24 Facts About Al-Bayhaqi

Al-Bayhaqi spent his early years and childhood in the city of Bayhaq before moving elsewhere to pursue his studies.

Al-Bayhaqi journeyed throughout Khorazan, Iran, Iraq, Hejaz, and other Muslim countries out of a passion for knowledge.

Al-Bayhaqi narrated Hadith from numerous scholars during his intensive travels.

Al-Bayhaqi studied fiqh under two prominent jurists, Abu al-Fath Nasir ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Naysaburi as well as Abul Hasan Hankari.

Al-Bayhaqi studied hadith under Hakim al-Nishaburi and was al-Nishaburi's foremost pupil as well as extensively studying hadith under Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini, Abu Bakr al-Barqani, and many others.

Al-Bayhaqi belongs to the third generation of Ash'ari school and took kalam from two prominent theologians, Ibn Furak and Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi.

Al-Bayhaqi took his Tasawwuf as well as narrating hadith from Al-Sulami.

Al-Bayhaqi had the privilege to study kalam under Al-Halimi in his younger days.

Al-Bayhaqi taught and authored books in Bayhaq and lived most of his life there, until 1049, when he was asked to go to Nishapur.

Al-Bayhaqi would give them the authority to narrate and teach his books.

Al-Bayhaqi was washed, put in a coffin, and transported [two days at the time] to Bayhaq, where he was buried.

Al-Bayhaqi was known for his extreme piety and was a frugal spender in the same manner of the pious scholars.

Al-Bayhaqi constantly fasted for thirty years straight before his death except the days of Eid and Tashriq which are prohibited to fast.

Al-Bayhaqi is thus positioned among the Asha'ris of the third generation.

Al-Bayhaqi was a traditionalist theologian and staunch Ash'ari who textually supported the Ash'ari doctrine as can be seen in his two classical works of creed called Al-Asma' wa al-Sifat and Al-'Itiqad wa al-Hidaya ila Sabil al-Rashad.

Al-Bayhaqi had a variety of views stating his understanding of cosmology.

Al-Bayhaqi contributed to a significant reform in the traditionalist evaluation of hadith, emphasizing the use of reflective reasoning in evaluating which hadith material should be considered incompatible with Islamic theology.

Al-Bayhaqi is regarded as the last person in history to comprehensively collect and assemble the textual evidence of the Shafi'i madhab including the hadith, the opinions of Imam Shafi'i and those of his direct students.

Al-Bayhaqi arranged the Imam al-Shafi'i statements and proof texts in the extensive Marifat al-Sunan wa-al-Athar.

Al-Bayhaqi then assembled his Al-Sunan al-Kubra, a gigantic collection of hadiths that included prophetic traditions and companions opinions to support every point of Shafi'i's substantive law.

Al-Bayhaqi's writings were highly revered and frequently cited by both later Shafi'is and Hanbalis.

Al-Bayhaqi represents the school's steadfast adherence to the hadith's primacy, which its founder had argued for.

Al-Bayhaqi was a sublime jurist, an eminent hafiz; an adept jurisprudent ; abstinent; godly; obedient to Allah ; firm in supporting the Shafi'i legal school, in terms of methodology and derivation of law ; and a mountain from the mountains of knowledge.

Al-Bayhaqi was the muhaddith of his time Shaykh of the Sunnah in his era.