Biographies - Imam an-Nasa’i

Ahmad ibn Shu'aib an-Nasa'i (r.a) – [215 - 303 A.H.]
Imam an-Nasa'i was bornin the town of Nasa' in the Persian province of
Khorasan. After gaining hadith from the teachers his own city, Imam
an-Nasa'i travelled through Khorasan, Iraq, the Hijaz Syria and Egypt
gaining ahadith. Egypt was where Imam an-Nasa'i settled and
established his center for teaching and studies here.
Imam an-Nasa'i was said to have exhausted many of his days and nights
in prayers, repeatedly performed Hajj and also joined the Muslimarmy
toparticipate in battle. He was very particular of theSunnah of the
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), had a hatred for deviation and avoided
the circles of kings and nobles.
Imam Nasa'i's status
Ibn Khallikan writes 'He was the Imam of hadith of his age.'
Daraqutni says 'He was more distinguished than all the muhaddithun of his time.'
He is well known for Sunan an-Nasa'i which is a collection of 5751
sound ahadith. In it he also describes the flaws of a hadith, exposes
any disagreements on the title, names and kunyat of narrators and
clarifies the variations between different versions of a hadith.
His teachers are many, the first being MuhaddithQutaibah ibn Sa'id al
Balkhi. Some others are Ishaq ibn Rahawaih, Muhammad ibn Nasr,
Muhammad ibn Bishr andthe famous Abu Dawud.
His students came from all over the Muslim world,and some of the more
famous of them are Ali ibn Jafar at-Tahawi, Abul Qasim at-Tabrani,
Muhammad ibn Mu'awiyah al Andalusi, Abu Jafar at-Tahani and also his
own son.
Imam an-Nasa'i travelled to Damascus, Syria in 302 A.H. where he
noticed people displaying some hostility towards Hazrat Ali (R.A). He
therefore wrote a book to honor the character of Hazrat Ali (R.A) and
started lecturing from it in a Masjid. He had only read a few lines
when he was accused of being a Shi'i and was beaten badly by a crowd,
such he received severe injuries to his body. In this state he
requested some admirers to take him to Makkah, and it was after
reaching Makkah Imam an-Nasa'i passed away.
Source: Scholars of Hadith by Syed Bashir Ali
May Allah Ta'ala fill Imam an-Nasa'i's Qabar with Noor, Ameen.