Ishaq ibn Rahwayh

Ishaq ibn Rahuyah (Arabic: إسحاق بن رَاهَوَيْه/رَاهُوْيَه, romanized: Abū Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Makhlad ibn Rāhūyah/Rāhawayh; b. 161 AH? - d. 238 AH / b. 777-8 CE - d. 853 CE)^[2][3] was a classical Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, exegete, and theologian. A close friend of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he accompanied him on his travels to seek knowledge^[10] and he was also a teacher of Imam Bukhari and inspired him to compile the Sahih al-Bukhari.

Imam Ishaq ibn Rahuyah
إِسْحَاق بْن رَاهُوْيَه
Title	Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith ('Leader of the Believers in Hadith')[1]
Personal life
Born	c. 777 CE (161 AH)[2] Merv, Persia[2]
Died	{2 February 853} (15 Sha'ban 238 AH)[3] Nishapur
Era	Islamic Golden Age (early Abbasid era)
Region	Khorasan
Main interest(s)	Jurisprudence[4] hadith[5] exegesis[6] theology
Notable work(s)	Al-Musnad
Religious life
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Independent
Creed	Athari[7]
Muslim leader
Influenced by Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qattan[8] Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak[8] Sufyan ibn Uyayna al-Shafi'i
Influenced Muhammad al-Bukhari[9] Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj[9] Ibn Khuzayma al-Darimi al-Nasa'i Dawud al-Zahiri
Arabic name
Personal (Ism)	Isḥāq إِسْحَاق
Patronymic (Nasab)	Ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Mukhallad ٱبْن إِبْرَاهِيم بْن مُخَلَّد
Teknonymic (Kunya)	Abū Yaʿqūb أَبُو يَعْقُوب
Toponymic (Nisba)	Al-Ḥanẓalī ٱلْحَنْظَلِيّ

Origin of the Name

His nickname "Ibn Rāhūyah" is said to have originated from his father who was born on a road towards Mecca:

Aḥmad ibn Salama said: I heard Isḥāq ibn Rāhūyah say: The Emir Abd Allah bin Ṭāhir said to me: Why were you called Ibn Rāhūyah? And what does it mean? And do you dislike being called by that? He (Isḥāq) said: Know that O' Emir that my father was born on a road towards Mecca, so the people of Marw called him: Rāhūyah, for he was born upon the road (to Mecca), and my father disliked that. As for me, I do not dislike it.^[11]

The nickname is pronounced Rāhūyah in classical Persian is Arabized as Rāhawayh.

Influence

Ibn Rahuyah inspired Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari to compile Sahih al-Bukhari. Al-Bukhari stated, "We were with our teacher Ishaq ibn Rahuyah when he said, 'If only someone would compile a compact book for the authentic hadith of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.' That stirred something in my heart, so I set out in compiling al-Jami' al-Sahih".^[12]

Works

Ibn Rahuyah's books on tafsir, hadith and fiqh include:^[13]

• Al-Musnad (المسند)
• Al-Jāmiʻ al-Kabīr (الجامع الكبير)
• Al-Jāmiʻ al-Ṣaghir (الجامع الصغير)
• Al-Muṣannaf (المصنف)
• Al-ʻIlm (العلم)
• At-Tafsīr al-Kabīr (التفسير الكبير)