By A.K.M Ayyub Ali, M.A, Ph.D
Tahawi’s Life and Works
Abu Ja’far Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Salamah al‑Azdi, al‑Hajri, al‑Tahawi, was born at Taha, a village in upper Egypt. His forefathers came from the Yemen to Egypt and settled there after it had come under the Muslim rule. There is a considerable difference of opinion as to the year of his birth. The years 229/843, 230/ 844, 238/852 and 239/853 are mentioned by different biographers. Al‑Sam’ani asserts that he was born in 229/843 and this is correct. He died in Egypt in 321/933. [1]
Al‑Tahawi was mainly interested in Hadith and Fiqh, and was regarded as one of the greatest Muhaddithin and fuqaha’ of his time. According to abu Ishaq al‑Shirazi, he was the last leader of Hanafi Fiqh in Egypt. [2] He began to study Shafi’i Law under his maternal uncle abu Ibrahim Ismail al‑Muzani (d. 264/878), the most celebrated pupil of Imam al‑Shafi’i, and then leaving his school he took up the study of Hanafi Law under al‑Shaikh abu Jafar Ahmad b. abi ,`Imran (d. 285/898), who became the Chief Qadi of Egypt in 270/883. Different versions are given by his biographers of his conversion to Hanafi school, but the most probable reason seems to be that the system of Imam abu Hanifah appealed to his critical insight more than that of Imam Shafi`i.