Imām Dār al-Hijra
Nāfic ibn Abī Nucaym
Imām al-Qārī Nāfic ibn Abdur-Raḥmān ibn Abī Nucaym (d. 169 AH) was born during the khilāfah of Abdul-Malik ibn Marwān. One of the seven Imāms in the field of qirā’ah, he learned the Qur’ān from a large number of Tabicīn and went on to teach it for seventy some years. Amongst those whom he taught were the likes of Māllk, Layth ibn Sacd, Qālūn, and Warsh. When Nāfic was on his deathbed, his children asked him to give them some farewell advice. He recited:
اتقوا الله و أصلحوا ذات بينكم و أطيعاو الله و رسوله إن كنتم مؤمنين
“Fear Allāh, make things right amongst yourselves, and obey Allāh and His messenger if you are those who accept as truth that which Allāh revealed.”
(Sūrah Anfāl, Āyah: 1)
Imām Mālik, may Allāh have mercy on him, said, “Nāfic is the Imām of mankind in the field of qirā’ah.”
It is said that when he would speak, the scent of musk would emanate from his mouth. Someone asked him about that, and he explained, “I saw the Prophet, peace and blessing of Allāh be upon him, in a dream once and he blew into my mouth.”
Imām Layth ibn Sacd, a student of the Muftī of Egypt, Yazīd ibn Abī Habīb, said, “I went for ḥajj in the year 113 and the Imām of the people in qirā’ah for Madinah was Nāfic ibn Abī Nucaym.”
Imām Dhahabī, may Allāh have mercy on him, said, “There is no doubt that this man was a leader during the life of his teachers!”
Qālūn, may Allāh have mercy on him, described Nāfic as one of the purest of people in character, the best in recitation, and a generous ascetic who had prayed in the masjid of the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him, for sixty years.
Ibn al-Jazarī, may Allāh have mercy on him, writes that Nāfic was from Iṣbahān; pitch-black, with a beautiful face, and good character.
In his footnote on cAṭā ibn Abī Rabāḥ in the book Ṣafaḥat Min Ṣabr al-cUlamā, Shaykh Abdul-Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah mentions Nāfic alongside Sacīd ibn Jubayr as being amongst those culamā who were black.
Bibliography:
Manāhil al-cIrfān. Dār al-Kutub al-cArabī.1:338-339
Sīyar Aclām al-Nubalā. Muassas al-Risālah. 1:336; 7:336-338
Ghāyah al-Nihāyah Fī Ṭabaqāt al-Qurrāh. Dār al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah. 2:288-289
Ṭabaqāt al-Qurrāh. Markaz al-Malik al-Fayṣl. 1:105-106
Macrifah al-Qurrāh al-Kubrā. Muassas al-Risālah. 1:48 & 111
al-Kāmil Fī al-Tārīkh. Bayt al-Afkār al-Dawliyyah. Page: 857
al-Tibyān Fī cUlūm al-Qur’ān. Dār Iḥsān. Page: 226
Ma’ariful Quran. Maktaba-e-Darul-Uloom. 1:39
Ṣafaḥat Min Ṣabr al-cUlamā. Dār al-Bashā’ir al-Islāmiyyah. Page: 360
