, mufassir, shaykh of the qurra\", yet adds: \"my heart does not rest with him, and he is in my view muttaham (suspect)\".[2](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252)\n\nBiographers thus differed over his reliability (ikhtalafa fi tawthiqihi).[10](https://www.tarajm.com/people/11841) Modern scholarship supplies the frame for reading this split: when hadith-style jarh and ta'dil criticism was applied to qira'at transmitters, many of the Eponymous Readers and rawis themselves \"did not hold a secure position when it came to their moral integrity\", so contested character was common among transmitters of al-Naqqash's kind.[7](https://euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/jqs.2022.0494)\n\n## By the numbers\n\nHis life spanned 266 to 351 AH (880 to 962 CE).[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan) • [4](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/81) His death in 351 AH places him in the generation between the canon of the Seven (324/936) and the Ten, the post-canonization generation of transmitters whose reports fed the later canons.[6](https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/shadynasser/files/8_nasser_the_canonizations_of_the_quran_political_decrees_or_community_practices.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [NAKKĀŞ, Muhammed b. Hasan, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (Abdulhamit Birışık, 2006)](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-muhammed-b-hasan)\n2. [Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' (al-Dhahabi), entry on al-Naqqash, hdith.com](https://hdith.com/encyclopedia/book/b-62/h/728252)\n3. [Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Naqqash, narrator entry (Tarikh Baghdad corpus), hadith.dev](https://hadith.dev/narrator/11990)\n4. [al-A'lam (al-Zirikli), vol. 6, p. 81, digitized](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/81)\n5. [Muhammad ibn al-Hasan (namesake), Sunnah.com narrators](https://sunnah.com/narrator/52066)\n6. [Shady Hekmat Nasser, \"The Canonizations of the Qurʾān: Political decrees or community practices\"](https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/shadynasser/files/8_nasser_the_canonizations_of_the_quran_political_decrees_or_community_practices.pdf)\n7. [Review of Nasser, The Second Canonization of the Qurʾān, Journal of Qur'anic Studies](https://euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/jqs.2022.0494)\n8. [The Terms Used by Linguists in Critiquing Mutawatir Quranic Readings in the Fourth Hijri Century, RumeliDE (2025)](https://www.rumelide.com/file/download/1069927147/13--ba-wazir--q--t--a---2025--------------------------------311----------338---186---dorduncu-hicri-yuzyilda-mutavatir-kur-an-kiraatlerinin-elestirisinde-dil-bilimcilerin-terimleri-ebu-ishak-ez-zeccac--o--311-h--ve-ebu-cafer-en-nahhas--o--338-h--ornegi-187---the-terms-used-by-linguists-in-critiquing-mutawatir-quranic-readings-in-the-fourth-hijri-century--a-case-study-of-abu-ishaq-al-zajjaj--d--311-ah--and-abu-ja-far-al-nahhas--d--338-ah-188.pdf)\n9. [M. Grodzki, \"Between the lines of the Ḥafṣ and Warš readings of the Qur'an\"](https://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.ojs-doi-10_24425_ro_2022_141413/c/articles-58289060.pdf.pdf)\n10. [Abu Bakr Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. Ziyad al-Naqqash, tarajm.com](https://www.tarajm.com/people/11841)\n11. [Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Naqqash al-Mufassir, Al-Islam.org](https://www.al-islam.org/ar/person/muhammad-b-al-hasan-al-naqqash-al-mufassir)\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 › Quran commentators and exegesis scholars*\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/muhammad-ibn-al-hasan-al-naqqash", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ibn-al-hasan-al-naqqash.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": "\"Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ibn-al-hasan-al-naqqash. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash](https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ibn-al-hasan-al-naqqash)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ibn-al-hasan-al-naqqash](https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ibn-al-hasan-al-naqqash). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ibn-al-hasan-al-naqqash. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash was a tenth-century Sunni scholar of Quranic exegesis and recitation whose hadith reliability was contested; his tafsir Shifa' al-Sudur survives." }