Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb al-Nasa'i was born in the city of Nasa in Khurasan in 829 CE and traveled to the Hijaz, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt, where he settled for a long period pursuing hadith and critiquing its narrators.
Al-Nasa'i was known for his exceptional rigor in vetting narrators. He compiled a large work, 'al-Sunan al-Kubra', then abridged it by selecting only the most authentic material into what became known as 'al-Mujtaba' or 'al-Sunan al-Sughra'.
Legacy
His 'Sunan al-Nasa'i' is counted among the six canonical hadith collections and is described as containing the fewest weak hadiths after the authentic collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim. He died in 915 CE after enduring hardship late in life due to his scholarly stances.
