Abū Na’īm Aḥmad bin Abdullāh Isfahani and Islamic Historiography

The School of Hadith, which was formed mainly in Baghdad, developed in many cities of Iran. An important part of this school was formed in Khorasan which led to the production of some of the six Sunni books. Hadith School also emerged and developed in Neishabur, Isfahan and Ray. At the same time, hadith was the source of jurisprudence, Quran commentary, ethics and theology in general, as well as the history of Islam. Every Muḥaddith could be active in several fields of religious sciences. Hadith School of Isfahan had many scholars whose works have survived up to now. Ibn Mandih's family is one of them. Abu Na’īm is one of the main figures of the hadith school of this city, who, of course, was of the Shāfi'ī and Ash'arī faith in opposition to many of his fellow hadith scholars. He was also a Sufi at the same time. His legacy in the field of Rijāl and history is very valuable. It has both the Prophet's Sirah entitled Dalāil al-Nubuwa, Mairifat al-Ṣahābah in the biography of the Companions, the local history entitled Tariīkh-e Iṣbahān, and the Ḥilyat-ul-Awliyā in the biography of the scholars and figures of the Islamic world. His historical heritage in the broadest sense of the word is very valuable, although it is mixed with Sufism. He has preserved many resources for us. This article is a brief report of his life and his historical legacy.