The Iranian Sunni Muslim compiler of hadith, Ibn Majah al-Qazvini

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 22nd of the Islamic month of Ramadhan in 273 AH, the Iranian Sunni Muslim compiler of hadith, Mohammad Ibn Yazid Ibn Majah al-Qazvini, passed away at the age of 64 in his hometown Qazvin – west of modern Tehran. His grandfather had converted from Zoroastrianism and was a client of the ar-Rabi' Arab tribe. He traveled widely over Iran, Iraq, Arabia, Syria and Egypt in search of hadith, before returning to his birthplace Qazvin.
Although he has admitted some of the merits of Prophet Mohammad's (SAWA) Ahl al-Bayt, he, like his five contemporary compatriots, Mohammad Bukhari, Muslim Nishapuri, Abu Dawoud Sijistani, Abu Isa Tirmizi, and Ahmad Nisa'i, failed to have direct contact with the Infallible Imams of the Prophet’s Household or their disciples – probably because of the fear of incurring the wrath of the usurper Abbasid regime – and thus could not collect authentic hadith from the right source. His collection known as "Sunan Ibn Majah" is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of their six canonical hadith books (Sihah as-Sitta) – the authors of which were all Iranians and grandsons of recent converts to Islam. Ibn Majah also wrote “The History of Qazvin”.