Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Nawfal

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Nawfal ibn al-Aswad ibn Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid ibn Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza al-Qurashi al-Asadi, Abu al-Aswad al-Madani, known as "Urwa's orphan" (the foster-ward of Urwa ibn al-Zubayr), a trustworthy Successor and one of the leading hadith transmitters in Egypt, where he arrived in 136 AH ¹.

His grandfather al-Aswad ibn Nawfal was among the emigrants to Abyssinia and died there; his father bequeathed him to Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, which is why he was called "Urwa's orphan" ¹.

He narrated from Bukayr ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Ashaj, Habib (Urwa ibn al-Zubayr's freedman), Salim ibn Abd Allah ibn Umar, Sulayman ibn Yasar, Amir ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, Abd Allah ibn Kaysan, the son of al-Husayn ibn Ali (may God be pleased with him) ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him), Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, Nafi' (Ibn Umar's freedman), and al-Nu'man ibn Abi Ayyash al-Zuraqi ². Those narrating from him included Haywa ibn Shurayh, Sa'id ibn Abi Ayyub, Shu'ba ibn al-Hajjaj, Abd Allah ibn Lahiy'a, Amr ibn al-Harith, al-Layth ibn Sa'd, Malik ibn Anas, Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab al-Zuhri and Hisham ibn Urwa — both his contemporaries — Mus'ab ibn Thabit and Yahya ibn Ayyub al-Misri ².

Asked about Abu al-Aswad, Abu Hatim al-Razi said "trustworthy"; pressed "does he rank with al-Zuhri and Hisham ibn Urwa?" he again said "trustworthy." Al-Nasa'i declared him trustworthy, Ibn Hibban listed him in al-Thiqat, and all the major collections narrate from him ². Al-Waqidi says he died at the end of Umayyad rule ².

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Nawfal was raised by the scholar Urwa ibn al-Zubayr after losing his father, and grew to be compared in reliability to the two greats of his age, al-Zuhri and Hisham ibn Urwa; he carried hadith to Egypt.

• Text from Tahdhib al-Kamal, Muhammad-names volume, entry 6002, pp. 408-409.
• The scan shows a tension between Ibn Lahiy'a's report that he reached Egypt in 136 AH and al-Waqidi's statement that he died at the end of Umayyad rule (c. 132 AH); the Tahdhib's editors did not comment at this point.