# Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Nasafi
**Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Nasafi** (النسفي أبو عمرو بكر بن محمد بن جعفر): the nisba al-Nasafi identifies him by his city, Nasaf, which was also called Nakhshab.[1](https://www.islamarchive.cc/ketab_content/12297/p-5)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name and nisba | al-Nasafi denotes the city of Nasaf, also called Nakhshab[1](https://www.islamarchive.cc/ketab_content/12297/p-5) |
| Namesake to distinguish | Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Nasafi (d. 537/1142), author of al-'Aqida al-Nasafiyya, a different figure[2](https://data.cerl.org/thesaurus/cnp01335481) • [3](http://arab-ency.com.sy/details/13715) |
## The confusion problem: other al-Nasafi figures
The nisba al-Nasafi is shared by several prominent scholars of the same region, and the subject is easily conflated with them. The best known is Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Nasafi, a jurist and theologian born in Nasaf who studied and taught in [Samarkand](https://www.edgepedia.org/samarkand) and died there in 537/1142; authority records give his birth year variously as 460/1068 (Brockelmann), 461/1068 (al-Zirikli), and 461/1069 (al-Kahhala).[2](https://data.cerl.org/thesaurus/cnp01335481) He wrote mostly in Arabic and partly in Persian, including the Tafsir-i Nasafi.[2](https://data.cerl.org/thesaurus/cnp01335481) The famous creed al-'[Aqida](https://www.edgepedia.org/aqidah) al-Nasafiyya, with Sa'd al-Din al-Taftazani's commentary on it, belongs to this later Abu Hafs, not to Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Nasafi.[3](http://arab-ency.com.sy/details/13715) The shared toponym underlies such conflation: the nisba al-Nasafi refers to the city of Nasaf, also called Nakhshab.[1](https://www.islamarchive.cc/ketab_content/12297/p-5)
## Nasaf and Transoxania as a hadith center
Whatever his individual profile, Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Nasafi worked in one of the densest hadith environments of the Islamic world. One scholarly survey counts more than 3,000 prominent hadith scholars active in [Transoxiana](https://www.edgepedia.org/transoxiana) between the 8th and 12th centuries, of whom more than 1,000 lived in Samarkand, more than 600 in Bukhara, and more than 400 were connected with Nasaf.[4](https://webofjournals.com/index.php/12/article/download/4691/4646/9173) Abu Sa'd al-Sam'ani testified to the city's standing from personal experience: he lived in Nasaf for about two months hearing hadith from its scholars, and reported that many scholars in every field of knowledge had emerged from the city, their number innumerable.[4](https://webofjournals.com/index.php/12/article/download/4691/4646/9173)
**The tabaqat corpus.** The biographical literature that would identify a figure like him is substantial. The Kitab al-Kand of Abu Hafs al-Nasafi and its Muntakhab contain biographies of 1,232 scholars from Transoxiana active between the eighth and twelfth centuries in religious and intellectual life.[5](http://journals.ayu.edu.kz/index.php/hikmet/article/download/5433/1113/17630) Even the title of this dictionary is transmitted differently: al-Sam'ani calls it Kitab al-Kand fi ma'rifat ulama' Samarkand, while Ibn Hajar calls it Kitab al-Kand min ulama' Samarkand.[6](https://doi.org/10.47526/3007-8598-2025.1-24) The same sources show how critics recorded verdicts on Nasafi hadith scholars: al-Sam'ani criticized Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Nasafi's hadith compilations for frequent errors, altered and omitted names, and unbounded mistakes.[7](https://www.tarajm.com/people/12028)
**The scale of transmission.** The network's density is visible in individual careers. Abu Hafs al-Nasafi (d. 537/1142) narrated hadith from 550 sheikhs, listing them in his Ti'dad ash-shuyukh, and one account describes a hafiz as having memorized 20,000 or more hadiths with their texts and isnads.[8](https://emjms.academicjournal.io/index.php/emjms/article/view/104) The Karakhanid epoch (382–607 AH / 992–1211 CE) is characterized as the period of outstanding Hanafi theologians teaching in the madrasas and mosques of Transoxania.[9](https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/4132054BA36144F9A5C757932F2428FA)
**Current research.** The 4th/10th-century Nasafi hadith milieu remains an active research field. Recent scholarship has reconstructed the recension of the Sahih of al-Bukhari made by Ibrahim b. Ma'qil al-Nasafi (d. 295 AH), a hadith scholar of the subject's own era and region.[10](https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etaf050)
## References
1. [أرشيف الإسلام — كتاب أصول الكرخي، ص 5](https://www.islamarchive.cc/ketab_content/12297/p-5)
2. [CERL Thesaurus entry for Abu Hafs Umar al-Nasafi](https://data.cerl.org/thesaurus/cnp01335481)
3. [الموسوعة العربية — أبو حفص عمر بن محمد النسفي](http://arab-ency.com.sy/details/13715)
4. [Abu Hafs Nasafi and the Study of His Scientific Heritage](https://webofjournals.com/index.php/12/article/download/4691/4646/9173)
5. [Article on Kitab al-Kand of Abu Hafs Nasafi, Hikmet journal](http://journals.ayu.edu.kz/index.php/hikmet/article/download/5433/1113/17630)
6. [Abu Hafs al-Nasafi and His Work Kitab al-Kand](https://doi.org/10.47526/3007-8598-2025.1-24)
7. [tarajm.com entry on Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Nasafi](https://www.tarajm.com/people/12028)
8. [Abu Hafs Nasafi and Science of Hadith](https://emjms.academicjournal.io/index.php/emjms/article/view/104)
9. [Hanafi theologians of the Karakhanid epoch, Istanbul University journal](https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/4132054BA36144F9A5C757932F2428FA)
10. [A 'lost' reading of Sahih Al-Bukhari reconstructed](https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etaf050)
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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 Transoxiana*
*Initially written Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
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